The Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi Positive Psychology - Essay Example

The Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi Positive Psychology A significant point in life that Csikszentmihalyi and Seligman explained is that good personal behaviors and well performing institutions are necessary in improving the quality of life for an individual. These go a long way to prevent many diseases that are caused by distress and loss of hope, mainly when life appears meaningless to such an individual. The article explains that attributes such as wisdom, hope, courage, a positive mind about one’s future, spirituality and the spirit of perseverance are in most cases ignored, but have a significant effect towards the happiness of individuals; they increase hope and optimism, two critical factors necessary for physical and mental wellness. The article supports the activities of the Happy Planet Index (HPI) initiative, used to determine the level in which countries deliver better and happy lives to its citizens, to improve life expectancy in such countries. Based on a scale of 0 to 100, HPI aims at identifying countries that have put in place measures to improve public wellness. This is achieved by ensuring citizens in such countries have high future expectations, have courage and perseverance to face the future with certainty and have improved perception about one’s wellness in a country. Developed countries that have addressed poverty, crime rates, with improved healthcare facilities among others are rated high in the HPI; they guarantee the public the critical elements of positive psychology, leading to high life expectancy. Affluenz. Dir. John de Graaf, 1997. IMDB. Documentry. Web. 26th Sept. 2013. Affluenza and What do I have to offer have some common themes, one of the themes is that people have realized they need one another away from life extravagance, to give communal life a new meaning where people care for the welfare of one another. For instance, in Affluenza, many people have left the consumer chase and have embraced more volunteering spirit. These people have discovered a new life away from the shopping sprees and lifestyles and have to spend more time with families, friends and in undertaking communal projects for the good of all. Likewise, in What do I have to offer, Kaufman makes it clear that he has to spend his life differently by ensuring he is more helpful. Kaufman explains a wound that is common to everyone; it is specific and common to everyone, this is characteristic of the extravagance portrayed in Affluenza, where people are more interested in material things and not in humanity. In addition, both the films portray how people have come to the realization that the current entertainment content that pertinent in the American society alters the perception and brains of people involved. To reduce these effects in both the films, the actors have decided to put social life an humanity first in being helpful to one another, away from the pop of today’s life. Article: “Narcissism Epidemic” and The Innovation of Loneliness. What sort of a picture does each of these offer for an individual identity? What are the authors telling us…what is the main theme in each and how are these pieces related? In Innovation of loneliness, the film portrays individuals’ as egoistic beings with self-seeking and self-assuring needs that extend beyond their actual identities. The social networks as the film illustrates has offered individuals a platform to create their intended and not their actual identities, making them live a falsified life. The theme is that if social networks become the hubs for promoting the self, and other egoistic purposes, it becomes a hub of loneliness where those with low self-esteem will try to carve a virtual image of themselves away from their real identities. Similarly, in Narcissism Epidemic, individuals are portrayed as egoistic in nature and will use the social media not to contribute to knowledge or build a network of relationships, but to feed their personal egos. In such social media, most retrains that control individuals’ behaviors varnish, leaving the individual at liberty to carve out their desired personality to amplify their ego. The theme is that as people turn to the internet to accomplish their daily tasks, there is a tendency of being more narcissistic, as people are swept by virtual internet mobs. The two articles convey similar messages regarding the way social networks have helped in feeding individual’s egoistic tendencies. World Military Spending. Comment intelligently. What does this mean for the future of our planet and the conditions under which we all live? Be specific. The article on military spending means that into the future, having a highly sophisticated military will be the precedence in many countries, which implies continued conflicts and wars in boosting such military prowess. For instance, the U.S spends 39% of the total global expenditure on military funding. This is due to increased foreign interests and conflicts such as in Afghanistan and in Iraq. China and Russia are other big military spenders, though not anywhere close to U.S. These figures imply that into the future, these countries will be spending heavily in innovating sophisticated military warfare techniques and equipment, which will make the world a buzz with dangerous warfare equipment that may endanger the entire planet. Though nuclear heads are today regarded as the most dangerous weaponry, countries will continue to fund military research heavily to control military operations both in terms of size and sophistication of weaponry, which is a dangerous trend. Russia and China hold relatively different ideologies from the US, mainly considering the most recent case differences on Syria. If the US in the future is involved in such a dilemma and insists on progressing with a planned assault, there would be a possibility that the Russians might use such a chance to surprise the U.S on their military might, which may lead to unimaginable destruction. Therefore, such high military spending in some of the largest global economies is a great threat to global order. How does my article “A New Systems Approach to Sustainability…” connect to the rest of the articles and videos? There are no “right answers” to this one; make some intelligent comments based on your understanding of the article and what we have studied in class. The issue of sustainability in the economic, social and technological fields is a pertinent problem that has to be addressed. However, as the four articles indicate, sustainability is becoming a problem today. For instance, in military spending, abnormal budgets are spent on militarization and warfare, compared to the budgets used on poverty eradication, or in innovating new sustainable technologies. Use of such military equipment is a threat to sustainability as they have disastrous effects to life and the environment, making sustainability impossible. On the other hand, social networks have affected social sustainability in altering human interaction with the natural world and with the populations that occupy the planet. On the same note, in What do I have to offer and Afflueza, there is serious lack of sustainability as people are extravagant and wasteful in their ways of life. However, there is a breadth of relief where some have realized the importance of shelving such extravagance towards communal activities and integrating more with humanity, which promotes the spirit of sustainability. With improved sustainability in technology, social and economic fronts, it is possible to improve quality of life, which as Csikszentmihalyi and Seligman explain, is the key towards increased life expectancy and a higher happy index. This article is therefore comprehensive as it encompasses all the issues discussed in the other articles. Work Cited Affluenz. Dir. John de Graaf, 1997. IMDB. Documentry. Web. 26th Sept. 2013. Davidow, Bill. The Internet 'Narcissism Epidemic.' The Atlantic. March 26, 2013. Web. 26th Sept. 2013. Pappas, Eric. “A New Systems Approach to Sustainability: University Responsibility in Teaching Sustainability in Contexts.” Journal of Sustainability Education, 3(2012). Seligman, Martin. E., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. “Positive psychology: An introduction. American psychologist.” 55(1) (2000), 5-14. Shah, Anup. World Military Spending. Global Issues. June 30, 2013. Web. 26th Sept. 2013. Read More