Readers React: Happiness leads to longevity? Then I don’t want to be happy.

To the editor: If happiness indeed leads to much longer lives, that could be a good reason to stay away from that pleasant state. After watching many people live into their 90s with the potential of becoming merely breathing centenarians, longevity has lost many of its charms for me. (“Can 1 million women be wrong about happiness and health?,” Opinion, Dec. 17)

A more interesting study would be to ask the question “How often do you feel happy?” to a non-senile segment of the truly old. I suspect that since happiness is usually an assessment of the past (people are not often happy in the present), most people would conclude that they were happy.

As for their current state, well, resignation can produce high levels of satisfaction, which social theorists may call contentment, ambiguous happiness or delusional optimism.

Berta Graciano-Buchman, Beverly Hills

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