Daniel Gilbert's Immune To Reality

The physical immune system protects one’s body from outside sickness. Similarly, the psychological immune system protects one’s mental health from unhappiness, a form of illness. In Daniel Gilbert’s “Immune to Reality,” Gilbert discusses how the brain acquires happiness. Furthermore, he demonstrates how the brain will keep one from achieving his or her true happiness. According to Robert Thurman’s “Wisdom,” the alternative method of obtaining happiness is through selflessness. There is a famous quote that states, “you learn something new everyday.” However, a person is the sole controller of the amount of knowledge he or she obtains. Thurman states “’knowing’ something is a way of controlling it, being able to put it in its proper place in
relation to us so that we can use it effectively” (446). Knowledge can give a person to feel control over oneself as knowledge can remove fear of the unknown. Similarly, if a person knows that he or she is incorrect, the person will no longer feel in control, which can cause unhappiness. However, a true selfless person will not be afraid of any unknown outcomes. Instead, the person will be curious as to why he or she feared the unknown. This is because selfless is about not being self – centered. Selflessness is about not about having power over a person or situation, and rather being on the same field as others. The Buddhist idea of selflessness is focused on helping others find their way to selflessness. Therefore, according to the Buddhist ideals, the ultimate definition of happiness lies in having no control, which means to have little to no knowledge. Thurman’s idea about how happiness depends on not knowing is similar to Gilbert’s idea about what happiness depends on.
Gilbert states “uncertainty can preserve and prolong out happiness, thus we might expect people to cherish it” (142). The term uncertainty is followed with a negative connation, such as insecurity. It is believed that certainty can help a person gain knowledge and predict the future. Knowledge and prediction are one of the core reasons for human development. However, knowledge can also have negative connotations to it. When a person is more knowledgeable than others, a sense of control and ego can arise in the person. This pride and control can lead to unhappiness. Additionally, knowledge makes the world seem unexciting and comprehensible, which can lead to unhappiness. Research has proved that mysterious events tend to have a greater emotional impact on a person. This is because mysteries stay longer in a person’s brain as the person keeps thinking about why the rare event occurred. Mysteries do not go on the back burner of the brain like known items do. Therefore, uncertain items stay longer in a person’s brain as the brain keeps searching for an explanation, which can lead to more happiness. Conversely, certainty can cause a person to make a positive event occur more frequently, which with times makes the event less pleasurable. Similar to Thurman’s idea, Gilbert believes that happiness depends on not knowing, which means having no
control.