Stumbling On Happiness By Daniel Gilbert

[commodorevic]

I just finished reading the book, Stumbling On Happiness By Daniel Gilbert. It's closer in tone and content to Freakonomics than it is to I'm OK, You're Ok. It's loaded down with analysis of various psychological experiments on memory and emotional response

Comments

[yurifish]

that sounds like a really enlightening book! thanks for sharing the lessons you got out of it. especially interesting is the point about memory and emotional experiences.

[commodorevic]

I've also been doing a shit-ton of research on nutritional supplements that relate to brain health, ADD, and the pre-frontal cortex.

[_lambchop_]

Interesting! Have you heard the radiolab program about memory (you can get the podcast)? They said that the more you "use" a memory (access and consider), the more you distort it from it's original shape. So that the memories that we think of most often, are actually the least accurate. I love this stuff. Neuroscience is where it's at for throwing some light on the riddles of philosophy.

[commodorevic]

I have been listening to some RadioLab. I'm not sure I heard that episode. The book says that the highlights of memories are saved and compressed, the rest gets filled in when you recall it. The real messed up part is that your memory of how you felt at the time is distorted by your pre and post impression of how you thought you felt or should feel. Best to keep a journal, I guess.

[_lambchop_]

Perhaps these distortions are beneficial, though. They may tend to be more positive or inflate your role in events. Imagine your entire life on film, even just your interactions with others. I bet it would be disappointing.

[commodorevic]

People rely on their perception of the past to make decisions about their future. Bad data in = bad data out. So the question is, were you happy in that past situation that you are thinking about repeating? Or does your memory sweeten up the experience for the sake of rationalization or compensation? Or maybe for the most part it was a shitty experience, but your memory does a much better job of recalling how it felt at the very end when things weren't quite so bad?