Stumbling on Happiness
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbertby Daniel Gilbert
Shares rank 4 of 9 psychology books by recommenders
Recommended for its accessible explanation of how poorly people predict what will make them happier or sadder in the future.
Recommended for its accessible explanation of how poorly people predict what will make them happier or sadder in the future.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Explains poor prediction of future happiness
“It shows how humans are systematically bad at predicting to what extent future events will make them happier or sad.”
Comment from 22 Jul 2026 in “The Price of Happiness” Accessible treatment of key points
“It very accessibly addresses almost every point you raised.”
Comment from 5 Aug 2026 in “A Sick People”
Other psychology books people recommend
The four most recommended other psychology books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Courage to Be Dislikedby Ichiro Kishimi | 7 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | — |
| Influenceby Robert Cialdini | 7 | 1 | 88% | 5 | — | — |
| The Inner Game of Tennisby W. Timothy Gallwey | 4 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| Stumbling on Happinessby Daniel GilbertThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| The Happiness Hypothesisby Jonathan Haidt | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
2 of the 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It very accessibly addresses almost every point you raised.”
“It shows how humans are systematically bad at predicting to what extent future events will make them happier or sad.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.