Stumbling on Happiness

Daniel Gilbert is Harvard College Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He has won numerous awards for his teaching and research, including the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology. His research has been covered by The New York Times Magazine, Forbes, Money, CNN, U.S. News & World Report, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, Self, Men's Health, Redbook, Glamour, Psychology Today, and many others. His short stories have appeared in Amazing Stories and Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, as well as other magazines and anthologies. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

出版者:Knopf

作者:Daniel Gilbert

页数:304

出版时间:2006-05-02

价格:USD 24.95

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9781400042661

图书标签:心理学psychologyHappiness幸福心理Daniel.Gilbert积极心理学英文原版

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 patients remember long medical procedures as being less painful than short ones? Why do home sellers demand prices they wouldn’t dream of paying if they were home buyers? Why are shoppers happier when they can’t get refunds? 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, witty, and accessible 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. Vividly bringing to life the latest scientific research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioral economics, Gilbert 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. With penetrating insight and sparkling prose, Gilbert explains why we seem to know so little about the hearts and minds of the people we are about to become.</p>

读后感

我本以为这本书会告诉我们一些实用的，关于幸福的箴言，然而这本书虽然不是纯学术的，但也绝对称不上工具书，丹尼尔用一些社会统计和研究实验的方法，特别理性地得出了一些结论，但仅仅是结论而已，并不能告诉我们如何才能得到幸福。这本书逻辑性太强，我只能切取其中一些有感...  

首先，这不是一本温情脉脉救世主式的Self-help Book，Gilbert在前言里很明确地表示: This is not an instruction manual that will tell you anything useful about how to be happy. Those books are located in the self help section and once you've bought one, done ever...  

只有激情，那只是短暂的 只有意义，有可能是痛苦的。 幸福是什么呢？ 可能真的有些答案是 猫吃鱼，狗吃肉，奥特曼打小怪兽。 不过其实，这些都只是激情而已。 其实真正的幸福是： 猫吃到了自己努力抓到的鱼，狗吃了主人特地为他买来的肉肉，奥特曼打败了一个马上要毁灭地球...

且不说书好书坏，就说一条：这书的书名就是坑人。它从头到尾介绍的都是人做的计划和对未来的决定为什么是不准的，怎样才能准。 应该叫《哈佛规划课》。 再说内容，很多都和丹·艾瑞里教授的《怪诞行为学》重复了。虽然这两本书可能没有个先来后到，但我看这两本书却是有先后...  

我本以为这本书会告诉我们一些实用的，关于幸福的箴言，然而这本书虽然不是纯学术的，但也绝对称不上工具书，丹尼尔用一些社会统计和研究实验的方法，特别理性地得出了一些结论，但仅仅是结论而已，并不能告诉我们如何才能得到幸福。这本书逻辑性太强，我只能切取其中一些有感...  

用户评价

Since memory and imagination are not completely reliable, people can't deal with the past and the future in a reasonable way. This book is not an instruction manual of how to become happy or in Tal Ben-Shahar's words, to become happier. You have to find your own way elsewhere.

还是蛮有意思的

跟鸡汤毫无关系，科学地论证了为什么想象不靠谱，因为我们会填补空白，用当前去设想未来以及没有考虑到一旦事情发生，完全跟现实不一样，尤其是坏的事情。我们能够做到的是，"our great big brains do not allow us to go surefootedly into our futures, they at least allow us to understand what makes us stumble."

前面几章节太多关于科学研究；实验数据的解释，不利于扩大阅读对象。

虽然有啰嗦，作者的类比也过于生活化，但是内容不错文笔流畅，同类书中佼佼者。