The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt
Last nite I finished this book. Anyone who knows me at all could figure this one would end up in my hands, I can't resist the title. I love reading about happiness, I'm a voyeur that way. But, me aside, please. My boss Dave handed it to me a week ago or so. Hmmmm.
Overall I feel appreciation for the way Jonathan presents his case. It's a gift really, a wonderful exploration of the topic, covering all the interesting angles, with just enough compassionate, thoughtful opinion mixed in with loads of research from everywhere. As a psychologist he could have written this for his peers, but, thankfully, he wrote it for us.
I am always inspired by a person who is willing to look at all the available sides of a "story" and to listen with an attitude of learning, not just confirming what they already believe. It is refreshing to have this kind of material presented so maturely. It actually seems like a kind gift of love from him.
For me, I found his scientific psychological explanations provocative, even after he kind of implies that the Buddha didn't have it "all" right! Science, who knew?
He doesn't end with the magical bullet that I've been infamously searching for, but maybe he does. He carefully and kindly brings together much of what has been learned by humans from all over time and space, and reminds us of what matters over and over again, in all kinds of places and cultures. It's not that hard really. The quest for happiness is about finding what's important to you, and taking care of it. I think we can do this, don't you? We must.
I recommend the book, it was obviously a major undertaking on Jonathan's part, and I greatly appreciated his efforts to do the exploration and package it up with all of us in mind.
[Photo from Pass Mountain. Click for full size]
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