“The Pursuit of Happiness” has been a large part of the American culture since its creation. Happiness is seen as something everyone should strive for in life, and America has turned happiness into an industry that its citizens are buying into. However, there are many scientists that have found that complete and total happiness is not the best thing for people. ”Negative”, emotions are equally important because they are a biological inheritance and they improve one’s analytical skills. Having “negative” emotions is just as important as having happiness.
Negative emotions are a part of our biology, so they are just as important in life as positive emotions. If humanity needed complete happiness then why would negative emotions exist? Emotions …show more content…
Negative emotions cause people to be less stereotypical and to help their memory because our negative emotions encourage “slower, more systematic cognitive processing,” (David 124). People who are more happy often disregard later details and focus on prenotioned thoughts they have about a person. This causes people to assume that the “22yearold blonde wearing hot pink Juicy Couture shorts,” is not intelligent (David 124). People in today’s society often judge someone they see walking past them on the street without knowing them. Further, other studies have shown that negative emotions could help with memory. When people are not in a fantastic mood, they are “less likely to inadvertently corrupt our memories by incorporating misleading information,” (David 126). Also, when people are gloomier, they remember things the way they were. When in a happier mood, people often add extra details about certain situations. When shopping they could have remembered that the walls were a bright, exuberant red, but in reality it was an old, chipped, dull red. Being in more negative moods helps people to think clearly and remember details as they …show more content…
Author of Against Happiness, Eric Wilson, tested “books on how to become happier,” to see if they work (Begley 454). He tried to wear a smile, took up jogging, watched uplifting television shows, and began using “great” and “wonderful” in his conversations. However, none of these things made him happy. Wilson argues that the happiness movement “‘leads to halflives, to bland existences,’” (Begley 455). People who are constantly happy would be content with their lives and not want to change what they were doing. This would actually lead people to not want to go further in their careers. If they are happy doing what they are doing now, then why try to change it. Progress would cease to exist, and we would not have many of the great discoveries that have shaped our society. To add a different perspective, the pursuit to be constantly happy has led to medical “fixes” that create a superficial happiness by altering your brain chemistry. Ed Diener and his son, Robert BiswasDiener, authors of Rethinking Happiness, warn that “somewhere out there a pharmaceutical company ‘is working on a new drug to make you happier,’” (Begley 455). The happiness industry is convincing people that even though they believe they are
Negative emotions are a part of our biology, so they are just as important in life as positive emotions. If humanity needed complete happiness then why would negative emotions exist? Emotions …show more content…
Negative emotions cause people to be less stereotypical and to help their memory because our negative emotions encourage “slower, more systematic cognitive processing,” (David 124). People who are more happy often disregard later details and focus on prenotioned thoughts they have about a person. This causes people to assume that the “22yearold blonde wearing hot pink Juicy Couture shorts,” is not intelligent (David 124). People in today’s society often judge someone they see walking past them on the street without knowing them. Further, other studies have shown that negative emotions could help with memory. When people are not in a fantastic mood, they are “less likely to inadvertently corrupt our memories by incorporating misleading information,” (David 126). Also, when people are gloomier, they remember things the way they were. When in a happier mood, people often add extra details about certain situations. When shopping they could have remembered that the walls were a bright, exuberant red, but in reality it was an old, chipped, dull red. Being in more negative moods helps people to think clearly and remember details as they …show more content…
Author of Against Happiness, Eric Wilson, tested “books on how to become happier,” to see if they work (Begley 454). He tried to wear a smile, took up jogging, watched uplifting television shows, and began using “great” and “wonderful” in his conversations. However, none of these things made him happy. Wilson argues that the happiness movement “‘leads to halflives, to bland existences,’” (Begley 455). People who are constantly happy would be content with their lives and not want to change what they were doing. This would actually lead people to not want to go further in their careers. If they are happy doing what they are doing now, then why try to change it. Progress would cease to exist, and we would not have many of the great discoveries that have shaped our society. To add a different perspective, the pursuit to be constantly happy has led to medical “fixes” that create a superficial happiness by altering your brain chemistry. Ed Diener and his son, Robert BiswasDiener, authors of Rethinking Happiness, warn that “somewhere out there a pharmaceutical company ‘is working on a new drug to make you happier,’” (Begley 455). The happiness industry is convincing people that even though they believe they are