Happy Mind: The Philosophy and Science of Happiness

Katherine Power reviews Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert.

 

With style, and plenty of wit, Daniel Gilbert argues that what distinguishes humans from other animals is our ability to predict the future. Even so, our imagination does not always work wonders and we are often in the dark about what will make us happy – or unhappy. What's more, we are not much better when it comes to remembering past joys and sorrows.

 

"Despite the third word of the title, this is not an instruction manual that will tell you anything useful about how to be happy," says Gilbert. "Those books are located in the self-help section two aisles over, and once you've bought one, done everything it says to do and found yourself miserable anyway, you can always come back here to understand why."

 

True enough, this isn't a self-help book, but Gilbert does offer one recommendation: don't rely exclusively on imagination, but, when contemplating a course of action, use the experience of others who have gone through it – a better indicator, according to Gilbert, of what will make us happy. 

 

© Katherine Power 2006.

Katherine E. Power is a freelance writer and the editor of Happy Mind. Her website can be found at: www.katherinepower.com.