A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST-READ BOOK • From one of our foremost psychologists a trailblazing
book that turns the idea of a good life on its head and urges us to embrace the transformative
power of variety and experience “Dr. Oishi’s enthusiasm for a big and bold existence is
infectious” — The Wall Street Journal "Life in Three Dimensions will give you new insights
into the many ways to live well including advice on how to pick the one most likely to be
right for you." —Jonathan Haidt author of The Anxious Generation For many people a good life
is a stable life a comfortable life that follows a well-trodden path. This is the case for
Shigehiro Oishi's father who has lived in a small mountain town in Japan for his entire life
putting his family's needs above his own like his father and grandfather before him. But is a
happy life or even a meaningful life the only path to a good life? In Life in Three
Dimensions Shige Oishi enters into a debate that has animated psychology since 1984 when Ed
Diener (Oishi's mentor) published a paper that launched happiness studies. A rival followed in
1989 with a model of a good life that focused on purpose and meaning instead. In recent years
Shige Oishi's award-winning work has proposed a third dimension to a good life: psychological
richness a concept that prioritizes curiosity exploration and a variety of experiences that
help us grow as people. Life in Three Dimensions explores the shortcomings of happiness and
meaning as guides to a good life pointing to complacency and regret as a "happiness trap" and
narrowness and misplaced loyalty as a “meaning trap.” Psychological richness Oishi proposes
balances the other two offering insight and growth spurred by embracing uncertainty and
challenges. In a lively style drawing on a generation of psychological studies and on
examples from famous people books and film Oishi introduces a new path to a fuller more
satisfying life with fewer regrets.
