Karyn Hall's Revenge: Will You Feel Better?

Hate, self-doubt, and hunger for revenge cloud the human mind. All of these are recurring and self-destructive thoughts. They can be crippling and can consume us. Like the majority of society, I most certainly have experienced these thoughts. As supposedly the smartest species on the earth, we cannot escape these character flaws that trap us. Hate, self-doubt, and the desire for revenge can be traced back to the basis of peer pressure, denial, and the lack of human intelligence. Yet, because of these flaws, are we all doomed to a life of unhappiness and dissatisfaction?

The article “Revenge: will you feel better,” author Karyn Hall (2013) claims that while the temptation of revenge may be convincing, acting upon these urges is not always worth the consequences after. Hall contemplates the idea of revenge being “self destructive” and being harmful to both those giving and receiving revenge. Furthermore the article states People who have been hurt seem to believe that if the other party suffers, then they will feel better and that their emotional pain will lessen. This idea is later touch on towards the end of the article when author explains the idea of the “understanding hypothesis”, which is when the offender knows the connection between the original insult and the retaliation. In contrast, the author also

Simpson, David D. and Thomas M. Ostrom. “Effect of Snap and Thoughtful Judgments on Person

According to Crabb (1977), there are several factors that motivate human behavior. Although there several motivators, Crabb (1977) insists that the need to feel secure and the need to feel significant are the two primary provokers. Often, a human’s primary motivator to meet these needs becomes the driving force behind any action. When a situation or event is encountered, often, the individual will analyze whether or not one of these two needs is threatened, if it is, a person will most often behave in a way that protects (Crabb, 1977). I have seen this to be true in my life and in the lives of many of my friends. For example, someone will make hurtful or unloving comment, and the receiver will retaliate with a defensive or hurtful remark to protect their security or significance from the offense. Unfortunately, this type of unhealthy behavior can set a person on a downhill spiral that may result in a ripple effect of negative impacts. Frequently, friends, business partners, spouses, children, and even other opportunities are disengaged because

Warning! A runaway robber has just been caught in the middle of the highway. Policemen are investigating the case and considering if they should punish the criminal or let him go. How will prison affect the person? Will he benefit from time in prison or will it only make him worse? The theme of justice and punishment is explored in real life and books. Life in prison may have some positive influences, but to a large extent it is not successful in changing someone’s mindset. In the book “In Cold Blood”, Truman Capote uses syntax,diction, and a variety of details to support the theme that justice and punishment is not effective.

by using all your energy towards a plan of revenge, you can end up causing self deception. In

Lee Sigelman once eloquently wrote about the emotional effect knowledge has on human beings. Sigelman proves the notion “Ignorance is bliss” to be inaccurate evidenced by recent scientific studies. Lee expresses that ignorance can often be the cause of feelings of discontent and suffering. This can be proven wrong in the plays, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Both works show that knowledge has the power to make people feel unhappy and can be the reason people take drastic measures.

Everyday examples of defiance are right in front of us, on the news, or being done by ourselves. Many studies have been done to explain why these urges make us do the things we do, but still there is no answer, except greed. Unlike Abigail some may break the law to do good, but still many are like Abigail and will do bad and only have a benefit for themselves. “Lying often starts with wrong-doing. For whatever reason, we do something that others disapprove of. When they are in a position of greater power, they might punish us. Even if not, their disapproval may be punishment enough.”(Straker) When Abigail was accused in the beginning of the story she lied to save her name and not be in shame from those in the town and her uncle. When we do something bad we lie to keep our names clean and to not feel shameful. “In consequence, we deny the crime, pointing the finger at others, denying the action or justifying the act with some fabricated excuse.”(Straker). This study gives a brief explanation as to why Abigail blamed Tituba, and why people who are convicted often rely on blaming their faults on others.“During a study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, women were presented with a photograph of their potential dream man. Half of the women were told their Mr. Right

Lee Sigelman once informedly wrote about the emotional effect knowledge has on human beings. Sigelman proves the notion “Ignorance is bliss” to be inaccurate evidenced by recent scientific studies. Lee expresses that ignorance can often be the cause of feelings of discontent and suffering. This can be proven wrong in the plays, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Both works show that knowledge has the power to make people feel unhappy and can be the reason people take drastic measures.

In a quantitative analysis of the effectiveness of incarceration of individuals in preventing crime and especially preventing those particular individuals from repeating crime, Peter Wood concluded that several different mechanisms may in fact contribute to recidivism. Wood acknowledges the work of others in the field that have noted that statistically the experience of being incarcerated increased the likelihood that an individual will commit future criminal behavior. He continues to note the hypotheses of other researchers that such counter-intuitive statistics could be explained by "a theory of defiance" whereby after an individual receives punishment that they feel is unjust or unfair they begin to develop a sense of defiance against

With the entire world always watching a person’s every move, people find it harder and harder to forgive themselves of their transgressions. People often seek approval from others and when they make mistakes, they potentially receive ridicule from others creating shame for their actions. When faced with a shame such as that, a person has two options: to let the shame consume them or to confront their mistakes and move past them. The idea that people have the power to choose how their decisions will define them holds true in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 19th century novel The Scarlet Letter and holds true today.

Sometimes the choices you make in life influence peoples perseption of you. Everyone makes mistakes, its part of being human. Its when people keep making those same mistakes when they really reveal what kind of person they are. One opposing example is seen in the novel Crime and Punishment. The main character Raskolnikov murders an old pawnbroker/landlady out of his hatred toward the old woman. This choice he made was clearly a big mistake. In this case Raskolnikov's actions don't reveal his persona. He obiously wasn't thinking clearly when committed this

The finding of the study suggested that people are less likely to commit homicides when they actually see someone being executed. (McFarland, 1983). If criminals do not see the actual punishment that one is sentenced to actually carried out, then the subsequent criminals will not take the threat as seriously (McFarland, 1983). However, once the image of someone being executed is no longer recent, it seems the threat of perceived punishment is forgotten. Once the event has passed, people will have forgotten it happened, and the status quo will go back to normal (McFarland,

Uttich and Lombrozo also studied the side-effect effect, but explained it differently than Knobe did. They said that the side-effect effect, the differences in ascribed mental states and traits pertaining to intentionality of an action, is due to the side effect’s norm status as opposed to moral status. They named this view the Rational Scientist view. While Knobe suggested the moral status of a side-effect influenced judgments on intentionality, Uttich and Lombrozo suggested that norm status is sufficient alone in producing the side-effect effect. Specifically, they said that norm-violating behavior that outweighs the reason to observe the norm is more informative in explaining intentionality of side effects compared to norm-conforming behavior. By default, people usually follow the norms, unless some sufficiently strong reason compels them to violate them. The Rational Scientist view is consistent with the Theory of Mind, in that internal states support explanation and prediction of behavior, but adds the vital role of norms in those predictions and explanations; moral norms affect Theory of Mind ascriptions by influencing mental state ascriptions.

     There is not one person alive who has not encountered a less than desirable situation in life. Nobody is flawless and everyone has made at least one mistake that they wish they could take back. However, a problem many encounter is they worsen these mistakes by lingering on them instead of learning from them. They worry that others may see them as less than they really are and that they are inadequate because they are not perfect. Albert Ellis, the creator of RET, says people, “upset themselves about their seriousness upsetness. In fact, they may have biological tendencies that encourage them to make a ‘magical’…jump from ‘I badly failed’ to ‘I am a failure-a bad person!’”.