Customer Reviews

Satisfaction: The Science of Finding True Fulfillment

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In exploring what creates 'personal satisfaction' this little gem explores a broad range of drivers, from neurochemistry to the laws of econonomics. While its core theme is nailed down to 'novelty produces dopamine--the brain's fuel--that drives satisfaction', it artfully weaves interesting lessons about sex, money, and personal well-being along the way. And even when the author gets a little carried away describing the more technical aspects of neuroscience, it is over in a page or two. If you like a book that makes you think, as well as giving you something new to talk to your friends about, this one is dynamite.

The title of this book is totally misleading. First of all Berns is no great writer. He inserts a lot of dialog that sounds faked. But the overall premise, that he's out looking for "True Fulfillment" is ridiculous; he is clearly not doing anything of the kind. What he is doing is repeating over and over and over his basic premise that novelty is what the brain requires. (This is because novelty stimulates the brain in particular ways that result in the release of dopamine, and this happens in a particular part of the brain called the striatum.) Then he goes on these long, boring investigations into the ways in which novelty is found in eating fine foods, sex, running, solving puzzles, etc. This book was BORING. The argument about novelty is not very convincing. He just does not justify the notion that the pursuit of novelty or novelty itself results in "true fulfillment." I mean, you can give all the examples of "novelty" you want, but if you haven't really bothered to show how fulfilling that is, do I care? True fulfillment? Hardly.

Part personal memoir part scientific odyssey, this book explores the relationship between pleasure and pain in the brain and how they are mediated and controlled. Ultimately, the author's goal is to explain how we attain true satisfaction in life, not merely physical pleasure, no matter how intense, since that is fleeting.

The author's quest takes him from the labs of distinguished scientists to clubs frequented by the S & M crowd, and to countries like, oddly enough, Iceland, where he describes an interesting genetic study that is taking place. The author does a superb job of discussing the relevant neuroscience without getting too technical, covering the relevant history and scientists who have contributed to various areas of the brain research into pleasure and pain. The account of Dr. Robert Heath's work was fascinating, and that's just one of the many people discussed in the book. Add in some frank discussions of de Sade's and Masoch's lives and works, and how their writings relate to the issue of pain becoming pleasure and you have one of the most interesting brain books for the layman I've encountered in recent years.

Gregory Berns is a psychiatrist and this book is his contribution to the new field of positive psychology. As a result of Brens' background the work takes a heavily medical view, rather than a cognitive/behavioral view (as taken by authors such as Martin E. P. Seligman). Berns closely examines the role of dopamine as it operates in the Striatum (a part of the lower brain/brain stem). Dopamine is the motivating neurochemical which moves us to action. It is thus not surprising that the book examines 'satisfaction', that is the joy of doing things, as opposed to 'happiness', which is a more permanent personality characteristic, and 'pleasure', which is a very transitory feeling.

The book covers various possible sources of satisfaction, including:

Gaining money,
Solving puzzles,
Eating,
Electric stimulation of the brain,
Avoiding pain,
Long distance running,
Having a sense of place and an interest in mythology, and,
Sex and love.

This text is written in a very chatty style which is very readable. Each chapter contains an autobiographical story in which Berns runs an experiment, interviews an expert, goes to visit a place, etc. The science is inserted into these stories as condensed educational packets. The book is definitely written for the general public, not professionals who I think would be rather annoyed by having to read through the personal guff. Sometimes this method of combining stories and science works well. A successful chapter is, for example, "The Electric Pleasuredome" which examines Robert Heath's experiments in electrically stimulating the brain. But at other times this approach is simply not enlightening. The chapter "Iceland: The Experience" contains some scientific information on gene research, but this is in no way related to the supposed topic of 'satisfaction'. I can guess from the Iceland story that myth may in some way please the mind, perhaps the unconscious as proposed by Carl Jung, but no science is presented to prove or disprove this. I can only conclude that the "Iceland" chapter is there to pad the book out a bit longer.

<Satisfaction: the science of finding true fulfillment> certainly educated me, but I did not find that it had any practical impact on my life, as other books have, such as Seligman's Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. I am, for example, hardly likely to hard wire my brain with electric probes. Because of this and the useless "Iceland" chapter I can only give this book three stars.

I was looking for the science of finding true fulfillment. Instead, I got Dr. Berns' search for true fulfillment mingled with a couple of cool experiments, an incredible meal, a trip to a really trashy nightclub, a sightseeing trip to Iceland with a tidbit about restless leg syndrome, and way too much personal information. An autobiographical book may have worked, but this was obviously marketed as a popular science book about the science of finding fulfillment. Lacking a true focus on the science, the book became discursive and rambled.

However, there are some interesting tidbits. Dr. Berns introduces his readers to the striatum, a structure in the brain that is involved in our decision-making process, as well as the effects of dopamine and cortisol and explains the current understanding about how our brains process decision making. What makes us tick is itself a sufficiently compelling theme to make a decent book, but taking the reader into an SM Bar? Please. I fail to see justification for anything more than a footnote into the minds of the sick and twisted. Yup. Sick and twisted. Can one merely mention that sometimes the pain/pleasure boundary gets blurred rather than provide a graphic picture of some idiot getting his rear end beaten? Too much information with too little content.

I see this book's shortcomings as a failure on the part of the editor and publisher to truly decide where the author was going with what could have otherwise been an excellent overview of the emerging science of satisfaction.

Bern spends about five minutes covering the issue of how the brain functions relative to dopamine and then the book becomes a disappointing travel log of adventure in the world biochemistry research. The case examples are thin surrounded by fluff of individual friendships and a hooker propositioning him in the Big Easy.

I love the subject matter; however, the content is missing in this book.

It has been a long time since I have read such a fascinating and informative book that both teaches neuroscience and at the same times conveys a personal message. Dr. Berns struggles to find the roots of satisfaction (and meaning) in life as a scientist and as an individual. His quest is readily recognized as a pursuit we all share. No topic goes untouched. I especially liked the more "racy" parts of the book including the trip to an S and M club and very revealing glimpses into his own life and marriage. His theories are compelling and provide lessons to get the most out of life. My eyes will never remain closed again.

Not being a specialists in brain sciences, reading these lenghty stories about our brain might need some incentives. In connection with pleasant things like happiness, pleasure, satisfaction etc. reading about our brain is now easier than along gloomy, sad, mad and bad things ... the later ones are not entangled in the book. The stories (or quasi-essays) got anyway thinner due to the view kept constantly open towards the basics of physical and chemical brain functions.

Psychological cultivations on happiness and related subjects must mainly be sought elsewhere.

Mr. Gregory Berns is an outstanding writer and I would not be surprised he would end up writing novels. Mr. Berns is a psychiatrist and his book seems to have a sound scientific foundation. In his own words: "Satisfaction differs critically from both pleasure and happiness by its inclusion of the dimension of action. While you might find pleasure by happenstance (winning the lottery, possessing the genes for a sunny temperament, or having the luck not to live in poverty), satisfaction can arise only by the concious decision to do something. And this makes all the difference in the world, because it is only your own actions for which you may take responsibility and credit." This book is very interesting and it reads easily. Highly recommended.

The author's professional expertise is in brain science, and this forms a large part of the book. When he takes things out of the laboratory, to Iceland, and an ultramarathon (yes, and an S&M club, although that seemed more superficial than the other field trips) and other places, the science begins to make subjective sense. The third strand in this provocative book is an analysis of motivation.

This is a great book, and one that is fun to read, precisely because it doesn't rely on one set of assumptions to deduce a monochrome answer. Brain experiments can't determine subjective experience, but they can rule out theories; observation alone cannot make sense of life, but philosophies should be consistent with observation. By thinking deeply about all three, and writing a book to force readers to think deeply about all three, the author has advanced the debate considerably. Anyone interested in why we do what we do, and thinks a full answer has to reference brain function, subjective experience and philsophy, should read this book carefully.