1. “Dan Gilbert: The surprising science of happiness”

Background: 65 million years ago the human brain developed, increasing in size along with the addition of new parts. Dan Gilbert, a psychology professor at Harvard University, explores the ability for humans to simulate experiences due to the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex includes a right hemisphere that controls sadness, and a left hemisphere that controls happiness. The prefrontal cortex allows humans to simulate a situation in their mind before experiencing it in real life. Gilbert gives an example of winning the lottery verse becoming paraplegic. The audience automatically chose winning the lottery. How could they have chosen between two situations neither of which they have ever had? They simulated it using their prefrontal cortex. “Ben and Jerry’s doesn’t have liver and onion ice cream, and it’s not because they whipped it up tried it and said ‘yuck’ it’s because from sitting in your arm chair you can simulate that flavor and say ‘yuck’ before you make it,” Gilbert says. Along with simulation, the prefrontal cortex can synthesize happiness: the happiness obtained when not getting what was originally wanted. People tend to discredit synthesized happiness, and only tern for natural happiness: getting what was wanted. An example is Jim Wright, a previous chairman of the House of Representatives, who resigned after being publicly embarrassed. Afterwards he said,“I am so much better off physically, financially, mentally and almost in every other way.” Wright is synthesizing happiness, by being genuinely happy with his life after disgracefully resigning. Moreese Bickham also synthesized happiness. He was a prisoner for most of his life, and at 78-years old was released from prison after DNA proved he wasn’t guilty. After wing released he said, “I don’t have one minutes regret. It was a glorious experience.” He truly believed that his life in jail was glorious, and learned to love how it turned out. Lastly, is a would-have-been well-known drummer named Pete Best, who, after being let go from The Beatles said, “I am happier than I would have been with The Beatles.” Pete Best synthesized his happiness by actually loving the life he had without the band, and counterintuitively loved his life more than he had with The Beatles.  The world pushes natural happiness–which can easily be found in items, money or material things. Whereas synthetic happiness is just the opposite–not getting any of those things, and actually loving it.

How I intend to use it: His quotes are useful by giving historical quotes by multiple people who have experienced synthetic happiness. I will also give a brief history about the brain to distinguish the fact that only humans have this capability of simulating happiness, and synthesizing it. I can relate it to pop culture because commercials always show people being happy when they get something–candy, a Big Mac, an Old Navy shirt. I will use Gilbert’s clever remarks to argue that maybe this idea that natural happiness is superior to synthetic happiness is more of an economic gain than scientific facts. 

2. “There’s More to Life Than Being Happy”

Background: A professor at Stanford University, Jennifer Acker, and fellow college graduates put together created a new study, “Some Key Differences Between a Happy Life and a Meaningful Life,” in which they define what a happy life includes. A happy person with a cheerful life is “a relatively shallow, self-absorbed or even selfish life, in which things go well, needs and desire are easily satisfied, and difficult or taxing entanglements are avoided.” In other words, a happy life creates a happy person who gets what they want, and doesn’t get what they don’t want. 

How I intend to use it: I originally intended to use this website to consider suicidal patients, but found better more informative articles on that topic. I use this website now to glimpse professional’s idea of what a happy person and life entails, and disagree. I use other articles to back up that many people are still very unhappy even when desires are met, and that happiness when related to “getting what we want,” caps at a certain salary limit.

3. “How the Mind Really Works: 1- Counterintuitive Psychology Studies”

Background: Cognitive dissonance is holding two contradictory beliefs, and adjusting them to fit together more easily. It explains a study where students were given a boring task. The students who got paid found the study boring, but the students who did not get paid said that they found the study to be fun and amusing. The students who did not get paid needed a reason to do the study, and without a cash incentive they needed a different reason. This new reason was basically, “Well, i’m doing this because its kind of fun,” instead of, “I’m only doing this for the money.”

How I intend to use it: I originally intended to use this idea to fit with synthesized happiness, but found that connecting the two points was very complicated. Though the study is very interesting, it was hard to connect it with synthesized happiness, or the prefrontal lobe, or anything else in my research paper.

4. “Mattieu Ricard: The habits of happiness”

Background: Instead of trying to alter the happiness outside one’s self it is important to realize that happiness is entirely an inner feeling. The mind takes any given situation and alters it the way that it perceives. When people try to look for happiness around them it is temporary and limited.

How I intend to use it: I originally wanted to use this TED Talk to state that Ricard’s idea of adjusting ones mindset is impossible. Though looking for happiness is temporary and limited–such as buying a new shirt. (The feeling is joyful but disperses very quickly.)

5. “The Role of the Brain in Happiness”

Background: Dr. Richard Davidson used MRI testing to justify that the left side of the prefrontal cortex creates happiness, and the right side stimulates sadness. Patients who suffer from anxiety and depression use their right hemisphere much more frequently than their left hemisphere. This constant use can create an repetitious pattern of sadness.

How I intend to use it: The article gives facts about the brain, but I will look specifically at the prefrontal cortex. Davidson explains that the prefrontal cortex actually has two hemispheres that cause a person to feel opposite emotions. People who are depressed use their right hemisphere more than their left, and further more explains that happiness is an emotion felt in the brain.

6. “Pavlov’s Dog”

Background: Ivan Pavlov was a Russian scientist who studied behavior patterns in dogs. He is most famous for his study about the salivation patterns of dogs. Before he fed the dog he would ring a bell, than present the food. The process was repeated over and over again. Eventually, Pavlov would ring the bell but not present food, and the dog would still salivate expecting the food to come.

How I intend to use it: Though all animals can feel natural happiness, they cannot feel synthesized happiness or stimulate situations in their mind. The point I make in my research paper is that the dog needed the bell the ring, and Pavolv’s training in order to start salivating. A human does not need the ring of the bell to think about food, we can just think about it on our own whenever we want. Human’s and other animals both have evolved, but no other animal can stimulate situations or feelings in their mind.

7. “Life Satisfaction in the Wake of Disability” 

Background: Phillip Brickman, Dan Coates, and Ronnie Janoff-Bulman interviewed 22 lottery winners and 29 people who had suffered a traumatic accident and lost feeling in the left side of their body. Both parties were asked to rate their present and future happiness. 1 being unhappy and 5 being very happy. The lottery winners present happiness ranked a 3.48 compared to a 3.33 for the disabled people. Future happiness ranked a 4.32 for lottery winners and a 4.20 for the paraplegics.  

How I intend to use it: This study was the study discussed in Dan Gilbert’s TED Talk, but shows the specific data. I will use this data to explain the extremely small difference in happiness between lottery winners and paraplegics. There is a difference of .15, not even one whole number’s difference. These paraplegics synthesized happiness by adjusting to their lives, and showed little difference in happiness. Happiness is not “a relatively shallow life,… in which things go well, needs and desire are easily satisfied, and difficult or taxing entanglements are avoided.” unless one considers all disabled people to be extremely full of themselves, they wanted to become paralyzed and their wishes came true, and that being paralyzed isn’t an entanglement.

8. “Do We Need $75,000 a Year to be Happy?” 

Background: Economist Angus Deaton and psychologist Daniel Kahnema created a study of about 450,000 American’s. 85% of people, regardless of how much they make are happy. 24% felt sad. The researchers found that the lower the income was did not matter to the happiness of the individual, and that after $75,000 dollars a year people feel equally as happy with themselves and their lives. Also, a 10% rise in annual income leaves people feeling happy, whether they make $10,000 dollars a year or $100,000 dollars a year. 

How I intend to use it: Happiness is not justified by how much money a person makes in a year, or how easily they are satisfied. I will use this study to prove that Jennifer Acker’s definition of happiness is not correct. Surely, someone making $75,000 dollars a year cannot afford the same items that someone making $1,000,000 dollars a year can, yet they are equivalent in happiness.

9. ” The Pursuit of Happyness” 

Background: Will Smith (Chris Gardner) and his son Jayden Smith act in a true story about a man who looses everything. After not having enough money for rent, Chris Gardner loses his girlfriend and his home. He goes in and out of shelters and eventually lands a job at a big time corporation earning a large salary.

How I intend to use it: This movie is titled, “The Pursuit of Happyness,” but really should be titled, “The Pursuit of Getting a Job.” The idea of pursuing happiness is an idea thrown in the faces of America since the Declaration of Independence, but what it means isn’t what it states. Chris and his son have very happy moments throughout the movie, one particularly in the subway when he and his son pretend that there are dinosaurs in the subway. Before acquiring the money Chris and his son have very happy moments. In this movie, money should be what he is pursuing, not happiness. He already has that.

10. “The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America” 

Background: 26.2% of Americans 18-years old and older suffer from a mental disorder. That’s nearly 1 in 4 adults, and 57.7 million American’s. Major Depressive Disorder is the leading disease for people ages 15-44. It affects 14.8 million people, which is about 6.7% of American’s. This disorder can develop at any age, it is not confined to a certain age bracket, and develops mostly in women rather than men.

How I intend to use it: Depression is a mean reason is why happiness cannot be pursued. If it is believed that people can find happiness is getting an A on a test, or winning the lottery depression is not being considered. Depression is not finding happiness in daily activities, or getting what is desired. This idea that people can pursue happiness basically shutting out every single person who suffers from depression.