Critical Thinking Assignment - Essay Example

Critical thinking Introduction The essay tends to talk of happiness, how it can be gained and retained. The philosopher tries to make the group of students understand the quest in pursuit of happiness. The speaker explores all possible avenues through which people can achieve happiness. The essay also digs deeper into possibilities of how different people have different approaches in attaining happiness. The speaker approves the kind of approach that an individual should be able to assess his/her life to point out the few things that make them happy. The discussion gets twisted when it turns out clear that some of the chosen aspects may turn out to disappoint in large proportions. An example given is that of an individual banking all hopes of happiness in their children who actually end up being rather spoilt brats. The essay is quite effective as it explores two sides of the coin when approaching a possible avenue of happiness that can be chosen by an individual. By doing this, one side is explored to show how much an avenue can bring happiness while at the same time pointing out how much that avenue can backfire. The argument brought forward talks of the possibility that an aspect of devotion is what brings the said happiness. Just look out for the devotion that guarantees happiness and not the ones that can bring you short-lived happiness. The essay talks of possible experiments carried out to quantify the discussion carried out on matters of happiness as well as how it can be achieved and retained to take as much possible time as possible. The experiments hope to assist individuals make informed guesses on where happiness lies. The premises The premise of experiment in this case has been used to convince the audience. It points out that a serious approach to the matter was pursued so as to get best results. This works wonders to convince the audience that the findings portrayed on the speech have quantified from an experimental point of view to show that the results have been tested and proved to bring about happiness or otherwise. The experiment was conducted on the reactions to unpleasant environments such as extremely cold surroundings. The reactions of the people who participated in the exercise were scrutinized. The results indicated that the things that matter most to people in terms of happiness is practically not just what is felt at the moment but also involves the recurrent patterns of these items of happiness. The premise of experimentation further got results to indicate that people prefer sad situations that take long but get less sad with time than to experience sad moments that end abruptly but leave behind a mark. The conclusion arrived at indicated that from the experiment, the happy lives are those that end well or better yet, the ones that display an upward trend. The contradicting aspects to this finding indicated that a downward trend yields unpleasant outcomes. The speaker asks the audience the kind of life they would opt to have only to end up with enormous disappointments. It is therefore advisable to seek for an upward trend in pursuit of happiness if an individual wants an easy life that is sort of stress free. One can expect the little obstacles that life throws about, since we can not expect to live each minute with a smile. The upward trend in this case is advisable, since it has long lasting results that can be seen over decades if one decides to stay happy. Another premise used in the essay is that of empirical research. Another form of survey carried out was to determine the effect that education has on happiness. The aim was to determine how it feels like when one thinks of educational achievements and if that can facilitate happiness. The survey based the findings on both the amount of time taken in education as well as the levels attained. However this empirical analysis yielded fewer instances of correlation between education and happiness. Argyle found out that even though certain levels of educational achievement made people happy, it also raised their expectations of better life with higher incomes which tends to disappoint people if things don’t work according to plan. So in the pursuit of happiness, the main point in which one can achieve it from success in education is when an individual gets a well paying job after finishing up with education. Another matter that was brought up for scrutiny of its effect on happiness is marriage. The upward trend of happiness involves marriage as the main aim of marriage is to get someone who fulfils your happiness. However most people start experiencing a downward trend when they get children. Especially if these kids become teenagers, as that is the stage in their lives when they are quite hard to deal with and that may lower the level of happiness previously witnessed. This argument downplays the fact that some people drop their comforts in marriage for the sake of picking up new hobbies in favor of their spouses. Then in such cases, they will be doing so at the expense of their own happiness. Old age is another aspect scrutinized on to determine its effect on happiness. This is mostly discussed with the thought that at old age, some sorts of illnesses tend to invade the lifestyle of those involved. Some instances of cancer, for example, come with large magnitudes of pain. These kinds of pain become uncomfortable such that the patients will go through a lot in effort to control the effects of the disease. This therefore inserts a downward trend to happiness. Senility therefore tends to have a downward projection on happiness. This is when the happiness that one can get mostly just comes from close members of the family. It reaches a point whereby some people prefer death to take them before they become completely unhappy. However we should stay positive and hope that technological advancements in the field of medicine do not make life difficult for the sick. Family members and friends should spare time to comfort the old and sickly so as to provide them with the necessary happiness to support them through tough times. Quality of argument The argument brought forward by this essay is quite relevant. It explores possibilities and the consequences of possibilities. The argument tends to provide solution to those who sought in many instances and failed. The study points out the importance of finding out what makes you happy and capitalizing on it. The argument also explores various avenues of possible facts surrounding the origin of happiness. The results indicated that the things that matter most to people in terms of happiness is practically not just what is felt at the moment but also involves the recurrent patterns of these items of happiness. The argument is of possible high quality since experimentation and empirical research methods were used to quantify findings and to boost the trust that the audience can have on the speech for its credibility. It is however worth noting that the essay only explored fewer causes of happiness. Happiness, to different people, entails different aspects. An individual may find happiness in music and can always resort to it when feeling sad. The argument does not therefore explore many other sources of happiness Conclusion In conclusion, the arguments brought forward in this essay are valid for the sake of pursuit of happiness. It tends to bring a worthy argument on what brings about happiness. The speech stherefore talks about detailed and experimented ways to facilitate happiness, though some aspects are not addressed as in the example I indicated in the quality of argument above Read More