I am reading a remarkable book, by Daniel Gilbert, entitled: Stumbling On Happiness. It speaks to the Researcher archetype in me... the one who was enthralled as a psychology major with explanations of the curiosities of human behavior. Psychology is, at best, the synergy of a multitude of minor illuminations that have been woven together to reveal the universal pathologies of the human mind. I love the beauty of this paradoxical science - the attempts to measure the subjective experience that is beyond objective measurement - due to the fact that the absolute truth can never be known as long as human's are the one doing the measuring. It is a fascinating predicament, that I love getting tangled in from time to time.


The book is a masterful work of a Harvard psychology professor who has weaved together research on the inherent pitfalls of imagination, foresight, and expectations as they relate to happiness. I find pleasure in any work that challenges the most basic tools that I use in my personal and professional practice (namely: imagination and sensation)... asking me to question, refine, and evolve my perspectives, making them more sound and viable. I highly recommend it!

From the website:

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 presumed. 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.

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

BTW, you may even enjoy this one even if you are one who is typically overwhelmed by fact and figures. Gilbert's writing style is funny, satirical, and sometimes even has me laughing out loud. Enjoy!