Midterm 2 Flashcards
What do the Inner Chapters text suggest about knowledge?
That it is difficult or impossible to attain knowledge
Why does Zhuangzi argue that genuine pretending is a better way to live than being authentic or sincere?
Zhuangzi argues that trying too hard to be completely authentic or sincere can instead result in inauthenticity, since we wind up self-monitoring too much and suppress our natural expression. Instead, genuine pretending involves trying to live with authenticity, but in the knowledge that reality is fluid and ambiguous, and so we must approach authenticity with a sense of playfulness, and not be overly strict about it.
What does the Darwin-influenced view of the nature of human well-being that we discussed in lecture suggest?
That human well-being is defined as succeeding at our evolutionary function, which is to survive and reproduce.
Which of the dimensions of happiness does Haybron think is the most significant?
Attunement, since it is the most fundamental to one’s self-fulfillment, and it is difficult to do well on the other dimensions if one is stressed, anxious, or “compressed”
What does Haybron say about the idea that happiness is immutable, and not determined by one’s experiences or environment?
The idea is false, but it may appear true because one’s levels of happiness are largely determined by basic features of one’s life and environment which are difficult to significantly change
What are the three dimensions of happiness?
Vitality and energy to boredom and disengagement spectrum. Tranquility to anxiety spectrum. Uncompressed to compressed spectrum.
What does Habryon have to say about communities?
Community A: At ease, untroubled, slow to anger, quick to laugh, fulfilled, curious, attentive, and fully at home in their body with a relaxed posture. Community B: Liable to be stressed, anxious, self-absorbed, distracted, uncomfortable, pinched, and compressed.
What does Habryon say about Psychic Affirmation and Cognitive Self?
Habryon believes these two things are separate and come apart.
How does Habryon define Psychic Affirmation?
The affirmation of your life by your psyche (emotional self). To respond emotionally to your life.
How does Habryon define Cognitive Self?
The part of yourself that believes, judges, reasons, and thinks
Which of the following is not one of the major barriers to improving quality of life that Buss discusses?
The fact that humans evolved to be deeply empathetic, so that any individual’s distress is likely to cause many other people to be distressed.
Which are the major barriers to improving quality of life that Buss discusses?
The fact that humans evolved to be competitive, entailing that there will be significant sources of conflict between humans. Significant discrepancies between contemporary and ancestral living environments and ways of life that provide contemporary humans psychological distress that our ancestors would not have experienced. The fact that many psychological mechanisms that cause distress are evolutionarily advantageous, and so ubiquitous among humans.
What does Buss suggest about improving human happiness?
That evolutionary considerations can show us effective ways of improving human happiness, like having close relationships with one’s extended family and having deep friendships.
Which of the following are somethings that Buss considers in his paper?
Evolutionary differences between men and women. The evolutionary significance of anger and jealousy. The psychological effects of the images we see in the media.
In lecture, Buss’s conclusions were called into question based on?
Research that suggests that hunter-gatherer societies are largely egalitarian, contrary to many of Buss’s claims about the significance of competition and status in early human humans.
What does Lyubomirsky suggest about happiness and social comparisons?
Happy people typically don’t compare themselves very much to other people.
Which of the following does Lyubomrisky mention in what she says about nurturing social relationships?
Hugging. Expressing admiration, appreciation, and affection. Spending quality time together.
What are the two types of coping that Lyubomirsky describes?
Problem-focused coping, which involves looking for ways to solve the problem, and emotion-focused coping, which involves developing a healthy emotional response to the problem.
What was suggested in lecture about the heritability of happiness?
Happiness may be highly heritable, but measures of heritability will vary with how much environmental variability there is for a trait, and heritability doesn’t entail unchangeability, so we shouldn’t infer too much from the heritability of happiness.
Which of the following pair of strategies does Milkman not discuss as ways of tackling obstacles to achieving change?
Using internal resources when faced with lack of material resources to achieve the change one wants, and finding meaning and motivation in works of art and literature.
What does Milkman conclude about achieving change in Chapter 8?
To achieve lasting change, one has to continuously employ strategies for achieving change; achieving transformative change is like treating a chronic illness, not a curable one.
Based on lecture, what would Milkman suggest is the best way to make changes in one’s life?
Coming up with a specific plan for how and when you’ll complete the activities you’ve committed to completing, since this is the best way to ensure you actually do what you set out to do.
Based on lecture, what would Milkman suggest is the best way to make changes in one’s life?
Coming up with a specific plan for how and when you’ll complete the activities you’ve committed to completing, since this is the best way to ensure you actually do what you set out to do.
What does Milkman discuss as ways of tackling obstacles to achieving change?
One of the most important factros for achieving change is that one lives in a society conductive to people making changes. Change becomes harder and harder as one ages, so one should try to make the changes one wants in one’s life as early as one can. Most people can make changes that transform some aspects of their lives, but few are capable of radically changing themselves as people.
