Revealed Preference?

Dont worry about the title.It is as simple as this.

When someone greets you with the standard question ," How are you ? " what will most people usually say ?
The standard reply is " I am fine, thank you ".
But I know two people who will take that question very seriously and start giving very minutely detailed description of how they are . Their aches, pains , difficulties ( especially in the Bowel Movement) , upsets , distresses , agonies etc they suffered on that day and yesterday and today.

One of them is a Senior Citizen and has the usual health problems like Diabetes , BP and joint pains , so her medical bulletin will be longer and more colourful . By the time she finishes her answer to my "How are you ? " I will be needing Tiger Balm . But she will be looking very happy as though she has just given me some good news like she had won a bumper lottery .

With all that loads of misery , these two people will still be keeping busy , going out, cinema-drama-concert , visits , shopping , quite well and happily also . And I will be wondering how anyone with so much problems can be so cheerful . May be they are very philosophical , positive-minded ? Or, are they just lying about their miseries ?
No , they are just created like that . I call them Worry Seekers . They love collecting worries like I love collecting books. And being miserable makes them Happy !
There are some people who worry as to why they have no worries.Worries make them sustain their strength.They don't want to be happy either.They want to be heard by others and that gives them lot of satisfaction.

I went on a conducted tour with The Senior Citizen ( mentioned above) , and we shared hotel rooms. So first morning , I asked her , just for courtesy for politeness : " Did you sleep well ? " I expected a long list of complaints like sprained neck, too high AC , upset tummy from useless dinner etc.
She said " Yes . I slept very well . Deep sleep "
I wondered, what miracle this is! !
But she continued : " It is very unusual . I usually get up twice at night , or I get leg cramps . I always sleep light and wake up early . But last night I slept soundly , like a baby ......perhaps I should get tested for Sleeping Sickness . I went to Nairobi two years ago you know , maybe the TseTse fly had bitten me....Or maybe my blood oxygen level has fallen very low .......do you think any tumors in brain can create a blackout ? ....." etc etc.
Now I got totally confused . Are people supposed to be Happy or Unhappy if they sleep well ?

I really don't know how to handle these people . After their full report of their miseries , if I say " Ayyo , so sad , take care , did you see a specialist ? " etc , they get fully charged and will energetically start a fresh bulletin about the clinic visit . Starting with the calamity of the cancelled Ola Cab , the agony of back pain due to Auto ride in heavy traffic , the misery of the long queue in the Clinic with no place to sit , going hungry because the canteen food was rotten , consequent giddiness, sour-tongue , acidity. All this is only preface . I will not make you run to get your Tiger Balm by narrating the full bulletin . I will only say , if I show sympathy . And they become Miserably Happy in revealing their miseries.

If I don't show sympathy and just nod after their full report , they will take big offense that I hurt their feelings by not caring . And I know that will also make them happy because they can add my rudeness to their " mental agony " list when somebody else asks them " how are you " .
Why can't we take the credit of making one happy by simply lending your ears?
But one thing I can say in favour of their peculiar personality . They can always be Happy , because Misery makes them Happy and misery is not very hard to find in life , isnt it !
People like us who try very hard to avoid pain and miserable feelings cannot be so assured of a continuous supply of Happiness !
There is an expression economic theorists use for it. They call it 'Revealed Preference.'. Simply put, if you are a logical person doing something instead of doing other doable things, then it means that you prefer doing whatever you are doing, instead of doing other things. You are revealing your choice and the assumption is that you choose what pleases you most. Call it happiness if you will.

Interestingly enough, this simple principle has now been questioned by people who work on the boundary of economics and psychology. This branch of the subject is called Behavioural Economics and lots of young people work in the area these days.
I never thought that such a common complaining trend has been named bombastically as 'Revealed Preference' ,'Behavioural Economics' by scholars.Had I known that Economics is just that of telling a misery tale , I would have studied Economics in my degree in stead of spending hours in Chemistry Lab.
doing salt analysis.
Perhaps that has helped me to take an analytical view of many issues.

JAYASALA 42