GREAT READ: The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt

The Happiness Hypothesis, by Jonathan Haidt, is a wonderful, interesting Social Psychology light book (240 pages) rich with thinking that will be remembered for years to come.

This book uses narrative writing to start with the concept of a divided mind (by the way, the first chapter is free online on Haidt’s [pronounced “Height”] WEBSITE). This is one of the main analogies that will stick with me for years: Haidt’s divided mind is not two people arguing in a room or Freud’s Ego, Id, and Superego. Haidt imagines an ELEPHANT with a little rider on top. The elephant is everything we want to do and much of what behaviorists and social scientists know about human psychology, some of which we are born with. The RIDER (I guess the prefrontal cortex) is really more of an advisor to the elephant, since it’s one of the most recent adaptations of our powerful brains. It doesn’t control as much as we think it does.

The rest of the book takes that analogy and explores 2) how to shift the mind/elephant, 3) Reciprocity and human nature, 4) Hypocrisy, 5) Where happiness really comes from, 6) Attachments, 7) Adversity, 8) Character, and Morality and religion before wrapping things up.

It’s a brilliant narrative explanation, interpretation, summary, an analysis of SO MANY other experiments, literary works, historical texts (including the “three great zones of classical thought: India…, China…, and the cultures of the Mediterranean….”).

Readers who have read a lot will recognize some of what he discusses, but I’ll imagine they’ll find his way of weaving all of this together as mostly fresh. Readers who have not read as much philosophy (which I will admit I often find generally dry and boring) will find a profound wealth of new texts and references to explore.

Unless you’ve read a hundred books that sound similar, this is one of those books that every human should read. It explains a LOT. This is a book I will definitely read multiple more times in my life, and I have a lot of books. Anyone wanting to know why people behave the way they do, or why they can’t seem to diet, or get over their anger, this book will give you more clarity.

NOTE: Just so readers know, Haidt tends to lean more left in politics and he states that he is an “atheist,” but in my opinion, he treats all of these topics and conversations with grace and awareness – I think even most/many religious readers (definitely agnostics or spiritualists or Buddhists) and many conservatives will still find this read fully worth their time.