Positive Psychology P3

发表于 更新于 分类于 阅读次数：

Positive Psychology P3

Outline

Premise 5. Happiness is a moral claim, but not the end?

Controversial issue: Happiness is important. But is it ought to be important?

  • Happiness
    • The final end
    • Very purpose, very motion of our life.
    • Gain, keep, recover -> secret motive
  • Why should we have happiness as our highest end?
    • Moral dimension? other important things?
  • What's good?
    1. It feels good to feel good. (law of identity) Need no justification
    2. Contribute to our life, relationship and other people.
    3. Evolutionary reason
      1. think beyond what we are thinking right now. creative
      2. Building capacity (0->+)
    • Negative emotions, our consciousness is narrowed and constricted. We are not able to think beyond what we are thinking right now. -> further negative emotions. vicious cycle, cause depression.
    • Positive emotions: broaden and build -> further positive emotions. upward spiral.
    • How to take us from the downward to the upward: right time, the permission to be human.
    • Approach rather than running away
    • physical health
  • Examples
    1. Internists facing hard problems
      1. Just think about the problems
      2. Given a statement about the humanistic value
      3. Candy, funny, playful mood -> Better solutions
    2. Children learning
      1. Control group
      2. Think back to experience that make them smile -> better learning

Rebuttal: Is the pursuit of personal happiness selfish, hence immoral ?

  • Pursuit of personal happiness is selfish "I want to ..."
  • selfishness == immorality -> No.1 cause of unhappiness
  • Wrong
    • happiness is a positive sum game. Contagious. is a moral state that can contribute to other's happiness
    • Happiness is tied to others. Better relationships, torlerant others
  • Appriciate this wonderful part of our nature (Appreciate: thanks/increase in value)
  • People do what you do not what you say
    • A boy ate too many candy, his mom wanted Gandhi to teach him not to eat too much candy. But Gandhi wanted them to come back a week later, because in this week, he wanted to have some candy. After this week, he would teach the boy through his words and action.
    • Be the change you want to see in the world.
    • Spreading happiness: work on your own happiness first. (Be the example)
  • Expand on these, apply them to our life

Belief as Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

  • the power of the mind
    • Roger Bannister
    • 4 min per mile, the limit of human body according to experts
    • Bannister believed he could do it, he did it 1954
    • Break down the mental barrier (Potential)
    • (How belief shape reality?)
    • (How to enhance the belief? self-efficacy, self-esteem)
    • "We are what we think, all that we are arises with our thoughts, with our thoughts we make the world." - Buddha

Conformity and Obedience

  • "The Obedience to Authority" by Stanley Milgram
    • The experiment must go on
  • The power of situation. Mostly negative. Create positive situation.
  • old man in their 70s, live in a 1959 retreat, listen to music of 1959, read newspaper of 1959... End of the week, both mental and physical age decreased.
  • Subconsciously influenced by the situation.
  • How to create a positive environment, take of the most moral, most successful self, to appreciate the self to help the environment brings the best in ourselves.

Response Paper

  • Happiness is the best emotion undoubtedly. It can promote us to broaden and build and gain further positive emotions, creating an upward spiral. It also contributes to our life and others mutually by creating more tolerance and better relationships.
  • The better part is happiness has an unique and wonderful essence which is contagious. So, it can be spread exponentially. We all should appreciate this wonderful part of our nature. When you pursue the happiness using "I" selfishly, you are actually pursuing the happiness of others. It's a positive sum game. So, it's both selfish and moral without contradictory.
  • Besides, people subconsciously imitate what you do not what you say through the power of situation. Combining with the contagious nature of happiness, being happier, climbing from the downward spiral to the upwards are being the positive change you want to see in the world.
  • Actually, the best approach to achieve your happiness is make others happy. When we do some good deeds that serve others and make others happy, the memories last long with the feeling of self-efficacy. Maybe just holding the door for the one after you, or helping pick up the fallen bikes.
  • The selfish pursue not only can be your secret motive, but contribute to a huge flood of forwarding happiness of the whole society.

Some thinking

  • best way to be happy is help others
  • Help others is creating or strengthening connection. Others get help, they become happier and you feel their happiness through the connection.
  • at most of the time, the one who gets help didn't expect the help, especially from strangers and on some small problems. They have a little expetation, so when they get that surprise, it's easy to be overwhelming.
  • And mostly, they will have a big smile on their faces and appreciate excitedly. These smiles and appreciations can surely satisfy your self-esteem and self-value. The recognition
  • The more connection each person have with others, the bigger the e of exponential growth of happiness becomes.
  • pursuing your own happiness is selfish, helping others is moral. in this way is not contradict, it's selfish with great morality.