Stumbling on Happiness
A smart and funny book by a prominent Harvard psychologist, which uses groundbreaking research and (often hilarious) anecdotes to show us why we're so lousy at predicting what will make us happy -- and what we can do about it.Most of us spend our lives steering ourselves toward the best of all possible futures, only to find that tomorrow rarely turns out as we had expected. Why? As Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert explains, when people try to imagine what the future will hold, they make some basic and consistent mistakes. Just as memory plays tricks on us when we try to look backward in time, so does imagination play tricks when we try to look forward. Using cutting-edge research, much of it original, Gilbert shakes, cajoles, persuades, tricks and jokes us into accepting the fact that happiness is not really what or where we thought it was. Among the unexpected questions he poses: Why are conjoined twins no less happy than the general population? When you go out to eat, is it better to order your favourite dish every time, or to try something new? If Ingrid Bergman hadn't gotten on the plane at the end of Casablanca, would she and Bogey have been better off?Smart, witty, accessi
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Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert uses research from his lab and others to show that the imagination we use to picture our future selves is full of predictable bugs that mislead us about what will make us happy.
Stumbling on Happiness is Daniel Gilbert's argument that humans are systematically bad at predicting what will make us happy. The book draws on social psychology research on affective forecasting and decision-making.
Daniel Gilbert is a Harvard psychologist whose research is well-established. Some specific studies cited in the book have been challenged by replication efforts, but the core findings on affective forecasting remain influential.
Stumbling on Happiness was written by Daniel Todd Gilbert, published in 2006 by A.A. Knopf.
Stumbling on Happiness is 310 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Stumbling on Happiness takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Stumbling on Happiness is a standalone novel by Daniel Todd Gilbert, not part of a series.
Stumbling on Happiness is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
