The Happy Brain by Dean Burnett

Review 1—Reviewed Date: October 31st, 2022

I don’t know when the last time I was happy was. I have neither focused on happiness nor is it my primary goal in my life. But humans have been thinking about what makes us happy, what to do, and how one can achieve that most sought-after ‘state.’ The state of being happy.

Although I want to understand what constitutes happiness, I don’t know where to start. Most happiness-related books talk about tips and hacks to be happy, I don’t want that. But The Happy Brain is not that sort of book; it goes deeper into the mechanics of the question of what makes us happy.

The popular belief is that it is our expectations that cause us distress, eventually making us unhappy. But it is not enough to simply say a person is unhappy; there is more to it that is generally neglected.

I haven’t read the book completely.

Review 2—Reviewed Date: November 24th, 2022

Can love make us happy? Of course, it will. When something clicked with a person, we couldn’t stop ourselves from thinking about the person. We meet, talk about stuff, and fantasize about the future with him/her. We couldn’t see a red flag, and all happy hormones fired in our brains. We think we found the love of our life.

But when emotions were settled, we began to see the flaws and all the red flags we were oblivious to. People usually have this idea that when you are married to a “life partner,” everything will be happy after that. That’s a pure delusion. Without putting in the effort, it’s hard to have a long-term relationship.

Also, there is this idea that has been floating around since the 1970s: the more sexual intercourse, the happier the couple will be. If we compare the relationship to a car, fuel is sexual intercourse. Just having more of it doesn’t make any difference if you cannot maintain the engine properly.

I liked this chapter more than previous chapters. The author thoroughly explained the neuroscience of love and lust and what the difference is between them. As I explained in a previous review of the book, I recommend it. It’s fun and informative at the same time.