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The pursuit of happiness psychological analysis
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The pursuit of happiness psychological analysis
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“Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness,” is a well known phrase from the Declaration of Independence. Actions of others can affect this happiness, liberty, and essentially how one lives their lives. This statement was proved in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, which was based off of a true story. The movie is about the life of a man named Chris Gardner, whose life, liberty, and happiness was affected by the actions of others, sometimes in a good way and sometimes badly. Overall, I believe the movie should continue to be included in the the first unit, life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, of the AP Language and Composition class.
The movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, gives a real life example of how actions of others can affect one’s
"It's a small phrase when you think about it: "the pursuit of happiness." It's somewhat over-shadowed in the Declaration of Independence by the weightier notions of "life" and "liberty." In today's mass culture, it even comes close to being banal. Who, after all, doesn't want to pursue happiness? But in its own day, the statement was perhaps the most radical political statement ever delivered. And when we try and fathom why it is that the United States still elicits such extreme hatred in some parts of the world, this phrase is as good a place to start as any." "What power four little words still have. And what carnage they must still endure to survive. "
People may believe it is relatively easy to predict what would make them happiest in certain circumstances. It should be a simple task given that one spends their whole life learning what makes them happy. However, in the essay, “Immune to Reality,” Daniel Gilbert demonstrates that people often fail to correctly predict one’s own happiness. Daniel Gilbert gives various examples expressing when people make incorrect predictions about their life and how that affects their knowledge, understanding, and behaviors. That is because the unconscious mind picks up factors that influence a person’s happiness, knowledge, and understanding. These influences cause the human mind to quickly produce inaccurate reasons for why they do what they do.
Since the beginning of American history, citizens who resided the country lacked the basic civil rights and liberties that humans deserved. Different races and ethnicities were treated unfairly. Voting rights were denied to anyone who was not a rich, white male. Women were harassed by their bosses and expected to take care of everything household related. Life was not all that pretty throughout America’s past, but thankfully overtime American citizens’ civil liberties and rights expanded – granting Americans true freedom.
In our lives, we have had to learn how to handle people’s expectations of what we should be. Learning how to put yourself and your own well-being before other people’s demands. Often we are unable to meet the demands that people have set for us, which often creates the feeling of hopelessness because we could not do what they’ve wanted. This begins the downfall of our emotions, creating feelings that we aren’t good enough for the world anymore. Our bodies are set to put our self-preservation before trying to meet people’s demands, but their demands often are what affects our self-preservation. In “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller, we get examples of this when it comes to one of the main characters, Willy Loman. Throughout the book, we watch and learn about how Willy doesn’t care about his self-preservation because he believes that there isn't anything positive in his life anymore and he doesn’t feel like he should be there. Why does Willy decide to give up? Well as the story goes on, all the pieces begin to come together.
In contrast to Aristotle, Roko Belic’s documentary “Happy” provides a fresh perspective that takes place far more recently. The film sets out to similar goals of Aristotle in defining the nature of happiness and exploring what makes different people happy in general. Unlike Aristotle, however, the film’s main argument refers to makes people happier. In this case, the film argues that merely “doing what you love” is what leads to happiness (Belic). The argument itself appears oddly self-serving, considering that message is what underlines the foundation of happiness, yet there is a subliminal message that a simpler lifestyle is what leads to what the film is trying to convince you of. The message itself is obviously addressed to Americans, considering
“ The government is morally obligated to serve people and protect their rights such as life, liberty, and property. “ The Constitution had no effect against the Articles of Confederation. The Constitution was created to make a stronger central government to protect the rights of its people. The social contract protects the natural rights, while the Constitution protects every other rights, like adding an extra layer of protection. The writers intention of the Bill of Rights was to ensure the safety of citizens rights without them being violated. Most amendments apply in daily life, but it might not show. The First amendment, freedom of speech, amendment two, the right to bear arms, and amendment four, protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. These three amendments are a major factor in daily lives for citizens.
Everyone has the hunger to be free. We want to be left alone. We want to go about our lives, not having to conform to other people's demands. We want to be able to bear a firearm, to assemble peacefully, to vote in fair elections, to speak freely, and to practice religion, all without the government or a powerful group ordering us what we can and cannot do.
Happiness only genuinely exists when it can be shared. The novel, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, expresses this idea that happiness is only real when shared and defines the truth behind happiness. This novel follows a man named Chris McCandless, also known as Alex Supertramp, as he travels the country trying to find himself in the wild. In order to develop the theme of happiness only being real when shared, Jon Krakauer uses the people who Chris McCandless met while traveling. A similar adventure is Ed Wardle’s documentary called Alone In The Wild in which he attempted to survive out in the wild alone. On both of these men’s adventures, they come to face the realization that human contact and presence is important.
Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been engrained in our national consciousness since Thomas Jefferson penned these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act: pursuing happiness. The problem however, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in his novel Fahrenheit 451, is that those things which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. By examining Guy Montag, the protagonist in Fahrenheit 451, and the world he lives in we can gain valuable insights to direct us in our own pursuit of happiness. From Montag and other characters we will learn how physical, emotional, and spiritual happiness can drastically affect our lives. We must ask ourselves what our lives, words, and actions are worth. We should hope that our words are not meaningless, “as wind in dried grass” (Eliot).
Prager, D. (1997). Happiness is a serious problem: A human nature repair manual. NY: HarperCollins Publishers
Happy is a documentary that brings to light the different types of livings of people around the world and contrasts how they define happiness. The movie starts out in Kolkata Slum, India, with a man Manoj Singh. Manoj is living a relatively impoverished life. His house isn’t the best, in fact the roof is just a tarp however he says “my home is good.” Manoj is quite happy with his life and it’s not because of his minimal possessions but the community around him. His happiness lies in the fact that he can see his son smiling every day and he is so grateful for his neighbors and friends. He even states himself that he doesn’t consider himself as “poor but the richest person.” Manoj’s happiness is described as the same as the average American.
America the Country of the people, the land of the free where everyone is entitled rights and responsibilities that are vital in order to preserve their nations democratic government. The freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness, Respect the rights, beliefs, and opinions of others, and also the freedom to express oneself. Those are just to name a few. Each of these has an importance in their government in order to maintain a vigorous nation.
What does it mean to be happy? Happiness is a sensation that people want to have, and a lot of it. Above all else in the world, it’s what we seek and long for. Though this feeling can be found in many different places and at many different times, it isn’t easy to acquire. For some people, happiness might be found in exercise and sustaining good health. On the other hand, others can discover it when they go on vacation and relax. The idea here is that we each have our own things that make us happy.
Euthanasia, along with all other forms of medical involvement concerning the ending of human life has been a subject of great controversy for some time, dating back to the times of Socrates, and is a topic which has long attracted the attention of both medical and legal professionals, ethicists, and is often brought up in general public debate (Huxtable & Campbell, 2003) The term euthanasia derives from the Greek 'eu', which means 'good', and 'thanatos', meaning 'death' (Ladd, 1979). In a medical context, the Hippocratic Oath popularly believed to be undertook by all practising physicians suggests all medical practitioners will endeavour to ensure all patients' well being, it is all too easy to misinterpret the oaths' meaning in order to manipulate and justify actions that would otherwise be deemed unethical; specifically for the act of euthanasia.
The right to Life, Liberty, and Security, is one of the most important citizen rights that you can have. With the right to life, it means that any individual has the right to live, and shouldn’t be killed by anyone. With the right to Liberty, it means that we have the right to be free, and do almost anything we want. Lastly, the right to security means that you are guaranteed to be protected the best way possible, while you are in that country. Even though it is just one of many rights, they all fall under the right to freedom. Which everyone just wants the right to do what they want, and to stand up for what they believe in. Everyone should have the right to freedom, as well as the right to life, liberty, and security.We felt that this right was the most important because it summed up the rights that we need as citizens. Like the right to not be enslaved, can count as the right to Life and Liberty. So in our opinion, the right to Life, Liberty, and Security, is the one that should be one of the first applied rights to our lives. The next few paragraphs will describe how we feel on these particular rights, as well as examples of how these rights are being violated all over the world.