Stumbling on Happiness (Reading)

Question 1

Why do we have trouble predicting how we’ll feel in the future?

Answer 1

We fill in missing details about the future based on our current perceptions (and don’t know we do this)

• we prioritize the present, base predictions on what we are currently feeling/experiencing, and tend to forget details (focus on why, not
  how)

Question 2

Which of the following brain structures is responsible for planning and thinking about the
future?

Answer 2

The frontal lobe allows us to process the later

Question 3

Everyone says that having children is a wonderful and joyous experience. When you measure happiness of parents, however, you see that it is not raised at all. Why do we continue to perpetuate the belief that children bring happiness?

Answer 3

The belief is a super-replicator, it needs to be sustained in order for society to thrive

Question 4

Which of the following are ways the “psychological immune system” is activated?

Answer 4

We tend to cope better with really intense events than moderately intense events

• Intensity trigger. Immune system also activated when we can’t escape a situation, and we feel more strongly about something (positive or negative) when we can’t explain it