Daniel Gilbert Immune To Reality Analysis
Regret – Dealing With It
Regret is a powerful emotion. By definition, “regret” means to mourn for the loss of someone or something meaningful, or to miss someone or something greatly. It can also mean to wish something never happened. One would want to reach back in time and change their part in the resulting outcome. Regret causes people to experience unpleasant emotions that can be resisted subconsciously. Rebecca Solnit’s essay, “The Solitary Stroller and the City”, and Daniel Gilbert’s chapter, “Immune to Reality”, from his book, Stumbling on Happiness, which discuss strolling through different cities and how the psychological immune system functions, respectively, both reflect on how regret influences a person’s life in different …show more content…
One might symbolize a walk through the city as a walk through life. The ability to protect oneself from the psychological elements of grief and negativity comes from the psychological immune system that Gilbert refers to in his essay. The psychological immune system can actually help someone on their walk through life, by simply making life a little easier to handle. Not everyone’s stroll is dark and gloomy, and not everyone’s stroll is bright and exciting. As one strolls through the city of life, one finds new goals along their path. The physical body’s immune system grows stronger every time a person gets sick. On a person’s journeys through life, their psychological immune system grows stronger with every conflict that person faces. Everyone’s stroll in their city has led them somewhere in their life, and their psychological immune system helped them get there in one way or another. No matter how old a person is – ten, twenty, fifty, or one hundred years old – their stroll is what they make of it. The immune system can help immensely in making the journey positive, or it can hinder it by making false senses of relief that lead to deeper sorrow when one comes to terms with reality again. Ultimately, the psychological immune system is the brain's way of protecting one from the past so that one is not afraid to face their city strolls in the
Regret is a powerful emotion. By definition, “regret” means to mourn for the loss of someone or something meaningful, or to miss someone or something greatly. It can also mean to wish something never happened. One would want to reach back in time and change their part in the resulting outcome. Regret causes people to experience unpleasant emotions that can be resisted subconsciously. Rebecca Solnit’s essay, “The Solitary Stroller and the City”, and Daniel Gilbert’s chapter, “Immune to Reality”, from his book, Stumbling on Happiness, which discuss strolling through different cities and how the psychological immune system functions, respectively, both reflect on how regret influences a person’s life in different …show more content…
One might symbolize a walk through the city as a walk through life. The ability to protect oneself from the psychological elements of grief and negativity comes from the psychological immune system that Gilbert refers to in his essay. The psychological immune system can actually help someone on their walk through life, by simply making life a little easier to handle. Not everyone’s stroll is dark and gloomy, and not everyone’s stroll is bright and exciting. As one strolls through the city of life, one finds new goals along their path. The physical body’s immune system grows stronger every time a person gets sick. On a person’s journeys through life, their psychological immune system grows stronger with every conflict that person faces. Everyone’s stroll in their city has led them somewhere in their life, and their psychological immune system helped them get there in one way or another. No matter how old a person is – ten, twenty, fifty, or one hundred years old – their stroll is what they make of it. The immune system can help immensely in making the journey positive, or it can hinder it by making false senses of relief that lead to deeper sorrow when one comes to terms with reality again. Ultimately, the psychological immune system is the brain's way of protecting one from the past so that one is not afraid to face their city strolls in the