Stumbling on Happiness

By: Daniel Gilbert

Narrated by: Daniel Gilbert

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

A smart and funny book by a prominent Harvard psychologist, which uses groundbreaking research and (often hilarious) anecdotes to show us why we’re so lousy at predicting what will make us happy–and what we can do about it.

Most of us spend our lives steering ourselves toward the best of all possible futures, only to find that tomorrow rarely turns out as we had expected. Why? As Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert explains, when people try to imagine what the future will hold, they make some basic and consistent mistakes. Just as memory plays tricks on us when we try to look backward in time, so does imagination play tricks when we try to look forward. Using cutting-edge research, much of it original, Gilbert shakes, cajoles, persuades, tricks and jokes us into accepting the fact that happiness is not really what or where we thought it was.

Among the unexpected questions he poses: Why are conjoined twins no less happy than the general population? When you go out to eat, is it better to order your favourite dish every time, or to try something new? If Ingrid Bergman hadn’t gotten on the plane at the end of Casablanca, would she and Bogey have been better off?

Smart, witty, accessible and laugh-out-loud funny, Stumbling on Happiness brilliantly describes all that science has to tell us about the uniquely human ability to envision the future, and how likely we are to enjoy it when we get there.

©2006 Daniel Gilbert (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Stumbling on Happiness is an absolutely fantastic book that will shatter your most deeply held convictions about how your own mind works. Ceaselessly entertaining, Gilbert is the perfect guide to some of the most interesting psychological research ever performed. Think you know what makes you happy? You won’t know for sure until you have read this book.”–Steven D. Levitt, author of Freakonomics

“Everyone will enjoy reading this book, and some of us will wish we could have written it. You will rarely have a chance to learn so much about so important a topic while having so much fun.”–Professor Daniel Kahneman, Princeton University, Winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Economics

“This is a brilliant book, a useful book, and a book that could quite possibly change the way you look at just about everything. And as a bonus, Gilbert writes like a cross between Malcolm Gladwell and David Sedaris.” –Seth Godin, author All Marketers Are Liars

Don’t believe the haters

I was questioning my decision to purchase this book after reading the negative reviews. However, I thought it was great and the haters were missing the point.
In the very first pages of the book the author explains he is not offering solutions for happiness yet people were upset that they felt he didn’t? Actually he does at the end and I will be taking his advice literally.

Interesting, but long.

I really enjoyed this book. Many of the concepts were basic in their principle, but the author did a nice job of presenting them. It was a little long, and while the reader's voice was fine after an hour or so I'd notice my self start to zone out. Otherwise I'd recommend for those interested in cognitive psychology. There were some interesting concepts that were new to me about our ability to "predict" or foresee our futures, and how that affects our expectations that I enjoyed.

Informative, enjoyable, science-based. Loved it!

Great narrator who enjoyably presented intriguing concepts. Best psychology read on happiness so far, and solidly based on scientific research. This one is a keeper, can't wait to listen to it again.

Excellent intellectual read!

If you want to understand why it's so hard to plan for your future read this book! My review won't do it justice but it is packed full of scientific studies and really interesting facts about the human mind. Read it!!

He is a clever and hilarious and brilliant writer

Really really fun to read. I laughed out loud several times. He was able to weave both deep psychological insight and poop jokes together in a way that was appropriate (depending on your level of political correctness), entertaining, and educational. I plan on reading any and all of the rest of his popular literature works.

good overview of our psychology of happiness

The insights into how we behave and why that leads us to be happy or not are presented with humour and stories. The ideas are tied together to weave a web of who we are. it would be nice if the book offered a way to put the knowledge into practice.

Highly recommended

Great book and great performance. Psychology research distilled down to a useful and cohesive argument for why we fail to predict our futures and what will make us happy

A great look into a deep question

I really enjoyed this book and the way it looks at life. Some of the psycho-babble grew a bit tedious, but as the book pressed further things only got more interested. I recommend it to anyone wondering about why we make choices and how we really feel about their outcomes.

This is actually a really good book but..

I really like the concept of this book but I think this is a book that needs to be read rather than listened to.

It’s a “complex” book and you have to be on every minute that you’re listening or else you’ll miss something.
I have to go back multiple times because I got a little distracted but I had to do it a lot with this book.

I would much rather sit down and read this book as I think I would get much more out of it.

Nevertheless, a great view on the human mind and how we think and feel.

good humor

this is a whitty psychological mind bender. full of facts and studies . .