Review: Stumbling on Happiness
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Todd GilbertMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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When you see a title like stumbling on happiness, you might expect a guide with advice on something like meditation, exercise etc. But this book is entirely different.
The book treats the study of a happiness from a purely scientific standpoint. It deals with studies around measures of happiness, the fact that we imagine our happiness, and fail to predict how happy we will be, we imagine our past, future etc., deals with study of memory, money et al.
I would highly recommend this book to everyone with or without any science inclination. This book has truth bombs abound after every few pages on the human condition. Will definitely lead you to think in new ways.
Key takeaways:
1. We are the only animals who can imagine. But our imagination is flawed, leaves out a lot of details and is biased towards our current condition.
2. Money brings happiness till a certain limit if you are out of abject poverty, then it is diminishing returns.
3. To judge your future state as close to actual as possible, do not rely on your own judgement. You are just a normal monkey, nothing special. Find out someone who is in the same current state as your imagined future state. They can give you a better idea of how they feel.
A lot more truth bombs, but the above are just what I remember now.
So, four stars from me.
The book treats the study of a happiness from a purely scientific standpoint. It deals with studies around measures of happiness, the fact that we imagine our happiness, and fail to predict how happy we will be, we imagine our past, future etc., deals with study of memory, money et al.
I would highly recommend this book to everyone with or without any science inclination. This book has truth bombs abound after every few pages on the human condition. Will definitely lead you to think in new ways.
Key takeaways:
1. We are the only animals who can imagine. But our imagination is flawed, leaves out a lot of details and is biased towards our current condition.
2. Money brings happiness till a certain limit if you are out of abject poverty, then it is diminishing returns.
3. To judge your future state as close to actual as possible, do not rely on your own judgement. You are just a normal monkey, nothing special. Find out someone who is in the same current state as your imagined future state. They can give you a better idea of how they feel.
A lot more truth bombs, but the above are just what I remember now.
So, four stars from me.
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