What Does Dan Gilbert Mean When He Says That Happiness Can Be Synthesis

Happiness Assignment
1. What does Dan Gilbert mean when he says that happiness can be synthesized? How is this different from natural happiness?
According to Gilbert, happiness can be synthesized if people remain content and happy even after losing something valuable or after not getting something they wanted. This implies that people can always learn to enjoy and be content with what they get regardless of what they wanted. For instance, some people remain happy even after losing wealth or a family member. Natural happiness occurs when people get what they want. Although there is a general belief that synthetic happiness is inferior to natural happiness, synthetic happiness is as enduring as natural happiness.
2. How is freedom to choose
While natural happiness involves the freedom to choose something that makes us happy, synthetic happiness is about enjoying any outcome while acknowledging that one does not have the freedom to choose. Having an irreversible choice is not conducive to the process of creating happiness as people have no choice but to accept the choices they make. As a result, having an irreversible choice leads to more satisfaction than having a reversible choice.
3. What makes you happy? If those things were removed do you think you’d find something else to make you happy?
Personally, good health, family and good grades make me happy. If these things were removed, I would definitely find something else to make me happy. This is because I understand that I cannot always get what I want and that I should always be happy with what I get. While good health, good grades and family make me happy, I do not have the freedom to choose them. No one can ever choose good health over bad health or good grades over bad health. As much these things make me happy, I can always find happiness when they are removed.
4. Do you think that self-help can lead to happiness? Can you talk yourself into happiness? Can you heal
However, self-help is not easy as some of our habits are deeply rooted. Personally, I can talk myself into happiness by learning to accept any type of outcome whether good or bad. In addition, I can always talk myself into understanding that some things cannot change and that learning to accept them might bring peace and happiness. I believe that I can heal myself by learning to accept my condition. Moreover, I can heal myself by believing that healing is possible and that any condition is curable.
5. Think about a time in your life when you experienced adversity. Do you feel you have grown from that experience? Would you go through it again? Why or why not? Explain.
One time that I experienced adversity is when I lost a close family member. I was distraught and could not stop asking why the family member had to die. Looking back, I feel like I have grown from that experience as I have learnt to accept and be content with the situation. Hence, I would go through the adverse experience again because I have accepted the loss and I understand that there is nothing I can do to change the situation. In addition, I have learnt to synthesize happiness even after something bad happens.
6. What do you think makes some people more resilient than others? Do you consider yourself to be resilient? Give an example of