This post makes a good point about taking another person's idea of happiness too literally. The same could be said for other words describing internal experiences, like "consciousness". Where I lose the author is where he implies that thinking about it poetically will help get at the truth. It may be that when reading about a happy person's thought process you will absorb bits and pieces to make you happy as well. But it's not obvious at first glance. Is there evidence that reading self-help increases happiness in the long term (for some measure of happiness)? And how does that compare to spending your time reading studies about happiness?