gilbert on happiness and uncertainty

Harvard professor Dan Gilbert is arguably the face of social psychology in the United States due to his best-selling book on happiness. His recent piece in the new york times, though interesting, is ultimately inane. In essence, Gilbert asserts that uncertainty leads to unhappiness. This thesis seems to be somewhat obvious, but it is flawed in that Gilbert relies mostly on anecdotes and does not cite factors which he outlines in his book. He also does not cite many social psychological studies. Citing the work on learned helplesness would have bolstered the article even though the subjects in those experiments were dogs rather than humans. Moreover, Gilbert's one-dimensional take on happiness leaves out many other factors which stimulate feeling good, factors which he enumerate in his book and should have at least mentioned. Finally, it is surprising that Gilbert does not cite any of his own work. He instead makes up a thesis out of whole cloth. I expect more from the face of our field.

A better example of Gilbert's work can be watched here.