The Happiness Hypothesis
“We are the rider,
and we are the elephant.”
Jonathan Haidt draws from ancient wisdom traditions and contemporary social psychology, identifying where they agree. He distills these points of convergence into ten lessons for living well. Rereading it today, I realize how many of his insights took root in my subconscious, leading to some rather foundational element of my own Theory of Human Happiness. Here’s a brief summary of the book from the author:
“We sometimes fall into the view that we are fighting with our unconscious, our id, or our animal self. But really we are the whole thing. We are the rider, and we are the elephant. Both have their strengths and special skills. The rest of this book is about how complex and partly clueless creatures such as ourselves can get along with each other (chapters 3 and 4), find happiness (chapters 5 and 6), grow psychologically and morally (chapters 7 and 8), and find purpose and meaning in our lives (chapters 9 and 10). But first we have to figure out why the elephant is such a pessimist.”
The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt (Basic Books, 2006)