It's not about happiness, it's about the pursuit of happiness.

Robert Sapolsky, professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University, compares dopamine levels in monkeys and humans. Sapolsky argues that in both:

Dopamine is not about pleasure, it's about the anticipation of pleasure.
It's about the pursuit of happiness and not about the happiness itself.

Unlike monkeys however, humans "keep those dopamine levels up for decades and decades waiting for the reward."

Interesting watch: