Can money really buy happiness? What factors in one's childhood ensure one's happiness in adulthood? Do sons or daughters make parents more happy? And why is stress such an enemy to trying to lose weight? Apparently, something as vague as feelings and happiness can be quantifiable and explained, thanks to Salmon Books' recent release How Happiness Works And Why We Behave The Way We Do. Packaged in a bright yellow hue with nothing less than a huge smiley face on the cover, Nattavudh Powdthavee explains the economics of happiness and our feelings in 32 easy-to-digest chapters.
Currently working as a professor of behavioural science at Warwick Business School, the 38-year-old is known for his expertise regarding happiness. His previous book The Happiness Equation: The Surprising Economics Of Our Most Valuable Asset is sold across America, UK and Japan, while the author has also been invited to speak at Ted Talks on various occasions. Nattavudh comes from a solid academic background, but his book is a fun read that hits close to home, offering insights into why we are the way we are and at times even pointers on how to live a happier life.
How Happiness Works And Why We Behave The Way We Do is available at all major bookstores for 195 baht.
What are you reading now?
Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, And The Gap Between Us And Them by Joshua A. Green. I've known Joshua's work on the links between moral judgement and brain activity for a while, and was glad to hear that he had a book out so that I could learn a bit more about how different moral codes were formed between people who we like and people who we don't like.
What is your favourite book of all time?
There are a couple. But if I have to pick one, then I guess it will have to be Simon Singh's Fermat's Last Theorem. It is possibly one of the most engrossing books I've ever read. The book is about one of the most difficult mathematical theorems to prove of all time (that xª + yª = cª where a is greater than 2 has no answer), but then it was eventually proven in 1994 by Andrew Wiles, a British maths professor at Princeton University.
What is one book you've always wanted to read but haven't got around to?
I can't think of one, because I've always made sure to read whatever I wanted to read at the time. But if I have to choose, then I guess it'll have to be one of the books by Mike Gayle. I've always liked his previous novels, especially My Legendary Girlfriend and Brand New Friend.
What is one book that has really left an impression on you?
Apart from Simon Singh's book on the most difficult mathematical problem in the world, the other book that left quite an impression on me was Tony Parsons' One For My Baby. I just felt so much for the characters in the book.
What is one book about money/economics that you would recommend?
I would highly recommend Misbehaving: The Making Of Behavioural Economics by Richard Thaler. If I'm allowed to recommend another, it will be Thinking, Fast And Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Both books are packed with fun and highly engaging insights into behavioural economics, a field that I consider to be one of the best fields to study in economics.
What do you like to read to make yourself happy/laugh really hard?
Life And Laughing by Michael McIntyre. He's just one of the funniest Chinese comedians around, and he's not even Chinese!
What got you to start writing?
As an academic, writing comes with the job. But to be able to educate others with what I've learned from my research is pure joy. And what's better to motivate you to do anything than the happiness you get from doing it. As for the authors that had been influential to me, I like all economists before me who started translating the complex world we academics live in and make it simple and fun for everyone. Steven Levitt, Dan Ariely, Richard Thaler, to name just a few.
