Striving for Authentic Happiness Essays
Globalization and the development of technology have provided people with more
opportunities to do whatever they want. Because of the choices, people seem to be
happier to make their own choices. However, Martin E.P. Seligman, the author of
Authentic Happiness, would argue that they are not happy because that kind of
happinessdoes not last long. In his book, Seligman explains that there are two kinds
of happiness, pleasureand gratification. He says, [t]he pleasures are delights that have
clear sensory and strong emotional components, what philosophers call raw feels :
ecstasy, thrills, orgasm, delight, mirth, exuberance, and comfort. They are evanescent,
and they involve little, if any, thinking (102). As he shows, pleasure is... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
According to him, gratification is a key for people to have a good life. However,
Seligman explains, [g]ratification dispels self absorption, and the more one has the
flow that gratification produces, the less depressed one is (119). Although it is clear
that people need gratification more than pleasures, he points out that [t]o start the
process of eschewing easy pleasures and engaging in more gratifications is hard
(119). This difficulty of attaining gratification might make people to choose pleasure
rather than gratification. Thus, according to Seligman s definitions of happiness, it
is easier for humans to seek pleasure rather than to seek gratification. In The
Psychology of Globalization , Jeffery Jensen Arnett illustrates that young people
focus on self longer by extending adulthood. Arnett notes, in global culture, people
value on individualism, free market economics, and democracy and include freedom
of choice, individual rights, openness to change, and tolerance of differences (779).
Arnett argues that globalization, especially increasing the number of choices and
allowing people to have freedom of choices affect each individual s psychological
functioning. He points out, [w]hen people are allowed to make their own choices
about values, love, and work, the likelihood may be enhanced that they will find a