Daniel Gilbert

  • Bestselling Author, Stumbling on Happiness
  • Professor of Psychology, Harvard University

Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert says our beliefs about what will make us happy are often wrong - a premise he supports with intriguing research and explains in his brilliant and funny book, Stumbling on Happiness, which Time magazine called “Fascinating.” The Washington Post raved, "Gilbert is a professor by trade, but he's every bit as funny as Larry David." Stumbling on Happiness is not a self-help manual, but a deep and delightful explanation of what psychologists, neuroscientists and behavioral economists have discovered about why people are so poor at predicting the sources of their own satisfaction. Gilbert’s research on how we mispredict what will make us happy has dramatic implications for business strategy, sales and marketing, and understanding customers.

 


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Past Hosts Include:
  • Macalester College
  • Society for Human Resource Management
  • J.P. Morgan Asset Management
  • Insured Retirement Institute
Rave Reviews About Daniel Gilbert as a Speaker
We have gotten overwhelmingly positive feedback about the conference, and our success was due in large part to your participation and expertise on a program that was both highly educational and incredibly entertaining.

Keynote - What Your Mother Didn't Tell You | World.Minds [20:55] - Get Sharable Link
Talks & Conversations with Daniel Gilbert
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Stumbling on Happiness

Daniel Gilbert believes that most of us are pursuing happiness with the wrong map. Just as optical illusions fool our eyes, Gilbert’s award-winning research shows that our brains systematically mispredict what will make us happy. His work has had a profound influence in psychology, behavioral ...

Daniel Gilbert believes that most of us are pursuing happiness with the wrong map. Just as optical illusions fool our eyes, Gilbert’s award-winning research shows that our brains systematically mispredict what will make us happy. His work has had a profound influence in psychology, behavioral economics, law, and medicine. The message is original, but it his delivery that sets him apart. His quick, engaging, and often hilarious style of writing and speaking explains why he was chosen to host the new PBS televisions series Secrets of Happiness and why his book Stumbling on Happiness spent 25 weeks on the New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 30 languages.

How To Do Precisely the Right Thing At All Possible Times

Floss daily, save for retirement, and don’t wear plaid pants before or after Labor Day. Most experts tell us what to decide but they don’t tell us how, and so the moment we face a novel decision—should I move to Cleveland or Anchorage? Marry Jennifer or Joanne? Become an architect ...

Floss daily, save for retirement, and don’t wear plaid pants before or after Labor Day. Most experts tell us what to decide but they don’t tell us how, and so the moment we face a novel decision—should I move to Cleveland or Anchorage? Marry Jennifer or Joanne? Become an architect or a pastry chef?—we’re lost. Is there any way to know how to precisely the right thing at all possible times? In fact, there is a simple method for making decisions that most people find easy to understand and impossible to follow. New research in psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics explains why.

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Books by Daniel Gilbert
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Biography

Daniel Gilbert is the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He has won numerous awards for his research and teaching, including the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychology. In 2008 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dan's 2007 book, Stumbling on Happiness, spent 6 months on the New York Times bestseller list, has being translated into more than 30 languages, and was awarded the Royal Society's General Book Prize for best science book of the year.

In 2010, Dan hosted and co-wrote the award-winning PBS television series This Emotional Life, whose premiere was watched by more than 10 million viewers.

In 2013, Dan teamed up with Prudential to do a series of television commercials to encourage Americans to plan for their futures and save for retirement. This advertising campaign has been one of the most successful in the history of the financial services industry.

Dan is a contributor to Time, The New York Times, and NPR's All Things Considered, and has been a guest on numerous television shows including The Today Show, 20/20, and The Colbert Report. In 2014, Science magazine named him one of the world's 50 most-followed scientists on social media.

Dan's TED talks have been seen by more than 20 million people, and his first TED talk remains one of the 15 most popular of all time.