欧宝娱乐

Note: the title reads Stumbling On Happiness, not Stumbling Onto Happiness. Thus, Daniel Gilbert's book does not go into self-help. Rather, it delineates the many errors we humans make when solidifying decisions and how our minds trick us into choosing things that might not lead us to happiness in the long run.

A few cool concepts stood out to me when reading Stumbling On Happiness: how we kind of suck at predicting our future emotions because our present state influences us so much, how certain societal ideas like needing money or wanting kinds propagate even if they do not make us happy, and how the brain constructs experiences based on biased memories as opposed to objective truths. Gilbert writes in a witty, smart, and accessible way. He incorporates psychological research, philosophy, cognitive neuroscience, sociology, behavioral economics, and more to strengthen his points. The broad scope of this book makes it appealing to individuals with a wide array of interests, spanning hard and social sciences.

I only wish that Gilbert had tied all his ideas together with a little more incisiveness. At times it felt like he just listed experiments and made some general comments about them instead of tying them altogether. Even though this book circumvents the self-help genre, I wanted to read more solid connections between Gilbert's remarks and how they relate to happiness. Stumbling on Happiness could have used a stronger thesis: it reads fine as a general list of cognitive fallacies we make, and it could have been even better with a dose of additional punch.

Overall, recommended to those intrigued by the book's synopsis, this about happiness, or those intrigued by cognitive psychology. A well-researched book with some witty, substantial ideas, even if not all of them will stay in my memory (as Gilbert himself suggests).