Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. Dan is Professor of Psychology at Harvard. He illustrates research in psychology and economics proving people misunderstand how they feel (happiness) when they are both successful and unsuccessful achieving tasks.
Daniel begins each chapter with a quote from Shakespeare in context. He is also witty and I enjoyed his humor throughout the book.
Rather interestingly, Dan is allowing the reader to understand the differences between stumbling “on” happiness versus stumbling “upon” happiness. Much of this is how you learned as a child.
Our key trait (imagination) has empowered our world to build amazing structures. At the same time our imagination misfires in our own judgement regarding happiness. Yet imagination cannot be turned off. So it means you may find yourself unhappy forever.
Here is another key discovery from Dan: — your “future self” will think why did you believe you would be happy because your family or friends raved about it?
Slow cooker not working?
Can you recall for example hearing about a (slow cooker) that has great reviews from family or long time friends, only to acquire it and realize how unhappy you are with the functionality of the slow cooker?
Do you catch yourself understanding that judgements from others about that product actually fails to meet your expectations over time? In some instances you may even question your own happiness by admitting that you should be happier since your family or friends convinced you that a slow cooker was a worthy purchase.
