According to Daniel Gilbert, we benefit from a naturally occurring, unconscious mental resource – the psychological immune system – that works to reduce the negative emotional effects of certain experiences. Triggered by such experiences, the psychological immune system works to make us happier – or at least less unhappy – by changing how we view or understand the triggering experience.
In “Wisdom,” Robert Thurman introduces readers to what he describes as an “artificially constructed” mental presence – the pseudo-self – that, on his analysis, we mistakenly take for who (or what) we really are. According to Thurman, the pseudo-self is a significant source of our unhappiness and thus a problem that we need to fix.
Drawing on ideas and examples from both essays, develop a response to the following question: Given what Thurman says about the pseudo-self and what Gilbert says about the psychological immune system, to what extent are we in control of our happiness?
THAT IS THE PROMPT. READ BOTH READINGS. NO INTRO PARAGRAPH OR CONCLUSION. MUST QUOTE BOTH PASSAGES ATTACHED IN EACH BODY PARAGRAPHS (3) AND DISCUSS BOTH TEXTS THOROUGHLY. NO EXTERNAL SOURCES. CAN’T USE “I, WE, OUR….ETC”.