Incredible book.

the author unifies his treatment of happiness, with some rather happy metaphors, viewing new psychological research in the perspective of ancient wisdom.

But in his treatment of hypocracy, he sounds rather silly, because he seems to deny the existance of good and evil. And almost in the next breath, he seems to say that judgementalism is , uh, dare we say "evil"?

None the less, it is an excellent book on how to be happy -- not going Buddist, and disengaging from the joys of life to avoid the sorrows, but rather choosing the right sorts of pleasures, the ones that one can look back on and feel good about.

This is my favorite genre and I've come to expect either somewhat labored attempts at humor, painfully long examples, or a dead dull list of facts. This book is different. Every sentence and chapter is interesting and meaningful. There is a great mix of psychology and philosophy - of insight and thought provoking ideas. This is the best book I've listened to (or read) in a long time.

Amazing insight into how humans think including one's own thinking processes. If all the world could read and understand this book, I believe we could literally end war. If you want insight into why young gang members kill each other, or why the terrorists hit the world trade centers, you'll find it in this book. Contrary to what the Bush administration would have you believe, they don't hate us because of our 'freedom'. I've been coming back again and again to chapter 4 - 'the faults of others' whenever I get to feeling I'm right and everybody else is wrong. Guess what? - We all feel right(righteous) and everybody else is wrong. Its built into our brain chemistry for evolutionary purposes. If you can recognize that - it takes the rightousness out a little bit.

It's not really a self help book at all, it's more like a guide to the human brain, if you ever wonder why you think you are so much different then everybody else, this book will explain why you are not and why you are almost exactly like the rest of us, it also tells us what brain functions make us believe in religion, and so much more, I rate this book a must read, even if you have no knowledge about brain anatomy and functions.
The book offers some insight into early philosophy and it draws parallels to modern brain research, but that part is just publicity.
Other must read books Phantoms in the brain Ramachandran, origin of species Darwin