Negative events affect us but not as long as we expect them. When our psychological immune system is working, we are able to cope with any negative situation that comes our way. Explaining events robs them of their emotional impact because it makes the event seem more likely. This allows us to stop thinking about them.

Rationalization

It happens when a phenomenon arises from very large numbers of something, but not smaller versions of it. For example, billions of neurons lead to a conscious human brain, but two neurons are not a small version of consciousness.

The Law of Large Numbers

It refers to judging historical events or people by modern-day standards. It is largely useless and unfair because you can't expect historical figures to make the same decisions as we do now because they lived in a very different context.

Presentism 

The greatest ability of the human brain is to imagine, to see the world as it has never been before.But imagination has three shortcomings:<ul><li>Imagination tends to add and remove details, but people do not realize that key details may be fabricated or missing from the imagined scenario. </li><li>Imagined futures (and pasts) are more like the present than they actually will be (or were).</li><li>Imagination fails to realize that things will feel different once they actually happen—most notably, the psychological immune system will make bad things feel not so bad as they are imagined to feel.</li></ul>

Our Ability To Imagine

The word happiness is used to refer to three related things:<ul><li>Emotional happiness</li><li>Moral happiness</li><li>Judgemental happiness</li></ul>It’s hard to define emotional happiness, but when we feel it, we have no doubt about its reality and importance. Because we have a poor recollection of our experiences, we cannot objectively compare a previous state of happiness to a present state.

About Happiness

Experience and awareness are closely related but not the same. <ul><li>Experience refers to partaking in an event. </li><li>Awareness refers to being cognizant that the event is happening.</li></ul>

Experience And Awareness 

Your experiential background can dramatically change your happiness levels. Once you know something exists and have experienced pleasure from it, then your definition of happiness changes compared to what it was in the past.

The Experience-Stretching Hypothesis

All claims of happiness are subjective. And are formed from the perspective of a single human being whose unique collection of past experiences serves as context.Nobody really knows what happiness feels like for others, so that means we can’t say definitely whether someone in a situation that might seem bad to us is actually less happy than we are. In fact, it’s entirely possible they are just as happy or even more so.Not knowing what we are missing is the very thing that allows us to be happy despite not having some other opportunity.

Happiness Is Subjective

Wealth increases people’s happiness after it removes them from poverty and places them in the middle class. After that, there is little relation between wealth and happiness.

Wealth And Happiness

Psychological sciences will always be imperfect because we are trying to observe someone else's subjective experience, but it's the best we've got and the closest an outside observer can get to understanding the inside of someone else's mind.

The Shortcomings of Psychology

<ul><li>Thinking about the future is pleasurable and sometimes we’d rather just think about it than get there. Some events are more pleasurable to imagine than to experience.</li><li>We like to daydream because the mere dream itself can be a joy.</li><li>The main reason why our brains simulate the future is so that we can control the experiences that we have. </li><li>Our brain makes predictions incredibly quickly and about nearly everything in life. When our experiences don't match what our brain expects, we feel surprised.</li></ul>

How We Think About The Future

Mastering the greatest pursuit there ever was: Happiness

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Habits

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Health

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Communication

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Personal Development

How to Be Happy

A smart and funny book by a prominent Harvard psychologist, which uses groundbreaking research and (often hilarious) anecdotes to show us why we’re so lousy at predicting what will make us happy – and what we can do about it. Most of us spend our lives steering ourselves toward the best of all possible futures, only to find that tomorrow rarely turns out as we had expected. Why? As Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert explains, when people try to imagine what the future will hold, they make some basic and consistent mistakes. Just as memory plays tricks on us when we try to look backward in time, so does imagination play tricks when we try to look forward. Using cutting-edge research, much of it original, Gilbert shakes, cajoles, persuades, tricks and jokes us into accepting the fact that happiness is not really what or where we thought it was. Among the unexpected questions he poses: Why are conjoined twins no less happy than the general population? When you go out to eat, is it better to order your favourite dish every time, or to try something new? If Ingrid Bergman hadn’t gotten on the plane at the end of Casablanca, would she and Bogey have been better off? Smart, witty, accessible and laugh-out-loud funny, Stumbling on Happiness brilliantly describes all that science has to tell us about the uniquely human ability to envision the future, and how likely we are to enjoy it when we get there.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

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Creativity

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Books

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Science & Nature

A smart and funny book by a prominent Harvard psychologist, which uses groundbreaking research and (often hilarious) anecdotes to show us why we’re so lousy at predicting what will make us happy – and what we can do about it. Most of us spend our lives steering ourselves toward the best of all possible futures, only to find that tomorrow rarely turns out as we had expected. Why? As Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert explains, when people try to imagine what the future will hold, they make some basic and consistent mistakes. Just as memory plays tricks on us when we try to look backward in time, so does imagination play tricks when we try to look forward. Using cutting-edge research, much of it original, Gilbert shakes, cajoles, persuades, tricks and jokes us into accepting the fact that happiness is not really what or where we thought it was. Among the unexpected questions he poses: Why are conjoined twins no less happy than the general population? When you go out to eat, is it better to order your favourite dish every time, or to try something new? If Ingrid Bergman hadn’t gotten on the plane at the end of Casablanca, would she and Bogey have been better off? Smart, witty, accessible and laugh-out-loud funny, Stumbling on Happiness brilliantly describes all that science has to tell us about the uniquely human ability to envision the future, and how likely we are to enjoy it when we get there.

Daniel Gilbert is an accomplished writer whose work has resonated with readers around the world. Daniel Gilbert has published several books that explore a range of topics, from fiction to nonfiction, and has received critical acclaim for the ability to weave compelling narratives. Daniel Gilbert's writing style is known for its depth and authenticity, and has earned quite a loyal following of readers.

The Experience-Stretching Hypothesis

Similar ideas to The Experience-Stretching Hypothesis

Past, present, and future identities

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