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kaylynnlock's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
cristiangarcia's review
5.0
Incredible. Nobody has ever talked me like this. So meaningful and optimalist.
jinnayah's review
2.0
There is some good information in this book, but there's also some places were Ben-Shahar completely goes off the rails. It's like his research hit his personal prejudices like a wall and exploded in a shower of cognitive dissonance. For example, there's this bizarre political bit in the middle. It appears that he was unable to accept that both ends of the political spectrum have some ideas that work well with human nature, and some that require humans to fundamentally change. Therefore, in order to make his argument, he has to contrast his side's moderate position against a twisted strawman of the opposition's extreme flank.
What really earns the two-star rating, however, is that Ben-Shahar has disturbingly inaccurate ideas of how modern antidepressants work. Antidepressants do not stop you from feeling negative emotions or 'make you happy'. It's closer to the opposite; they enable someone who needs to feel all of their emotions and process them. Because of his misinformation on this issue, I just can't recommend the book.
What really earns the two-star rating, however, is that Ben-Shahar has disturbingly inaccurate ideas of how modern antidepressants work. Antidepressants do not stop you from feeling negative emotions or 'make you happy'. It's closer to the opposite; they enable someone who needs to feel all of their emotions and process them. Because of his misinformation on this issue, I just can't recommend the book.