The problem isn’t that life is unfair – it’s your broken idea of fairness

Yes, many people have irrational and perhaps simplistic ideas about fairness which break down in face real world circumstances. Even so this article is over simplistic nonsense which was (poorly) designed to support the author's premise (such that it is).

1: Life does include competition but it is not solely competition as the article suggests. Advantage through cooperation is found throughout a broad spectrum of sciences including animal behavior and game theory.

2: "You're judged by what you do, not what you think". Well yes, but you are also judged by your skin colour, the language you speak, the accent you speak it in, your sex & orientation and dozens of other factors. Moreover it's well documented that these factors often take precedence over other more 'logical' factors such as previous accomplishments and current engagements.

3: Our idea of fairness is often skewed by self interest but isn't entirely self interest. Honestly, it's like the author has never had any contact with any form of sociological research whatsoever.

The illustrations are fun and the explanations are skillful.

The core idea is more of a starting point. It's reminding us that we shouldn't expect things to be "fair", but it's avoiding the whole topic about how fairness sometimes shouldn't always matter when you want to be happy.

It's not really meant to discuss a recipe for happiness, but at the same time it features people being frustrated about perceived unfairness, which makes them unhappy.