Daniel Todd Gilbert (b.1957) is an American social psychologist and writer recognized for his research on affective forecasting—how people predict their future emotions. A professor of psychology at Harvard University, he has influenced decision-making and happiness studies.
Born in Ithaca, New York, Gilbert dropped out of high school at 15, hitchhiked across the U.S., and later earned his GED. He received a psychology degree from the University of Colorado-Denver (1981) and a PhD in social psychology from Princeton University (1985.) He taught at the University of Texas-Austin before joining Harvard in 1996.
His book Stumbling on Happiness (2006,) a New York Times bestseller, won the Royal Society Prizes for Science Books in 2007. It examines how people misjudge future happiness and the biases shaping their expectations. His essays have appeared in The New York Times, Time, and Forbes, and he hosted the PBS series This Emotional Life (2010.) Other works include Redirect: Changing the Stories We Live By (2009,) Psychology (2007,) Introducing Psychology, and The Handbook of Social Psychology (1997, 2010.)
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Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished.
—Daniel Gilbert
We keep assuming that because things aren’t bringing us happiness, they’re the wrong things, rather than recognizing that the pursuit itself is futile, that regardless of what we achieve in the pursuit of stuff it’s never going to bring about an enduring state of happiness.
—Daniel Gilbert
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