Kaylee Beeman

The Truth of Happiness

Humanities

Annotated Bibliography

Cite: Happy. Dir. Roko Belic. Perf. Ed Diener and Sonja Lyubomirsky. N.p., n.d.
Web.
Summary: In the movie Happy, the main argument is that when you have
connections with others, intrinsic values, and passion and flow are incorporated
into your daily life it brings more happiness and fulfillment to you and others
around. The movie shows you happy people from around the world and almost
all of them are happy for the same reasons. It also shows people and places that
dont have these three main arguments that they are a lot less happy. The movie
had people tell their inspiring stories. One girl got in a horrible accident, went
through a divorce, and it caused her to remember bad memories that she had
blocked out. Through all of this she was happier then ever because of the people
she had around her and the values and flow she had. There was also an African
Tribe shown in the movie. These people had no modern technology and they
were still happier than ever. They hung out together all the time, played games,
cared for one another and had the three main arguments included in their daily
lives.
a. Assessment:This source is a very strong source in my opinion because it really
helps you not only learn about others and why they are so happy but it also
teaches you the science behind things and share very valuable facts. I think one
purpose behind this movie is to bring happiness and knowledge at the same
time. This movie helps you see a lot of different perspectives and with some of
these people you cant help but smile. This movie has evidence about their fact
from professionals and by listening to other people's stories they give you more
evidence.
Reflection:This movie helps you answer the essential question through the facts
they talk about and the people's stories that provide evidence. Through figuring
out the three main things you need to be happy and through realizing what you
dont need to be happy.

Source 2:
Cite: Smith, Emily Esfahani. "There's More to Life Than Being Happy." N.p., n.d.
Web.
 Summary: In this article it talks about the difference between living a meaningful
life and living a happy life. They give evidence through a guy and his story. He
talks about what it was like to be a concentration camp and how his most of his
family was killed. He talked about how he talked two suicidal guys in the camps
out of killing themselves. He did it through talking about meaning. They didnt
have much to live for but it was enough and it got them through it. In this article it
talks a lot about how if you are happy then you are most likely selfish but if you
lead a meaningful life then you are more of a giving person then a taking person.
a. Assessment: Personally I do kind of agree with this article but I also really
disagree. But at the same time this good be a reliable source because unlike
Happy this source gives tells you that there is more to life than just trying to be
happy. This is a good piece to use when trying to think of the statement that
there is more to life then just being happy. But if you are just focused on
happiness then this source might not be the best.
Reflection: I think this article helps you see that there could be this different side
and that happiness and meaning are totally different. For me personally I dont
think I necessarily agree with this article. But it definitely helps questions arise.
Evidence: A. Being human always points, and is directed to something or
someone, other than oneself-- by giving himself to a cause to serve or another
person to love--the more human he is.
B. If there is meaning in life at all, Frankl Wrote, then there must be meaning
in suffering. One must have a reason to be happy.
C. But happiness can not be pursued; it must ensue.
D. It is the very pursuit of happiness, Frankl knew,that thwarts happiness.

Source 3:
Cite: Seligman, Martin. "The New Era of Positive Psychology." N.p., n.d. Web.
Summary: Most of this video talks about the three different happy lives: pleasant
life, life of engagement, meaningful life. It also talked about 11th reason to be
optimistic which is when you use technology, entertainment and design it can
increase people's happiness and if technology can increase pleasant life,
meaningful life, good life and positive emotions, what we are all doing will be
good enough or at least this is what I got out of it. It talked about psychology and
the bad things about it, the good things, and what it should be about. Good: None
of the disorders were treatable or diagnosed and now 14 are diagnosed and 2
are treatable. It also made a new science and it made it possible to figure out
new things like treatments. It can make miserable people less miserable. Bad:
Psychologists became victimologists, and forgot responsibility. Forgot about
improving normal lives. In a rush in repairing, they never made positive
 interventions, Should be: Concerned with strength and weakness, build strength,
and fulfill normal lives.
Assessment:This source kind of is a strong source but in my opinion it's kind of
hard to follow and I wouldnt recommend. Although it does give valid points and
talks about three different types of lives I dont think it has the best evidence nor
do I think it is truly helping answer the question really.
Reflection: Like I said although this source didnt help me answer the question it
might help others. A good thing about this source is it talks a lot about the three
different lives and it even kind of comes up with a formula.
Evidence: What is the state of psychology today? Not good enough.
How do extremly happy people differ from the rest? The one way in which
they differ is theyre extremely social.

Source 4: (Happiness and Psychological Well-Being: Building Human Capital to

Benefit Individuals and Society)

Cite: Burns, George. "Happiness and Psychological Well-Being: Building Human

Capital to Benefit Individuals and Society." N.p., n.d. Web.
Summary:This article was talking about what happy people are like and what
they have and what you need to have a community full of happy individuals.
Some of the things they said happy people were less likely to experience anxiety,
stress, or anger, and live longer and enjoy life. A huge part of this was talking
about what you need to create a society full of happy people. It also talked about
what the most important to have or do to live happily.
a. Assessment: I wasnt the biggest fan of this article because I felt like it not only
didnt answer the main question but I also felt like it kind of left out some things.
This article was just not very helpful because all I really got from it was the the
writer wanted to emphasize on what we need for a happy society and the
positives about living a happy life. I wouldnt really recommend.
Reflection:This article didnt help me answer the main question my source but
rather question if there is something I should be looking for rather than
happiness.
Evidence: relationships are an important, and perhaps the most important,
source of life satisfaction and emotional well-being.
Happy people contribute much to societyto both the social fabric of society
and its effective functioningand they are less of a drain on its resources.

Source 5:
 Cite: "Canada." OECD Better Life Index. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.
Summary: For this source we worked in groups and chose a country to
research. My partner, Cloe and I chose to study Canada. We found out that
Canada is a pretty happy place. They ranked 6 on the global happiness. This
website not only gives you information about every other country. This website
gave us the information we needed in order to make our poster.
a. Assessment: This website helped me kind of realise the differences in places
and their happiness. It gave a lot of evidence as well. But I didnt get a very clear
answer as to why some were more unhappy than others.
Reflection: This website did help a lot when it came to research. I would
recommend this website maybe for another project but not for this one because it
didnt really help answer the main question. In fact it talked only about
satisfaction rather than happiness.
Evidence:Canada ranks above the average in housing, subjective well-being,
personal security, health status, income and wealth, social connections,
environmental quality, jobs and earnings, education and skills, work-life balance,
and civic engagement.
When asked to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10,
Canadians gave it a 7.4 grade, higher than the OECD average of 6.5.

Source 6:
Cite: Solomon, Andrew. "How the Worst Moments in Our Lives Make Us Who
We Are." Andrew Solomon: How the Worst Moments in Our Lives Make Us Who
We Are | TED Talk | TED.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.
Summary: This video talk a lot about how if you have challenges you can still be
successful. It talked about the fact that just because someone goes through more
troubles it doesnt mean that they wont be more successful. But it didnt say
anything about how they are more happy or how their happiness is more
persistent, fact I dont even think it said the word happy. But this source did give
a lot of evidence.
a. Assessment: I wouldnt recommend this source just because it talks only about
succession. It doesnt answer the main question or my research question. For me
this caused a new question to arise, Does success lead to happiness, if not
whats more important? But it is a good source to use for trying to figure more out
about succession.
 Reflection: It doesnt answer the main question or my research question. It only
talked about success. It made me gain more questions but it did give a lot of
evidence.
Evidence: You have the mindset of I am here and I have cancer but rather I
have cancer and I am here.
Forging meaning and building identity it doesnt make what was wrong right it
only makes what was wrong precious.

Source 7:
Cite: Gilbert, Dan. "The Surprising Science of Happiness." Dan Gilbert: The
Surprising Science of Happiness | TED Talk | TED.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb.
2017.
Summary: The main thing I got out of this TED Talk to help answer my question
was that most people tend to have Impact Bias which is the tendency to
overestimate the hedonic impact of future events. This meaning that although
one person has gone through more than another their happiness is at the same
amount even though you wouldnt think it would be. Certain things that happen
impact them less then what is expected. They also talk about the secret of
happiness and 3 variables leading to it. These three variables being, accrue
wealth, power, and prestige and lose it, spend as much time in prison as
possible, and help someone else get really rich. They talk about the difference
between synthetic happiness and natural happiness. Natural happiness is what
we get when we get what we want and synthetic is what we get when we make
something out of what we dont get.
Assessment: This source gave compelling arguments, gave a lot of evidence
and really made you think.
Reflection: I thought this source was a really good source to help me answer my
main question. It gave lots of evidence and was very compelling. The three
different types of happiness they talked about helped a lot.
Evidence:I am the happiest person alive. I have that in me that I can convert
poverty to riches, adversity to prosperity and I am more invulnerable than
Achilles; fortune hath not one place hit me.
Not getting what we want can make us equally as happy as when we get what
we want.
...help them change their views of the world so that they can feel better about
the world in which they find themselves in.

Source 8:
 Cite: Griffiths, Sarah. "Experiencing Hardship Is GOOD for You: People Who
Have Pulled through Hard times Are Happier in the Long-run." Daily Mail Online.
Associated Newspapers, 09 Dec. 2013. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.
Summary: In this article it talks about a study that was done where 15,000 adults
were studied to see whether their exposure to lifes hardships affected their
ability to enjoy positive experiences. They were presented with positive scenarios
to test their reaction and they found that people who had previously dealt with
struggles and pain were more able to enjoy their time. The result was that people
who have gone through more challenges and pain were able to enjoy each of the
six positive experiences. But with testing this they found that if you're in the midst
of going through struggles then they tend to not have the tendency to savour
positive events. This source gave a lot of strong evidence and
Reflection: This source was very helpful because it gave me a strait answer to
my research question. It was a good and very compelling study.
Assessment: It gave different scenarios and they did a study to see who was
happier. Which in the end was strong evidence that helped me answer my
question.
Evidence: The researchers wrote: Individuals who had dealt with more
adversity in the past reported an elevated capacity for savouring.
The study seems to support the maxim that which does not kill us makes us
stronger and enables people who have gone through difficult circumstances to
appreciate small pleasures more easily.