Elisha Deen Kuruppu
Professor Christian Jurlando
September 23rd 2015
To be free or not to be? Daniel Gilbert bases his article “Immune to reality” from his book “Stumbling on Happiness” on the study of human psychology. He believes that people suffer from “illusions of prospection” and goes on to prove most of his findings with data collected through experimental studies about certainty, happiness and freedom. Gilbert implies that if individuals didn’t have the pressure or as many choices as we do, we would be much happier and more content with where we are. Different manners of looking at self determination and freedom can befuddle the general understanding of the concept. My paper will use his quotes and phrases along with Ethan Watters’ …show more content…
Gilbert mentions that “the rest of us are incapable of remaining content with half knowledge” which I believe just proves that humans in general have a biological need to have answers and when we don’t have access to it, we feel unsettled. In his essay “Explaining Away” Gilbert quotes, “The poet John Keats noted that whereas great authors are “capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts without any irritable reaching after fact and reason” the rest of us are “incapable of remaining content with half knowledge”” (Gilbert, page 142). If individuals stopped looking for answers, we would be more free. Gilbert further comments, “The second reason why unexplained events have a disproportionate emotional impact is that we are especially likely to keep thinking about them. People spontaneously try to explain events and studies show that when people do not complete the things they set out to do, they are especially likely to think about and remember their unfinished business” (Gilbert, page 141). When people keep thinking and obsessing over a particular scenario which doesn’t have a suitable or valid explanation to uphold it such as a reason why an event occurred or why they did what they did, the idea of the event would never settle in the individual’s mind causing them to ponder over the “unfinished business” for a long …show more content…
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean there won’t be people and other corporations impeding on their right to individual freedom. “To have the best chance of shifting the Japanese public’s perception about the meaning of depression, GlaxoSmithKline needed a deep and sophisticated understanding of how those beliefs had taken shape. This was why Kirmayer came to realize, the company had invited him and his colleagues and treated them like royalty” (Watters, Page 527). GlaxoSmithKline is one of the many companies that spends a lot of money and resources on trying to convince individuals to change their frame of
Professor Christian Jurlando
September 23rd 2015
To be free or not to be? Daniel Gilbert bases his article “Immune to reality” from his book “Stumbling on Happiness” on the study of human psychology. He believes that people suffer from “illusions of prospection” and goes on to prove most of his findings with data collected through experimental studies about certainty, happiness and freedom. Gilbert implies that if individuals didn’t have the pressure or as many choices as we do, we would be much happier and more content with where we are. Different manners of looking at self determination and freedom can befuddle the general understanding of the concept. My paper will use his quotes and phrases along with Ethan Watters’ …show more content…
Gilbert mentions that “the rest of us are incapable of remaining content with half knowledge” which I believe just proves that humans in general have a biological need to have answers and when we don’t have access to it, we feel unsettled. In his essay “Explaining Away” Gilbert quotes, “The poet John Keats noted that whereas great authors are “capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts without any irritable reaching after fact and reason” the rest of us are “incapable of remaining content with half knowledge”” (Gilbert, page 142). If individuals stopped looking for answers, we would be more free. Gilbert further comments, “The second reason why unexplained events have a disproportionate emotional impact is that we are especially likely to keep thinking about them. People spontaneously try to explain events and studies show that when people do not complete the things they set out to do, they are especially likely to think about and remember their unfinished business” (Gilbert, page 141). When people keep thinking and obsessing over a particular scenario which doesn’t have a suitable or valid explanation to uphold it such as a reason why an event occurred or why they did what they did, the idea of the event would never settle in the individual’s mind causing them to ponder over the “unfinished business” for a long …show more content…
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean there won’t be people and other corporations impeding on their right to individual freedom. “To have the best chance of shifting the Japanese public’s perception about the meaning of depression, GlaxoSmithKline needed a deep and sophisticated understanding of how those beliefs had taken shape. This was why Kirmayer came to realize, the company had invited him and his colleagues and treated them like royalty” (Watters, Page 527). GlaxoSmithKline is one of the many companies that spends a lot of money and resources on trying to convince individuals to change their frame of