*Photo Credit: Daniel Gilbert
Dan Gilbert
Bestselling Author, Stumbling on Happiness; Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
SPEAKER FEE RANGE: $30,000–$50,000 [FEE NOTE]
TRAVELS FROM: Massachusetts
Professor Daniel Gilbert is one of the world’s leading experts on the science of happiness and decision-making. He is the author of the international bestseller Stumbling on Happiness. He is the host of the award-winning PBS television series, This Emotional Life, and his wildly popular TED talks have been watched more than 20 million times. His groundbreaking research on why people often don’t realize what will make them happy has profound implications for both individuals and their organizations.
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 35 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, The Late Show, Charlie Rose, 20/20, and The Colbert Report.
IIn 2014, Science magazine named him one of the world's 50 most-followed scientists on social media, and in 2017 he was named one of the 50 Most Influential Living Psychologists in the World. 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.
Dan's 2007 book, Stumbling on Happiness, spent 6 months on the New York Times bestseller list, has being translated into more than 35 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, The Late Show, Charlie Rose, 20/20, and The Colbert Report.
IIn 2014, Science magazine named him one of the world's 50 most-followed scientists on social media, and in 2017 he was named one of the 50 Most Influential Living Psychologists in the World. 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.
- 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 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. - Happiness: What Your Mother Didn’t Tell You
Most of us think we know what would make us happy and that our only problem is getting it. But research in psychology, economics, and neuroscience shows that people are not very good at predicting what will make them happy, how happy it will make them, and how long that happiness will last. Is the problem that we can’t really imagine what our futures will hold? Is the problem that our friends and family mislead us about the true sources of human happiness? Yes, and yes again. Professor Gilbert will explain why, when it comes to finding happiness, we can’t always trust our imaginations or our mothers. - 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? Become an architect or a pastry chef?—we’re lost. Is there any way to know how to do precisely the right thing at all possible times? In fact, science provides a simple method for making decisions. Although that method is easy to understand, most of us don’t apply it in our daily lives, and so we make a host of mistakes that we later regret. New research in psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics explains why.
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