TED Talk Blog: “The Surprising Science of Happiness”

TED Talk Blog: “The Surprising Science of Happiness”

                Dan Gilbert wrote a novel titled “Stumbling on Happiness” challenging the idea that discontent is caused by not getting exactly what you want. He conducted multiple studies that also concluded we are wired to allow ourselves to become satisfied with something that was not our first choice. His conclusions revolved around the idea that we subconsciously fabricate our own happiness.

                There we several studies conducted first using everyday people, lining up 10 paintings and asking them to order them in the order the liked them. They were then allowed to choose either their 5 or 6 choices. A few weeks later studies found that when the same people were asked to arrange the paintings by preference, the painting they had chosen moved up on their scale and their alternate (usually #6) moved down. When the study was performed with amnesics, the results were consistent.

                Because I’d never learned about the concept of synthesizing our own happiness, this concept was very intriguing. I’ve never reflected on myself before to possibly recall times when I’ve adjusted my own happiness. I believe that this TED talk relays relevant studies that we can be aware of in our day to day lives. I don’t believe that fabricating our happiness is a bad thing nor does it have any negative effects.