Justice in Generosity, Giving While Living: A Review of The Happiness Experiment by Carl B. Barney

Carl B. Barney's The Happiness Experiment: A Revolutionary Way to Increase Happiness is a compelling blend of memoir, philosophy, and practical wisdom, drawn from the author's extraordinary life journey. As a successful education entrepreneur and philanthropist, Barney reflects on his path from grim postwar London to building a fortune in America, using pivotal experiences to explore how gratitude, planning, and proactive giving can amplify personal joy.

This harrowing moment prompts profound introspection—Barney envisions his lawyer reading his will posthumously, realizing it would be a "non-experience" for him.

Though written as non-fiction, the vivid use of narrative story-telling makes it nearly read more like a novel.  As the book opens, the narrating author nearly loses his life: While on a routine business trip, Barney is in flight, when one of the plane’s engines explodes.  The quick thinking pilot shut down everything to avert a fire, forcing a tense landing on a single engine. This harrowing moment prompts profound introspection—Barney envisions his lawyer reading his will posthumously, realizing it would be a "non-experience" for him. 

"I didn’t like this picture one bit. There had to be a better way," he writes, setting the stage for his exploration of a radically new form of expressing his gratitude to his loved ones, eschewing the granting of bequests post-mortem, into generous pre-quests, to be enjoyed by both benefactor and the benefactee in their shared life—from future heirs, to “heirs-in-now.”

Barney’s reflections on gratitude include a flashback to a defining experience in his childhood in post-war London, where as one of six children he experienced he “endured a threadbare existence.”  A Saturday trip to the “picture shows” became a singular spot of enjoyment in an otherwise bleak existence.  But one Saturday, at 6 years old, he ran to the theater for his weekly treat, only to reach into his pocket and find his sixpence gone.

Sobbing uncontrollably, he became more and more distraught in his search, when a lady tapped him on the shoulder.  His "six-pence lady," as he’d come to remember her, understanding his plight, announced she’d “found” his sixpence, and gave it to him.  "That unknown lady’s sweet act of kindness, generosity, and empathy has motivated me to make the same kind of difference—to give ‘six-pences’ to others, so that they, too, might achieve some value critical to their happiness," Barney explains. 

This early experience planted seeds about the value of gratitude and generosity—but others instilled in him the importance of planning and setting goals.  This includes leaving the UK for Australia, after a newspaper ad inspired him to make the ambitious journey.  "The adventures were exciting, and I learned a lot, but it was the thinking and the planning that had the greatest impact on my life," he notes. Since 1957, this mindset has guided him, extending to investments like Blake Scholl’s Boom supersonic project, where he admires the entrepreneur's strategic vision as key to success.

He recounts: "Now, after working hard for fifty years, it dawned on me in a deeper way than ever before: I’m rich!"

After decades of  implementing his own entrepreneurial vision and planning, he recounts: "Now, after working hard for fifty years, it dawned on me in a deeper way than ever before: I’m rich!" Yet, he didn’t feel quite as fulfilled as he sensed he could be—a realization that led him to the ultimate conclusion that sharing in the happiness of those who meant the most to him would be the likeliest path to increasing his own happiness.

This led to his singular innovation—The Happiness Experiment—and his radical concept of "pre-quests,” bringing posthumous bequests forward into the living present. Critiquing traditional wills as impersonal and delayed, he selects 20 individuals who enriched his life and bestows "happiness grants" upon them. This wasn't charity, but rather an act of justice and mutual flourishing. "I had been the beneficiary of their generosity; now I would like them to be the beneficiaries of my generosity," he writes. Barney distinguishes these grants from altruism: "They deserved it for the success and happiness they brought into my life, and I would be happier to see them happier."

Philosophically, Barney delves into how beliefs shape happiness. He poses probing questions: Do we view the universe as chaotic and unknowable, or as responsive to rational, productive actions? Do we trust in reason's efficacy and our own agency, or feel powerless against external forces? Happiness, he argues, isn't zero-sum: "The amount of joy in the universe is unlimited. There’s more than enough for everyone. If we increase our happiness by taking positive, productive actions in our lives, we deserve to be rewarded with happiness. We earn our happiness. We don’t take anything away from anyone else. The truth is, we add to happiness, because happiness spreads. Happy people are more loving, more generous, and make others happier."

In the section "The Lessons I Learned," Barney reinforces these ideas, urging readers to adopt a benevolent worldview and proactive habits. His narrative is refreshingly candid—admitting that even vast wealth didn't automatically yield peak happiness—making the book relatable despite his exceptional circumstances.

I found The Happiness Experiment to be a gift, providing me with a deeper understanding that I am responsible for pursuing my own happiness, not just through productive achievement, but through benevolence in action, investing time and care in those relationships that mean the most to me.  And this extends to others whom we don’t know, like a little boy crying over a lost sixpence, embracing such instances as opportunities to elevate the world by example.

Generosity is not self-sacrifice. It is a trade, an expression of our values. When we give to others, we are affirming that life is better when it is shared with those we esteem.

As the philosopher David Kelley, Ph.D. reminds us: “Generosity is not self-sacrifice. It is a trade, an expression of our values. When we give to others, we are affirming that life is better when it is shared with those we esteem.”

Reading The Happiness Experiment inspired me to become a happiness entrepreneur, seeking out opportunities to grow my own happiness through sharing it with others.

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