The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

Nov. 18, 2010 – A really interesting book by UVa professor Jonathan Haidt. His analogy of the elephant and rider is used throughout Chip & Dan Heath’s new book Switch. This book is also part of the culture and training used by Tony Hsieh at Zappos and referenced in his book Delivering Happiness. Not bad for a psychology professor from UVa. Haidt is actually one of the forces within the Positive Psychology movement and this book demonstrates how accessible these concepts can be for the average reader. He is a great researcher and the studies in the book support many of his conclusions. I found one of the most interesting aspects of this book to be the three parts that make up his concept of a “Moral Foundation”: autonomy, community and divinity. He ends the book by saying that happiness is found somewhere “in between” – not necessarily “from within” as another famous axiom posits. I think this is a very important work and I highly recommend it.