Want to learn the ideas in Hardwiring Happiness better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of Hardwiring Happiness by Rick Hanson here.

Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.

Video Summaries of Hardwiring Happiness

We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on Hardwiring Happiness, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Rick Hanson.

1-Page Summary of Hardwiring Happiness

Overview

If you watch the news, you may have noticed that most of it is bad. Why is this? It’s because we’re hardwired to pay attention to negative information and ignore positive information. But don’t worry! We can overcome our negativity bias by learning about how our brains are structured for happiness and how we can use simple techniques to foster positivity in ourselves.

You’ll also learn how to give positive feedback that sticks in people’s minds, as well as the brain functions and why recalling chocolate can bring you happiness.

Big Idea #1: Having happy or sad thoughts depends on the structure of your brain, but people tend to focus on the “bad.”

When you were a child, did you have trouble making friends and fitting in? Were you teased often and retreated further into yourself? Even if you were popular with your peers, this may be due to the fact that bad experiences are more memorable than good ones.

For example, let’s say you recently received a job evaluation. It was full of positive feedback and compliments. However, if there was one small criticism in the evaluation, you probably focused on that because humans are hardwired to focus more on negative than positive things. For example, psychologists have found that people pay more attention to angry faces rather than happy ones. That’s because when someone glares at you, your brain subconsciously picks up their hostility immediately. But your tendency to focus on either happy or sad thoughts depends on a certain part of your brain called the amygdala which is in charge of emotional responses and can be either “happy” or “sad”. People with a “happy” amygdala tend to be optimistic and think about opportunities rather than difficulties thereby creating good experiences and generating positive feedback for the brain which makes them want to take action towards achieving goals thus leading them into even better experiences until they end up feeling great!

Most people are not happy. They live in fear and react to their fears by releasing stress hormones that make them feel anxious.

In the next point, we’ll look at that sad brain type and see what can turn a frown upside-down.

Big Idea #2: The human brain is constantly evolving and can change for the better – or for the worse.

It’s very likely that you’ve seen a picture of the human brain. It is an organ in our head that looks like a weird cauliflower. As you know, this odd-looking thing is extremely complex and constantly learns new things.

The brain is not static. It changes with new experiences, as studies have shown. In fact, London taxi drivers have a larger hippocampus than average because of all the knowledge they’ve accumulated over time about the city’s streets and landmarks.

In 2013, a psychologist found that children who grow up with parents who are not loving and supportive can develop the “sad amygdala” we learned about in the last key point. The lump wasn’t a brain tumor; it was actually due to overdevelopment of neurons associated with navigating London’s streets as taxi drivers constantly exercise them. This is similar to how our brains change when we exercise certain areas of our brain, like doing crossword puzzles or learning new languages.

Luckily, we can learn to be happy again. Stanley Schachter guides patients through mental exercises where they imagine being surrounded by a loving family and receiving positive reinforcement. Through these techniques, the brain can gradually change the structure of its amygdala so that it will feel happiness more often.

So, if our brain can be rewired for happiness, why are people still unhappy? Let’s find out.