The Amazon description omits mention of the book's accompanying software, the program Overcoming Depression, developed by MAIW. This program is based on advances in cognitive science and artificial intelligence.

Of course, if you look at your own life in an overly negative or pessimistic way, your comparison may turn out worse than it really is, making you feel bad unnecessarily. And if you decide you're helpless to improve your state, that will make you depressed. From the simple idea of comparison, all the different modes of cognitive science are clarified and fit into the larger picture. Simon normally writes on economics. He wrote this book because of his own personal struggle with depression.