...In the article, “Does Trying To Be Happy Make Us Unhappy?” Adam Grant argues that putting too much effort into life changes will actually make people unhappy. Grant starts his essay by pointing out the way two countries look at happiness. The U.S.A grants life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all, and the kingdom of Bhutan they have a national index to measure their happiness. Grant then goes on presenting a study done by a psychologist about happiness, this study reveals that the more pressure people put on trying to be happy the less happy they are. The author then gives an example about a friend’s life story to compare this theory. Tom speaks many languages and has a major in computer science, but once he accomplished these...
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...How does one achieve happiness? How can one make their pursuit of happiness less difficult? In John Stuart Mill's opinion, one should not pursue happiness at all. Mill has reported that he has found that "Those only are happy have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness." As a matter of fact, Mill believes that focusing on one's happiness will cause an individual to become unhappy, as supported by the quote "Ask yourself whether...
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...with Rowling, he spoken language throughout is still quite stuttered while she is answering the questions and she takes a little while to think about what she is going to say as she answers, and she uses fillers while answering if she doesn’t know what she actually going to say as her response. For example she says “Erm” a lot as she thinks about what to say. Also she stutters a lot suggesting that she doesn’t actually know what she is about to say, or she is thinking of the best possible answer for the question. She even contradicts herself in an answer at one point, saying “So when you’re happy, boy are you happy? You’re not-” by saying “boy are you happy” talking about childhood but then she say “You’re not” saying this is contradicting her previous answer and suggesting that childhood isn’t a happy time and it’s not a good time in someone’s life. Also when she says “boy are you happy” she puts emphasis on the ‘boy’ there is even an element of sarcasm in her tone of voice, we know this because she then goes on to contradict herself, like she wasn’t being serious about her answer. After contradicting her answer she then goes off the point a little bit by saying “You didn’t pay the gas bill” comparing childhood to adulthood; she is kind of saying that as a child you have no worries and don’t need to be responsible, but as an adult there are slot more responsibilities and have to be sensible ‘and pay the bills’. The interviewer then tries to get Rowling to give more detail...
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...Utilitarianism explains that whatever we do matters if it consequently makes us happy or even unhappy. Therefore, nothing else has a part in terms of not making the individuals happy or unhappy. I say unhappy because things that we do or things that happens to us can unintentionally makes us unhappy at the end, however, if we consider the idea of causality, a chain of cause and effect can bring us a chain of happiness and unhappiness. Things that makes us as a society unhappy, we tend to avoid, and things that makes us happy we tend to do more. But what happens if, for instance, something that was supposed to make us happy in the future has been replaced with the sense of sadness and despair. For example, if one’s dream was to fly an airplane and become a pilot was crushed after an unfortunate accident in which the individual loses his eye vision. Then we can see that in this series of cause and effect there was a cause that worked as an obstacle in front of him not to achieve his ultimate happiness which was being a pilot and therefore, not becoming an important part of a society which can, for instance, keep us safe in the sky and so make us happy. However, is it true that what was left for him was merely a sense of unhappiness? What can the individual do to prevent such accident in the future? Does that even matter since the individual already lost his eyes? Therefore, we come to an understanding that what makes us happy is merely relevant to our surrounding and community, and possibly...
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...would say that of course ignorance is bliss. When we are unaware of the things that could make us unhappy, we are in a state of happiness. But is that to say we were happier? Ignorance is plainly then just ignorance. It is only through knowledge that we can understand that we were happier when we didn’t know. We do not know what we are ignorant of until we discover the truth. To the example at hand; Cypher would be neither happier nor unhappier being back in the matrix. The only way he would know that he was blissful would be by comparison, making this idea in itself a paradox. “The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation, but the thoughts about it. Beware of the thoughts you are thinking” – Eckhart Tolle. Tolle’s view supports the idea that it is the knowledge that makes us understand whether or not we are happy. The idea that thinking is what makes us happy goes all the way back to Descartes, in a way. If the only thing we are sure about are our thoughts, then we are the masters of our own ignorance and our own bliss. Having a Socratic understanding of the limits of your own knowledge, and realizing your own ignorance does not mean to say that this is where the final thoughts will fall. “Ignorance is bliss.” We would say in passing, when commenting on the apparent happiness of someone who we assume to be ignorant and happy. But this should not be confused with being happy because of their ignorance. The causality of the...
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...ourselves trying to please others. Criticizing ourselves will only lower our self confidence. Lynda Barry teaches us not to care about others opinion and do what makes us happy. If we try to please others’ then we’ll never be happy. While reading the story, I realized that I used to ask the same two questions as Lynda Barry when I finished my work. The two questions Barry asks are, “Is this good? Does this suck?" (168). Throughout middle school and some parts of high school, I used to always second guess myself by asking these two questions. I would rely on others’ opinion. I didn’t think that it was good enough until someone else told me it was. “But the two questions find everybody” (Barry, 170). Just like me, you might find yourself asking these same questions. You might also find yourself asking these questions to others. You might rely on others opinion more than your own. You might trust their opinions more then you trust your own. This text agrees with the view I have of the world. Our society cares more about others opinion than their own. “As, for bad drawings, I tried my best not to ever make them”. We try to please others more than ourselves. That is how our society works. We believe in others more than we believe in ourselves. “For the next 30 years I chased after only good drawing… I never drew for fun anymore” (Barry, 170). We try to do things society would approve of. If society does not like something, then we stop doing it. It does not matter...
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...Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………3 What is Employee Happiness, Does it Matter?...............................................................................4 Employee Dissatisfaction………………………………………………………………………….6 Figure 1 – Average Work Day ………….…….………………………………......7 Employee Needs…………………………………………………………………………………..8 Figure 2 – Maslow’s Hierarchy Needs……………………………………………9 Supporting Employees…………………………………………………………………………...10 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….12 References……………………………………………………………………………………….13 Abstract Employee satisfaction is essential to any organization being successful. Organizational leaders have been trying to increase productivity for generations. Understanding what drives an employee and their happiness in the workplace is the critical task for managers and the success rate of the company. This paper describes why employees are unhappy at work, the effects of not being satisfied, what is needed to make employees happy and how supporting those employee needs will benefit the organization What is Employee Happiness, Does it Matter? Most people when they hear employee happiness they think about the meaning of the word happy which is a feeling or showing pleasure or contentment. Most even associate the word happy with joyful, cheery, in a good mood, fun, satisfied or contentment. Another aspect of happiness is how well one’s life is in a broader sense. How satisfied, meaningful or purposeful our life experiences are. Being happy at work doesn’t necessarily mean...
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...that of a father for His son” – This quote can be related to the short story crossing, which is written by Mark Slouka. The father (Narrator) has a past where he failed a lot on the family-front, now he is trying to make things better by trying to improve his bond to his son. A relationship between a son and his father is difficult to maintain when the sons father and mother are divorced. The custody is typically awarded to the mother of the child. How would a father behave when he get the chance to strengthen the bond between his son and himself? Mark Slouka has used third-person limited omniscient narrator. This means a few things for the narrative technique. Typical for a third-person narrator is the use of pronouns like “he, she, they, them” which is shown in the short story Crossing. EX: “When the first car appeared he could see it from a long way off…” “When they came out of the trees and onto the stony beach…” Third-person limited omniscient narrator also means that the narrator knows everything but he does not necessarily disclose everything, which is to make the reader want to read the story to get all of the veiled parts of the story. The omniscient narrator is also shown here, because the reader get to know what he thinks.“… he thought, maybe – maybe he could make this right” The short story takes place in the state Tacoma, Washington, USA. This can be seen in the very beginning of the short story, “It was raining as they drove out of Tacoma that morning” Tacoma...
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...Looking Beyond The White Elephant The short story “Hills Like White Elephants” is about the struggle to make a life changing decision. A couple learns that they are pregnant with a child. Having a child and wanting a child are to two very different things. The decision of either keeping their unborn child or having an abortion is the decision that they are going to be facing throughout the short story. A problem arises when the narrator uses tone and point of view to show how the couple does not agree on what to do with the situation they have caused. The woman in “Hills Like White Elephants” is very detached from the man she is with. She makes a humorous comment about how the hills in the distance look like elephants, but he does not understand....
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...outsider, he was gay .written to show people who were lost in society should be recognized .exploring the methods in which AB presents IR to the audience Dramatic Monologue: advantages: .Develop close bond with IR .open up to her audience .she can only talk to you, you can only listen to her .express how she truly feels, opinions, feeling and thoughts .seek what she really think, instead of what she tells other people Disadvantages: .never know if IR is being honest, telling the truth .only her speaking, can’t listen to other peoples view points .cant question her .not a balanced view point .Over powering, mind controlling Facts on IR character scn 1: .opening paragraph, AB doesn’t reveal much .shared few facts, facts he does share are basic doesn’t give much information .mother dead, lives alone .cousin in Canada, apparently only relative .suggests lonely, learnt to be independent .likes to write frequent letters .recently attended funeral of someone she doesn’t even know correct name of .cant of known recently decease lady .’At least it’s an outing’ .suggests doesn’t have anything better to do, didn’t have close relationship with lady .neighbours just moves in, observes street occasionally .’Don’t look very promising, kiddy looks filthy’ Hints she is judgmental, immediately assumes they aren’t promising .well spoken ‘mover over’ .few facts, gather she is lonely, judgmental, self assured, bored, nothing to do with life Positive and Negative Characteristics: ...
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...etc. We are communicating with people all the time, and many of us are unaware of what we are saying. What we are wearing, gestures, tone of voice all communicate to the receiver. Nonverbal communication can convey a great deal of information, if you pay attention. The most common form of demonstrative communication is facial expressions (Nayab, 2011). For instance, a smile can indicate that a person is happy, while a frown shows that a person is unhappy. Research has estimated that facial expressions account for as much as 55% of all communication (Nayab, 2011). If we tell someone some news that we think is great, and they respond without smiling, or by forcing a smile, regardless of what they are verbally saying, we assume they are not excited by this news. Their non verbal reaction, or lack there of, makes us believe they are not pleased. Research has shown that there are four different techniques we use to manage our facial expressions. They are intensifying facial expressions, de-insensifying facial expressions, neutralizing facial expressions, and masking facial expressions (Encyclopedia of Management, 2009). Lets look at each one a little more closely. We intensify, or exaggerate, our facial expressions when we want to show strong emotion. For example, if I just found out I am going to be an aunt again, I would smile very widely and possible jump up and down, therefore exaggerating the happy feeling I am feeling. De-intensifying, or subduing, our facial expression...
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...itself. Both stories involve the decision to end life. In To Room Nineteen, Susan struggles with the home life she and her husband have created, seeking to temper her feelings with intelligent reasoning. Slowly she distances herself from her family until she finds herself on the brink of suicide, feeling hypocritical for “worrying about the children, when she was going to leave them” (Lessing 890). As she lay down with the gas filling the room, “she was quite content”. In Hills Like White Elephants, the man is working to convince his partner to undergo an abortion: “They just let the air in and then it’s all perfectly natural” (Hemingway 663) While she does not seem happy with the idea, he continues to reassure her that “We’ll be fine afterward. Like we were before. … It’s the only thing that’s made us unhappy” (663). In To Room Nineteen, Susan’s life is “grounded in intelligence” and ruled by “sensible discrimination” (Lessing 866). Susan’s journey from a tolerant and logical outlook bordering on martyrdom to selfishness and suicide is progressive; a result of revelations for Susan that she needs more than a life that is “like a snake biting it’s tail” (868). From the beginning Susan is aware of her discontent but chooses to repress it. She uses her intelligence to reassure herself of her marital...
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...regard to what makes us truly happy. Willy Loman, the main character, works his whole life to provide financial security for his family and dreams about becoming rich only to be left with nothing at the end. The major driving theme behind the play is the American dream; which Miller points out is an allegory, the fallacy of working hard your whole lives chasing the American dream only to die a lonely and depressed man. Death of a Salesman challenges the effects of the American dream in a negative way. The American Dream All your life you are told that to be successful in life you need two things: a career and money. This I find to be the American dream falsehood that today’s society is based on. The Death of a Salesman points out the flaws in that statement. Most Americans don’t work past 72 so we spend our whole life chasing a false dream only to die an unhappy and lonely person. Allegory Willy creates an illusion of what the American dream should be like when he witnessed the accolades of Dave Singleman prolonged success. Willy pressures his children to seek the same ideals but Willy doesn’t even understand the meaning of success himself. I really connected with this part because as a father I am always trying to push my son to be better than me. Biff goes on to say, “I saw the things that I love in this world. The work and the food and the time to sit and smoke. And I looked at the pen and I thought, what the hell am I grabbing this for? Why am I trying to become what...
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...is to blame for the Bennet's marriage, it must be said that it depends on which perspective is being considered. Jane Austen's portrayal of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet's union leads us to believe this was not a match made in Heaven. However, if the marriage is looked at from different perspectives such as; Mr. Bennet’s, Mrs. Bennet’s, circumstance, or society’s, they provide opposing views of happiness and who is to blame in the absence of joy. After all are considered, is the marriage that bad? A person’s reasons to get married are essential in determining whether or not they can be happy. Society dictated that the Bennet's marriage was contractually imperative for both of them. Mrs. Bennet wanted to be secure and accepted a proposal that she thought would be acceptable. Mr. Bennet wanted a wife to take care of his needs and give him children, preferably a son. Both were tolerable to the other in the beginning and entered into the marriage with freewill. Early in the novel we learn the Bennet's marriage is portrayed as ill-fitted. They appear to be two opposites in humor, character, tact and priorities. In Chapter 1 we read: Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, and caprice, that the experience of three-and-twenty years had been insufficient to make his wife understand his character. Her mind was less difficult to develop. She was a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. When she was discontented...
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...This post-WWI novel tells the tale of a dystopian future where society is structured around everyone being happy. The story includes three main characters that do not conform to society’s standards and want more than a life of continuous, senseless bliss that is caused by taking soma, essentially a “happy pill”. Other lengths are taken in society as well such as eliminating monogamy and childbirth, because they either cause unhappiness or pain. Postman compares this addiction to happiness to the addiction to entertainment. He makes the point of if anything is not posed to society as a form of entertainment, then it is viewed as not as truthful, much like those in Huxley’s novel that if monogamy sometimes leads to unhappiness, then it does not have a place in their world. The most important aspect to bring from Huxley’s novel, is that it does not have a happy ending. This “perfect” society turned out to be not so perfect after all, even causing one of the main characters to become so unhappy that he commits suicide. This relates to what Postman is trying to prove, that if we too become obsessed with entertainment that as a society we will become unhappy. This is where the phrase “amusing ourselves to death” comes from...
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