Is making a decision on a whim or saying down the road that you will be happy with your life possible? According to the article, “The Futile Pursuit of Happiness” by Jon Gertner explains how psychologists Daniel Gilbert and George Lowenstein conduct numerous studies on predicting happiness. Upon reviewing the information presented in this article it is clear that predicting happiness is not possible. Although in the moment of purchasing a new hot item can put a huge smile on your face, knowing that same item will bring you happiness in the future is not likely.
Most people make rash decisions when they are in hot and cold states. When people are in cold states they are calm and collected, and when in a hot state they are in the heat of the moment or their anxiety levels are up. During my teenage years, a girl I knew snuck out of her home in the middle of the night to meet a boy she thought she loved. They ran away to another town called Spring to elope. After a few weeks of marriage, they became unhappy and realized they had made a huge mistake. Another example, in my case whenever I am on my way to Dollywood I am determined to ride the rollercoasters, but when I am halfway up the line I start panicking and exit the line as quick as possible. In the study of hot and cold decision making Gertner states, “Among other things, this line of inquiry has led Lowenstein to collaborate with health experts looking into why people engage in unprotected sex when they would never agree to do so in moment of cool calculation” (21). While in cold states it is apparent that people are able to make better choices they will not regret, whereas in a hot state people tend to make unwise choices that may have undesirable consequences.
People ofte...
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...appy no matter what is going on. People can be truly happy, but they have to work at it every day. If people are unhappy, then they need to change whatever is inside them in order to be happy. Individuals who are in the pursuit of finding happiness, which more than likely is everyone, need to have faith in themselves and a calm voice in their heads. If people keep those two things on their minds, then there is no reason why they cannot predict their happiness, even if it’s in short time frames. Even if predictions of happiness are not always right, at least people get that temporary sensation of feeling something special. A temporary sensation is better than having no sensation of feeling special at all.
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Works Cited
Gertner, Jon. The Futile Pursuit of Happiness. New York: The Daily Times, 2003. Print.
Happiness is the positive emotion and contentment one feels naturally. Many Psychology studies have been concluded to display what pure happiness is. In the article, “In Pursuit of Unhappiness” by Darrin M. McMahon, he indicates that happiness cannot be forced. In the article, McMahon mentions a philosopher, John Stuart Mill, who acknowledges as well, that happiness can not be forced. He says that if one focuses on something other than their own happiness, happiness will come to them naturally. By what Mill says, people should be encouraged that happiness will come to them and can not force happiness to them. Another example is Jeffrey Kluger’s article, “The Happiness of Pursuit”, he talks about how people focus on never being happy. He says,
Therefore, happiness is “what provokes us, incites us, need not come from our own time. Indeed, our own time may be and probably is so d
Newman and Randy J. Larsen’s article “How Much of Our Happiness is Within Our Control?” claims that we have much less control over our happiness than positive psychologists uphold. This shows that you let things that happen in your life control if you are happy or not. These psychologists argue that you cannot make yourself happier. This is saying you can never attain everlasting bliss and that you get used to all the negatives factors in your life. I do not believe this statement is true because I think you can always put a positive spin on every negative factor in your life and that your positive factors in your life can last as long as you want them to. Therefore, I disagree with Newman and Larsen because I believe you are the only one that has complete control over your own happiness. They state that the influential environmental variables in our lives are just as uncontrollable than our genes. However, the reactions to the uncontrollable environmental variables is what controls your mood and happiness. Although there beliefs are different they still have some common ground. The authors of both articles agree that the people who are happier tend to always have particular behavioral characteristics such as gratitude, kindness, positive relationships,
I believe that individuals can be happy for short periods of time in society. For example, we do not have to constantly fight for our possessions because we have rights, and security makes us happy. Rousseau would agree with this because he says, “What he [man] gains [from the social contract] is civil liberty and the proprietary ownership of all he possesses” (Rousseau, 27). Unfortunately, security cannot make us happy at all times because it is not usually at the forefront of our mind. It leaves us with a sense of contentedness, and we, normally, only realize the happiness security gave us when we lose
This is seemingly the case in the time period prior to the collapse of society. For example, when a character named “[Jeevan] reached Allan Gardens Park… he found himself blindsided by an unexpected joy. Arthur died… there’s nothing to be happy about. But there was… now he was certain, absolutely certain that he wanted to be a paramedic” (11). When Jeevan finally realized what he wanted to be, his true calling, he was overwhelmed with joy. Even though somebody had just died, all he could feel was happiness because he found something within himself. When Arthur was beginning to reflect upon his life, “He stared at his crown and ran through a secret list of everything that was good… Dancing with Clark when he was eighteen… Tanya sipping wine, her smile… Riding in his father’s snowplow when he was nine, the time [he] told a joke and his father and his little brother couldn’t stop laughing, the sheer joy he’d felt at that moment” (327). All of these different things brought Arthur happiness and eventually sadness at some point in his life, showing that nothing can keep you happy forever. The meaning of happiness is ever-changing. Since happiness was based off of how much you had, people had the ability to manipulate it by obtaining more
A powerful influence over happiness is how people perceive situations and how they choose to engage with others. Life may change within an instant and have a spiraling spin of high and low points, but the positive state of mind and the value of social relationships determine the
However, happiness also takes into account a wide range of other aspects of our lives, including our thoughts and actions, and even genetics. Therefore, happiness should be defined as the amalgamation of how we think and act, and how we interpret our experiences as positive or negative. What this means is that in order to become happier, we must simply force ourselves to become more optimistic. This is easier said than done, however. In order to have a noticeable increase in happiness, people must be willing to make lifestyle changes in addition to changing their mindset. However, the difference between optimism and delusion is a fine line, so people must be cautious to not exaggerate the positive parts of an experience or become overly optimistic. If we practice seeking out the positive views of our circumstances, with time we will find ourselves happier than
Ultimately being happy is not as great as it is talked up to be. Having too much happiness is not good. Being too happiness can cause us to miss the true value of happiness, only focus on ourselves, and it can cause us to be less alert to threats and dangerous situations around us. Being happy is a good thing but like all good things there are also some
Gertner explains that affective forecasting, miswanting, and hot and cold states can really throw us off track in our search for true happiness. He uses many examples and experiment results from credible sources to prove his point. After reading Gertner's essay, we are left with this: The things that we think will make us happy rarely do. These decisions or investments are usually unimportant and become normal and boring for us. After all of our disappointments, we are left still wondering if true happiness can ever really be reached.
Is there a relationship between death, wisdom, and happiness and the well-lived life; and what is the structure? I struggled to form an answer to this question, because I’m not sure if my real feelings on the subject are conducive to the assignment. As I feel like you’re looking for some profound and deep explanative that correlate back to the teachings of this class. I know for a fact that I don’t need 750 words to answer, and adding summaries of material that don’t affect my position is very frustrating. However, this class is part of a journey that sits under an umbrella of life lessons I have to digest in order to meet my goals, strengthen my meaning and allow me to get closer to the purpose of my life. In order to get to happiness,
The pursuit of happiness ultimately leads to disappointment and a lack of satisfaction because people’s cravings can never be entirely fulfilled. Dalai Lama once said “When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, ‘Oh yes – I already have everything that I really need.’” This quote shows that having high expectations of anything leads to disappointment when the expectation is not met. Also, having anticipations for what happiness is makes attained happiness irrelevant and inadequate relative to what one wanted to get
I personally believe that real happiness is not the 3 second happiness that fades away, it has anything to do with our possessions, our environment, or even our health; it comes from being happy with your life and expecting who you are and what you have in life.
Contrary to belief, genuine happiness is very rarely found at the bottom of a shopping basket or on the leather seats of a brand new car. Often we hear the cliché saying “Money can’t buy happiness” but this is in fact true. Whilst the elation and delight brought from finally owning a wanted item is extraordinary, you must remind yourself that your happiness should not become dependant upon your ownership of this item. Being happy is not something you can purchase from a shop or car dealership, it is the way you take on life. Unfortunately, happiness does not have its own aisle at shops and never will.
Happiness can be understood as the moral goal of life or can be unpredictable and is something we create from ourselves and by ourselves. The idea of happiness was known as something we nurture on our own and is a state of emotion. Completing our everyday goals will soon bring us happiness, which seems to be very important to most humans and is what makes life worth living, but this is not certain. This conception of Eudemonia was common in ancient Greece as it is currently today. Aristotle had what he thought was an ideal activity for all those who wanted to live life to the fullest, be happy, and have purpose.
Throughout my life, I have learned to see that happiness is not such an inaccessible dream. Although its notion varies from one person to another, happiness is often times only one inch away. Some people will experience happiness in the pursuit of it. Some will find it in sacrificing themselves for greater goals. Others will find it in people’s company, in lust or in drugs. There is no recipe for success or happiness, and it is only up to us to define what we want from life, and how we want to get it. The only certain thing is that it is never too late for anybody to achieve their dreams, to make peace with their feelings, and ultimately, to be happy.