Gissell Tineo
Jon Gertner article “The Futile Pursuit of Happiness” shows the different theories from four psychologist that studies different theories on what true happiness is. One important psychologist that I felt I agreed with the most is Dan Gilbert. His theories on happiness and how he believes that there’s two different types of happiness is something I never have thought about but know can actually say I can believe in because I have experienced it myself.
Dan Gilbert believes that there is two different types of happiness, synthetic happiness and natural happiness. Synthetic happiness is what you make yourself feel to overestimate the duration of your affect. I personally have plenty of experience of synthetic happiness. Even when I was younger and I would obsesses on the latest sidekick cell phone that would come out. I would get so emotional and would bother my sibling all the time so they could get me that phone. I would tell them all kinds of things like I had to get it, and no other phone can compared to this one. I made it seem like that was the only phone that would make me truly happy. But in reality once I had it, of course I was excited for the first few weeks even months but after a while I grown to get tired of it. When it fell I would get upset and it just felt like a regular phone at that point. There was nothing special about my phone at that point. This was something that showed how synthetic could affect your life.
Natural happiness to Dan Gilbert is something that you come across in time. Something that I can say is a natural happiness to me is in my junior year in high school I joined a program which help me with homework help and SAT help as well. At first I never really thought anything pass just that but later on I grown to enjoy my time in that program because we not only just did homework we gotten close in a way that I felt comfortable being there and till this day I still go to that place because it’s a place where I truly feel happy and at home. And that to me feels like a natural happiness. I wasn’t only grateful at the fact that they help me with school help but they always helped with personal help and showed me that they really care and that what make me happy.
Dan Gilbert theories on happiness is something that I can truly agree with and can honestly say I have encounter in my own life. This is why I feel I agree with him that most. His views on synthetic and natural happiness is something interesting because in his arguments he explains that synthetic happiness can me the same if not more affective then actual natural happiness. And I do agree that is can be as affective as natural happiness but I would prefer to live my life in a more natural state of mind.
