Overview

"In HACKING HAPPINESS, futurist and contributing Mashable writer, John C. Havens, introduces you to your ""quantified self"" - your digital identity represented by gigabytes of data produced from tracking your activities on your smart phone and computer. Harvested by megacorporations such as Google, Facebook and Amazon, Havens argues that companies gather this data because of its immense economic value, encouraging a culture of ""sharing"" as they hoard the information based on our lives for private monetary gain. But there's an alternative to this digital dystopia. Emerging technologies will help us reclaim this valuable data for ourselves, so we can directly profit from the insights linked to our quantified selves. At the same time, sensors in smart phones and wearable devices will help us track our emotions to improve our well-being based on the science of positive psychology. Havens proposes that these trends will lead to new economic policies that redefine the meaning of ""wealth,"" allowing governments to create policy focused on purpose rather than productivity. An issues book highlighting the benefits of an examined life in the digital world, this timely work takes the trepidation out of the technological renaissance and illustrates how the fruits of the Information Age can improve our lives for a happier humanity."

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9780399165313

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Reviews

More than any time in human history, we have access to mountains of data about ourselves. Hacking H(app)iness is the first book to show us how to leverage this information as a path to happiness, rather than a source of misery. --Adam Grant, New York Times- bestselling author of Give and Take and Wharton professor In Hacking H(app)iness, John C. Havens makes the persuasive case that a key to happiness in the digital age is being able to control and leverage your personal data for your own benefit. It's a must-read for anyone who wants to better understand the interplay of economics, innovation, and the rising personal data sector, and how you can make better, smarter decisions when you're in charge of your own data. --Shane Green, Co-Founder and CEO of Personal I've met and spoken with literally hundreds of people about aging and the consequences of isolation. Most of them knew the space; many of them understood the emotional impacts, but only John felt it. He intuitively understood how our societal focus on physical health was obscuring our view on emotional health. --Iggy Fanlo, Co-Founder and CEO of Live!y The unexamined digital life is walking along an unstable ledge of happiness, in an era of digital exuberance. John C. Havens's Hacking H(app)iness is the balancing stick that allows us to synthesize and leverage technology by understanding the evolutionary value of one's digital blueprint, so that well-being and happiness can emerge. --Judy Martin, founder of WorkLifeNation.com and contributor for Forbes and NPR John C. Havens gives us an illuminating examination of how emerging technology can be harnessed to promote individual, community, corporate, and global happiness. As one who studies intrinsic motivation, achievement and happiness, I enjoyed John's rare emphasis on altruistically serving others as a path toward greater happiness and health. --John M

Mashable and Guardian contributing writer Havens provides a detailed defense of how developing technologies in augmented reality and wearable devices can increase happiness...An optimistic vision of how new technologies can be reimagined to increase productivity and personal growth. --Kirkus Reviews More than any time in human history, we have access to mountains of data about ourselves. Hacking H(app)iness is the first book to show us how to leverage this information as a path to happiness, rather than a source of misery. --Adam Grant, New York Times- bestselling author of Give and Take and Wharton professor In Hacking H(app)iness, John C. Havens makes the persuasive case that a key to happiness in the digital age is being able to control and leverage your personal data for your own benefit. It's a must-read for anyone who wants to better understand the interplay of economics, innovation, and the rising personal data sector, and how you can make better, smarter decisions when you're in charge of your own data. --Shane Green, Co-Founder and CEO of Personal I've met and spoken with literally hundreds of people about aging and the consequences of isolation. Most of them knew the space; many of them understood the emotional impacts, but only John felt it. He intuitively understood how our societal focus on physical health was obscuring our view on emotional health. --Iggy Fanlo, Co-Founder and CEO of Live!y The unexamined digital life is walking along an unstable ledge of happiness, in an era of digital exuberance. John C. Havens's Hacking H(app)iness is the balancing stick that allows us to synthesize and leverage technology by understanding the evolutionary value of one's digital blueprint, so that well-being and happiness can emerge. --Judy Martin, founder of WorkLifeNation.com and contributor for Forbes and NPR John C. Havens gives us an illuminating examination of how emerg

Author Information

John C. Havens - tech expert, contributing writer for Mashable.com and founder of the H(app)athon Project - is a stage and film actor turned business consultant and writer. He lives with his family in New Jersey.

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