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A review by zoes_human
What Happy People Know: How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better by Cameron Stauth, Dan Baker
0.5
The thing is that I am a happy person. I like me. I like my life. There are moments, but mostly life is good. So why the fuck am I reading this book to begin with since I know what happy people know? Someone listed is as a source for a statistic I called into question. The statistic turned out not be in here at all. And even if it had ... well, let's address that a bit further down the road, shall we?
On the one hand, there is some solid life advice in here for unhappy people. It is, indeed, chock-full of things I (and other happy people) know. He talks about the damage done when you give up your personal power, the harm of learned helplessness, the value of practicing appreciation, the importance of knowing who you are and what you value and living your life accordingly, the difference between being a victim and being a survivor, the difference between blaming yourself and taking responsibility for your actions, the psychological harm of overexposure to advertising, the relevance of good health to living joyfully, and many other things that absolutely true in my experience. So, if you are unhappy, there is some good stuff in here for you if you are open to it.
HOWEVER ...
This is one of the worst sourced pieces of nonfiction I've read in my entire life with the possible exception of Dianetics, which I didn't finish. The only reason I finished this was to try and find the statistic which wasn't in it. Though I doubt I would have trusted it if it had been there. There is at least one occasion where he states one of many hypotheses as though it were accepted scientific theory. He throws a massive amount of "statistics" out there with hard numbers yet doesn't list a source for them at all. A huge portion of "facts" are preceding by statements such as "it's widely estimated", "researchers have found", "a survey of college students showed", "was proven in a study", and "in one study." In one study? A study? A survey? Really? You can find one study to show anything. Who widely estimates? What percent of researchers have found? Furthermore, some of the sourced information is from organizations that have come under fire for using a thin veneer of science to mask a deeper core of pseudoscience. These sources, much like himself, serve to gain financial profit from convincing you that standard medicine is bunk but they know the real secret. Only a handful of his "facts" are cited properly. However, that only makes all the ones that aren't even more suspicious.
Last but not least, this book reads like an advertisement for himself and his life enhancement techniques. It also reads like he has a serious axe to grind with standard clinical psychology. Granted this field is not perfect, but the way he speaks of it comes across as very petty and very personal and not rooted in science. The first critical thinking question to ask of anything is "who benefits from this?" Quite clearly, he, his book career, and his integrative medicine consulting company stand to gain from this. As Dr. Baker himself points out, one should proactively guard themselves against overexposure to advertising.
So the final verdict? If you're really fucking miserable, give this book a whirl. There's some good advice in it. Take all the "facts" in it with a grain of salt though. If you're happy already, give it pass.
On the one hand, there is some solid life advice in here for unhappy people. It is, indeed, chock-full of things I (and other happy people) know. He talks about the damage done when you give up your personal power, the harm of learned helplessness, the value of practicing appreciation, the importance of knowing who you are and what you value and living your life accordingly, the difference between being a victim and being a survivor, the difference between blaming yourself and taking responsibility for your actions, the psychological harm of overexposure to advertising, the relevance of good health to living joyfully, and many other things that absolutely true in my experience. So, if you are unhappy, there is some good stuff in here for you if you are open to it.
HOWEVER ...
This is one of the worst sourced pieces of nonfiction I've read in my entire life with the possible exception of Dianetics, which I didn't finish. The only reason I finished this was to try and find the statistic which wasn't in it. Though I doubt I would have trusted it if it had been there. There is at least one occasion where he states one of many hypotheses as though it were accepted scientific theory. He throws a massive amount of "statistics" out there with hard numbers yet doesn't list a source for them at all. A huge portion of "facts" are preceding by statements such as "it's widely estimated", "researchers have found", "a survey of college students showed", "was proven in a study", and "in one study." In one study? A study? A survey? Really? You can find one study to show anything. Who widely estimates? What percent of researchers have found? Furthermore, some of the sourced information is from organizations that have come under fire for using a thin veneer of science to mask a deeper core of pseudoscience. These sources, much like himself, serve to gain financial profit from convincing you that standard medicine is bunk but they know the real secret. Only a handful of his "facts" are cited properly. However, that only makes all the ones that aren't even more suspicious.
Last but not least, this book reads like an advertisement for himself and his life enhancement techniques. It also reads like he has a serious axe to grind with standard clinical psychology. Granted this field is not perfect, but the way he speaks of it comes across as very petty and very personal and not rooted in science. The first critical thinking question to ask of anything is "who benefits from this?" Quite clearly, he, his book career, and his integrative medicine consulting company stand to gain from this. As Dr. Baker himself points out, one should proactively guard themselves against overexposure to advertising.
So the final verdict? If you're really fucking miserable, give this book a whirl. There's some good advice in it. Take all the "facts" in it with a grain of salt though. If you're happy already, give it pass.