https://www.ted.com/playlists/4/what_makes_us_happy
Please add an intelligent comment (minimum 5 sentences) in response to opinions of the linked videos on happiness. What stylistic or rhetorical devices did the speaker use in his/ her speech? Be sure to use a minimum of one quote in your response. Optional: Comment on a classmate's post in a second post (minimum 3 sentences) *Use only your first name, last initial and class period.
The TED talk I watched was "The paradox of choice" by Barry Schwartz. Barry touches on what happiness is and how happiness goes up as more opportunities become available. This is very true when you think through it. If you go to an ice cream parlor, you'll be happier the more variety of ice cream flavors available. The larger choice you have over what you want, the happier you will be. However, there is a drawback. Barry outlines this in the video when he talks about getting Jeans fit. He has such a selection but couldn't find a "perfect" one; he left happy but not ecstatic. The wider the selection, the higher our expectations will be. The thought train will follow, "There MUST be something perfect here for me with all of these selections." While a greater selections does yield better chances of finding something you want, it also raises your expectations and leave you sadder than if you had low expectations. Happiness is important in life, and like all things important, isn't an easy thing to master.
ReplyDeleteJared C.
Period: 2
The TED tak I watched was "The Hidden Power of Smiling" by Ron Gutman. It brought up many intriguing studies and facts that I can not even imagine to be possible. First, there was a study conducted where scientists predicted future quality of life of its subjects simply by looking at their smiles in their high school yearbook. Furthermore, the scientist looked at baseball cards and found that they could predict the player's lifespan based on the span of his smile. Both of these studies I found very interesting and thought they really added to his point about how much smiling can really reveal. Smiling can improve your health, make you look better to others, and, of course, improve your overall happiness.
ReplyDeleteSkylar S.
Caroline M.
ReplyDeletePeriod 2
I watched the TED talk by Dan Gilbert called, "The Surprising Science of Happiness." "He challenges the idea that we’ll be miserable if we don’t get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things don’t go as planned." Dan Gilbert included many intriguing and interesting facts and studies. He included an experiment with people who one the lottery and people who became a paraplegic. A year later they were asked hoe happy they are, they said, "a year after losing the use of their legs and a year after winning the lotto, lottery winners and paraplegics are equally happy with their lives." Also if a major trauma occurred three months before then it does not effect their happiness because "happiness can be synthesized." He also included the develop of the brain over the years and how we know have a frontal lobe.
I watched the TED talk by Graham Hill called, "Less Stuff, More Happiness". He strongly believes that the less you have the better you are to be connected to what you have and really cherish it. Graham says, " A smaller space makes for smaller utilities, smaller bills, and a smaller footprint in this world." There are three things to make your life great. Edit ruthlessly, small is sexy (space efficiency), and multifunctional spaces and housewares. These are ways to shrink the way we live and to save not only money, but energy and space. By becoming smaller we are becoming more thankful for what we have and make are valuables sentimental to ourselves. Space allows for more entertainment, and people along with a sense of knowing that you are taking what you are given. "Maybe less might equal more and we will have space for things that we should come and learn to enjoy."
ReplyDeleteRyan C.
Period 2
I watched the TED talk by Dan Gilbert called, "The Surprising Science of Happiness." I found it interesting because he challenges the idea that we’ll be miserable if we don’t get what we want. I felt this was interesting because I believed this was a widely held belief, however, Mr. Gilbert proved me wrong. He also discussed an experiment with people who one the lottery and one who became a paraplegic. A year later they were asked how happy they are, they said, "a year after losing the use of their legs and a year after winning the lotto, lottery winners and paraplegics are equally happy with their lives." This is very eye-opening to me because I would have thought the lottery winner would have been happier.
ReplyDeleteJake S.
Period 2
The TED talk that I watched was "The Paradox of Choice," presented by Barry Schwartz. Schwartz, who authored a novel on the subject, had much to offer on happiness and what attributes to it. His main message was the fact that in our lives today, we have too many choices. These choices are often perceived as a luxury that people enjoy, but as Schwartz pointed out, these choices actually hurt us. With so many choices, people are likely to become overwhelmed and have a very hard time making a choice. When people finally do make a choice, they often have remorse because the choice, to them, isn't perfect and isn't what they really wanted. Schwartz quoted a study that a colleague of is conducted, saying, "for every 10 choices that a person is given, their decision rate goes down by 2%." This means that as people get more choices they are more likely to not make a choice and become unhappy. In short, to be happy, limit your expectations and be sure to always stick with what you you think is right.
ReplyDeleteThe TED talk i watched was "The Surprising Science of Happiness", which challenges the idea that getting what we want is the only way to obtain true happiness. The message that is supposed to be conveyed is that life is what you make it. If you make the best of your situation and love everything you have, a poor person can be just as happy as a rich person. The example used here was that a paraplegic and a lottery winner were both equally happy later in their lives after their own life changing event occurred. Obviously if anyone had a choice between these 2 options they would choose to win the lottery, but if you are forced into the paraplegic's postion, you can continue to live your life being happy.
ReplyDeleteEvan S.
P2
The TED talk I watched was "Want to be happy? Be grateful." in it he clearly lays down the law, "It is not happiness that makes us grateful, it's gratefulness that makes us happy." If you're life is smooth sailing and you have everything you really need right at your finer tips, you're blessed. You don't know what it's like to not have those things. You think that you're just entitled to them or that they just come with life, you don't appreciate them so you don't understand how happy they truly make you. It's the people that have lost those things, or not ever had them, to know what happiness truly is. When you have barely anything, you really learn to love and be grateful for what little you do have.
ReplyDeleteThe TED talk I viewed was "The Hidden Power of Smiling" by Ron Gutman.
ReplyDeleteAs the title tells, Gutman explains in depth the serious importance smiling has in a human being's life. He begins with an anecdote about how he was fascinated by the superheroes of science fiction comic books as a child, but remarks this has changed. He continues to theorize that smiling can lengthen ones life span, utilizing statistics and studies on baseball players. In order to convince the listener that smiling is a natural instinct, he uses polarization by explaining how smiling can be seen from babies in the womb and cannibals in Papua New Guinea. He then takes his anecdote from his childhood and creates an allegory, stating that the real superheroes of the world are children because of the amount they smile daily. Gutman makes his discussion appeal to the masses by quoting Charles Darwin and Mother Theresa, two very different public figures. Overall, I'd say that Gutman's use of these devices is convincing.
Dan Lalor
Period 2