# Transcript

SPEAKER
This week’s happiness strategy is to understand the difference between fairness and equality. A lot of people use these words interchangeably. But acting as though they are the same thing will only bring you pain and discomfort.
Consider this picture. Equality results in the situation on the left side, where everyone gets the exact same treatment regardless of their actual needs. In this case, they get the same amount of boxes to stand on regardless of their height. But that just means that the little guy at the end can’t see the action, and so getting the box in the first place is pointless for him. He may as well have received nothing since it’s insufficient to meet his needs anyway.
On a similar note, the tall guy never needed a box to begin with. So again, the help he received was wasted on him. That’s what equal treatment means. It’s not always helpful or necessary.
Fair treatment, on the other hand, is what’s depicted on the right side of the picture. Each person receives a different amount of help because they each receive only what they need to see beyond the fence. That’s fairness.