And I would add the question: If we achieve the "dance in our brains" by other means different to life experience will that state of mind that is associated with happiness, and therefore is highly rated, will loose of it's value?

I agree, people need to have bad times in their life to fully appreciate the good ones. Furthering the look into technological stimuli for happiness, I present this question: If people were always happy, would not art suffer? Part of the beauty of art in any medium, be it film, literature, musical, dramatic, or visual, is the connectivity with real and painful situations. People thirst for honesty in specifically film and music now more than they ever have historically. If technologies were discovered and made public to protect the human mind from "bad" emotions and keep them happy, would not art as we know it deteriorate? And with it, the beauty of human experience? Although happiness is desirable, I cannot help but feel it can be fully appreciated without a sense of sadness. True happiness must be achieved, not bought or taught, and therefore, I believe technological stimuli would only create a false happiness that would threaten to destroy culture.

can we use Gilbert's research to help us frame aristotle's virtue ethics in a modern way?

Although I agree that experience and pain are essential to experiencing happiness, there are many people who are in much more pain than they need to be in. Substance abuse is rampant and there are a lot of hurting souls out there. People can be taught how to maximize positive experiences and minimize negative ones. Positive psychology classes teach students how to deal with their emotions. It is new and ,yes, I have seen it work. Behavior is learned and you can teach someone to be happier and to view the world with less hostility. People do not have to experience tradgedy in their life in order to learn and grow.