The essay entitled “Enjoyment as an Alternative to Materialism” asserts materialism as being a destructive force to our overall well-being, more specifically, as being mentally and environmentally harmful. The essay discusses how happiness, or the key term of “flow”, is intrinsically valuable and can be derived internally, without any monetary cost, by choosing activities and experiences over purchasing more superfluous items. Additionally, the author Csikszentmihalyi discusses how leisure time spent on material experiences manifests into unintended consequences, which we’re complacent to, in the form of additional environmental burdens. The claim that the author is professing, for us to change our behavior if we wish to attain happiness
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Delve deeper and upon a closer inspection, one notes that this essay was originally published in a psychology medical journal. This leads me to believe that the target audience is the author’s professional peers; and as such, that this essay’s originally intended purpose was to educate other mental health professionals, for them to achieve a greater comprehension of how materialism, may be affecting their patients. After knowing the source of the essay, one can more easily realize its intention when the author declares “there is nothing wrong with seeking pleasure in material goals, but individuals for whom it becomes the main reason for living are not going to grow beyond what the genes have programmed them to desire” (Csikszentmihalyi 362). The author, in addition to being a mental health professional, offers citations and credible studies as supporting evidence; therefore, I would say that he meets the criteria of being well-informed. The exception of “but” was used to isolate the specific group of people he deems as needing …show more content…
To paraphrase, he states that a person’s overall happiness, or “flow”, doesn’t derive from consumer goods; but rather, happiness develops from losing oneself within a task that he or she finds enjoyable. The implication of this can be understood when he states “… [people experiencing flow] may be meditating, running a race, playing chess, or doing a surgical operation, but what they feel when they really enjoy what they are doing sounds remarkably the same” (Csikszentmihalyi 363). He seeks to obtain validity for his reasoning by offering multiple first hand interviews of people originating from diverse groups from across multiple cultural and ethnic backgrounds, not only to demonstrate that his findings bear some credibility, but also to display that they’re instinctively prevalent to human behavior. Despite this, the author failed to exhibit any criticisms, both subjective and objective, that could counter his argument. Being self-critical could assist him in strengthening his argument by identifying rebuttals that opponents could offer. Tolerance for opposing views allow us to see beyond our own personal biases and aid in delivering us closer to the truth. The author offers a rebuttal for the objection that materialism can create happiness by dismissing it as being merely a failed means of obtaining enjoyment. He supports this by following with
Delve deeper and upon a closer inspection, one notes that this essay was originally published in a psychology medical journal. This leads me to believe that the target audience is the author’s professional peers; and as such, that this essay’s originally intended purpose was to educate other mental health professionals, for them to achieve a greater comprehension of how materialism, may be affecting their patients. After knowing the source of the essay, one can more easily realize its intention when the author declares “there is nothing wrong with seeking pleasure in material goals, but individuals for whom it becomes the main reason for living are not going to grow beyond what the genes have programmed them to desire” (Csikszentmihalyi 362). The author, in addition to being a mental health professional, offers citations and credible studies as supporting evidence; therefore, I would say that he meets the criteria of being well-informed. The exception of “but” was used to isolate the specific group of people he deems as needing …show more content…
To paraphrase, he states that a person’s overall happiness, or “flow”, doesn’t derive from consumer goods; but rather, happiness develops from losing oneself within a task that he or she finds enjoyable. The implication of this can be understood when he states “… [people experiencing flow] may be meditating, running a race, playing chess, or doing a surgical operation, but what they feel when they really enjoy what they are doing sounds remarkably the same” (Csikszentmihalyi 363). He seeks to obtain validity for his reasoning by offering multiple first hand interviews of people originating from diverse groups from across multiple cultural and ethnic backgrounds, not only to demonstrate that his findings bear some credibility, but also to display that they’re instinctively prevalent to human behavior. Despite this, the author failed to exhibit any criticisms, both subjective and objective, that could counter his argument. Being self-critical could assist him in strengthening his argument by identifying rebuttals that opponents could offer. Tolerance for opposing views allow us to see beyond our own personal biases and aid in delivering us closer to the truth. The author offers a rebuttal for the objection that materialism can create happiness by dismissing it as being merely a failed means of obtaining enjoyment. He supports this by following with