Response to The Futile Pursuit of Happiness, by Jon...

The Futile Pursuit of Happiness by Jon Gertner was published in September of 2003. It is an essay that discusses the difference between how happy we believe we will be with a particular outcome or decision, and how happy we actually are with the outcome. The essay is based on experiments done by two professors: Daniel Gilbert and George Loewenstein. The experiments show that humans are never as happy as we think we will be with an outcome because affective forecasting and miswanting cause false excitement and disappointment in our search for true happiness. Gertner jumps right into his essay with examples. He repeatedly states that we are wrong to think that nice things will make us happy. His language starts out blunt and†¦show more content†¦Gertner claims that these mistakes in expectations can lead to making bad choices in what we think will make us happy. This is called miswanting. Gertners explanation of miswanting is filled with more examples and experiments. The experiments are credible; they are done by professors at prestigious colleges. The examples are also believable. They are very helpful because they make the reader think back to a time when they really wanted something that they couldnt have, which is what miswanting is. People think that the key to being happy is getting the future they want. Gertner says that the real problem is figuring out which of those futures is going to have the higher payoff and is really going to make us happy. But, sometimes we make alarming choices depending on what type of mental state we are in. In the next few paragraphs, Gertner discusses hot and cold states. He uses, yet again, examples and experiments to get his point across. The example he gives about Loewenstein is very effective. He also gives the reader a little comic relief with his Superfreak example. Hot and cold states can affect the way we think when making decisions. A hot state is brought about by anxiety, fear, courage, drug craving, sexual excitation, or something else which tends to make us think a little irrationally. A cold state is when we are mentally calm. The studies show that while