Consumerism and Happiness Essay

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…

continually searching for happiness. It is what individuals would like in life, right? Individuals search for this feeling their whole lives. They search for the feeling of joy to put a smile on not only their face but other’s faces as well. All individuals find this happiness through different activities, pastimes, and people. The definition of happiness is different for all, therefore scientists have determined it to be, in concept, a feeling of contentment. True happiness starts with an…

In addition, they describe research needs for assessing well-being and provide guidance on how to incorporate the such term into new policies in the workplace. In other words, these authors are providing guidance on how to apply the research on happiness and subjective wellbeing to increase the level of satisfaction of employees in the companies through the incorporation of wellbeing in public policy for workplaces and for the workers. These changes in the workplace should result in flourishing…

recognizes the problem of human motivation and happiness. Just because we are eating three times a day does not mean that can become happy. A lot of people can have a lot of possessions and yet remain unfulfilled. Some people can feel a sense of inadequacy and weakness which can possibly lead to depression or even suicide. Positive psychology, for others, is a way of resolving these kinds of…

Since its inception in the early 2000’s, social media sites Facebook and Pinterest have had a profound and often negative affect on our lives by converting people into addictive and obsessive users. Without realizing it, these sites are changing users into people they do not even recognize Facebook and Pinterest users are logging on to their accounts as frequent as possible in the hopes it will make them happier by seeing other users’ positive, beautiful and exciting postings, but this fixation…

He has two worthless sons and an enabler wife. In the playbook Willy is facing some tough times at his age; losing his mind, job, and control with reality. However his obsession with material wealth and popularity prevent him from achieving true happiness in his life. In Death of a Salesman, the setting is based on a family household, surrounded by apartment buildings. Willy Loman is a salesman who has lost his way throughout his life. He has always wanted to be rich and successful but he finds…

In the novel, “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien remembers, reflects, and shares the tangible and intangible items he and his comrades carried throughout their time at war. O’Brien also reflects on other items he carries through his daily life, such as memories, stress, and his daughter. What people carry with them is a glimpse into their mind, soul, and heart. It helps define who they are as a person and their possible future. I carry tangible and intangible items constantly through my…

wanted to talk to. He became much like Skylar that year, but with one key difference, he was obnoxious. I guess it’s not a fair opinion for me to have saying I 'm rather biased towards Skylar. You could say I had a soft spot for her. Some part of her happiness seemed to grow ungenuine and I was intrigued by it. It was almost like she knew all…

“The Tyranny or Choice” by Barry Schwartz and “Is Google Making us Stupid” by Nicholas Carr may seem to be as dissimilar as any two essays could be, but they’re not. Both Schwartz and Carr write about the increase of available resources leading to decreased productivity. Carr talks about the abundance of information available at our fingertips and how it is really causing us to be lazy and decrease intelligence, whereas Schwartz speaks of the amount of choices we receive day to day and how the…

The Effect of Happiness in the Workplace on Outside Structures The subject of human happiness is complex and applicable to many different situations and social structures. It is a widely practiced idea that people generally want to be happy and the means to achieving that happiness can be sought out in a variety of ways. For some, great lengths will be reached to be truly happy in all aspects of an individual’s life, both personal and professional. People may seek happiness through relationships…