Rating: 
Summary: Plenty of simple wisdom, but ultimately superficial
Review: Wouldn't it be nice to read a little book and become happier? That is what David Niven offers in his brief book <The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People>. Niven lists his 100 secrets in a simple, digestible form. First there is the headline, ranging from "accomplish something every day" to "watch less television" to "have a purpose." Then for each of these "secrets" Niven provides a brief description of what the headline means, followed by an example of putting this "secret" in to practice, and finally a summary of the study from which the "secret" was derived. There is, no doubt, a lot of wisdom in these 100 secrets. While none of the insights surprised me, they did nicely reinforce some of the practices I have set for myself. But one has to wonder if a brief book such as this can really lead to increased happiness. The philosophy behind the book, Niven states in the introduction, is: "all I can do is point and hope you look." (p. xv). Well, it seems that this is ignores a central issue: how do people change? Is simply offering up advice the best means to changing behavior? It would be surprising if this were the answer from academic psychology. Couldn't some of the secrets address directly the question of "how to change" alongside this advice of "what to change?" Another question on which Niven is silent is what is cause and what is effect? If people are happier who watch less television, couldn't this be because they have other things they prefer doing and have nothing to do with the effects of television watching? Finally, one wonders on reading this book what definition of happiness or contentment was used and whether it was used consistently across the many studies cited. At least a footnote on this matter would have been appreciated. No doubt there is a lot of wisdom captured in the 100 "secrets." This book also provides a bibliography of recent psychological studies concerning factors correlated with contentment and happiness. And perhaps a book like this is better than a similar one with no scientific backing. But too many fundamental questions are simply ignored. What is cause and what is effect? How does a static view of correlations help one understand the dynamics that actually lead to change? And what is meant by these definitions of happiness or contentment? On all these issues the book is silent, and I fear that this may well reflect the state of the academic psychological thinking as well as this author's limitations.
Rating:
Summary: Plenty of simple wisdom, but ultimately superficial
Review: Wouldn't it be nice to read a little book and become happier? That is what David Niven offers in his brief book . Niven lists his 100 secrets in a simple, digestible form. First there is the headline, ranging from "accomplish something every day" to "watch less television" to "have a purpose." Then for each of these "secrets" Niven provides a brief description of what the headline means, followed by an example of putting this "secret" in to practice, and finally a summary of the study from which the "secret" was derived. There is, no doubt, a lot of wisdom in these 100 secrets. While none of the insights surprised me, they did nicely reinforce some of the practices I have set for myself. But one has to wonder if a brief book such as this can really lead to increased happiness. The philosophy behind the book, Niven states in the introduction, is: "all I can do is point and hope you look." (p. xv). Well, it seems that this is ignores a central issue: how do people change? Is simply offering up advice the best means to changing behavior? It would be surprising if this were the answer from academic psychology. Couldn't some of the secrets address directly the question of "how to change" alongside this advice of "what to change?" Another question on which Niven is silent is what is cause and what is effect? If people are happier who watch less television, couldn't this be because they have other things they prefer doing and have nothing to do with the effects of television watching? Finally, one wonders on reading this book what definition of happiness or contentment was used and whether it was used consistently across the many studies cited. At least a footnote on this matter would have been appreciated. No doubt there is a lot of wisdom captured in the 100 "secrets." This book also provides a bibliography of recent psychological studies concerning factors correlated with contentment and happiness. And perhaps a book like this is better than a similar one with no scientific backing. But too many fundamental questions are simply ignored. What is cause and what is effect? How does a static view of correlations help one understand the dynamics that actually lead to change? And what is meant by these definitions of happiness or contentment? On all these issues the book is silent, and I fear that this may well reflect the state of the academic psychological thinking as well as this author's limitations.
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