Ted Talk
In the Ted Talk video “The Surprising Science of Happiness”, Dan Gilbert discusses the effects of how happiness works in regards to certain situations, such as in times of success and loss. In his discussion of happiness, he states that people not only have a biological immune system, but also a “psychological immune system” in which people can “synthesize happiness” (CITATION). To break these concepts down, the immune system functions to protect the body against diseases that can result in death. Just like the immune system, the psychological immune system works similarly in which the brain will work to fight off the unhappiness and stresses in a person’s life. Once the psychological immune systems starts to function, people will try to synthesize
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Within the theories of emotion describes the concept of primary and secondary emotion. Primary emotion “mobilizes us, focuses our attention, and signal our state of mind to other” (CITATION 120). Primary emotion is typically what people feel first, such as the feelings of anger, fear, sadness, and joy. In the documentary, Melissa Moody’s primary emotions after her accident in her situation was most likely a combination of fear, anger, and sadness. She was most likely feeling anger because her sister-in-law just ran her over; sad, because she knew that her life would change; and fear, because she might not live through the injuries. After the situation, she starts to feel secondary emotions that “evolve as humans developed more sophisticated means of learning, controlling, and managing emotions to promote flexible cohesion in social groups” (CITATION 120). After the incident and after her divorce, her secondary emotion included anger and even contemplated suicide. However, after 6 months, she moved on and overcame these obstacles in living a happier life. Another situation presented by Dan Gilbert that is similar to Melissa’s is his example of a person winning the lottery vs. a person who is paraplegic. At first, people who won the lottery probably experience the primary emotion of extreme joy; people who are paraplegic could most likely have the primary
Within the theories of emotion describes the concept of primary and secondary emotion. Primary emotion “mobilizes us, focuses our attention, and signal our state of mind to other” (CITATION 120). Primary emotion is typically what people feel first, such as the feelings of anger, fear, sadness, and joy. In the documentary, Melissa Moody’s primary emotions after her accident in her situation was most likely a combination of fear, anger, and sadness. She was most likely feeling anger because her sister-in-law just ran her over; sad, because she knew that her life would change; and fear, because she might not live through the injuries. After the situation, she starts to feel secondary emotions that “evolve as humans developed more sophisticated means of learning, controlling, and managing emotions to promote flexible cohesion in social groups” (CITATION 120). After the incident and after her divorce, her secondary emotion included anger and even contemplated suicide. However, after 6 months, she moved on and overcame these obstacles in living a happier life. Another situation presented by Dan Gilbert that is similar to Melissa’s is his example of a person winning the lottery vs. a person who is paraplegic. At first, people who won the lottery probably experience the primary emotion of extreme joy; people who are paraplegic could most likely have the primary