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Stumbling on Happiness
Stumbling on Happiness | Daniel Gilbert
A smart and funny book by a prominent Harvard psychologist, which uses groundbreaking research and (often hilarious) anecdotes to show us why were 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 hadnt gotten on the plane at the end of Casablanca, would she and Bogey have been better off? Smart, witty, accessible and laugh-out-loud funny, Stumbling on Happiness brilliantly describes all that science has to tell us about the uniquely human ability to envision the future, and how likely we are to enjoy it when we get there. From the Hardcover edition.
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JoyBlue
Stumbling on Happiness | Daniel Gilbert
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Panpan

Advertised as “witty“ and even “hilarious,“ and being compared to books by Malcolm Gladwell, I expected to be much more interested/fulfilled. I was practically bored to death. Gilbert isn't nearly as witty as he thinks himself, and he beats every idea/example to death. Bottom line: we're lousy at predicting what will make us happy and largely disinterested in choosing more wisely. [See more in comments.]

JoyBlue Almost every example I shared with my DH, DH said came from the research of Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman (and his research partner), which could be read in (the later-published) Thinking Fast and Slow. 5y
JoyBlue At the very end of the book, Gilbert suggests that, as we're so lousy at predicting our happy outcomes, we should ask someone who's *right now* going through what we're contemplating for the future. He says that we're hardly unique (as we all believe ourselves to be), so employing a surrogate and doing what they're doing now (assuming they report being happy with their results) is a much better way to predict our future happiness. 5y
58 likes2 comments
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IuliaC
Stumbling on Happiness | Daniel Gilbert
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The results of these studies are not very encouraging for women aspiring to be mothers 🤪

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RobinGustafson
Stumbling on Happiness | Daniel Gilbert
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“...this is a book that describes what science has to tell us about how well the human brain can imagine its own future, and about how and how well it can predict which of those futures it will most enjoy.” Foreword, p.xvii

#planning #planningforthefuture #stumblingonhappiness #sundayreading

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CatchMyBookBreath
Stumbling on Happiness | Daniel Gilbert
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A friend at work was wondering what books i think everyone should read. I said these two are a start but that's a looooong list.
Which books are at the top of your 'everyone needs to read this' pile?

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PirateJenny
Stumbling on Happiness | Daniel Gilbert

I know I'm not the only Litten who works in publishing but I'd like to take a minute and say how happy it makes me when I stumble across someone enjoying a book a worked in. That's one of the main reasons I do what I do.

CrowCAH So cool! As an aspiring author, I'll thank you for all the work you do to make a manuscript into a book! 😊 7y
9 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Donnasmiles
Stumbling on Happiness | Daniel Gilbert
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Anyone read this one? I was listening to a podcast this am and the speaker said it was one of his favs...I will let you know...looking forward to it.

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stylizedreading
Stumbling on Happiness | Daniel Gilbert
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The eighth day of the #12DaysofBookmas is dedicated to trees and wreaths. The flocked holly wreath I have seemed perfect for this. It's also pretty coincidental that the book had red berries (cherries) as well.

Laura317 So pretty!! 8y
SusanInTiburon Very pretty. 8y
Nerdfins Lovely! 8y
74 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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Librarylady
Stumbling on Happiness | Daniel Gilbert
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What could make me happier than an afternoon at the pool with a good book?