In Pursuit Of Unhappiness Analysis

Happiness, an elusive eight letter word with a mighty punch! Many have sought to define happiness, but found it a difficult task to do. While reading an article published in the New Yorker by Will Sorr on July 07, 2017 titled “A Better Kind of Happiness”, I was informed that happiness is more than just a word, happiness is essential to the well-being of human health. Dating back nearly two and half million years ago an ancient Greek Philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, proposed the idea of eudaemonic happiness. He stated that “happiness was not merely a feeling, or a golden promise, but a

As human beings we are naturally wired to seek happiness wherever we can find it. When we don’t, we may enter a stage of anger, anxiety, or distress. That’s why it is our personal goal to look for happiness and preserve it once we acquire it. Many have explored ways to find what triggers this feeling of “happiness” and what we can do to keep it; nonetheless, the evidence found is hardly sufficient to make a public statement on how to find happiness. For this reason, most of the time we speculate what might provoke this feeling of contentment. “Happiness is a glass half empty,” an essay written by Oliver Burkeman, highlights the importance of happiness and discloses how we can find delight through unorthodox methods. The prime objective of this piece of writing is to inform the audience about the effect of happiness on their lives and how their usual attempts of becoming happier can sabotage achieving this feeling. Furthermore, he wants to promote the benefits of pessimism and describe how it can help us in the long run. The author utilizes pronouns, logos, and pathos in order to prove his point and draw the audience into his essay, in an attempt of making them reconsider the way they live their lives and adopt this new pessimistic way that would greatly boost their level of happiness.

People travel through life with what seems like a single goal: to be happy. This may seem like a selfish way to live, however this lone objective is the motivation behind nearly all actions. Even seemingly selfless deeds make people feel better about themselves. That warm feeling experienced while doing charitable acts can be described as happiness. But what is authentic happiness? There is an endless possibility of answers to this question, and man seems to be always searching for the solution. Although one may reach his or her goals, there is always still something one strives for in order to be happy. In the book Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert takes the reader through

As human beings we are naturally wired to seek happiness wherever we can find it. When we don’t, we may enter a stage of anger, anxiety, or distress. That’s why it is our personal goal to look for happiness and preserve it once we acquire it. Many have explored ways to find what triggers this feeling of “happiness” and what we can do to keep it; nonetheless, the evidence found is hardly sufficient to make a public statement on how to find happiness. For this reason, most of the time we speculate what might provoke this feeling of contentment. “Happiness is a glass half empty,” an essay written by Oliver Burkeman, highlights the importance of happiness and discloses how we can find delight through unorthodox methods. The prime objective of this piece of writing is to inform the audience about the effect of happiness on their lives and how their usual attempts of becoming happier can sabotage achieving this feeling. Furthermore, he wants to promote the benefits of pessimism and describe how it can help us in the long run. The author utilizes pronouns, logos, and pathos in order to prove his point and draw the audience into his essay, in an attempt of making them reconsider the way they live their lives and adopt this new pessimistic way that would greatly boost their level of happiness.

Happiness is one of the most significant dimensions of human experience. Many people can argue that happiness is a meaningful and desirable entity. Studies indicate that everyone pursues happiness in various aspects of their life. Our four fathers saw happiness as a need, so they made the pursuit of happiness as one of the three unalienable rights branded in the Declaration of Independence. There is a sense of complexity behind the meaning of happiness; its definition is not definite. Think of happiness as a rope; there are many thin fiber strands bonded together to become the strength of the rope. Like the analogy of the rope, there are numerous factors that can contribute to an individual’s overall happiness in life. This study is going to

Is it impossible to capture happiness? Modern society would have everyone believe that the more things one acquires, the happier they will be. Taking a critical look at the messages that surround us, it becomes clear that this is nothing more than slick marketing and clever propaganda. Many people believe that it is the materialistic things that make us happy in life but is that really the case? Happiness can not be obtained by the things we have. Many people spend their whole lives chasing happiness and never reach it because they are chasing the wrong this to make them happy. This paper will examine what true happiness really is.

According to the classic sense, a life full of happiness is a life that manifests wisdom, kindness, and goodness. However happiness has been twisted by a secular culture and the classic sense has given away to “pleasurable satisfaction”. Pleasurable satisfaction depends on external circumstances going well. Moreland points out that because of this the modern sense of happiness, “pleasurable satisfaction”, is unstable and varies with life’s circumstances. Pleasurable satisfaction becomes increasingly addictive and enslaving if it becomes the dominant aim of one’s life. By contrast, classical happiness brings freedom and power to life as one ought, as one increasingly becomes a unified person who lives for a cause bigger than one’s self. Western culture has been disillusioned into seeking happiness as their main priority in life. Although, happiness is important, when its importance becomes exaggerated, it leads to a loss of purpose in life, and even depression. What Western cultures need to realize is that true happiness can never be achieved. Over the past 50 years, levels of health, wealth, and liberties have increased, but levels of happiness haven’t.

One can be happy because they won the lottery, or one can be happy simply because someone smiled at them. Happiness is not hard to acquire, but establishing a consistent and enduring happiness in one’s life is almost impossible if one does not have a strong mental foundation built by a sense of self-fulfillment and independence. Modern society openly ridicules any form of self-content. It is filled with ever-changing advertisements for new ways to become happy quickly. Modern society has essentially spread a narcotic-like addiction to fads; overloading our brain with spikes of serotonin then leaving us in a state of withdrawal. In this society, one is no longer allowed to simply achieve set goals and live the rest of their life in peace; they must evolve, or they will be left behind. Society power and influence is growing at such a rapid rate that there will be a point where no human

Happiness is a result that we deserved, furthermore, it becomes a motivation for us to keep trying and getting success in life.

The feeling of happiness is ubiquitous. In the book of “Stumping on Happiness” states, “to choose or want one thing rather than another because it would be more pleasant,” which is to say that the pursuit of happiness is built the very definition of desire” (Gilbert 33). Happiness is a feeling because I can use my eyes to see all the lovely things in the world. I can use my ear to listen to the natural singing softly. I can use my hand to touch the delicate petals. I am happy I can use my nose to smell the scent of grass. Happiness can have endless memories. Unlike a blind man living in the shadowy world, he has to use walking sticks as a guide to precede the life of the road ahead of him. His main support is to touch a person to perceive

In today’s society, people do everything seem to make themselves feel happy as a goal, but they always make farther and farther away from happiness. Kids will feel happiness only need a candy. Perhaps for a high school student, the thing make their feel happiness is just no more homework and no constraint from parents. But for adults, there are more thing to consider, money, fame, and fortune. People’s happiness is composed of two parts, the spiritual happiness, and physical happiness.

The world seems to be a dark and unforgiving place, but happiness is hidden within. It is found in a beautiful view, an uplifting song, or a compliment from a friend. According to the Ted Talk video, The Habits of Happiness, Matthieu Ricard claims that everyone “has a deep, profound desire for well-being or happiness”(Ricard 2:39). Ricard uses the three techniques of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos to captivate and move his audience. With the use of metaphors, personal experiences, and even graphs Matthieu explained to his audience the full force and perception of the bendable word that is happiness. This Ted Talk dove into philosophical meaning on just how to achieve well-being, without having everything in the world.

People constantly have the desire to want more and often believe that by fulfilling those desires, it will increase their happiness. One problem is, people do not just live with simplicity in their lives, which is a direct reflection of their environment and societal factors that influence these continuous desires. Happiness is a very pertinent goal for people to reach. Today’s society has the misconception of happiness as being blinded by monetary and materialistic gains such as wealth, power, social media, and success. The “Mental Health Foundation's survey illustrating that 76 per cent of respondents think society is becoming more materialistic and selfish” (Buggey). Many people contemplate on whether or not it is even possible for individuals to attain happiness, which has driven researchers to neglect to study happiness because some believe that we would be better off by simply accepting our current happiness. However, we believe another reason for this neglect is the pessimistic view “over whether it is even possible to achieve sustainable increases in happiness” (Sheldon, K. & Lyubomirsky, S. (2006). With several different aspects of if happiness is even achievable, there are still individuals who believe there are.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American poet, essayist, and lecturer once stated, “For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” Time is limited, so during one’s time alive, obtaining happiness should be the ultimate goal. People are on a constant hunt for happiness. For some, happiness can be obtained through small gestures such as a simple “hello”. For others, they the prowl for a little taste of what being happy feels like. Happiness is an emotion one experiences by their attitude, living in the Zone, and doing what one loves.

In order to achieve happiness one must first realize that every sentient being-that is, every creature endowed with even a very basic sense of awareness which can be defined by three basic aspects or characteristics: body, speech and mind. It is important to know that the mind is essence, is the most important aspect of all creatures that share the attribute of being sentient. It’s important to acknowledge the natural mind and that is capable of producing anything, even ignorance of its own nature. But a compassionate mind is a diligent mind and with compassion things such as starvation and people being slaughter would not exist.