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.
