Lauren Rodgers

Instructor D. Jizi
UWRT 1102-010
22 February 2016
Double Entry Journal
Citation:
Gilbert, Dan. "The Surprising Science of Happiness." Ted Talk. 19 Feb. 2016. Speech.
Source: Quote (Page# or Paragraph #)

Responses

In two million years, the human brain has

nearly tripled in mass.

Its amazing to think that our brains have

changed so much. The brain tripling means
that there is increased storage space and
thinking capacity. Humans are far more
advanced than other animals because of this
capacity and skill. It sets us apart from every
other animal or specimen on this planet. The
increased capacity also lead to confusion,
rather than clarity.

A year after losing the use of their legs, and

a year after winning the lotto, lottery winners
and paraplegics are equally happy with their
lives.

This seems kind of weird to us, why would

someone who has experienced great
personal loss be just as happy in the long run
as someone who has experienced great
personal gain. I have experienced this in real
life, reflecting on this idea now it all makes
sense. Nothing in the past three-six months
really affects me to this day.

Something we call the impact bias, the

tendency for the simulator to work badly.
Believe that different outcomes are more
different than in fact they really are.

From the frontal lobe we are able to predict

the outcomes of many situations. Our brains
produce reactions that help us figure out if a
situation is good or not for us. Some of our
decisions can come primal instincts.

If the event has happened over three

months ago, it has no impact whatsoever on
your happiness.

I have noticed in my own personal life and in

others close to me, that this statement is
mostly true. Most events in my life from three
months ago do not affect me anymore. But
there are some events in my past and in my
friends past that have psychologically hurt us
and still continue to hurt us from time to time.

Happiness can be synthesized

Happiness can be created with in the human.

In fact, happiness is just chemicals that are
released into the brain. All happiness is
synthesized, there are just different sources
of happiness.

Human beings have something that we

might think of as a psychological immune
system.

The psychological immune system allows for

us to bounce back and fight off psychological
events. We often think that things are worse
than they are, I guess this prepared us to
move on faster.

We synthesize happiness, but we think

happiness is a thing to be found

Happiness is not found, it is always with in us;

it just gets covered with stress and
distraction. Synthesizing happiness is the
more natural happiness to me.

We believe that synthetic happiness is not of Happiness is happiness no matter what the
the same quality as what we might call
source. It shouldnt matter if happiness is
natural happiness.
from what you wanted all long or from
something you never thought about having
before. Although, I do believe that we get this
thought process from thinking that if we get
what we want out of a lot of choices, then we
will be happier.
Natural happiness is what we get when we
get what we wanted, and synthetic
happiness is what we make when we dont
get what we wanted. We have a strong
belief that synthetic happiness is of an
inferior kind.

I can see how people can believe this

statement to be true, initially thinking that they
are not as happy because they did not get
what they wanted. After that has worn down
they see how much it didnt actually affect
them.

Synthetic happiness is every bit as real and

enduring as the kind of happiness you
stumble upon when you get exactly what
you were aiming for.

Happiness is happiness. It is the same

chemical released into the brain no matter
what causes it. I believe that this statement is
true. I think that synthetic happiness may
actually be natural happiness because you
are getting it by chance.

Freedom-the ability to make up your mind

and change your mind-is the friend of
natural happiness, because it allows you to
choose among all of those delicious futures
and find the one that you would most enjoy.
It is the enemy of synthetic happiness.

Having choices does make me happy, but the

stress that comes a long with trying to decide
is almost not worth it. Also with so many
options I feel that people, especially me, will
second-guess whether there choice was the
right one to make them happy.

The psychological immune system works

best when we are totally stuck; You find a
way to be happy with whats happened.

I found that I have usually been happier when

I was forced to make up my mind and stick
with it. This was usually the first option that
came to my mind or one that I thought was
more practical. Over the years this has
reduced my stress about making decisions, in
turn reducing my anxiety. Also, in turn I have
found that I am happier because of this.

The great source of both the misery and the

Misery and happiness are obvious not the

disorders of human life seems to arise from

overrating the difference between one
permanent situation and another-some of
these situations may, no doubt, deserve to
be preferred to others, but one of them can
deserve to be pursued with that passionate
ardor which drives us to violate the rules
either of prudence or of justice, or to corrupt
the future tranquility of our minds, either by
shame from the remembrance of our own
folly, or by remorse for the horror of our own
injustice.

same but both can come from our lives. They

are opposites, but it seems like that one
always follows the other. Maybe this is
because people expect misery after
happiness, as if it is something that is meant
to ruin happiness like a personal vendetta.
People expect either one or the other to come
from certain events. These expectations are
usually not the case, as seen with the
photography students. People look too much
into happiness, maybe because we dont like
to not fully understand things. But maybe it
isnt great for us to actually understand
happiness; maybe humans should just go
with what life brings to them.

When our ambition is bounded, it leads us to

work joyfully. When our ambition is
unbounded, it leads us to lie, to cheat, to
steal, to hurt others, to sacrifice things of
real value. When our fears are bounded,
were prudent, were cautious, were
thoughtful. When our fears are unbounded
and overblown, were reckless, and were
cowardly.

I tend to most things better when I believe

that I have a deadline or specific time in
which I should do something. I find that I
complete more tasks and are more efficient
when I right a list prioritizing what needs to be
done in what order. When I am left to do
whatever I want I find that I do not get much
of anything done. I find that if Im nervous or
scared about something, I do it better, such
as driving. But if I am calm and confident I
tend to be more reckless. I have even gotten
into an accident from being too confident and
calm.