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The Progress Paradox

How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse

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The Progress Paradox

By: Gregg Easterbrook
Narrated by: Jonathan Marosz
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About this listen

 In The Progress Paradox, Gregg Easterbrook draws upon three decades of wide-ranging research and thinking to make the persuasive assertion that almost all aspects of Western life have vastly improved in the past century--and yet today, most men and women feel less happy than in previous generations. Why this is so and what we should do about it is the subject of this book.

Between contemporary emphasis on grievances and the fears engendered by 9/11, today it is common to hear it said that life has started downhill, or that our parents had it better. But objectively, almost everyone in today’s United States or European Union lives better than his or her parents did.

Still, studies show that the percentage of the population that is happy has not increased in fifty years, while depression and stress have become ever more prevalent. The Progress Paradox explores why ever-higher living standards don’t seem to make us any happier. Detailing the emerging science of “positive psychology,” which seeks to understand what causes a person’s sense of well-being, Easterbrook offers an alternative to our culture of crisis and complaint. He makes a Compelling case that optimism, gratitude, and acts of forgiveness not only make modern life more fulfilling but are actually in our self-interest.

Seemingly insoluble problems of the past, such as crime in New York City and smog in Los Angeles, have proved more tractable than they were thought to be. Likewise, today’s “impossible” problems, such as global warming and Islamic terrorism, can be tackled too.

Like The Tipping Point, this book offers an affirming and constructive way of seeing the world anew. The Progress Paradox will change the way you think about your place in the world, and about our collective ability to make it better.©2003 Gregg Easterbrook; (P)2003 Books On Tape, Inc. Biological Sciences Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Science Social Classes & Economic Disparity Sociology Socialism Happiness Capitalism Crime Africa Middle East Economic disparity Social justice

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Critic reviews

Praise for Gregg Easterbrook

“Easterbrook . . . is a serious author with serious points to make.”
--The New York Times


“Easterbrook . . . writes nothing that is not brilliant.”
--Chicago Tribune


“Easterbrook is perhaps the finest general science writer in the country.”
--Forbes


“Easterbrook invests the timeless questions of life’s meaning with distinctly contemporary pertinence.”
--GEORGE WILL
All stars
Most relevant
In this World we have solution and we have problems this book is definately part of the solution and also any body who gives this book less then 5 stars, better have a dam good explaination .

Progress Paradox

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