Stumbling on Happiness

6 Reviews

• 2 people find this helpful

  

  Regular dosage recommended!

  Excellent synthesis of the research and findings on what makes people happy. Mind you, this is not a rosy, tacky self-help book. Better yet, the author lays out how the wiring of our brain produces flawed memories and flawed predictions even though it is extremely effective at keeping us alive.

  ... (continue)

  Excellent synthesis of the research and findings on what makes people happy. Mind you, this is not a rosy, tacky self-help book. Better yet, the author lays out how the wiring of our brain produces flawed memories and flawed predictions even though it is extremely effective at keeping us alive.

  I have always loved to read about clever yet straightforward tests used by psychologists to uncover human instincts, and there are plenty of the best ones quoted in this book. Although the author at times glide over complex logic a bit too effortlessly (I'd attribute it mostly to my slow comprehension though), on the whole this book is highly entertaining and enlightening.

  I'll probably read it every few years to remind myself how to avoid making myself unhappy. For the price of a book, I think I have saved myself tons of potential fees for therapy!

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  s tsui said on Jul 27, 2007 | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  This is not a self-help book. It won't teach us how to find happiness. It won't offer solutions to our problems of frustration. Instead, it tells a depressing truth: we are naturally wired to be unable to imagine the future accurately, and so we cannot hope to say, with any certainty, how happy w ... (continue)

  This is not a self-help book. It won't teach us how to find happiness. It won't offer solutions to our problems of frustration. Instead, it tells a depressing truth: we are naturally wired to be unable to imagine the future accurately, and so we cannot hope to say, with any certainty, how happy we will be or what will make us happy.

  On further reflection, maybe that's not so bad after all. A natural conclusion is this: Happiness will come to us as surprises - and of course these will be pleasant surprises.

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  Holmes said on Mar 17, 2010 | Add your feedback

• http://broncobilli.blogspot.com/search/label/gilbert

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  Riccardo Mariani said on Nov 29, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  It is not an easy book to read - it requires a lot of thinking and interpreting, definitely not something you read at bedtime. What bothered me most was put best by the author himself:
  "My friends tell me that I have a tendency to point out problems without offering solutions...", which preci ... (continue)

  It is not an easy book to read - it requires a lot of thinking and interpreting, definitely not something you read at bedtime. What bothered me most was put best by the author himself:
  "My friends tell me that I have a tendency to point out problems without offering solutions...", which precisely the weakness of this book. I am not at all suggesting that any human being will be able to find a brilliant solution that helps with the quest for happiness, but I would expect at least some unique theory/opinion if you were going to author a book based on the subject.

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  Dora Tsang said on Mar 9, 2009 | Add your feedback

• 

  A fascinating book. Happiness is our goal in life, and we put so much effort into it. So why are we so bad at it? Well, this book will show you a whole bunch of shortcomings of your own brain that you didn't even know about. Very interesting cognitive psychology backed up by experimental findings, G ... (continue)

  A fascinating book. Happiness is our goal in life, and we put so much effort into it. So why are we so bad at it? Well, this book will show you a whole bunch of shortcomings of your own brain that you didn't even know about. Very interesting cognitive psychology backed up by experimental findings, Gilbert has written a gem.

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  audioreader said on Aug 15, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 

  I listened to this book, read by the author. Very nice insight into my thoughts and decision making processes.

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  Toothcentral said on Jul 27, 2007 about the Audio CD edition | Add your feedback

Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 336 Pages
• Edition: Reprint
• ISBN-10: 1400077427
• ISBN-13: 9781400077427
• Publisher: Vintage
• Pub date: Mar 20, 2007
• Dimensions: 1290 mm x 839 mm x 129 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Hardcover, Audio CD and Others
• In other languages: other languages 繁體書

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