Alexandra Irvin

Professor Deby Jizi

UWRT 1102 (29)
22 February 2016

Double Entry Journal

Citation:
Gilbert, Dan, The Surprising Science of Happiness. TED.com. TED Conferences, LLC,
n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.

Source: Quote (Page# or Paragraph #)

Responses

Human beings have this marvelous

adaptation that they can actually have
experiences in their heads before they try
them out in real life.
Time- 1:06

Sometimes I can envision and imagine things

in my mind and create a false reality of what I
want or think will happen.

Because the fact is that 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.
Time- 2:47

As humans we have this sense that when

drastic things happen in our lives we can no
longer be happy and will never be. On the
other hand, something big and life changing
happens that we wish to happen and will
change our lives, our happiness is only
short lived.

We synthesize happiness, but we think

happiness is a thing to be found.
Time- 5:00

Happiness is something that we all think is

something to be found. We strive to look
deeply in our experiences and daily lives to
find this thing that we ultimately call and think
of as happiness.

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. And in our society, we
have a strong belief that synthetic happiness
is of an inferior kind.
Time: 8:37

In todays world we are always wanting more

no matter what it may be. When we dont
necessarily get what we want we have this
almost imaginative feeling of happiness that
makes us think that we are happy even if we
arent overly happy because we didnt get
what we wanted. This is believed to be a
powerful form of happiness because in reality
most of time we dont get what we think will

truly make us happy so instead of moping

around and being so unhappy we take on this
feeling of synthetic happiness to make our
brains think that we are happy no matter the
outcome.
I want to suggest to you that 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.
Time: 9:18

The happiness that we create when things

dont go our way, like the saying you make
lemonade out of lemons, we take what didnt
go our way and try to put a positive spin on it.

It turns out that freedomthe ability to

make up your mind and change your mind
is the friend of natural happiness, because it
allows you to choose among all those
delicious futures and find the one that you
would most enjoy. But freedom to choose, to
change and make up your mind, is the
enemy of synthetic happiness.
Time-13:43

When we have the ability to change things

and rework them to make them turn out the
way we want it we have that sense of natural
happiness. However, when things dont go
our way and we cant change the events that
have occurred or are going to that brings
around synthetic happiness.

The Bard said everything best, of course,

and hes making my point here but hes
making it hyperbolically: Tis nothing good
or bad/ But thinking makes it so. Its nice
poetry, but that cant exactly be right. Is
there really nothing good or bad?
Time: 18:53

Thinking is a powerful thing that leads the

mind to think that things are either good or
bad and thinking this automatically makes it
this way.

We should have preferences that lead us

into one future over another. But when those
preferences drive us too hard and too fast
because we have overrated the difference
between these futures, we are at risk.
Time: 20:12

Sometimes if we let our dreams consume our

lives we may lose sight of the present day
happiness thats around us because were
only focused on something that is in the
distance that we may never achieve.

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.
Time: 20:12

When we have meaning to our ambition its a

more pure and healthy way to achieve a
meaningful goal.

When our fears are bounded, were

prudent, were cautious, were thoughtful.
When our fears are unbounded and
overblown, were reckless, and were
cowardly.
Time- 20:12

When our fears are valid it gives us reasoning

to be careful and cautious in anything that we
put our happiness in or towards. On the other
hand, when there is no validity to those fears
we are more likely to jump at anything and
everything no matter the outcome good or

bad to make us happy.

our longings and our worries are both to

some degree overblown, because we have
within us the capacity to manufacture the
very commodity we are constantly chasing
when we choose experience.
Time-20:51

When we have longings and worries, myself

included we tend to exaggerate them
because we think they will automatically bring
a sense of unhappiness or will take away the
happiness that we already have. Happiness
has this journey that we all embark on at
some point in our lives, no matter when or
where or at what point this happens in our
lives this is always an experience to all
involved.