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Stumbling on Happiness (Hardcover)

by Daniel Gilbert (Author)

4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Knopf Canada; 1 edition (May 2 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0676978576
ISBN-13: 978-0676978575
Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.8 x 3.3 cm
Shipping Weight: 477 g

Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #85,162 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Not offering a self-help book, but instead mounting a scientific explanation of the limitations of the human imagination and how it steers us wrong in our search for happiness, Gilbert, a professor of psychology at Harvard, draws on psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy and behavioral economics to argue that, just as we err in remembering the past, so we err in imagining the future. "Our desire to control is so powerful, and the feeling of being in control so rewarding, that people often act as though they can control the uncontrollable," Gilbert writes, as he reveals how ill-equipped we are to properly preview the future, let alone control it. Unfortunately, he claims, neither personal experience nor cultural wisdom compensates for imagination's shortcomings. In concluding chapters, he discusses the transmission of inaccurate beliefs from one person's mind to another, providing salient examples of universal assumptions about human happiness such as the joys of money and of having children. He concludes with the provocative recommendation that, rather than imagination, we should rely on others as surrogates for our future experience. Gilbert's playful tone and use of commonplace examples render a potentially academic topic accessible and educational, even if his approach is at times overly prescriptive. 150,000 announced first printing.(May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From AudioFile

Humans often fail at predicting what will make them happy in the future. Weaving together information from a variety of scientific and economic sources, psychology professor Gilbert explores why we know so little about the preferences of the people we're about to become. A terrific narrator of his own work, Gilbert revels in sharing his quirky research--he may be an academic, but his writing is witty and accessible, and he sounds like an entertaining acquaintance who's explaining his ideas rather than reading them. This is not a self-help book (how to be happy), but a well-researched explanation of why we think like we do (how we stumble along in our search for happiness). Listeners will come away from this top-notch production both entertained and enlightened. J.C.G. ¥¥¥ © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index

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Customer Reviews

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4.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

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31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "How do you feel?", Jul 6 2006

By	Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Among the many snappy one-liners spicing the "Star Trek" films, this one, issued by a computer to the resurrected Mr Spock, stands out particularly. Then, it seemed a poor joke. Now, a computer posing such a question is no longer a speculative idea. With many studies of the brain's signal intensity of our outlook on various topics, the question, even if posed indirectly, is valid. The problem, as Gilbert explains, is that we really don't have a secure answer. "Happiness", he reminds us, is a complex emotion with countless factors weighing in on how we view it. In this intriguing study, the author brings a wealth of experience and the work of many researchers into this examination of our various ways of considering what makes us "happy".

While this book asks serious questions, recounting how cognitive sciences have revealed some of the answers, this is hardly a ponderous academic study. Gilbert's lively wit ameliorates some of the grim episodes he must use to impart how science has considered these issues. How can a man wrongfully imprisoned for thirty-seven years declare his incarceration "a glorious experience"? More significantly, who are we to judge his viewpoint as "impossible" or "misguided"? Gilbert acknowledges that most of us would view askance such a judgement of a legal mis-judgement. He also contends that both viewpoints are correct - if considered in their actual frame of reference. Our problem is that we have our own views of what comprises happiness, and projecting it on how others should feel is an error. Compounding that situation is that our own view of our own happiness is likely out of whack.

One of the major points this author proposes is that any attempt we make to forecast what will bring us happiness will almost surely prove false. Part of the reason for this comes from what studies have shown the brain to be doing "behind our backs". Because the multitude of sensory inputs and body function regulation roles keep the brain so busy, it often has to make judgements based on incomplete information. Among the choices it faces, the mind may settle on something positive whether or not factual or complete supportive information is available. That is what our "consciousness" perceives and considers valid. Even new information may not dislodge this choice from our consideration. How "individual" this selection process is has been borne out by studies of twins - even conjoined twins, who certainly ought to reflect common thoughts for what gives pleasure. It is clear, therefore, that judging our own happiness or that of others is fraught with the likelihood of error. Delusion about what brings happiness isn't merely a possibility. It's fundamental to how we handle values.

The other side of this coin is why our approach to happiness appears to be a human universal. The mechanisms that lead us to consider happiness arose with the enlargement of our frontal cortex beginning some two million years ago. Although that sounds like a long time, it's an "eyeblink in the evolutionary time scale". The brain's new capacities gave us the power to imagine. "Imagination", Gilbert argues, is the ability to fabricate a mental image of the future. We have an ability no other creature possesses. We can ponder options, imagine scenarios, consider various paths to follow. We can thus consider what will make us happy. Regrettably, we are unable to choose accurately, because that same cognitive power grants the brain the means to select ways and means with no real capacity for choosing reliably.

Gilbert's conclusion to all the research he's summarised is necessarily vague. After all, we aren't dealing with physical trauma or human values in this survey. The topic is how we view our wishes and desires. It's not the sort of thing we feel is normally amenable to analysis or correction. It's a very individual view. Or is it? Gilbert finds that the multitude of "self-help" books might have something to say to us after all. They reflect, he says, a set of things we all hold dear and wish to achieve. While we all treasure our uniqueness, it turns out that people in similar circumstances pretty much strive for similar aims. There are no formulas to follow to achieve happiness. We can only imagine what we would like to have or be, and can only reflect on past endeavours and rewards gained. Our big brains, he concludes, with all its powers, can best be used to allow us to understand what makes us stumble into happiness. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Piece of the Puzzle, Nov 28 2008

By	Steve S. (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Stumbling on Happiness (Paperback)

Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert offers worthwhile and readable discussion of how our minds work -- and, more importantly, how they sometimes fail. This is not a self-help book, but reading it may well help you understand how your own mind works. It certainly helped me.

Everyone agrees that the human mind is an incredibly complex and powerful device. But it certainly is not perfect. When it does not have all the information -- which, by necessity, is almost always -- it fills in with estimates, guesses and predictions. Usually, the mind is so effective and efficient that we do not even notice. Other times, however, our minds end up fooling themselves, which is to say, us.

Gilbert offers a look behind the curtain of how our mind creates our understanding of the past, the present and the future. In each case, the mind employs different methods, and its vision is therefore subject to different kinds of errors. Our ability to remenber how we felt in the past is less than perfect, Gilbert points out. Our ability to predict how we will feel about an event in the future, however, can be even more misguided.

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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Thought I Knew How To Be Happy, April 1 2007

By	Michael A. Rousell "Sudden Influence: How Spo... (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Stumbling on Happiness (Paperback)

Gilbert's expose about how we just don't have a clear path to happiness makes sound sense. I found myself happily reading along, stumbling upon funny anecdote after intriguing illustration. He paints a clear picture, humorously approached, on how happiness happens to us rather than resulting from a planned experience. He's right of course: If we really knew what would make us happy, we'd all be much happier. Oddly enough, learning why and how we blindly search for happiness, often sabotaging our own efforts with ill-conceived plans and ideas, brings us closer to enjoying our lives. After reading his delightfully written and soundly researched gem, I now feel closer to making a path to my own happiness: let happiness erupt and enjoy its fleeting presence.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Social Pseudosciences don't make me happy.
I have read and listened to Mr. Gilbert several times in the past few years and I find that just as behavioral sciences tend to stumble through and oversimplify the complexity of... Read more

Published on Oct 1 2006 by Michael Flynn