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Lena's Reviews > Stumbling on Happiness
Stumbling on Happiness
by
by
This is pretty much the opposite of a self-help book. Instead of telling you how you can be happier, Harvard Psychology professor Gilbert talks about why we are so bad at predicting what will make us happy in the first place. Gilbert is a smooth and entertaining writer, and he does a good job of explaining in detail the cognitive errors we make in trying to predict our future happiness. For those who hope to gain some practical value from the book, Gilbert also outlines one technique that has been effective in predicting future happiness, but then goes on to discuss the reason why the vast majority of humans won’t use it. Still, I found the book more uplifting than depressing, as there’s something comforting about knowing that everyone else makes the same kinds of mistakes that I do, and the mind is much more skilled at finding happiness in unexpected places than we imagine.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
August 4, 2007
– Shelved
September 18, 2007
– Shelved as:
non-fiction
May 5, 2009
– Shelved as:
how-the-brain-works
Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)
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Lena's review sums up the appeal of the book very well - I recommend it highly as well.
I've had the chance to interview Gilbert. He's very interesting. And the good part about our "default setting" emotionally is that while we don't ever end up being as happy as we anticipate we're going to be, we also don't end up as sad as we think, even after major losses like deaths and divorce.
Definitely an intriguing review. What is the effective prediction technique that most people won't use? I'm curious!
If I recall correctly, he said that the most realistic way to assess how happy we might be in some future situation is to talk to other people who are currently experiencing that situation. Hearing from someone who is experiencing both the good and the bad of something, instead of just the fantasy of how good or bad it might be, can give us much more realistic insight into what it is like than our imaginations alone ever can. Most of us, however, won't do this because we assume that we are much more unique than we actually are. Even though studies show that one year after winning the lottery, most winners generally experience the same level of happiness that they did before, our brains can't seem to understand how this is possible so we assume we would be the exception.
It's truly fascinating stuff.
I am trying to think whether I do that or not. Maybe he's right. Interesting. Thanks!
Succinct review, Thanks.
I'm just reading this review to try to figure how happy or not this book will make me.
will have to look for that one.