"If we were to experience the world exactly as it is, we'd be too depressed to get out of bed in the morning."

Question

Those are the words of Daniel Gilbert, a Psychology professor and author of "Stumbling on Happiness". He asserts that happiness requires a moderate amount of delusion.

Do you agree?

Answer 1

Thinking about the magnitude of the universe can often be so humbling that one is left feeling insignificant. I think there's a healthy level of ignorance, not necessarily delusion.

Answer 2

Not entirely. If you look at all the suffering in the world then yes, you would get pretty depressed. But there are still good things in this world, things to be happy about. Love, family, friends, children, random acts of kindness....there are many beautiful things in life too. I think it's healthiest to have a good balance of the two. Be aware of the actual state of affairs, be aware of the suffering and pain around you and do what you can to help alleviate it. But also be aware of the good things going on too! You need both to round out your perspective and mature your mind and become a compassionate human being.

Answer 3

Noone can say what we would feel like if we experienced "the world" exactly as it is. This is simply because we do not and cannot experience it that way. All we can know is how whatever may be "external" appears when it instantiates some form of representation in our minds.

As far as happiness, that is innate, and requires o particular knowledge.

Answer 4

I disagree. Think of a horrible natural disaster in which thousands are killed. Which thought is least depressing?

1. It was part of a conscious "plan" by a higher power...who could also have prevented it.

2. There was no consciousness behind it, it just happened. No one intended for it to happen, there was no lesson to be learned or punishment being exacted...it just WAS.

I'll take Door #2, thank you very much...

Answer 5

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Answer 6

well then hes not very smart is he?
heh, but we all do have at least some delusions of our own.
but no i see the world as the world, nothing more nothing less, and even though i have plenty of bad days (more so than many people only think they have) im still a happy person.

Answer 7

No, I am able to compartmentalize the pain of the rest of the world. I focus only on my own life and happiness.

When I can help, I do. Otherwise, isn't worry just a way to become mentally ill?

Answer 8

I think that's a significant overstatement. We don't need to be deluded to be happy, but what we do need is to blinker ourselves from most of the things going on. Nobody has the time or personal resource to address everything that's going on in their world today.

Answer 9

No. We are experiencing the world as it is. Some people just like making excuses for odd behavior. It is people like him that enable women who kill their kids and get away with it. Stop making excuses people and be responsible for your own happiness. Quite expecting someone else to make you that way

Answer 10

Not entirely, it requires not dwelling on the negative aspects of life, and how unfair it seems sometimes, but I wouldn't call it delusion as much as I would call it a selective mindset.