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178th out of 230 books
—
200 voters
Happiness: Lessons from a New Science
There is a paradox at the heart of our lives. We all want more money, but as societies become richer, they do not become happier. This is not speculation: It's the story told by countless pieces of scientific research. We now have sophisticated ways of measuring how happy people are, and all the evidence shows that on average people have grown no happier in the last fifty...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
June 27th 2006
by Penguin Books
(first published January 27th 2005)
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Reviewers agree that Layard, a leading British economist and well-known government advisor, raises fundamentally important questions that we all tend to ignore in our strivings to achieve on a daily basis. The author supplies ample data to show that capitalism's emphasis on individualism and competition has helped to diminish the feeling of a common good among people of different classes and societies. The critics disagree, however, on Layard's recommendation of state- and church-oriented interv
...more
This book was pretty interesting. Layard is an economist and he talks about how it would seem better for nations to use a measure of happiness as a marker of progress rather than gross national product. He does a good job of evaluating the science of happiness (enough to satisfy my rather critical eye) and concludes that we can now measure happiness well enough in a meaningful way. The book ranges from the science of happiness, to the economics of producing happiness, and to the spiritual aspect...more
Jul 31, 2011
Sally McRogerson
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
non-fiction
A study of a combination of philosophy, economic, psychology and political analysis have gone into the writing of this book.
The outcomes seem to me to be a trifle obvious. I expected some new nuggets of information but these are the conclusions it draws. A spiritual life and altruism = happiness. Consumerism = discontent. Anti-depressants make people feel better. Taxes redistribute wealth. We hate to lose anything that we already have twice as much as we like to gain something of equal value.
T...more
The outcomes seem to me to be a trifle obvious. I expected some new nuggets of information but these are the conclusions it draws. A spiritual life and altruism = happiness. Consumerism = discontent. Anti-depressants make people feel better. Taxes redistribute wealth. We hate to lose anything that we already have twice as much as we like to gain something of equal value.
T...more
An unevenly written book by a senior economist examining what brings happiness. The strongest part is when the author examines survey data regarding reported happiness levels and their correlates, as well as when he makes quite reasonable public policy proposals regarding how to promote societal happiness (and therefore our won). The author's arguments are considerably weaker (and, at times, invalid) when examining writing from other fields, e.g., evolutionary psychology. Hence, my down-rating t...more
i think this is actually the one recommended in the review i read, but it was still pretty interesting. although, i did get kind of depressed at how being miserable changes your brain and weakens your immune system and makes you die sooner (apparently oscar winners live longer than mere nominees). the book is essentially an argument for making happiness the ultimate aim of society, and describes the kind of public policy that would be required. he mainly argues for more family-friendly work plac...more
First half: somewhat faulty science whose flaws were mildly offensive to my sensibilities. Example: a study of nuns showed that 21% of those most cheerful died in the following nine years, compared to 55% of least cheerful nuns. Layard claims this "shows how happiness can increase a person's life." How naively speculative to assume causality between these two variables!! Perhaps the nuns were happy for the very reason that they were healthy. Or maybe an outside variable (having family members vi...more
I loved this book. If it were a man I'd marry him. Anyway, I like the reasonable approach to making life better for individuals and society through humane, achieveable steps, such as reasonable taxation, community building, and caring for the those who need help.
I may buy multiple copies and give them as gifts; I wish all politicians would read this book and apply its lessons
I may buy multiple copies and give them as gifts; I wish all politicians would read this book and apply its lessons
brings the research together well but surprisingly un-ground breaking. a little disappointing but maybe that's because this was one of the earlier books on a subject that has flowered since.
This was really quite bad. It should've been an interesting book, and I've read articles about happiness and other emotions that have been interesting. Neurobiology can be interesting! It's possible! However, this is really about 3 surveys stretched out -- using huge font, huge margins, huge graphs, etc. -- to fill a meager book. I was really disappointed. After reading a couple books on the brain (A User's Guide to the Brain and The Ghost in the Machine) where every single bit of information in...more
This book was much more interesting that I thought it would be. The arguments for higher taxation I found utterly compelling. More people should read this.
Oh, just nothing new in this book--blah, blah--what makes people happy? Friends, family, and not money, apparently.
Unfortunately - I didn't get a chance to finish the book completely - so I hope to continue reading it some other time. I really enjoyed some of the studies regarding happiness that he reports in the book, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if that had been the emphasis of the book. However, the book looks at happiness - or rather unhappiness - as a type of social problem, and thus how we should respond to it to try to fix it. I imagine that this is what is more interesting to most people...more
Lots to think about....much of which can be misinterpreted
Jun 06, 2008
Gawaind
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people who need evidence that they're happy although they are not rich
A book on the economics of happiness, that is mistakenly placed under psychology. Plainly - economists tend to be clumsy when counting happiness, and Layard gives us some tools to count correctly. In sum, love brings happiness. Money does, but not much past a middle class amount. We tend to compare ourselves to our neighbors.
Lots of neat little psychological truths about how we make economic decisions. For people who want to learn about economics but don't want the math.
Lots of neat little psychological truths about how we make economic decisions. For people who want to learn about economics but don't want the math.
Sep 15, 2010
Elizabeth
added it
I really enjoyed the last two-thirds of this book.
Every economist should read this book. Written by a pschyologist (if I remember correctly), it sets out from fundimental research and economics exactly why a focus on money as the measure of happiness and good is very very wrong and a huge mistake.
Well-written and easy to follow for a lay person but with all the fancy charts n such to make people who like such things happy too.
Well-written and easy to follow for a lay person but with all the fancy charts n such to make people who like such things happy too.
Nov 07, 2008
Holly
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Holly by:
Dr. Sandra Lubarsky
Shelves:
sus-601
so far I really like this! Yes, part of my grad program - this week's topic: Taking Happiness Seriously.
I should send this book to my ex-husband. he thinks fun and happiness are utterly unimportant.
* * * * * *
Interesting - don't agree with everything, but written by an economist - so - what can I expect? However, he's moving in a good direction I think.
I should send this book to my ex-husband. he thinks fun and happiness are utterly unimportant.
* * * * * *
Interesting - don't agree with everything, but written by an economist - so - what can I expect? However, he's moving in a good direction I think.
Very accessible book for everyone.
The author is an economist who is basically spoon-feeding his audience the material, which consists of outlining the debates going on between economics, psychology, neuroscience, social policy and biology (to name but a few).
Nice introduction, shame its not as easy-to-understand when it comes to journal articles!
The author is an economist who is basically spoon-feeding his audience the material, which consists of outlining the debates going on between economics, psychology, neuroscience, social policy and biology (to name but a few).
Nice introduction, shame its not as easy-to-understand when it comes to journal articles!
Good book detailing the latest research on what makes people happy and how much. The last 100 pages were a bit slower, detailing the author's thoughts on policy changes to maximize happiness in the US (tax addictions and vices, graduated tax brackets higher than now to incent the rich to work less and give more to the most poor, maximizing happiness)
The writing isn't that interesting or done particularly well, like an attempt to simplify academia for the common man, with mediocre results. First part overviews research in the economics of happiness in a pretty bland way with unsurprising outcomes, then the author reviews routes to happiness, advising for those he favors without much argument.
Layard poses a question: Why is it that income is up yet happiness has not risen? He examines many studies of happiness for answers to this question. He wants our economic system and political system to use happiness as a guideline for success and shows us ways we can manipulate these systems to better make people happy.
Why is it that in the U.S. we are richer as a nation than ever before and yet are not really any happier than 1950? Richard Layard investigates just what it is that makes us happy and how we might want to rethink how we measure success as a result. Great starting point for anyone interested in positive psychology.
“Continuous reoptimization (sometimes dignified by the name “flexibility”) is the real enemy happiness, as can be observed among young people who spend the day reorganizing their evening arrangements each time a better opportunity arises.”
I read the Dutch translation of this book, and I don't think it made it better. There was no flow in the reading.
I did like some of the ideas in the book, but most of it was already known to me, by reading other popular psychology books.
I did like some of the ideas in the book, but most of it was already known to me, by reading other popular psychology books.
Buku yang ditulis seorang ahli ekonomi, membahas kebahagiaan dari berbagai sudut. Bukan hanya dari psikologi tapi juga dari filsafat,sosiologi, fisika, agama dan ekonomi. Buku yang beda banget dari buku lain yg nulis ttg kebahagiaan.
Aug 01, 2007
Ryan
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people interested in the psychology of happiness
I give this book a low four - it has some interesting material, but I wasn't particularly wowed by his writing, synthesis or additional insights. Still, worth a read if you find the psychology of happiness interesting.
so wheather you are happy with your income depends on how it compares with sum norm. and norm depends on on two things: what other people get, and what you get yourself are used to getting.
Currently in the middle of this one, has some interesting ideas on new methods in economics, aside from the standard GDP, and rational utility maximization framework
Dec 23, 2007
Simon
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Stephen
Shelves:
recently-read
Fascinating book by this leading economist that evaluates the factors in peoples lives that generally lead to happiness, and luckily for me - being rich isn't the answer!
I suppose this book was mildly entertaining. It's criminal to not only insinuate, but insist, this is based on any scientific foundation at all.
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“No society can work unless its members feel responsibilities as well as rights.”
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3 people liked it
“It is actually a rather sorry tale. In the late nineteenth century most English economists thought that economics was about happiness. They thought of a persons happiness as in principle measurable, like temperature, and they thought we could compare one persons happiness with anothers. They also assumed that extra income brought less and less extra happiness as a person got richer.”
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1 person liked it
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Jan 13, 2009 05:17am