“A wonderful book and everyone should read it”

Carlos Allende’s review of A General Theory of Behaviour in Goodreads:

“A must read for anyone interested in psychology. Elegant is the best way to describe this work: simple, short, and very complete. I strongly recommend it.

Two tiny issues. First, Marks seems to forget the limitations of working memory — too many acronyms! As short as this text is, it would have been much easier to read if the author had splurged and typed complete words.

Second, why the animosity toward positive psychology? This issue seems out of place, after a rather dry and unemotional text, as if Marks was trying to expose some quacks. Positive psychology agrees with Marks’ theory of behavior. Positive psychologists study what makes us happy, but no, positive psychologists have not promised to make everyone happy. Positive psychologists recognize the effect of early trauma but also the temporary effect of mood, brain plasticity, and emotional regulation. Positive psychologists recognize that happiness is not a destination but a temporary state dependent on one’s goals, and thus that individuals must work continuously toward achieving happiness—it’s a never ending work, just like homeostatic regulation. I would argue that we can learn how to become happier applying principles from both disciplines. For instance, exposing ourselves to situations that arouse compassion forces us to homeostatic imbalances conducive to finding pleasure in connecting and helping others. Expanding our social niche rewires the brain by making us more empathic and therefore more likely to find happiness in others’ happiness.

In any case, it is a wonderful book and everyone should read it.”

Thank you Carlos! The book is available for Kindle here.