Guy's Reviews > Stumbling on Happiness

First thing you need to know about this book: it's cognitive psychology, not self-help. To Gilbert's credit, he states this clearly early on... but by then, for many purchasers, it will be too late, since the cover fairly shouts "Self-Help!!".

So, to be clear: "Stumbling on Happiness" won't do much to help you be happy, but it will help you understand some of the many reasons as to why, despite our best efforts, we so often fail to be so.

But only some of the reasons, and frankly only some of the simpler and more basic ones. Gilbert is interested in, and explains well, how the brain works to construct reality as we experience it... and how some common mistakes we make can therefore be understood. He has nearly nothing to say, however, about the social and cultural context in which people live, and the many and various ways in which the wider world influences our happiness (or lack thereof).

Ultimately therefore, this is akin to reading a book about what optical illusions tell us about the brain's visual system, rather than a critical analysis of painting that explains why we perceive one work as a masterpiece and the next as merely ordinary. And this matters, because creating happiness is not just a question of the plumbing of the brain (although it is clearly important to understand this too); it is more like creating a masterpiece.

Last complaint: despite a fairly engaging style and some humour, this is closer to being an academic thesis than a popular science book. I felt it could have been boiled down to about fifty pages without losing much. There are some interesting and amusing studies and anecdotes... but there are many more that just make the same or closely related points over and over.

Bottom line: interesting, but somewhat misleading and not a must-read.