Happiness: The Science behind Your Smile
by Daniel Nettle
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Book Summary Information
Author: Daniel NettleEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-07
ISBN: 0192805592
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of Happiness: The Science behind Your Smile
Book Review: Excellent Overview of an Interdisciplinary Subject
Summary: 5 Stars
This book delves between Economics, Psychology, Neuroscience and Evolutionary Biology to try and survey our general understanding of human happiness, and discuss the major ways in which happiness can be measured. Nettle does a good job of moving quickly from topic to topic, summing up the necessary data without going into too much detail in any particular place. This book is not an in-depth study in and of itself, but provides a good starting point for people interested in learning more. (It ends with a "Further Reading" section which suggests the book's purpose is exactly that.)
The one major criticism I have of the book is that there are some places (just a few!) where Nettle proves unable to resist the temptation to insert his own theories and explanations without very much supporting evidence. He seems particularly keen to dismiss external conditions as strongly affecting happiness, in favor of his theory that "neuroticism" is responsible for the greatest differences. He also puts forth that the increased happiness found in married individuals is probably mostly temporary, and a large spike in happiness for newlyweds may be driving the average up. While there is nothing wrong with either hypothesis *as such*, he does little to make these cases, and they're put forth fairly prominently.
Still, this is a minor criticism. For the range of topics it covers, and its relatively short length, this book contains a wealth of information and ideas for further places to study happiness.
Summary of Happiness: The Science behind Your Smile
Bringing together the latest insights from psychiatry, psychology, and philosophy, Daniel Nettle sheds light on happiness, the most basic of human desires. Nettle examines whether people are basically happy or unhappy, whether success can make us happy, what sort of remedies to unhappiness work, why some people are happier than others, and much more.The book is packed with fascinating observations. We discover the evolutionary reason why negative thoughts are more powerful than positive ones. We read that happiness varies from country to country, for example, the Swiss are much more happy than Bulgarians. And we learn that, in a poll among people aged 42 years old--peak mid-life crisis time--more than half rated their happiness an 8, 9, or 10 out of 10, and 90% rated it above 5. Nettle, a psychologist, is particularly insightful in discussing the brain systems underlying emotions and moods, ranging from serotonin, to mood enhancing drugs such as D-fenfluramine, which reduces negative thinking in less than an hour; to the part of the brain that, when electrically stimulated, provides feelings of benevolent calm and even euphoria. In the end, Nettle suggests that we would all probably be happier by trading income or material goods for time with people or hobbies, though most people do not do so.
Happiness offers a remarkable portrait of the feeling that poets, politicians, and philosophers all agree truly makes the world go round.
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