Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Vintage (2007), Edition: First Edition, Paperback, 336 pages
Description
Psychology. Self-Improvement. Nonfiction. HTML:NATIONAL BESTSELLER �?� Bringing to life scientific research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics, this witty, accessible book reveals what scientists have discovered about the uniquely human ability to imagine the future, and about our capacity to predict how much we will like it when we get there. �?� Why are lovers quicker to forgive their partners for infidelity than for leaving dirty dishes in the sink? �?� Why will sighted people pay more to avoid going blind than blind people will pay to regain their sight? �?� Why do dining companions insist on ordering different meals instead of getting what they really want? �?� Why do pigeons seem to have such excellent aim; why can�??t we remember one song while listening to another; and why does the line at the grocery store always slow down the moment we join it? In this brilliant book, renowned Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert describes the foibles of imagination and illusions of foresight that cause each of us to misconceive our tomorrows and misestimate our satisfactions. With penetrating insight and sparkling prose, Gilbert explains why we seem to know so little about the hearts and minds of the people we ar… (more)
Media reviews
Gilbert has a serious argument to make about why human beings are forever wrongly predicting what will make them happy. Because of logic-processing errors our brains tend to make, we don't want the things that would make us happy — and the things that we want (more money, say, or a bigger house
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or a fancier car) won't make us happy. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member jcbrunner
A funny introduction to the strange apparatus we all carry in our head. In his efforts to entertain, the author excels in presenting weird family examples as well as a plethora of psychology experiments. The overall effect, however, is shallow - just like fast food, its nurture value is low. I
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often wished to find pointers to other books but only got the author's assurances and jokes. I find reading "Influence", a similar book also written by a psychology professor, more stimulating. Show Less
LibraryThing member mabeline
Interesting tidbits about how the mind works, but didn't really all come together to explain why people are or aren't happy. It suffered by comparison to the book I read this just before it: "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. "Flow" was a much more satisfying
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(and positive) exploration of what makes us happy. Show Less
LibraryThing member OnorioCatenacci
A thoroughly fascinating read that manages to examine neurology, psychology and a few other related disciplines to explain why it is that we're so bad at determining what it is that will make us happy.
LibraryThing member peter.g
Thought provoking and often humorous, this book may not show the way to happiness, but it does a very good job of pointing out how the shortcomings of our thinking process lead to us all making similar mistakes when it comes to finding happiness.
LibraryThing member vnovak
He has some interesting ideas and research results - the basic premise is that people are not very good at figuring out what will make them happy. However, I really didn't like the style of his writing. The examples he made up to illustrate concepts ended up being more distracting than
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illustrative, and his humor is not all that funny. Show Less
LibraryThing member pecochran
Very interesting book. I thought it was well done, and amusing. Didn't take itself too seriously, but some good info.
LibraryThing member kjsheeha
really interesting- how we fool ourselves and each other b/c of the weaknesses of our minds. our inability to accurately remember or predict our own reactions to things. we shoot ourselves in the foot when it comes to being happy.
LibraryThing member JulieFauble
For the most part, a very interesting and readable review of studies on happiness, satisfaction, etc. Lots of interesting information and insights on how our brains work. The ending was disappointing, and I felt like it was a bit of a cop-out. He could write another whole book explaining what he
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blithely pronounced in his last chapte Show Less
LibraryThing member wvlibrarydude
I enjoyed the review on social psychology research of the mind, how our memory and emotions work, and his statement that imagination is what separates us from other animals. All of this with a good sense of humor. Thoughtful and enjoyable.
I still believe that happiness went undefined, and the my
I still believe that happiness went undefined, and the my
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original understanding that happiness depends mostly on our own state of mind. We can choose to be happy or not. Show Less
LibraryThing member Arctic-Stranger
Philosophers from Aristotle to Bentham have said that happiness is the focus of human activity, but if that is true, then a) what is happiness, and b) why is it so hard to be happy?
Gilbert takes on these issues (and others) by trying to explain to us how our brains process the world we are trying
He has a humorous writing style ("If we adhere to the standard of perfection in all our endeavors, we are left with nothing but mathematics and the White Album" and later he "measures" the happiness of people given either a million dollars or a pistol, to see if happiness really is a warm gun).
I am still unclear as to his overall premise, (something about happiness) and sometimes he sacrifices content for clarity, his examples are always very clear and informative, and often very surprising.
Gilbert takes on these issues (and others) by trying to explain to us how our brains process the world we are trying
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to be happy in.He has a humorous writing style ("If we adhere to the standard of perfection in all our endeavors, we are left with nothing but mathematics and the White Album" and later he "measures" the happiness of people given either a million dollars or a pistol, to see if happiness really is a warm gun).
I am still unclear as to his overall premise, (something about happiness) and sometimes he sacrifices content for clarity, his examples are always very clear and informative, and often very surprising.
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LibraryThing member hulalula
an excellent read that helps you understand how your brain actually hinders your ability to find happiness. Bottom line for me: look to others' experiences and their estimation of happiness to help you determine your own - the truth is in the aggregate, much like what separates the science of
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medicine from anecdotal evidence. Show Less
LibraryThing member kidrah
This book would have been so much better if it was written by Malcolm Gladwell... wait, it was... it was called Blink! Or, it would have been better as an article - oh, wait, it was an article in an Economist issue a few months ago (and in 4 pages, it was better than this book). This is a
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collection of anecdotes of social psychology experiments, tidbits on human behavior, and seinfeld-esq commentary ("do you notice how we...") without any real cohesive thesis. I can't even remember what I'm supposed to take away from the book beyond the obvious tenets: 1) humans don't really predict their own future well; 2) we are not that satisfied when we get what we thought we wanted. But, the only value is the cool social psychology experiments that he discusses. Show Less
LibraryThing member psiloiordinary
A fascinating tour around the inside of your very own skull.
Wow things make a lot more sense now I have read this. It is yet to be seen if knowing this stuff will mean I change anything, according to the book itself probably not, but I think knowing how your own mind works does help you cope with
Lots of anecdotes to illustrate his points which actually turn out to be scientific studies, so you get the entertainment and the facts in one go.
Written like he is whispering into your ear. No he isn't point scoring he is just as human/bad/good at this stuff as the rest of us.
A good suggestion for any misanthropists out there.
A clear solution to feeling happy whihc of course no one will ever take any heed of.
Entertaining, enlightening and full of "Hey listen to this . . . " moments.
He is now on my reading list.
Wow things make a lot more sense now I have read this. It is yet to be seen if knowing this stuff will mean I change anything, according to the book itself probably not, but I think knowing how your own mind works does help you cope with
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it better when it is mis-behaving.Lots of anecdotes to illustrate his points which actually turn out to be scientific studies, so you get the entertainment and the facts in one go.
Written like he is whispering into your ear. No he isn't point scoring he is just as human/bad/good at this stuff as the rest of us.
A good suggestion for any misanthropists out there.
A clear solution to feeling happy whihc of course no one will ever take any heed of.
Entertaining, enlightening and full of "Hey listen to this . . . " moments.
He is now on my reading list.
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LibraryThing member shawnd
I would expect more from a faculty member at Harvard. I am seeing more and more in psychology books or sociology books -- except for Malcolm Gladwell thank God -- this trend for professors or authors to put in content about themselves. Use 'I' and other voices. And this is not because it's
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necessary, it's gratuitous. Gilbert not only does this, he goes into aside from personal anecdotes, talking about his personality and other things that seem to this reader rather arrogant. I'm not reading to know more about him. All that said, which pretty much ruined this for me, he does have a good concept. I've heard the concept from a couple of psychological studies/experiments, but no where is it merged, catalogued, and presented here. The idea especially that we all can be happy or will be just as happy very untied from our outside circumstances -- whether than means winning the lottery, or what Gilbert goes into more, having birth defects or being in jail wrongly, etc. His attempt to get at the underlying psychology of this is also appreciated and I wouldn't reject most of his claims. Show Less
LibraryThing member Tam_Lin
Interesting, but Gilbert tries far too hard to be cute. It comes out as being quite forced.
LibraryThing member Carlie
So it turns out that we have no idea what will make us happy, although we rarely fail to think we do. This book is chock full of examples from real-life psychological experiments all based on what people think will make them happy and demonstrating how far off they really are. We use all sorts of
Quote from the book:
"Our ability to project ourselves forward in time and experience events before they happen enables us to learn from mistakes without making them and to evaluate actions without taking them. If nature has given us a greater gift, no one has named it. And yet, as impressive as it is, our ability to simulate future selves and future circumstances is by no means perfect. When we imagine future circumstances, we fill in details that won't really come to pass and leave out details that will. When we imagine future feelings, we find it impossible to ignore what we are feeling now and impossible to recognize how we will think about the things that happen later."
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psychological devices to foresee our futures: imagination, subjectivity, realism/presentism (space think), rationalization, others' experiences, etc. What does all this jargon tell us? We have an amazing ability to imagine both our pasts and futures, but we are dead wrong about what we felt and will feel in the future.Quote from the book:
"Our ability to project ourselves forward in time and experience events before they happen enables us to learn from mistakes without making them and to evaluate actions without taking them. If nature has given us a greater gift, no one has named it. And yet, as impressive as it is, our ability to simulate future selves and future circumstances is by no means perfect. When we imagine future circumstances, we fill in details that won't really come to pass and leave out details that will. When we imagine future feelings, we find it impossible to ignore what we are feeling now and impossible to recognize how we will think about the things that happen later."
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LibraryThing member madcurrin
A very pleasant discovery and not at all what I was expecting. Rather than 'how to be happy' it explains why we can never predict how happy we will be in the future. Easy and entertaining to read. One of those books you wish you could remember every point to impress your friends with at dinner
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parties. Show Less
LibraryThing member sillysampi
This is a very thought-provoking book. Gilbert is makes this potentially dry subject into an easy and exciting read. This is not a self-help book, but somehow it will make you a bit wiser. Highly recommended.
LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
This book delves into the human psyche to show what makes us happy and what causes these feelings of happiness. It also shows how we often fail to achieve happiness and why. It does not claim to fix anything but rather to explain. The author does so with a great deal of humour which makes the book
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easy to read and understand. Show Less
LibraryThing member PointedPundit
Every psychologist vows to one day complete the sentence, “The human being is the only animal that . . .”
Most wait until late in their careers to complete the sentence. They know, intuitively, the worse they do, the better they will be remembered. In this book, Daniel Gilbert, a psychology
In a witty, well-written and insightful fashion, he uses the latest research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy and behavioral economics to illustrate our ability to imagine the future and our capacity to predict whether we will like it when we arrive there.
Foresight is a fragile commodity. Happiness is not found using a simple formula. In answering “the question,” Gilbert entertains while he illuminates many of the reasons why we stumble in our visions of the future. The subject is not new, but Gilbert’s treatment is novel, perceptive and amusing.
Penned by the Pointed Pundit
December 9, 2006
12:04:35 PM
Most wait until late in their careers to complete the sentence. They know, intuitively, the worse they do, the better they will be remembered. In this book, Daniel Gilbert, a psychology
Show More
professor at Harvard College argues “The human being is the only animal that thinks about the future.”In a witty, well-written and insightful fashion, he uses the latest research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy and behavioral economics to illustrate our ability to imagine the future and our capacity to predict whether we will like it when we arrive there.
Foresight is a fragile commodity. Happiness is not found using a simple formula. In answering “the question,” Gilbert entertains while he illuminates many of the reasons why we stumble in our visions of the future. The subject is not new, but Gilbert’s treatment is novel, perceptive and amusing.
Penned by the Pointed Pundit
December 9, 2006
12:04:35 PM
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LibraryThing member dvf1976
A good book that's in the same vein as Gladwell's books.
I've tried alot of the experiments on my wife and she doesn't give the results that the book would lead me to think she should get.
I'd like to think I would give answers divergent from the results in this book too. And that I'm pretty good at
Unfortunately, that may just be me fulfilling the misapprehension the book says people have about their own uniqueness.
I've tried alot of the experiments on my wife and she doesn't give the results that the book would lead me to think she should get.
I'd like to think I would give answers divergent from the results in this book too. And that I'm pretty good at
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predicting how to create my own happiness.Unfortunately, that may just be me fulfilling the misapprehension the book says people have about their own uniqueness.
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LibraryThing member Lenaphoenix
This is pretty much the opposite of a self-help book. Instead of telling you how you can be happier, Harvard Psychology professor Gilbert talks about why we are so bad at predicting what will make us happy in the first place. Gilbert is a smooth and entertaining writer, and he does a good job of
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explaining in detail the cognitive errors we make in trying to predict our future happiness. For those who hope to gain some practical value from the book, Gilbert also outlines one technique that has been effective in predicting future happiness, but then goes on to discuss the reason why the vast majority of humans won’t use it. Still, I found the book more uplifting than depressing, as there’s something comforting about knowing that everyone else makes the same kinds of mistakes that I do, and the mind is much more skilled at finding happiness in unexpected places than we imagine. Show Less
LibraryThing member duck2ducks
Really fascinating - it reminds me of when I first read [book:Brain Tricks], ten years ago, and how revelatory a lot of the explanations of our minds' workings were to me at the time. I'd like to take some time to thumb through it a few more times and review the ideas within; they're that good and
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that useful. Also, the author has a very relaxed and enjoyable writing style; for such a potentially dry subject matter, he's quite a funny read! ("My friends tell me that I have a tendency to point out problems without offering solutions, but they never tell me what I should do about it.") Show Less
LibraryThing member aarondesk
A great book - what makes us happy and why.
LibraryThing member RichardEarl
Gilbert writes about our perceptions of what will "make us" happy, sad, satisfied.... He supports his points by outlining current research. This is a book about the difficulties of decision making and our ability to predict how we will feel.
This is not a 1, 2, 3 book of how to be happy. A good read
This is not a 1, 2, 3 book of how to be happy. A good read
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based on psychological research. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize (Shortlist — 2007)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2006
Physical description
336 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
1400077427 / 9781400077427