The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom (edition 2006)

I literally just finished this book by Jonathan Hiadt 5 minutes ago, and it was an intriguing and thought-provoking read. Applying modern science to ancient wisdom is a nice way of remodifying the way we perceive the world in order to make us happier in life. The elephant (desire) and rider (rational self) was a great metaphor to describe how the elephant is an autonomous pleasure-seeking vehicle that translocates us as it pleases, and how the rider, at times, refuses what the elephant wants but is reluctantly taken to wherever the elephant desires (the book explains methods to remedy this). Also, he explains how opposition or contradiction--such as in east's collectivist culture and west's individualist culture; and liberalism and conservatism--are essential for change, group cohesion, and moving forward.

"When opponents of evolution object that human beings are not mere apes, they are correct. We are part bee." -Jonathan Haidt

"Happiness requires changing yourself and changing your world." -Jonathan Haidt

"The big greedy self is like a brick holding down the soul."
-Jonathan Haidt

"The self does not like to be denied, and it is adept at finding reasons to bend the rules or cheat." -Jonathan Haidt

"If you are in passionate love and want to celebrate it, read poetry. If your ardor has calmed and you want to understand your evolving relationship, read psychology. But if you have just ended a relationship and would like to believe you are better off without love, read philosophy." -Jonathan Haidt

"It is a good primer, a good balanced beginning text."
read more: http://likeiamfeasting.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/happiness-hypothesis-jonathan-haid... ( )

This is a fascinating book. Haidt has mined the latest (as of 2005) psychological findings and refracted them through ancient teachings on human happiness. The result is an engaging, thoroughly informed and thought-provoking narrative on human nature, behavior, and aspiration. Once I started I could barely put it down. Now to re-read it with my notebook and pen handy. ( )

"Quantity undermines the quality of our engagement. With such a vast and wonderful library spread out before us, we often skim books or read just the reviews. We might already have encountered the Greatest Idea, the insight that would have transformed us had we savored it, taken it to heart, and worked it into our lives." - The Happiness Hypothesis is not a self-help book, but a very well written psychological view of Happiness. Taking concepts from ancient wisdom and the Bible - adding in modern psychological research -- Haidt confirms what the ancients already knew. Happiness comes from the striving and progress, not from having. Happiness comes from relations with others, not things. We should follow the Golden Rule, but it is difficult because it is very easy to see faults in others, but not faults in ourselves. "The mind is divided into parts that sometimes conflict. Like a rider on the back of an elephant, the conscious, reasoning part of the mind has only limited control of what the elephant does." ( )

Jonathan Haidt doesn’t believe in angels and doesn’t accept reports from people that do. He does however believe in evolution and is quite convinced it is the operative cause of everything we are and can ever hope to be. So with that premise in mind he explores human happiness.
The research he presents is often fascinating, helpful and quite humorous. There is much to be gained by all of us in studying what makes us happy and what we can do to move ourselves into the happy column of life and away from sadness and its always worse than welcome cousin, depression. This is an extremely worthy subject and I would say quite challenging for a determined atheist. Jonathan tells his readers that he is an atheist. I do wonder why Jonathan couldn’t say he was agnostic. It would seem to fit more with his commitment to science and research to say one doesn’t know about God than to put one in the group that believes he has garnered enough evidence to prove that God does not exist. But this is for another day.
Regarding the subject of happiness, no matter what spin you put on this, as an atheist, you will not escape its daunting conclusions. Jonathan refers to, and as no surprise, confidently concludes that happiness while not really out there (there is no divine meaning or purpose to life), can only be something that you bring from within. I disagree with that conclusion but do agree with another conclusion of his that Happiness is found not so much in achieving the goal, as it is in the action of pursuing the goal as we relate to people, or engage in activities. This is a valuable insight and Jonathan credits much to ancient wisdom for this understanding. We today, more than not, hear a different message, that happiness is not found in the activity but only in the final getting, having, and acquiring of the things we desire. Jonathan, through much of his research shows that we miss the truth that happiness is really found in the doing, in the action, in the relationship in the activities themselves as they relate to ones goals in life. This is nothing more than Aristotle. Again Jonathan has to remind us of his premise and conclude that it is really evolution that is the driving force behind our happiness. He does suggest that we have some freewill in the process. You can make choices so as to bring on the positive evolutionary effects. Of course all this hypothesizing and research will not quite get yourself off the ground since the most it will get you is “an act as if it is real” kind of experience.
This is what makes Jonathan’s task so daunting. For being an atheist and an evolutionist you must conclude that you are really only electrical synapses in a fleshly body with nothing more real than that. This brings me back to angels. Remember the shepherds on the hill watching their flocks and an angel of the Lord appeared bringing good news? It seems to me we really have only two choices, either to accept the testimony of Jonathan and others like him who say, life is only what you can see and test - there is nothing more. Or you can consider that an angel really did bring news. There is hope. Life need not end in death for us to be dissolved back into the dirt to be recycled into some different form of matter. The angel did speak and he spoke of God, love, hope and the resurrection of the body into life everlasting. That is the ancient wisdom of faith. Now there is some real happiness! ( )