...actually an audio book during a 20-hour drive, called "Stumbling on Happiness" - though it also exists as a regular paper-and-ink volume. Not a "how to be happy" self-help book, as the title might imply, but a study of why the choices we make in our lives so seldom make us happy. It dealt a lot with the tricks of memory and expectation - how we judge the future through the eyes of the past and the present, and how our memories aren't nearly as good as we think they are - thus leading to poor choices, such as spending the holidays with the extended family
again, even though every single year it turns into a disaster, and we vow never to do so again - or, marrying the same type of incompatible person over and over again. The reason may be that our brains store memories as "cliff notes" rather than as complete scenarios - and upon prompting, a memory isn't so much recalled as it is reconstructed from a few key highlights. That makes for minor or even major changes, missing or improperly filled-in details, etc.
One very interesting example was of a researcher who asked directions from a person on the street. While the subject was explaining how to get to a particular place, two men carrying a door passed between the questioner and the subject. Hidden behind the door was a second researcher. During that brief moment when the researchers were hidden from the subject's view, the two switched places - the first one sneaking off behind the door as it was carried past, and the second taking the place of the initial questioner. It should be emphasized that the two researchers did not at all physically resemble each other (though I don't think it was mentioned whether they were wearing the same clothes). The majority of the subjects went right on giving directions without missing a beat; they didn't even realize they were now talking to a completely different person! Their minds had instantly filled in the details and adjusted their view so their continuity of experience wasn't disrupted.
There's lots of cool stuff like this in the book, and interesting tricks that the mind plays.
I also liked the concept in the introduction that our "future selves" are a bit like our children - we arrange our present lives and make choices and sacrifices for their benefit, and more often than not they're ungrateful and unhappy with what we've done for them. The career choice we make today, for instance, may be looked back upon with contempt by our future self, when we'll wonder how we ever imagined this would make us happy. The problem is in the difficulty of accurately judging what will make us happy in the future.
I highly recommend a read or a listen. Though it's a rather scientific subject, it's written in an engaging, humerous, and understandable style. Check it out, if you're so inclined:
http://www.amazon.com/Stumbling-Happiness-Daniel-Gilbert/dp/0739332228/sr=1-1/qid=1161387410/ref=sr_oe_1_3/104-6413515-7229538?ie=UTF8&s=books
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