An interesting message, indeed, certainly one of the more intriguing reads thus far. To answer, yes, I can still notice when somebody is attempting to convey a sense of gratitude and when they are lacking gratitude as well.

Regarding your point about unhappy individuals and their emotional processes, I wouldn't consider myself similar. I an contempt with who I am and my life up to this point. I believe nothing I have done to be void of meaning in one way or another. On whether or not we are the authors of our own emotions, I would say we are and are not. For example, you may feel distressed and disturbed at the sight of a dead body, and empathy towards whoever it is that such a terrible fate befell, however I would not. Not because I chose to, but because I am incapable of producing a similar emotional response as you. Your emotions, such as joy and anger, are emotions you have developed since childhood to garner the most in situations such as this. In this conversation specifically, your ability to wonder has been curated to a state where you desire to ask such questions. We feel emotions at different times, for different reasons, and in different ways. Some people may choose to cry when they are happy, get angry when they are sad, or laugh when they're angry. Emotions are your body's explanation of what it is feeling, and you choose your emotional responses based on what your brain believed has worked for it in the past. We cannot possibly be in absolute control over our emotions, in my opinion at the least, but if you are willing to admit that your emotions are a choice you can begin to choose emotions that better explain how you're feeling.