I have really enjoyed reading our text book, there have been so many things that I’ve noticed in the world or have always wondered about which were covered in the text book.. Also there have been several things that I have never thought about and have shocked me, and have slightly changed my way of thinking about the world.
One of these things that once I read I couldn’t stop thinking about was in chapter 3: the self, and was the finding that depressed people don’t distort things very much at all, rather it is non depressed people who seem to distort the world. Depressed people were found to have a more accurate view of the world in many aspects such as, judging who liked them, accepting blame for the things that they had done wrong, and judging how much control they had of their lives. I found this interesting because people often seek out the truth about themselves and people around them, valuing knowledge and wisdom and usually the term ‘ignorance is bliss’ is used in a some what condescending manner to talk about people who are not as wise or smart as yourself. However it seems that humans are naturally wired to be ignorant about many aspects of themselves and the world around them. The human body constantly amazes me at how smart it is at protecting itself.
I am often accused by my family and my boyfriend of being to naïve about the world because I assume that all people are good and nice, however I am starting to think that this is not my fault and that nature intended me to have this illusion about the world so that I can be happy. If given the choice to see the world exactly how it is and be depressed or to have a slight illusion of the world but be happy, I know I would rather pick the second. But I wonder if anyone would rather see things for what they are? So please let me know your thought and feelings about this topic.
Thanks
5 comments:
I guess that this is where a balance needs to come itno play. I also try and find the good in everyone, and believe that generally the world is a good place, but i suppose on some level, particularly being an optimist, this is somewhat distorted. To me i think its all about your outlook on life, if you are depressed you are going to view things in a negative light, even if that is exaclty how the situation is, but an optimist thinks, yeah its bad now but it will get better. I think that we need to be positive to survive, otherwise the world would be a pretty bleak place. I think id like to be informed, but still ignorent.
Hi Jo, I was also very shocked when I read that section of the text book. I spoke to my family that night and took great pleasure in informing them that my "living in La La land" was actually a good thing. I would rather assume things to be happy and lovely most of the time rather than negative and sad. I think that there is one issue that should be considered however.... trust. I often assume things to be good and people to be good...but that doesn't mean I necessarily trust the situation or the person....that is I view things positively and think that’s why I am usually happy...but I don’t let my guard down....
I find I know people who are always looking to confirm the negative and I honestly think this makes them less happy. So if my view of the world is ignorant….I’ll take it!
Hi Josie,
Interesting isn't it! It seems to me that wearing rose colored glasses so to speak is a protective function, having a idealistic view of the world protects our "selves" from the possible realization that the world and things aren't so good and the depressive symptoms that come with this view.
But I agree with kelg85? that people need a balance between seeing things to positively and to negatively as both extremes can have bad outcomes. If you are to positive you may be naive and taken advantage of or be devastated if anything really bad were to happen, if you are to negative you can fall into depression...
I was also shocked to read this news. I actually dont think it was something that I wanted to learn. If people need to create a positive illusion or exageration of the world to survive best in it, what kind of world are we living in??
It also seems strange to me that the people with the most accurate view of reality, being those who are depressed, are regarded as being mentally ill. Maybe it is everyone else who is ill. We attempt to maintain happiness and health through delusions and illuded thinking.
Depressed people in that regard then seem to be ahead of the rest of us in perceiving the world as it is, they may simply have a hard time dealing with the knowledge that they have.
This all sounds very glum I know. But having said all this I would like to point out that I am all for slightly unrealistic optimism and thinking positively about the world and its people if thats the best means of maintaining happiness in life.
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