Hi guys, Schadenfreude—what an interesting, yet absurd concept, especially since we live in a society where compassion and empathy are considered to be one of the fundamental pillars to success. I believe Neha made a very valid point when she talked about how “the first thought that goes through your mind is what you have been conditioned to think, and what you think next defines who you are.” The accuracy and power of this statement is amazing, seeing as it is so widespread in its application. That being said, schadenfreude is something that is omnipresent in our day-to-day life. While relatively harmless in the context of, say, watching a 10 minute compilation of 10 second clips of girls accidentally burning off chunks of their hair
Please Stop Laughing At Me by Jodee Blanco is an autobiography of her life during her time at school. There are many messages in this story. The one that is most overwhelming and powerful is the message about teenage and adolescent peer groups and the torment and social isolation that comes with not belonging to one of the right cliques.
In Theodore Isaac Rubin’s essay, “Competition and Happiness”, he summits about how in today’s society its always the battle eat or be eaten. Therefore our parents always tried to get us involved at an early age to help with our self-development, well being, and health. Since our culture has made us believe that competition brings out the best of us. Yet, it simultaneously brings out a stressful, isolating, and paranoid ambiance at a very young age. I agree with Rubin’s notion since the use of our time and energy is determined by competition and limits our happiness because it weakens our sense of identity.
Darrin M. McMahon author of In Pursuit of Unhappiness (December 29, 2005), McMahon's editorial. McMahon says that Americans should be happy,” in pursuing of Unhappiness,” we seek to bring one year to its natural happy conclusion... McMahon uses pathos, and logos to prove his point. In the 9th paragraph, he writes, “who have their minds fixed other things than their own happiness,but the happiness of others” he uses pathos as he speaks about happiness in when he says that people care about others than themselves he says, “their own” which makes the person feel that people don’t care about themselves as much as they think they do. The author uses appeals like happy New Year, Christmas and etc.
Everyone has been responsible for wrongful actions in their lives. The reason for these actions as well as your envy, lies, and insecurities is your shadow. Carl Jung’s theory of the persona includes concepts of “the ego, living with the shadow and the persona and mask one wears”(Internet Wire). In “The Shadow Effect”, Jung also describes the shadow as representing “ ‘the other side’ or ‘the dark brother’, who is an inseparable part of our psyche” (Burkard Sievers). Jung explains how for a person to deal with social acceptance and the expectations of humanity, they must conceal the part of themselves that they know won’t conform with these expectations (the shadow). People conceal this part by
Many people show empathy for humans like homeless people or ill family members or even just someone in a bad state. These people you can say show responsibility towards those events that are unpredictable in life. There are many people that show this, many people that explain this, and even many people that cause those emotions. These people don’t feel the same things we feel, these people see society in different eyes, in different ways, and in other words in different perspectives. They feel that they cannot forgive people for events that caused them anger, depression, or even made them feel like if they weren't worth anything.
Moral Panic The American public is exposed to violent crimes and drug abuse every day in the media. Panic tends to occur when the violence associated with drugs slowly infiltrates neighborhoods, and exposes law-abiding citizens to criminal activities. This panic causes a demand for action to eliminate the violence and crimes being broadcasted in the media daily.
1 Gene Giraudoux, the French playwright wrote “If two people who love each other let a single instant wedge itself between them, it grows—it becomes a month, a year, a century; it becomes too late.” [Source?] Based on the introduction of the author F[Z]ora Hurston, it is possible this story Sweat [Titles] is about the lives of real people in the South. The story focuses on one type of relationship that can exist between husbands and wives. The men can be abusive and the women will try to survive by working from their homes from dawn to dusk to make ends meet. The theme of this story is survival in the face of (or in spite of) adversity. [New paragraph] The main character’s key to survival is her triumphant indifference to her husband's aggression.
People often tend to think that others are in the awful situations that they are in due to
Scapegoating is a common way to target a certain group and blame them for something that has occurred. These negative emotions are usually the ingroup, or those with dominant power, targeting the out-group, or those with weaker power. They have occurred since the Holocaust, when Hitler blamed the Jews for the fall of Germany and needed to exterminate all Jews to make Germany great again. Prejudice was learned in this case, by the Nazis and those who spread the misconception of Jewish people, known as the social cognitive theory. However, some factors could be conflict between these two groups, known as the realistic conflict theory. For example, Mexicans have been thought to “steal all of Americans jobs” and be violent human beings. Mexican immigrants are actually less likely to commit crime, according to the Washington Post and earn jobs Americans are too lazy to do, or even better at. One can even participate in their own prejudice, known as stereotype vulnerability. This can affect their actions and lead them to feel anxious about behaving the way they are allegedly “portrayed” as.
They fact that someone has a preconceived opinion about me make me that is not based on experience or reason makes me bitter and resentful (Couillard, 2013). Prejudice prevented me from explaining myself and my traits since I was outraged. I became ignorant about that person and blocked out everything that he was saying.
In Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, stereotypes and rumors lead people to be less compassionate towards others. For instance, family names, town gossip and prejudice prompt people, like Jem, to act unsympathetic. I can connect this to typical high school life, where may people experience pre-judgment and sexism but also to society’s current need for a better understanding of empathy.
Darrin M. Mcmahon the author of the article, “In Pursuit of Unhappiness”, was born in 1963. Darrin broke out of the order of saying “Happy New Year!” and realized they are only expected words that are said without any meaning behind them. Even around the holidays where people are expected to be happy, they think the words “Happy New Year!” are just words that are supposed to be said. If you think about the words “Happy New Year”, year does not only mean one day, so the words are meant to wish a whole year of happiness. But instead, people just reserve their happiness only for the holidays. John Stuart Mill, Carlyle's long-time rival who are both philosophers makes a valid statement about those who have their focus set on something other than happiness are only happy. For example, setting your goal on being happy is risking being happy, because when you don't achieve it you lose even more happiness.
Radey, M., & Figley, C. R. (2007). The social psychology of compassion. Clinical Social Work Journal, 35(3), 207-214.
The old common law had a doctrine of absolute contract under which contractual obligations were binding no matter what might occur (Paradine v Jane, 1647). In order to ease the hardship which this rule caused in cases where the contract could not be properly fulfilled through no fault of either party but due to occurrence of unforeseen events, the doctrine of frustration was developed.
In Conclusion, contrary to the presumption that most people suffer from low self-esteem or feelings of inferiority, it is found that most people exhibit a self-serving bias. Individuals typically rate their selves better than average on subjective, desirable traits and abilities. Some individuals display overconfidence, which can lead to eventual feelings of failure. I have a self-serving bias as well as most everyone else, even though I may not even notice it. So next time you find yourself saying, "I was in a bad mood that day," "A lot of people make that same mistake," or "I can do it better myself," think about what you are saying and maybe you might catch your self serving bias.