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Daniel Gilbert

Stumbling on happiness

There are plenty of books that try to tell you how to be happy, but Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert isn't one of them. Rather it is an explanation of why we often fail miserably in this quest. In particular it explains why we are so bad at predicting the future. Although we're pretty good at predicting the immediate outcome of what we do, predictions about something that is more than a day or so ahead are a different matter entirely. We're especially bad at predicting how we will feel after some event - a significant failing as we try to organise our lives to consist of what we think will make us happy.

Gilbert is a professor of psychology at Harvard, and draws upon plenty of psychological experiments to demonstrate how our minds work, and so to make his case. However, the book never reads like an experimental report. Rather it is full of witty comments, examples of illusions and even the odd card trick. I'm not sure whether this book will help you to find long term happiness - it may well provide a few pointers. But in the short term - well Gilbert is clearly a skilled writer and has produced a book that is certainly fun to read.

Amazon.com info

Paperback 336 pages
ISBN: 1400077427
Salesrank: 1425
Weight:0.45 lbs

Published: 2007 Vintage

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Amazon.co.uk info

Paperback 352 pages
ISBN: 0007183135
Salesrank: 46683
Weight:0.44 lbs

Published: 2007 HarperPerennial

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Amazon.ca info

Paperback 336 pages
ISBN: 0676978584
Salesrank: 4947
Weight:0.59 lbs

Published: 2007 Vintage Canada

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Amazon.com
Do you know what makes you happy? Daniel Gilbert would bet that you think you do, but you are most likely wrong. In his witty and engaging new book, Harvard professor Gilbert reveals his take on how our minds work, and how the limitations of our imaginations may be getting in the way of our ability to know what happiness is. Sound quirky and interesting? It is! But just to be sure, we asked bestselling author (and master of the quirky and interesting) Malcolm Gladwell to read Stumbling on Happiness, and give us his take. Check out his review below. --Daphne Durham Guest Reviewer: Malcolm Gladwell *Malcolm Gladwell is the author of bestselling books Blink* and The Tipping Point, and is a staff writer for The New Yorker.** Several years ago, on a flight from New York to California, I had the good fortune to sit next to a psychologist named Dan Gilbert. He had a shiny bald head, an irrepressible good humor, and we talked (or, more accurately, he talked) from at least the Hudson to the Rockies--and I was completely charmed. He had the wonderful quality many academics have--which is that he was interested in the kinds of questions that all of us care about but never have the time or opportunity to explore. He had also had a quality that is rare among academics. He had the ability to translate his work for people who were outside his world. Now Gilbert has written a book about his psychological research. It is called Stumbling on Happiness, and reading it reminded me of that plane ride long ago. It is a delight to read. Gilbert is charming and funny and has a rare gift for making very complicated ideas come alive. Stumbling on Happiness is a book about a very simple but powerful idea. What distinguishes us as human beings from other animals is our ability to predict the future--or rather, our interest in predicting the future. We spend a great deal of our waking life imagining what it would be like to be this way or that way, or to do this or that, or taste or buy or experience some state or feeling or thing. We do that for good reasons: it is what allows us to shape our life. And it is by trying to exert some control over our futures that we attempt to be happy. But by any objective measure, we are really bad at that predictive function. We're terrible at knowing how we will feel a day or a month or year from now, and even worse at knowing what will and will not bring us that cherished happiness. Gilbert sets out to figure what that's so: why we are so terrible at something that would seem to be so extraordinarily important? In making his case, Gilbert walks us through a series of fascinating--and in some ways troubling--facts about the way our minds work. In particular, Gilbert is interested in delineating the shortcomings of imagination. We're far too accepting of the conclusions of our imaginations. Our imaginations aren't particularly imaginative. Our imaginations are really bad at telling us how we will think when the future finally comes. And our personal experiences aren't nearly as good at correcting these errors as we might think. I suppose that I really should go on at this point, and talk in more detail about what Gilbert means by that--and how his argument unfolds. But I feel like that might ruin the experience of reading Stumbling on Happiness. This is a psychological detective story about one of the great mysteries of our lives. If you have even the slightest curiosity about the human condition, you ought to read it. Trust me. --Malcolm Gladwell

Amazon.com

Do you know what makes you happy? Daniel Gilbert would bet that you think you do, but you are most likely wrong. In his witty and engaging new book, Harvard professor Gilbert reveals his take on how our minds work, and how the limitations of our imaginations may be getting in the way of our ability to know what happiness is. Sound quirky and interesting? It is! But just to be sure, we asked bestselling author (and master of the quirky and interesting) Malcolm Gladwell to read Stumbling on Happiness, and give us his take. Check out his review below. --Daphne Durham

Guest Reviewer: Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of bestselling books Blink and The Tipping Point, and is a staff writer for The New Yorker.

Several years ago, on a flight from New York to California, I had the good fortune to sit next to a psychologist named Dan Gilbert. He had a shiny bald head, an irrepressible good humor, and we talked (or, more accurately, he talked) from at least the Hudson to the Rockies--and I was completely charmed. He had the wonderful quality many academics have--which is that he was interested in the kinds of questions that all of us care about but never have the time or opportunity to explore. He had also had a quality that is rare among academics. He had the ability to translate his work for people who were outside his world.

Now Gilbert has written a book about his psychological research. It is called Stumbling on Happiness, and reading it reminded me of that plane ride long ago. It is a delight to read. Gilbert is charming and funny and has a rare gift for making very complicated ideas come alive.

Stumbling on Happiness is a book about a very simple but powerful idea. What distinguishes us as human beings from other animals is our ability to predict the future--or rather, our interest in predicting the future. We spend a great deal of our waking life imagining what it would be like to be this way or that way, or to do this or that, or taste or buy or experience some state or feeling or thing. We do that for good reasons: it is what allows us to shape our life. And it is by trying to exert some control over our futures that we attempt to be happy. But by any objective measure, we are really bad at that predictive function. We're terrible at knowing how we will feel a day or a month or year from now, and even worse at knowing what will and will not bring us that cherished happiness. Gilbert sets out to figure what that's so: why we are so terrible at something that would seem to be so extraordinarily important?

In making his case, Gilbert walks us through a series of fascinating--and in some ways troubling--facts about the way our minds work. In particular, Gilbert is interested in delineating the shortcomings of imagination. We're far too accepting of the conclusions of our imaginations. Our imaginations aren't particularly imaginative. Our imaginations are really bad at telling us how we will think when the future finally comes. And our personal experiences aren't nearly as good at correcting these errors as we might think.

I suppose that I really should go on at this point, and talk in more detail about what Gilbert means by that--and how his argument unfolds. But I feel like that might ruin the experience of reading Stumbling on Happiness. This is a psychological detective story about one of the great mysteries of our lives. If you have even the slightest curiosity about the human condition, you ought to read it. Trust me. --Malcolm Gladwell

Entertaining Enlightenment *****
It is with great pleasure that I offer my highest recommendation for Stumbling on Happiness. I was impressed with the engaging style and humor with which Dan Gilbert explores the topic of happiness. Though most people spend their lives in blind pursuit of it, very few ever come to fully understand what happiness truly is and even fewer are fortunate enough to recognize and appreciate the experience of happiness as it occurs. This book will not make you very happy. As a matter of fact, it will systematically challenge beliefs about the concept of happiness that you may not have ever known you even had in the first place. What this book may do for you is what it did for me, which was to provide me with an opportunity to look at happiness through a more enlightened set of eyes. It was this very process that allowed me to gain a better idea of what happiness isn't and in turn, to develop a more solid understanding of what happiness means to me. I particularly enjoyed Daniel Gilbert's use of hypothetical scenarios to illustrate his points. There were many of these theoretical situations that I could easily relate to and which helped to shed light on things I had never really understood, like why I always seem to feel more enthusiastic about going to a social event when I make the commitment to attend than I do when the time to fulfill that commitment actually arrives. Readers who approach Stumbling on Happiness with an open mind will likely stumble upon a more realistic understanding of what it means to be truly happy but will ultimately have to define happiness on their own terms.

Entertaining Enlightenment *****

It is with great pleasure that I offer my highest recommendation for Stumbling on Happiness. I was impressed with the engaging style and humor with which Dan Gilbert explores the topic of happiness. Though most people spend their lives in blind pursuit of it, very few ever come to fully understand what happiness truly is and even fewer are fortunate enough to recognize and appreciate the experience of happiness as it occurs.

This book will not make you very happy. As a matter of fact, it will systematically challenge beliefs about the concept of happiness that you may not have ever known you even had in the first place.

What this book may do for you is what it did for me, which was to provide me with an opportunity to look at happiness through a more enlightened set of eyes. It was this very process that allowed me to gain a better idea of what happiness isn't and in turn, to develop a more solid understanding of what happiness means to me.

I particularly enjoyed Daniel Gilbert's use of hypothetical scenarios to illustrate his points. There were many of these theoretical situations that I could easily relate to and which helped to shed light on things I had never really understood, like why I always seem to feel more enthusiastic about going to a social event when I make the commitment to attend than I do when the time to fulfill that commitment actually arrives.

Readers who approach Stumbling on Happiness with an open mind will likely stumble upon a more realistic understanding of what it means to be truly happy but will ultimately have to define happiness on their own terms.

Best book I've read in 2 years *****
This is an awesome book written with no little wit and incredible insight. It's like Blink but with humor. If you want to know why you make bad decisions, why you think like you do and why having kids isn't what it's cracked up to be, you need to check this out.

Best book I've read in 2 years *****

This is an awesome book written with no little wit and incredible insight. It's like Blink but with humor.

If you want to know why you make bad decisions, why you think like you do and why having kids isn't what it's cracked up to be, you need to check this out.

Owner for 2 years and still haven't finished **
I have to admit I've really struggled to finish this book...in fact after many attempts, I've barely made it through half. The book is a bit trite and was not intriguing enough to hold my attention!

Owner for 2 years and still haven't finished **

I have to admit I've really struggled to finish this book...in fact after many attempts, I've barely made it through half. The book is a bit trite and was not intriguing enough to hold my attention!

Thought provoking, but doesn't provide solutions to the challenges posed ****
When you're deciding about what will make you happy in the future, do you think about things you enjoyed in the past? Do you imagine yourself in the future to imagine how you would feel? If you answer yes to these types of questions, Gilbert's book presents some interesting perspectives that will probably make you think twice about doing it again. For example, he discusses how (from a very scientific point of view) our imaginations fool us by doing things like imposing how we feel today on how we think we'll feel in the future. While he makes great points about how the way people predict what will make them happy is inherently flawed, I thought he fell a bit short in suggesting alternative ways to make predictions. While it's helpful to know that people who take risks are happier in the long run, I'm still not willing to risk jumping off a cliff in the hope I can actually fly.

Thought provoking, but doesn't provide solutions to the challenges posed ****

When you're deciding about what will make you happy in the future, do you think about things you enjoyed in the past? Do you imagine yourself in the future to imagine how you would feel? If you answer yes to these types of questions, Gilbert's book presents some interesting perspectives that will probably make you think twice about doing it again. For example, he discusses how (from a very scientific point of view) our imaginations fool us by doing things like imposing how we feel today on how we think we'll feel in the future. While he makes great points about how the way people predict what will make them happy is inherently flawed, I thought he fell a bit short in suggesting alternative ways to make predictions. While it's helpful to know that people who take risks are happier in the long run, I'm still not willing to risk jumping off a cliff in the hope I can actually fly.

Not all it's cracked out to be... ****
Are you a tremulous bride on your wedding day? You have been looking forward to this day as the 'best day of your life' but are now a nervous wreck. Have you just gotten the long-awaited promotion and are now overwhelmed with stress and maybe even regret? Are you a new parent, stressed out by the burden of responsibility and lack of sleep and feeling guilty for not being ecstatically happy all the time? Then, Daniel Gilbert's book is for you. In finely crafted and precise prose, the author describes the pitfals of 'Great Expectations'. Things that we most look forward to are often not quite as attractive when we get to experience them first-hand. So, is there a way to predict our satisfaction with something that is touted as end-all and be-all? Yes, carefully watch the ones already there. Maybe death is so scary to us because the first hand 'experiencers' are a bit hard to get a hold of...

Not all it's cracked out to be... ****

Are you a tremulous bride on your wedding day? You have been looking forward to this day as the 'best day of your life' but are now a nervous wreck.

Have you just gotten the long-awaited promotion and are now overwhelmed with stress and maybe even regret?

Are you a new parent, stressed out by the burden of responsibility and lack of sleep and feeling guilty for not being ecstatically happy all the time?

Then, Daniel Gilbert's book is for you. In finely crafted and precise prose, the author describes the pitfals of 'Great Expectations'. Things that we most look forward to are often not quite as attractive when we get to experience them first-hand.

So, is there a way to predict our satisfaction with something that is touted as end-all and be-all? Yes, carefully watch the ones already there.

Maybe death is so scary to us because the first hand 'experiencers' are a bit hard to get a hold of...

Really interest approach to the Happiness Question ****
Not a 'how to be' book at all, but a popular treatment of issues in cognitive psychology which uses happiness as something of a test bed. And despite its lack of aspiration to tell us how to be happy, it still has some very useful insights into how to avoid regrets and disappointments.

Really interest approach to the Happiness Question ****

Not a 'how to be' book at all, but a popular treatment of issues in cognitive psychology which uses happiness as something of a test bed. And despite its lack of aspiration to tell us how to be happy, it still has some very useful insights into how to avoid regrets and disappointments.

Witty and engaging but unlikely to bring you happiness. ***
This is a well researched book that is both witty and engaging and makes the rather dry subject of psychology fun to dip into. Unfortunately, if you're currently feeling depressed or in search of meaning in your life or in your quest for happiness then you're very unlikely to find it within the pages of this book. The authors compulsion to be continually amusing becomes tiresome after reading only a few chapters of the book so by the time I reached the Q & A section at the end of the book where the interviwer asks Gilbert if he is an optimist and is told " No sorry, I don't know the first thing about making eyeglasses", I realised that I had wasted my time reading this book. Instead of reading 'Stumbling on Happiness' I should have picked up my copy of 'Learned Optimism' by Martin Seligman and re-read that instead - a book by an eminent psychologist that knows how to write with warmth and humour and really does teach a thing or two about happiness in the process.

Witty and engaging but unlikely to bring you happiness. ***

This is a well researched book that is both witty and engaging and makes the rather dry subject of psychology fun to dip into.

Unfortunately, if you're currently feeling depressed or in search of meaning in your life or in your quest for happiness then you're very unlikely to find it within the pages of this book.

The authors compulsion to be continually amusing becomes tiresome after reading only a few chapters of the book so by the time I reached the Q & A section at the end of the book where the interviwer asks Gilbert if he is an optimist and is told " No sorry, I don't know the first thing about making eyeglasses", I realised that I had wasted my time reading this book.

Instead of reading 'Stumbling on Happiness' I should have picked up my copy of 'Learned Optimism' by Martin Seligman and re-read that instead - a book by an eminent psychologist that knows how to write with warmth and humour and really does teach a thing or two about happiness in the process.

no solutions just a little more self awareness ****
Gilbert mentions more than once that his friends are frustrated by his continual identifying of problems without providing solutions. Stumbling on Happiness is definitely not a self-help book but it may make you look askance at some of your most engrained truths about what you want from life. The section on the personal satisfactions of parenthood(p220-2 in my copy) is particularly unnerving. The graph showing how parents' happiness changes with the age of their children is brutal and more than a little bit scary if you don't have children yet. The plea for us to base more of our decisions about the future based on evidence from people experiencing the consequences of those decisions right now is likely to fall on deaf ears. We all like to believe that we are beautiful unique snowflakes.

no solutions just a little more self awareness ****

Gilbert mentions more than once that his friends are frustrated by his continual identifying of problems without providing solutions. Stumbling on Happiness is definitely not a self-help book but it may make you look askance at some of your most engrained truths about what you want from life.

The section on the personal satisfactions of parenthood(p220-2 in my copy) is particularly unnerving. The graph showing how parents' happiness changes with the age of their children is brutal and more than a little bit scary if you don't have children yet.

The plea for us to base more of our decisions about the future based on evidence from people experiencing the consequences of those decisions right now is likely to fall on deaf ears. We all like to believe that we are beautiful unique snowflakes.

Convincing... but then... you might have different preferences *****
The book puts forward a very convincing and persuading argument. The problem is though, I don't think it applies to everyone. And since it speaks about what you would want for your future and how you'll really feel about it - the generalizations are a bit harsh. For me, it was an eye-opener. I feel like I might actually fit into the group of people who the book touches upon, but I doubt everyone - from every culture would follow this schema. If you take that into account, and do not gulp down every persuasive argument therein, it does hold alot of useful information that will help you make the right choices. It reminds me of the tipping point and the paradox of choice in writing style.

Convincing... but then... you might have different preferences *****

The book puts forward a very convincing and persuading argument. The problem is though, I don't think it applies to everyone. And since it speaks about what you would want for your future and how you'll really feel about it - the generalizations are a bit harsh. For me, it was an eye-opener. I feel like I might actually fit into the group of people who the book touches upon, but I doubt everyone - from every culture would follow this schema. If you take that into account, and do not gulp down every persuasive argument therein, it does hold alot of useful information that will help you make the right choices. It reminds me of the tipping point and the paradox of choice in writing style.

Popular psychology ****
This book is about human imagination: according to the author, that is the one thing that separates humans from other animals. Our power to imagine makes it possible for us to come up with all these possibilities and futures. And perhaps some happiness, too? Yet so very often we make bad decisions, misestimate, choose the wrong option. Why? It turns out our marvelous brains are a shoddy tool. According to research - and Gilbert quotes plenty of that - humans are really bad at knowing how we feel: we might know how we feel now, but both estimating how we will feel in the future and remembering how we felt about something in the past are surprisingly hard tasks. Our brains come up with all these details - all fake, because we can't remember everything. Yet our brains are so good at what they do that we don't even realize we're remembering stuff our brains just made up. No wonder we make bad decisions. Stumbling upon happiness isn't as inspiring as the best popular science books are, but nevertheless, it's a fine look at what modern psychology has to offer. It gives some rather delicious anecdotes, has some rather good insight and is certainly entertaining enough. Stumbling on happiness is worth reading, if you're interested in figuring out how you think the way you do.

Popular psychology ****

This book is about human imagination: according to the author, that is the one thing that separates humans from other animals. Our power to imagine makes it possible for us to come up with all these possibilities and futures. And perhaps some happiness, too? Yet so very often we make bad decisions, misestimate, choose the wrong option. Why?

It turns out our marvelous brains are a shoddy tool. According to research - and Gilbert quotes plenty of that - humans are really bad at knowing how we feel: we might know how we feel now, but both estimating how we will feel in the future and remembering how we felt about something in the past are surprisingly hard tasks. Our brains come up with all these details - all fake, because we can't remember everything. Yet our brains are so good at what they do that we don't even realize we're remembering stuff our brains just made up. No wonder we make bad decisions.

Stumbling upon happiness isn't as inspiring as the best popular science books are, but nevertheless, it's a fine look at what modern psychology has to offer. It gives some rather delicious anecdotes, has some rather good insight and is certainly entertaining enough. Stumbling on happiness is worth reading, if you're interested in figuring out how you think the way you do.

I Thought I Knew How To Be Happy *****
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.

I Thought I Knew How To Be Happy *****

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.

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 the human psyche and human biology, so Mr. Gilbert tends does the same on the subject of happiness. According to Mr. Gilbert, the research on happiness from cognitive studies, psychology, and economists tells us that wee are poor predictors of our future mental states. Sheesh! All of this data and research to remind us of the thing that many have already known for thousands of years: that what we imagine to be a tragedy is seldom as tragic as our imaginings just as what we imagine to be a gloriously happy experience is seldom as glorious as our imaginings...a state of mind most apparent for anyone who has ever spent a couple of hours among children at Christmas and Birthdays. Among the questionable assertions from Mr. Gilbert is the claim that having children doesn't make parents more `happy'. When asked during a radio interview to explain why so many parents claim that they are much happier because of their children he claims that if we measure the amount of time parents are happy compared to when they are not, then we can claim that on the balance, children don't make parents happier. Of course, I don't believe any parent wouldn't agree that parenting is hard work... and parenting involves more moments of hard work than moments of fun and frolic with the kids. However, contrary to the old adage that hard work yields greater reward, Mr. Gilbert would have us believe that if we are finding the work hard, it must follow that we are not particularly happy with the work. In the end, one is left wondering just what Mr. Gilbert means by the word `Happiness' in the first place. As a physicist and science educator, I don't place much scientific stock in the rather over-inflated claims of the `behavioral sciences'. More often than not the mental states that are being studied are subjective, ill-defined, and the variables are incalculably complex and difficult to control. To make matters worse, the scientists often simultaneously rely on human experience to collect data only to conclude that human experience is an unreliable apparatus for data collection. Not that you'd ever hear that from the behaviorists. I think Mr. Gilbert himself summed up the problems with this area of research himself when he was discussing the matter with the Dali Lama in response to the claim that Buddhism seeks to eliminate negative emotional states through meditation. `You know what we call a species with no negative emotions (fear, etc)?' asks Mr. Gilbert rhetorically... `Extinct'. `We have emotions for good reason', claims Mr. Gilbert, `you shouldn't be happy when you step in front of a [moving] bus.' One wonders how much more successful the amoeba, cockroach, and dandelion might have been today had they been blessed with the benefit of (what Mr. Gilbert also calls unreliable) human emotions? Such is the regular and usually circular rambling of the Church of Social Darwinism. I just hope no one mistakes it for science. Mike Flynn - Ottawa

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 the human psyche and human biology, so Mr. Gilbert tends does the same on the subject of happiness.

According to Mr. Gilbert, the research on happiness from cognitive studies, psychology, and economists tells us that wee are poor predictors of our future mental states. Sheesh! All of this data and research to remind us of the thing that many have already known for thousands of years: that what we imagine to be a tragedy is seldom as tragic as our imaginings just as what we imagine to be a gloriously happy experience is seldom as glorious as our imaginings...a state of mind most apparent for anyone who has ever spent a couple of hours among children at Christmas and Birthdays.

Among the questionable assertions from Mr. Gilbert is the claim that having children doesn't make parents more `happy'. When asked during a radio interview to explain why so many parents claim that they are much happier because of their children he claims that if we measure the amount of time parents are happy compared to when they are not, then we can claim that on the balance, children don't make parents happier. Of course, I don't believe any parent wouldn't agree that parenting is hard work... and parenting involves more moments of hard work than moments of fun and frolic with the kids. However, contrary to the old adage that hard work yields greater reward, Mr. Gilbert would have us believe that if we are finding the work hard, it must follow that we are not particularly happy with the work. In the end, one is left wondering just what Mr. Gilbert means by the word `Happiness' in the first place.

As a physicist and science educator, I don't place much scientific stock in the rather over-inflated claims of the `behavioral sciences'. More often than not the mental states that are being studied are subjective, ill-defined, and the variables are incalculably complex and difficult to control. To make matters worse, the scientists often simultaneously rely on human experience to collect data only to conclude that human experience is an unreliable apparatus for data collection. Not that you'd ever hear that from the behaviorists. I think Mr. Gilbert himself summed up the problems with this area of research himself when he was discussing the matter with the Dali Lama in response to the claim that Buddhism seeks to eliminate negative emotional states through meditation. `You know what we call a species with no negative emotions (fear, etc)?' asks Mr. Gilbert rhetorically... `Extinct'. `We have emotions for good reason', claims Mr. Gilbert, `you shouldn't be happy when you step in front of a [moving] bus.' One wonders how much more successful the amoeba, cockroach, and dandelion might have been today had they been blessed with the benefit of (what Mr. Gilbert also calls unreliable) human emotions? Such is the regular and usually circular rambling of the Church of Social Darwinism. I just hope no one mistakes it for science.

Mike Flynn - Ottawa

"How do you feel?" *****
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]

"How do you feel?" *****

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]