Carification And Long-Term Gratification

What is more valuable; your future life or immediate gratification? The poet, Wendell Berry delves into this idea with his extensive poem “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front.” Berry encourages the reader to put thought into our everyday actions that may affect the future generation. The narrator orders people to “[i]nvest in the millennium” (24) because it is only what lasts that counts.

1. Why does Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, say that experiences might bring more satisfaction than durable goods? Do you agree or disagree?

The works “Somnambulist”, “How not to get into College: The Preoccupation with Preparation”, and “Enjoying the so-called "Iced cream": Mr. Burns, Satan, and Happiness” imply that in today’s society, individuals are valuing extrinsic happiness to a greater scale compared to their value of intrinsic happiness. Authors Heron Jones, Alfie Kohn, and Daniel Barwick suggest that individuals need to place a greater value on intrinsic achievements rather than extrinsic achievements within their lives as extrinsic fulfilment leads to momentary happiness, compared to the positive long-term effects of intrinsic fulfillment. The problem begins with individuals focusing and making decisions based on extrinsic rewards such as: grades or a paycheck. Secondly,

In the 1960’s, Walter Mischel and colleagues researched delaying gratification in children. The development of the simply designed marshmallow test yielded a better understanding of delaying gratification in children. The success of the marshmallow test generated a greater interest in understanding human self-control and fellow researchers continued to examine delaying gratification and self-control. B.J Casey, PhD, of Weill Cornell Medical College, Mischel, Yuichi Shoda, PhD, of the University of Washington, and colleagues further examine Mischel’s earlier research. This continuation of the experiment and advances in medical research allowed for Casey et al. to examine the neurological basis of gratification in adults. This research allows for a better understand in how a child’s ability to delay gratification can effect them across their lifespan. However, social environment factors also contribute to difference in self-control and ability to delay gratification.

-The get-rich-quick schemes violate the most basic principles of economics because the rules for investing successfully denote a slow, steady accumulation of wealth with setbacks along the way rather than a quick windfall (Wheelan 149).

Gratification comes from any even that engages us fully. Seligman claims that “…individuals may find gratification in participating in a great conversation, fixing a bike, reading a good book…or accomplishing a difficult task at work.” (Seligman, Parks, and Steen 419) Senior also states that “doing something that engages or enhances our strengths is a gratification, whether it’s swimming, welding, or listening to a friend in need.” (Senior 428) It is interesting to note that engagement activities aimed at increasing happiness are not always enjoyable in and of themselves. Seligman notes that “consider, for example, the gratification that comes from training for an endurance even such as a marathon. At any given point during the grueling event, a runner may be discouraged or exhausted or even in physical pain; however, they may describe the overall experience as intensely gratifying.” (Seligman, Parks, and Steen 419) From this we see that gratification may help enhance our overall happiness, not through the activity itself, but from the feeling of accomplishment or well-being we experience as the end result.

advantage of those who hoped to 'get rich quick.'" to show readers the dangerous things it took just to find

“When people find it easy to imagine an event, they overestimate the likelihood that it will actually occur” (Gilbert, 2006, p.19.) Gilbert explains that this causes us to be overoptimistic about our futures and thus changes what we do in order to be happy. Young people imagine traveling the world, starting a successful business or becoming a star. Later on in one’s life they may realize that they do not have the funds to travel the world, the talent to become a star, or even the desire to start their own business. Perhaps they come to the conclusion that they would be happier starting a family or writing a book. Humans have an undeniable want to control. The reason somebody imagines the future is so they can do something about it (Gilbert, 2006, p. 21.) We imagine a future better than today so we can take the actions necessary to get to the better tomorrow. I imagined college being a whole lot better than high school. The freedom and the separation from my parents was something I wanted. So in order to get here I studied hard in high school, strove for a good ACT score, and applied to universities. The actions I took in high school were in order to control the future. Gilbert answers the question of “Why should we want to control our futures?” “It feels good to do so-period. Impact is rewarding. Mattering makes us happy. The act of steering one’s boat down the river of time is a source of pleasure, regardless of one’s port of call” (Gilbert,

Iyengar, S. S., Lepper, M. R. When choice is demotivating: Can one desire too much of a good thing?

A great many people neglect to strike a harmony amongst procuring and getting a charge out of cash. The trust that more cash means euphoria. Consequently, they work day and night, make a wide range of bargains and ensure a wide range of agony with a specific end goal to win cash with the expectation that they could utilise this cash to appreciate bliss. Nonetheless, such time never comes for a majority of the people and they bite the dust miserable and disappointed.

In the experiment group, children were asked to postpone their desire to eat marshmallow for ten minutes, but they were notified how much time left to hold their

When it comes to predicting how something will make you feel in the future, you will most likely be wrong. In the book Discovering Pop Culture, edited by Anna Romasino, is the article “The Futile Pursuit of Happiness”. In the article, author Jon Gertner talks about how people think certain things bring them happiness but aren’t as fulfilling as they may think. Gertner gives examples by writing about four men that have been questioning how people predict what will make them happy and how they feel after it happens. Among these men are a psychology professor Daniel Gilbert, psychologist Tim Wilson, economist George Loewenstein, and psychologist Daniel Kahneman. Gertner uses facts from scores of

The American Dream is one of the most sought-after things in the United States, even though it is rarely, if ever, achieved. According to historian Matthew Warshauer, the vision of the American Dream has changed dramatically over time. In his 2003 essay “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Changing Conceptions of the American Dream”, Warshauer claims that the American Dream had gone from becoming wealthy by working hard and earning money, to getting rich quickly and easily. He attributes this change to television game shows, state lotteries, and compensation lawsuits. He also argues that most Americans are more concerned with easy money than hard-earned money, and that Americans care mostly about material goods such as consumer products, big

In an ironic way, the optimism of the vast majority is the greatest inhibitor of satisfaction. Both the future and the past are born of the present mind; the now is interminable. For some reason, humanity seems to possess an unwavering insistence on running, so to speak, to an illusory end that is really nothing more than a product of momentary dissatisfaction.

We are living in the age of instant gratification brought on by a surge of consumerism. The need people have for this instant happiness is not a new feeling. Our expectation and definition of “instant” has shifted into a faster and more efficient timeframe as a result of advancements in technology. “Once [people have received] some level of instant gratification, they will expect that same instantaneous response in future interaction” (Daly). Constantly achieving this “instant happiness” hard-wires our brains to expect speed as the norm. Waiting for anything more than a few seconds results in impatience, our time is precious and those moments become an eternity in our fast paced society.