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Ultimately it is an exploration of the concept and experience of human happiness rather than a guide to its acquisition, but for what it is, it's a fascinating and witty book by an intelligent and talented author. That line was the one that sold me on the book and I headed for the checkout chuckling all the while.
The Harvard professor's writing style is so accessible and entertaining that I found myself wishing that I could have taken his classes. Along with the academic research and empirical studies are descriptions that are absolutely laugh-out-loud funny.
First of all, I really enjoyed reading Daniel Gilbert's bestseller, Stumbling on Happiness. But when he goes on to say that he will hold that opinion at least until he "sees a chimpanzee refuse a fudgesicle because he thinks he already looks too fat in shorts." That's hilarious.
For example, he asserts that the ability to imagine ourselves in a future shaped by our actions is the main the difference between people and animals. That's interesting.
Ironically, for someone as gifted in humor as Gilbert is, he makes no mention of the experience of laughter or humor and it's connection to the experience of happiness.As an explanation of happiness--it's evolutionary roots and value to our survival--Stumbling on Happiness is insightful if a little depressing to take something so wonderful and unique as the emotion of joy and gut it of its poetry with reductionist materialistic explanations that you may find, as I did, to be at times almost as tenuous and dogmatic as a purely spiritual explanation might be to a scientist like Gilbert. Dave CapertonAuthorHappiness Is a Funny Thing
Happiness in your workplace is almost a holy grail particularly as happy people are more productive and this goes triple for the founder of a business and when I Saw Dan's TED talk I felt he was on to something and reading stumbling on happiness proved so useful to me that I referenced it in my own book Stone Soup: The Secret Recipe for Making Something from Nothing as you see when founding a business (or even a non-profit) if you as the founder are not going to end up happy working in what you have started then you are simply not going to mak it.So I thoroughly recommend you read Stumbling on Happiness if you are going to start a business just so you really understand how bad you will be at predicting how happy your own business will make you and then actually do take Dan's advice before you go and start any business go and find someone else who has succeeded in starting something similar and ask them if they are happy and why because that will be a better guide for you than your own imagination.
Gilbert cleverly reveals some of the most unexpected facts about human behavior and thought. He wittily shows us some of the most faulty tendencies of our thinking. This book is a very interesting read, and makes me look at my thoughts, expectations, and ideas in a very different light.
We regularly fail at predicting what will make us happy and unhappy and to what degree. However, we mis-predict in some regular ways which we should all be aware of. This book provides insight.
This book makes some good points and is worth a read. Sometimes, it's just around the corner, or something very complex that you need a masters degree to understand. So happiness is put on hold, your life goes on, and that is just the way it is. S. S. Smith.If you walked up to people on the street and asked them; What is your definition of happiness. I think many people are looking in all the wrong places for happiness.From, "It's About You" by E. Or, it is reserved for the select few (the chosen ones).
If I had a million dollars, I'd be happy.If I could just have what they have, I'd be happy.If I could just get in shape, I'd be happy.If I could just get that perfect job, I'd be happy.When I retire, I'll be happy.The list goes on forever.In this country the answers seem to gravitate around money or material possessions. Happiness seems to be somewhere off in the future, or outside ourselves; we are not able to ever quite get there. For an understanding of happiness, which is finding your true wants and needs, read, "It's About You" by E. Smith
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