The Happiness Hypothesis

By: Jonathan Haidt

Narrated by: Ryan Vincent Anderson

Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

The author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Anxious Generation shows how a deeper understanding of the world's philosophical wisdom can enrich and transform our lives

Jonathan Haidt skillfully combines two genres-philosophical wisdom and scientific research-delighting the listener with surprising insights. He explains, for example, why we have such difficulty controlling ourselves and sticking to our plans; why no achievement brings lasting happiness, yet a few changes in your life can have profound effects, and why even confirmed atheists experience spiritual elevation. In a stunning final chapter, Haidt addresses the grand question "How can I live a meaningful life?," offering an original answer that draws on the rich inspiration of both philosophy and science.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2006 Jonathan Haidt (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"The Happiness Hypothesis is a wonderful and nuanced book that provides deep insight into the some of the most important questions in life -- Why are we here? What kind of life should we lead? What paths lead to happiness? From the ancient philosophers to cutting edge scientists, Haidt weaves a tapestry of the best and the brightest. His highly original work on elevation and awe -- two long-neglected emotions -- adds a new weave to that tapestry. A truly inspiring book."—David M. Buss, author of The Evolution of Desire

"[T]he psychologist Jonathan Haidt shows in his wonderfully smart and readable The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom [that] modern science and history have a lot to say to each other."—Darrin McMahon, The Washington Post

"In this beautifully written book, Jonathan Haidt shows us the deep connection that exists between cutting-edge psychological research and the wisdom of the ancients. It is inspiring to see how much modern psychology informs life's most central and persistent questions."—Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice

a bit of a mishmash of ideas, but interesting

Overall pretty interesting notions and ideas. Bits on the structure of the brain and the activities that different brain components control was fascinating and may have merited its own book. However, aside from that the book became tedious. The author seemed to skip around ideas about what are the elements of happiness, what are the emotional states that constitute elation associated with religious activity, and where to find wisdom. Overall it was a probably a better listen than it would have been a read. On those activities associated with happiness, specifically strong relationships, fulfilling work, and religious belonging, it seems he didn't have a lot to add that hasn't been discussed in other books. Although an athiest, he does a somewhat spirited defense of those who are religious, arguing that our brains and society have evolved to put us in emotional states that we connect to religious experience. It came off as a bit condescending to religious people, but I'll give him credit on this, since any sort of defense of religiosity probably gets him looked at cross eyed by his academic peers. I had also read his more recent, "The Coddling of the American Mind", which discusses how youth, particularly college age youth, is so much less resilient and more willing to look a the the splinters in others rather than the logs in their own eyes. I was hoping that this book might touch on how the drop in religiosity among youth may have contributed to them less resilient. But alas, the author does not make this connection as I recall. Overall, an interesting book, if a bit sloppy in its organization and presentation. The narrator was also only okay and his presentation didn't seem to fit the material. I would give this a recommendation though, but caveat emptor.

Amazing & Beneficial - A Must Have!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book when I first purchased it, but considering the fact that I highly enjoyed another book that was co-authored by Haidt I decided to give this book a try and am so glad that I did! Not only was this an intriguing book that continuously gave rich information about the mind and how people’s view of the world matters, it also broke down complicated subjects in a way that allowed me to follow along easily and thus reap the benefits of this book’s message. I actually have already listened to it twice and will be going for a third round after finishing a few others.

This book is without a doubt one of my new favorites because of the life-changing advice I was able to absorb, not to mention the fact that it was a delight to get through because of the entertaining way such advice is presented to the reader/listener by the author.

Nailed it!

Might be the best single book that I've read on the way to a happy life.

This book brings together some of the best time-tested ancient wisdom and weighs it against the most current and compelling scientific research relating to happiness; sometimes supporting it, sometimes overturning it, sometimes modifying and expanding on it.

Contrary to what many believe, science does have a great deal to say on some of life's biggest moral and philosophical questions, as this book reveals with refreshing clarity.

Calming book.

This book will help you chill out. Found this book while listening to Joe Rogan's podcast.

Good content, terrible narration.

Haidt should narrate this himself, like he did the righteous mind. There is no substance, subtlety or life in this reading.

Meaning of life = 42 and your relationship to it

I read Harari's Homo Deus before this book and I noticed they use a lot of same examples from science and nature! They also explore similar views like our intersubjective reality and that we perceive it as priority - and thanks to it we build a civilization. It's a bit something like J. Peterson's anthology 12 rules for life (but quite better for me and less autobiographical). There are some similarities in structure with Eric's Barker Barking on the Wrong Tree too. In unison with modern science Haidt concludes that relationships are only source of external happiness (in broad meaning of that word) which mind will not adapt (other sources are internal, flow state for example). It is sort of a vitamin for human psyche. Thanks to this "super-social" evolution/programming we built our civilization (but this vitamin is more or less essential for all mammals and birds too - this phenomena was shown on rats: when there were alone, they took morphine water, when with others, they took normal water). There is not necessary need for physical presence of other people as Tibetian monks shows in their final test before ordination when they are alone for one year, but deeply connected with others through their visualization and other techniques (so social vitamin is internal in some absolute sense too, but its probably more of philosophy/phenomenology question). Indeed its a matter of perception and quality of relationship to others and ourselves - man can be quite alone in a big crowd of people too. There were some damage done to children by behavioral psychologist which denied this vitamin and denies its need without conditioning. Only exception to this "others" vitamin are psychopaths, which can be isolated in prison for extended times and are just bored. If our civilization contains only psychopath, we wouldn't cooperate and didn't had build what we built (yet some small amount of people high on the psychopathic spectrum are useful for exploration and battle, like Neil Armstrong was for example). Therefore psychopaths usually lack meaning and direction in life..

Great psychology book for every one

Great psychology book for every one . One must read it. It's very good for myself

Helped me change my outlook

Good book that helped me at a time when I needed some direction. I feel like this book could be very helpful to people going through tough situations in their lives. Worth a shot at least!

Tame your elephant, cultivate happiness

An in depth analysis into what causes happiness in ones life and how to obtain it. Very informational and informative. Well definitely use what I learned in this book to cultivate more happiness in my life thus making me a better person.

A new awareness for an old condition ....

How can I be happy now? I have struggled with this question all of my 55 years and I typically fall back into "trying harder". This work opened my eyes to the multiple dimensions that must be considered to answer this question. Its not just about effort, but the many factors that lead to happiness. Will listening to this work make me consistently happy? I surely don't know, but it will make me wiser in reaching it.