Human people are part angels and part monkeys; this book is about our humbler heritage. It’s mostly descriptive, about how we do think, more than prescriptive, about how we should think. (It’s not like reading Blake: He who shall hurt the little Wren/Never shall be beloved of men.) It’ll tell you why you’re a sad monkey that doesn’t feel grateful, (habituation); it won’t tell you an uplifting story about how someone got happy with the angels about being grateful, although by explaining your patterns it can help you to catch them.

And there is some value I think in knowing something just because it’s so; I certainly must get habituation from searching for new things because I have to read out of at least half a dozen books, little snippets, each day, or else it just doesn’t give me the same feels, if it’s the same topic at length.

…. The other thing I it occurs to me to say is that although sometimes one is struck by the mystery of the universe, there are still reasons why things happen, and you can do things naturally; you don’t have to say, No dopamine—guess I need another med. As important as ingesting is, you don’t have to be the defeated ignorant consumer who thinks they need to be rescued by medicine, right.

…. And there are also some (prescriptive) practical tips, as well as the background information…. But I can’t tell you what I learned about that; it’s too personal.

…. Afterword: I try to compliment science (and the natural philosophy girls!), but since science (and individualism!) is of course not her only cultural baggage, let me be like other people, and like her, and be a little negative, and say that she is a little into the tyranny of fun. I don’t really remember the four chemicals, although I’d probably have a little see-and-recall knowledge if I looked them up, but I do remember her —attitude— towards politics (and people who need it! People who can’t pass over Jordan without Moses, I guess), and again the whole tyranny of fun thing. I guess any specialization tyrannizes if you let it…. Baah baah, Mommy, the people who have been passed over don’t want to have fun! Make them have fun, Mommy! Stop them from ruining my party! I’m trying to give a talk, dammit! This is the time, and the place, for Fun!

Ooo, science is gonna bring about a new world! 😂

…. “Me without you is like a present without a bow.”
—a happy song

And it’s like, presents don’t need bows, you sniveling bitch, and you don’t need presents so much as you need a little fucking dignity, so maybe don’t throw it away and forgot where you stashed it? Lord knows I ain’t gonna find it for you.

“Science helps me to become the Culturally Normal American Girl!”
—“happiness is science!”

And it’s like….

I mean, this book has some validity to it, because real happiness is a good thing, (although I work for a sad little man, a fat rich fucker I’ve never met who deludes women into being smaller and more manageable, so that he can take their money, and he has us play music, I swear, that’s more conformist than the music they play at the Bank, and if you asked him why I’ll bet it’s because his wife has to be “happy”—Or if you’re not don’t talk to me! I own a large multinational corporation!), and it’s nice to know some of the sources of happiness, like relationships and accomplishments, and certainly I tend to short sell relationships, (although man doesn’t need a sexual partner, he just needs to find the mother that lives within him, the inner guru and the outer soul friend).

But she’s so full of herself, you know—full of herself and her “happiness”. She doesn’t get that happiness requires non-happiness elements in this world, so she’s the no-compromise Culturally Normal American Girl, all, I’m just gonna do accomplishments and talk with my friends, and if there’s any non-happiness element, if there’s any poor slob or politician or prophet of freedom, then I’m just gonna crush em and starve em and get ‘em underneath, you know…. Cause I just want to be happy!

And at what price do we sell ourselves, you know? Because woe to the slave of the slaves, to those constrained by the weak and pilfered by the Lilliputians and liars and puppet players, you know.

No freedom, no dignity, no fucking intelligence, when you come to it, in the things that matter. Oh, but the scientists tell us we’ve become 5% more important this quarter! (So, be happy, dammit!)

But don’t worry, I’m happy to consider your feelings and fight your enemies, because after all, you sacrifice so much for me; I know you do. (movie anger) I have sacrificed my whole life for MY PROPERTY, (real quiet) but what has it got me? (middle anger) I tell you this: I’m too kind.

The time has come to be happy!

Fine, YOU be happy; but my anger keeps me safe and makes me happy; I’m an angry cat, you know. 😼

People think they’ll be happy when there’s money, but the real wealth is not robbing and not telling lies.

…. “But maybe you calling her a sniveling bitch didn’t help her reclaim her dignity.”

But it made me feel good—and I love to feel good. 😸 You gotta be happy!

But you’re right; let’s re-wrap up. Let’s see, I need a…. Near-cliche. *hits button* “Spiritual beauty is a journey.” There you go. It’s a journey. Better to be learning than learned—distrust people with smug assumptions—even if they’re scientists!

Actually if they’re “scientists” with smug assumptions, that makes it all the funnier! 😹

I like the premise behind the book and don't really disagree with much of it, but it is frustratingly vague. It's full of repetitious phrases repeated elsewhere in the book that make it very dull to read. It would've benefited *enormously* from including more examples (or at least *some* examples) of the points it makes behind how to increase your brain's quantity of the various "happy" neurochemicals. ( )

Informative ( )

The book includes two parts. The first half part of the book explains how our emotion system works to control our feelings to the world and to ourselves, which I found it’s very interesting and quiet inspiring. The chemical system we humans share with the other mammals is helping us survive in this complicated world. It drives us to seek new sexual partners, food, and good relationships with the others by guaranteeing us happiness. To make ourselves happy, we have to do these things it motivates us to do. This creates a huge side effect because these things are too easy for us to get in our modern society. We often find us overeating, surfing porn websites, and addicting to video games and social-network websites not because our bodies need them but because we want us to be happy. To make it even worse, this chemical system is designed to challenge our satisfaction all the time. We get bored easily and have to pursue more to keep us happy. Many of us is trapped by this “vicious circle”. It helps us better control ourselves by understanding how this system works.

The second half part is, more or less like the other self-help books, about how to make a new habit by repeating. I could not find anything new.

Though I appreciate the author’s idea and her taste of good books (there is a list of books about mind, consciousness, and society). But I don’t like the powerpoint slide-like style, and I am sick of the author keeping saying “You… You… Your…You.You.You…” Come on. ( )

Habits of a Happy Brain purports to assist readers with enhancing their happiness through neuroscience. Breuning advocates the cultivation of neural "circuits" that favor the dispersion of your "happy" chemicals, namely dopamine, oxytocin, endorphin, and dopamine.

Breuning provides the reader a basic, comprehensible primer to the neuroscience of "happiness." Readers will come away from Habits of a Happy Brain understanding what dopamine is and what it does, how neural "circuits" are formed, and so on.

That said, the book is almost too basic. Some of Breuning's advice (for instance, managing expectations) is merely common sense, even if it has "scientific" justification. The exercises presented throughout the chapters are vague, a few steps with little elaboration or even goals to guide the reader. And, really, the "retraining" Breuning describes could be boiled down to one chapter; the rest of the book is background or filler.

Interested readers are encouraged to borrow Breuning's book from the library or look elsewhere, depending on their goals (e.g., greater understanding of the neuroscience of happiness/habit or practical means of developing "happy" habits). ( )