... is because people are not wise enough to want the things that they want.

We go about living thinking we want things, so sure that we know just what it is that we want. But unlike how a person with no background in

software

would claim not to know the answer to a detailed question about some code, people walk around believing they know what they want.

At this point in life I've come to believe that this is actually the most difficult question that one will face. In fact difficult may even be the wrong word since that implies that a truthful answer is even possible. So it is actually an impossible question. A question that will not grant you what you want if you try to answer it.

We are unhappy once we obtain what we've wanted, because it's only then we realize we did not what what we wanted all along.