What if one book could give you the answers to life-long happiness? Is it possible? Well, according to the book “Happiness Hypothesis” written by Jonathan Haidt, he believes he has found the steps in which happiness can be achieved by looking into virtue, morals, and the meaning of life. The book was written as a directional guide to make us self-examine our overall happiness. Haidt invents this hypothesis by exploring ancient beliefs and comparing that to modern-day philosophy. Throughout the book, Haidt references real-life scenarios and scientific evidence to try and prove his points about the causes and barriers of happiness. Overall, you can say that Haidt definitely did his research about how to gain access to happiness and remain in that state of mind whether it be socially, mentally, or spiritually. And now we have to recognize WHY and HOW this book was published. The only reason Haidt found success with his book is because he is exceptionally well at shifting the audience’s mood and mind towards his opinion using effective persuasion tools. So watch out, guys. You don’t want to fall for that. One of Haidt’s favorite tools used in Happiness Hypothesis is the values tool which is usually argued in the present tense. I believe appealing to someone’s values is the strongest way to charm the audience and make them trust your opinion. And since Haidt is constantly referring to values, he definitely knows how to “play you”. One specific example of values jumpstarts in chapter one as he begins the chapter by …show more content…
Even though “Happiness Hypothesis” makes you question certain aspects and sources of happiness, Haidt seems to throw in too many of his findings which could potentially confuse the reader, as it did myself. I also believe this book is very complex for someone simply trying to find happiness. In fact, I believe the reader would go mad if his or her happiness depended on this