7 Must-Read Books on the Art and Science of Happiness

by Maria Popova http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/01/25/must-read-books-happiness/ From Plato to Buddha, or what imperfection has to do with the neuroscience of the good life. If you !ike us are fascinated by the human "uest to understand the underpinnings of happiness but break out in hi#es at the mere mention of se!f-he!p books you$re in !uck: %e$#e sifted through our persona! !ibrary a decade$s worth of obsessi#e reading to bring you se#en essentia! books on the art and science of happiness rooted in so!id science contemporary phi!osophy and cross-discip!inary insight. &rom psycho!ogy and neuroscience to socio!ogy and cu!tura! anthropo!ogy to beha#iora! economics these must-reads i!!uminate the most fundamenta! aspiration of a!! human existence: 'ow to a#oid suffering and foster !asting we!!-being.
THE HAPPI ESS H!P"THESIS

(he "uestion of what makes us happy is !ike!y as o!d as human cognition itse!f and has occupied the minds of phi!osophers prophets and scientists for mi!!ennia. In The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom psycho!ogy professor #onathan Haidt unearths ten great theories of happiness disco#ered by the thinkers of the past from )!ato to *esus to +uddha to re#ea! a surprising abundance of common tangents. ,&or examp!e from -hakespeare: .(here is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so./ &rom +uddha: .0ur !ife is the creation of our mind./1 'uman rationa!ity depends critica!!y on sophisticated emotiona!ity. It is on!y because our emotiona! brains work so we!! that our reasoning can work at a!!./ 'aidt takes this ambitious ana!ysis of phi!osophica! thought o#er the centuries and examines it through the prism of modern psycho!ogy research to extract a remarkab!y compe!!ing b!ueprint for optimi2ing the human condition for happiness.
ST$MB%I & " HAPPI ESS

3ear!y four years ago 'ar#ard psycho!ogist 'anie( &i(bert pub!ished Stumbling On Happiness. (o this day it remains the best-researched yet capti#ating!y digestib!e book on the art and science of happiness exposing with e"ua! parts wit and scientific rigor the many misconceptions we ha#e about happiness the tricks our minds p!ay on us in its pursuit and how the !imitations of our imagination get in the way of the grand "uest. -amp!e the book$s nuggets of wisdom with 4i!bert$s exce!!ent (56 ta!k from 2007: %e ha#e within us the capacity to manufacture the #ery "ua!ity we are constant!y chasing./ 8 'anie( &i(bert
THE ART ") HAPPI ESS

-cience may be a re!iab!e source of i!!umination but it wou!d be short-sighted to !et it comp!ete!y ec!ipse centuries of spiritua! tradition in#estigating the underbe!!y of human nature. (here is hard!y a cu!tura! figure more re#ered in that rea!m than 'is 'o!iness the 'a(ai %a*a. The Art of Happiness a !andmark articu!ation of the phi!osophy of peace and compassion as a foundation of happiness by 4yatso 'is 'o!iness the &ourteenth 6a!ai 9ama has ser#ed as a powerfu! guide to we!!-being for secu!ar and spiritua! happiness seekers a!ike for the past twe!#e years. If you want others to be happy practice compassion. If you want to be happy practice compassion./ 8 'is 'o!iness the &ourteenth 6a!ai 9ama +oth time!ess and time!y in today$s cu!tura! !andscape of ubi"uitous mora! po!itica! and en#ironmenta! turmoi! where it$s a!! the more important to de#e!op the ski!!s for finding inner peace amids chaos The Art of Happiness captures with e!o"uent simp!icity the most important point of a!!: 'appiness !ike any art re"uires di!igent study and discip!ined practice.
HAPPI ESS

&rench scientist-turned-+uddhist-monk Matthieu Ricard is one of our greatest inte!!ectua! heroes. (he son of prominent &rench phi!osopher and inte!!ectua! *ean-&ran:ois ;e#e! ;icard got a degree in mo!ecu!ar genetics then decided to step away from his career in science and de#ote his !ife to the study of +uddhism. 'is inner scientist howe#er remained wide awake as he de#e!oped a keen interest in the neuro!ogica! effects of meditation and mindfu!ness training.

In Happiness: A Guide to De eloping !ife"s Most #mportant S$ill he disti!!s 25 centuries of +uddhist spiritua! tradition a!ongside b!eeding-edge neuroscience and the most compe!!ing findings of %estern cogniti#e psycho!ogy < an inte!!igent and refreshing #ision for fusing the !ife of the mind and the !ife of the heart into a path of genuine psychoemotiona! fu!fi!!ment. &or a taste of ;icard$s genius don$t miss his fantastic (56 ta!k one of our top fi#e of a!! time:
THE HAPPI ESS PR"#E+T

0n a rainy afternoon in 200= New York Magazine writer &retchen Rubin found herse!f ha#ing one of those ine#itab!e carpe diem epiphanies about the f!eeting nature of !ife and the importance of sa#oring the moment. Instead of shrugging it off as a contri#ed truism howe#er ;ubin decided to turn it into an experiment: -he set out to test humanity$s amp!e arsena! of theories about what makes us happy from ancient phi!osophies to pop cu!ture prescriptions to the !atest scientific studies. -he chronic!ed the experience on her b!og and e#entua!!y adapted it in The Happiness %ro&ect: Or' Why # Spent a (ear Trying to Sing in the Morning' )lean My )losets' Fight *ight' *ead Aristotle' and Generally Ha e More Fun < an en!ightening and entertaining record of her >ourney through awkward moments and surprising successes that together wea#e a rich mesh of existentia! insight. %e re#iewed it in fu!! in 200? and after ha#ing the p!easure of meeting 4retchen recent!y fu!!y recommend the The Happiness %ro&ect as a profound yet pragmatic guide to persona! growth.
A$THE TI+ HAPPI ESS

+ack in the day we had the p!easure of studying under 'r, Martin Se(i-*an father of the thri#ing positi#e psycho!ogy mo#ement < a potent antidote to the traditiona! .disease mode!/ of psycho!ogy which focuses on how to re!ie#e suffering rather than how to amp!ify we!!-being. Authentic Happiness: +sing the ,e- %ositi e %sychology to *eali.e (our %otential for !asting Fulfillment offers a too!kit for harnessing our core strengths to make e#eryday interactions more fu!fi!!ing comp!ete with a range of assessment too!s and se!f-tests rooted in cogniti#e science and beha#iora! psycho!ogy research. ;e!ie#ing the states that make !ife miserab!e@ has made bui!ding the states that make !ife worth !i#ing !ess of a priority. (he time has fina!!y arri#ed for a science that seeks to understand positi#e emotion bui!d strength and #irtue and pro#ide guideposts for finding what Aristot!e ca!!ed the Bgood !ife.$/ 8 Martin Se(i-*an

-e!igman gi#es a pro#ocati#e primer on positi#e psycho!ogy in this must-see (56 ta!k:
THE &I)TS ") IMPER)E+TI"

Bren. Bro/n is no ordinary socio!ogist. -he ca!!s herse!f "uite accurate!y a .researcher-storyte!!er/ and her semina! research on #u!nerabi!ity shame and empathy has brought about a who!e new understanding of an intricate dimension of human authenticity and worth: -omething she ca!!s .who!eheartedness./ 'er most recent book The Gifts of #mperfection: !et Go of Who (ou Thin$ (ou"re Supposed to /e and 0mbrace Who (ou Are isn$t the se!fhe!p bib!e the tit!e may mis!ead you to expect. ;ather it$s a treasure tro#e of insight on emotiona! hea!th and psycho!ogica! ba!ance rooted in a decade$s worth of rigorous research but de!i#ered in a deep!y human way. It$s so fantastic in fact that when we first featured it !ate !ast year it "uick!y became one of the most-read most-shared Brain Pickings artic!es in a!! of 2010. +rown$s ta!k from (56x'ouston is our fa#orite (56x ta!k of a!! time and abso!ute!y unmissab!e so we$!! repost it here in case you did miss it: In order for connection to happen we ha#e to a!!ow ourse!#es to be seen < rea!!y seen./ 8 Bren. Bro/n The Gifts of #mperfection examines one of the greatest foundations of happiness < our sense of and need for be!onging both with others and in our own skin < and brings to it a !e#e! of authenticity and understanding that fundamenta!!y changes the way we re!ate to ourse!#es and each other.