Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As others have noted, this book is dense in places, but is tremendously important for decision making from the individual up through public policy. Even if you don't have the patience for all the chapters don't neglect the intro and conclusion. The TL;DR doesn't suffice but. 1) human beings are not pure rational agents, but rather complex interplay of automatic and thoughtful reasoning both of which can be right or wrong 2) maximizing happiness requires recognition of when we are in a cognitive minefield so that we can marshal the appropriate evidence and response 3) maximizing happiness is not even straightforward; it is the complex interplay between experienced and remembered happiness. This book is in my top 10 most influential of my life; highly recommended especially in tandem with Haidt's "Righteous Mind"; these two highly complementary books form a multidimensional mirror for the human condition. Only by seeing ourselves as we *are* can we go about the business of governing ourselves and our world.