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The Surprising Science of Happiness | Dan Gilbert

 


"Turns out that freedom, the ability to make up and change your mind, is the friend of natural happiness"

    Dan Gilbert talks about happiness as it comes with making choices. Making choices doesn't literally mean having to choose, but he explains it in a way that is interpreted by having to live on with something that was manipulated and chosen for you, or something that you were able to contemplate whether or not you want it. He later on speaks about an experiment that was done on Harvard photography students. Some of these students were given the choice to take home one of their photographs and not look back at the other one. Whereas the other half, were given a reversible option in which they had the option to go back and change which one they can go home with. 

    In my opinion, that actually does make sense. In a way, that is why some people are indecisive and find making any decision extremely hard since they always find a possibility of happiness in the other choice. As an indecisive person, I've discovered that all options in life come with a bit of happiness. Which is why I like it better when someone makes a choice for me, or manipulates me into thinking I've made the better option myself. When that happens, I usually end up thinking that the choice I have, is the better one. Which is again agreeing with what Dan Gilbert is saying about happiness throughout the whole TedTalk. 







Comments

  1. Zeina Badr3 December 2022 at 15:08

    I really like how you spoke about the experiment in depth and related it back to yourself. It is very interesting to read!

    ReplyDelete

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