The Pursuit of Happiness | Mind Cafe

Friday, May 18, 2007

The Pursuit of Happiness

Did you know it’s possible to synthesise your own happiness?. Dan Gilbert, a psychology professor at Harvard, discusses modern man’s pursuit of happiness in this scintillating video. He first shares Sir Thomas Browne’s view written way back in 1642:

“I am the happiest man alive. I have that in me that can convert poverty to riches, adversity to prosperity, and I am more invulnerable than Achilles; fortune hath not one place to hit me.” - Sir Thomas Browne 1642

We think happiness is something we find, BUT it’s something we synthesise for ourselves. Take the example of Pete Best - if you don’t remember who he is or was or could have been - he was the original drummer in the Beatles that got dropped on tour for Ringo Starr.

“I’m happier than I would have been with The Beatles” - Pete Best

Dan also shares the story of a guy who was falsely imprisoned for 37 years for a crime he didn’t commit. Moreese Bickham, 78 years old when when he was released Speaking of his experiences in prison the guy says . . .

“I don’t have one minutes regret, it was a GLORIOUS experience”

GLORIOUS, I repeat GLORIOUS! Dan goes on to back up these remarkable findings . . .

The Pursuit of Happiness

About Dan Gilbert

Daniel Gilbert is the Harvard College Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. His research with Tim Wilson on “affective forecasting” investigates how and how well people can make predictions about the emotional impact of future events.

Dan has won numerous awards for his teaching and research—from the Guggenheim Fellowship to the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology. However, he says that his greatest accomplishment is that he appears just before Dizzie Gillespie on the list of Most Famous High School Dropouts.
Dan’s research has been covered by The New York Times Magazine, Forbes, Money, CNN, U.S. News & World Report, The New Yorker, Scientific American, Oprah Magazine, Psychology Today, and many others.
He lives in Cambridge Massachusetts with his wife and a lack of pets.

Read More Information:

- Stumbling Upon Happiness Named #1 on Amazon for category Mind, Body and Soul >>

- Buy the Book >>

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