Why are lovers quicker to forgive their partners for infidelity than for leaving dirty dishes in the sink? Why will sighted people pay more to avoid going blind than blind people will pay to regain their sight? Why do dining companions insist on ordering different meals instead of getting what they really want? Why do patients remember long medical procedures as being less painful than short ones? Why do home sellers demand prices they wouldn’t dream of paying if they were home buyers? Why are shoppers happier when they can’t get refunds? Why do pigeons seem to have such excellent aim; why can’t we remember one song while listening to another; and why does the line at the grocery store always slow down the moment we join it?
In this brilliant and witty book, renowned Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Gilbert_(psychologist) and http://www.danielgilbert.com/) describes the foibles of imagination and illusions of foresight that cause each of us to misconceive our tomorrows and misestimate our satisfactions. Vividly bringing to life the latest scientific research in psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy, and behavioural economics, Gilbert reveals what scientists have discovered about the uniquely human ability to imagine the future, and about our capacity to predict how much we will like it when we get there. With penetrating insight and sparkling prose, Gilbert explains why we seem to know so little about the hearts and minds of the people we are about to become.
Not offering a self-help book, but instead mounting a scientific explanation of the limitations of the human imagination and how it steers us wrong in our search for happiness, Gilbert argues that, just as we err in remembering the past, so we err in imagining the future. ‘Our desire to control is so powerful, and the feeling of being in control so rewarding, that people often act as though they can control the uncontrollable,’ he writes, as he reveals how ill-equipped we are to properly preview the future, let alone control it. Unfortunately neither personal experience nor cultural wisdom compensates for imagination’s shortcomings. In concluding chapters, he discusses the transmission of inaccurate beliefs from one person’s mind to another, providing salient examples of universal assumptions about human happiness such as the joys of money and of having children. He concludes with the provocative recommendation that, rather than imagination, we should rely on others as surrogates for our future experience. Gilbert’s playful tone and use of commonplace examples make this topic accessible and educational.
Also listen to the 45 minute podcast on the subject of happiness from the ‘In Our Time’ Radio 4 series at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005489g With Angie Hobbs, Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Warwick; Simon Blackburn, Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge; Anthony Grayling, Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, London.
352 pages in Harper Perennial paperback edition
ISBN 978-0007183135
Daniel Gilbert