SATISFACTION --- THE SCIENCE OF FINDING TRUE FULFILLMENT by Gregory Berns. Henry Holt, 2005
PREFACE --- This book argues that achieving "true sastisfaction" is both simpler and also more difficult than what most people think! (pxi-xvi)
What is the paradox of your brain's basic appetite for information? What do you really want out of life? Understanding what you really want --- namely, your brain's natural need for novelty --- can lead you to see life as more wonderous, and more surprising, than you could have ever imagined!
The first assumption you must accept is that "satisfying experiences" are difficult to achieve.
The second assumption you must accept is that the essence of a "satisfying experience" exists within your brain!
A satisfying experience can be defined as a sense of accomplishment following the achievement of a challenging project or task. A related aspect is that this emotion is just as real as emotions like happiness or sadness or anger.
The third assumption is that with new scientific data about the "biology of satisfaction" available, it is now time for a serious look at where satisfaction comes from and how anyone can get more of it.
This book explores the root of our human desire to maximize satisfaction, which has been symbolized historically by the Freudian idea that the "Pleasure Principle" governs human motivation. The Pleasure Principle can be defined generally as the idea that the essence of life is the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. However, this book proposes that the commonsense "Pleasure Principle" idea is a mistake.
Instead, this book proposes that a new way of understanding the roots of human motivation is needed since the truth is that our brains crave the kind of challenge and adversity (the stimulation that results from novelty) that is usually regarded as the opposite of satisfaction, namely, a kind of dissatisfaction with routine sameness.
The book answers two basic questions, how you can add novelty to a long-term relationship, and how you can learn to think differently about where you find satisfaction and what motivates you to seek it in the first place.
1) The slave in the brain (p1-17)
2) For the love of money (p18-46)
3) Puzzling gratifications (p47-70)
4) The Sushi problem (p71-98)
5) The electric pleasuredome (p99-119)
6) It hurts so good (p120-145)
7) Running high (p146-174)
8) Iceland --- the experience (p175-209)
9) Sex, love, and the crucible of satisfaction (p210-242)
EPILOGUE (p243-245)
NOTES (p247-269)
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (p271-273)
INDEX (p275-284)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (p285)
Gregory Berns is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University, and has been featured in diverse media.
Go to happy #1.1.2. Self-Liberation and Focus on Happiness and Satisfaction
Return to: Thoughts Training Abstracts
Return to: Feelings Training Abstracts
Go to index: Interactive Index of Factual Ideas