Mr. C's class has been criticized for being depressing, (nope) really depressing.
a. So how do we get happy?
b. What in the world does this have to do with IB or your education?
c. What is the relationship between quality and quantity?
a) We get happiness by surrounding ourselves with positive people places and things. Things that make us succeed in our personal goals.
ReplyDeleteb)This is one reason ToK is particularly depressing because we surround ourselves with ideas and futures that don't include success and don't support positive outlooks. On the other hand I think it can also be inspiring because we analyse these problems and discuss how to combat them for the future.
c)Usually the relationship between quality and quantity is that as you increase the quantity you have to decrease the quality. Such as with products the more you make the more efficient your process has to be to make money so either you raise the price to keep the quality or you decrease the quality to optimize efficiency. Also you could use relationships as an example the more you have the harder it is to have quality relationships them all.
1) We ignore the very realistic, prevalent problems and enjoy an ignorant, naïve live. If we choose not to hear the negative stuff then we don't need to worry about it. Obviously, this causes a plethora of other problems.
ReplyDelete2) We can choose how we want to see the world. We can know everything, which can lead to sadness and hopelessness, or we can choose to ignore the issues and focus on the positive.
3) Quality is typically preferred over quantity in regards to relationships. However, I think its important to have a variety of relationships, some strong and some not as much. Acquaintances can be just as important as best friends.
TOK is real, and with reality it will not always be happy. To be happy you focus on the things that are positive in your life. The reason TOK is called "depressing" is only because we talk about the negatives to life and those are the things that make people sad. To become happy you surround yourself in positives and accomplish things. When doing these things you will become happy. With education we are happy when we accomplish things or get good grades, but for true happiness you can’t really get that in high school. You have to take classes that you don’t like or have no interest for and that is where you find negatives. TOK is a mixture of both because yes, I love the class and going each day is great but it also talks about negatives that make people sad (such as cancer). For quality vs. quantity usually quality over powers the quantity. Once you need multiple of one thing though, quantity seems so switch into the more powerful in the relationship. They have a give and take relationship.
ReplyDelete1.We spend times thinking about and doing things that make us happy and try to avoid the depressing reality.
ReplyDelete2.IB, and more specifically TOK requires that we spend a lot of time thinking about the world. This does not contribute to our happiness because A. its hard work and B it makes us more aware of the flaws in which we live.
3.There usually is a trade off between quality and quantity. I think most people think of quality with a positive connotation and quantity with a more negative connotation. It is rare to find a scenario where these two entities coexist.
Happiness is my favorite philosophical issue to think about because logically, it's all that really matters. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's well-aware of meaninglessness of human existence on our little pebble hurtling through space, so when it comes down to the most basic ideas, happiness is really the only one that makes sense. If one is truly happy, one's life has purpose and meaning, and is fulfilling. Many people try to achieve this fulfillment through the accumulation of wealth, but I don't know that that's really the case. Rich people aren't that much happier than less-rich people, and studies show that money only makes one happy to a point. What happened to the simpler joys in life? Not to sound like an old fart, but when was the last time that you looked at a painting that you enjoyed, or opened the window on a breezy spring day to let in the fresh air? It's easy to become caught up in the conveniences of modern life and while they shouldn't be ignored, I think that we as a society should maybe focus on making ourselves happier through good, old fashioned happiness. Remember that documentary that we watched about being happy? I want to be as happy as that old man who lived in a shack on the beach. He looked like he was taking life by the neck and running with it.
ReplyDeleteHappiness is my favorite philosophical issue to think about because logically, it's all that really matters. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's well-aware of meaninglessness of human existence on our little pebble hurtling through space, so when it comes down to the most basic ideas, happiness is really the only one that makes sense. If one is truly happy, one's life has purpose and meaning, and is fulfilling. Many people try to achieve this fulfillment through the accumulation of wealth, but I don't know that that's really the case. Rich people aren't that much happier than less-rich people, and studies show that money only makes one happy to a point. What happened to the simpler joys in life? Not to sound like an old fart, but when was the last time that you looked at a painting that you enjoyed, or opened the window on a breezy spring day to let in the fresh air? It's easy to become caught up in the conveniences of modern life and while they shouldn't be ignored, I think that we as a society should maybe focus on making ourselves happier through good, old fashioned happiness. Remember that documentary that we watched about being happy? I want to be as happy as that old man who lived in a shack on the beach. He looked like he was taking life by the neck and running with it.
ReplyDeleteIn my honest opinion, I think that we get our happiness from the people we choose to surround ourselves with and the things we choose to do with our lives. By building relationships with family and friends, we are able to spend quality time with them and create positive as well as negative memories that shape our overall wellbeing. Our activities and hobbies that we choose are also a source of happiness, because it is something that we can do outside of school where the stresses of daily life do not have to play a factor and life can be simpler. I think that fellow IB Diploma students would agree when I state that a lot of times, homework comes before happiness. In IB, we strive to get everything that needs to be done done, even if the quality is poor as it was completed at one in the morning. It is a never ending cycle that I see my fellow students fall into and I think that it is exceptionally important to make sure that we take time for ourselves, even if it is just 20 minutes on social media or reading an interesting article. I think that IB students forget that it is okay to have a life and enjoy themselves for once, which is a major flaw I see in this system that is supposed to better ourselves and our intellectual wellbeing. Finally, I think that in terms of happiness, there is no perfect balance between quantity and quality, because I know personally I would choose to be happy all of the time but then I remember my happiest moments and I would never take those back. Honestly, if you think too much about happiness, it becomes less happy so in this case, I will gladly take whatever life hands me.
ReplyDeleteWe become happy by constantly adjusting ourselves. Our morals, our goals, and our voice. We change according to others, which does not necessarily make us happy, and we change for ourselves, which does. Currently I am reading the book "You are a bad ass" which talks about how this generation needs to stop doubting itself and start believing in itself. I feel that true happiness can only come from knowing yourself thoroughly and in knowing yourself, know what you want, what you need and what you are. If we know ourselves we can help others.
ReplyDeleteA) We can become happy in a multitude of ways- surrounding ourselves with awesome people, become naive, or just focus on the positive things in your life. B) We can choose how we want to see and experience the world, basically how you shape your paradigm. IB teaches us to think and shift perspectives, so why not shift your mind set to see and think about happy, positive things? C) There seems to be a give and take relationship in regards to quality and quantity. If we are talking about relationships than I would prefer to have a few, quality relationships vs. many, un-meaningful ones.
ReplyDeleteI think Peyton's somewhat depressing response to the first question is critical to consider. If ignorance is bliss, then knowing about all of the horrors of the world will have some real consequences on your mood. However worrying about every horrible thing that happens in the world (#JeSuisParis) is futile. While any one individual may be able to impact a lot of change in the world, no one can cure all of humanity's problems, and to take it upon yourself to worry about each of them will just wear you down. I think finding a balance is essential in the pursuit of happiness. Take enough time to consider the tragedies of the world to learn from them about human nature and the human experience, help those who are suffering when you can, but also remember to take time to consider your own tragedies and your own suffering. And then of course, think about the happy things in life. Create meaningful relationships, do things you are passionate about, and try your best to accept that death is inevitable. Those are some steps I can identify on the road in happiness.
ReplyDeletea) Defining the ways in which we can be happy is difficult, because it's different for every person. In general, their are things that make people happy, including spending time with family or friends, however their are also many things that make people happy, that are individual to them. For instance, reading a book might make someone happy, but to someone else, going for a hike would make them happy. It is most important for every individual to remember to do things for themselves, to make them happy.
ReplyDeleteb) Happiness has to do with every aspect of life, including our education. Most students are completely overwhelmed, and stressed. It can be difficult for students to take a step back, and breathe momentarily. We live in such a fast pace society, that we are only focusing on improving, and being more successful, rather than being content, and happy with our lives. We always want more, and we always want what we can't have.
c) Quality and quantity have a correlation with one another. The higher quantity you have, the less quality. The lower quantity, the higher the quality. You cannot have one without the other, because they go hand in hand.
I think the reason some people feel that ToK is depressing is because we talk about real life scenarios and current event a lot of the time. ToK isn’t legitimately depressing, it just is realistic, which can be depressing. In my opinion, part of happiness depends on your circumstances, but a large part of happiness depends on perspective. One can always look at a situation from a “cup half empty” perspective or a “cup half full perspective”. It’s not necessarily easy to change perspectives because sometimes things really aren’t going your way, but it could help people be a little happier.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Skyler in saying that most of the time TOK is just realistic, which can sometimes be depressign. However, I mean lumping all our life problems on us at once can be kind of unfair. I'm taking it a day at a time, and trying to avoid the problems I will face at forty is just stressful for no reason right now. I think happiness is a hard question, because it is different at every single point in your life, and can even change moment to moment. I don't want to repeat what we've said since the beginning, in that happiness is just doing what you love, but I mean, really. I can't really imagine being happy any other way. Find something you have a passion for, do it with people you like and/or love. I would say that's the key but it seems so obvious. Easy to say, harder to put into practice, I would say. I also agre with Skyler about perspective, and how important it is to happiness. Appreciating what you have, as it were. But I would say the quality of life is above the quantity, and ties into happiness, as we've discussed that Americans are no happier than say those in South Africa. For the relationship between them, I think you have to find a balance. I'm not sure how, but I think it is important.
ReplyDeletea. Happiness is a relative concept; that is, there is no set formula nor prescription for any one person to achieve. Happiness oscillates, from day to day, year to year, and throughout one's life. So, achieving happiness must be done with one's own needs first and foremost in mind. Note that this is not selfishness nor autocracy, but merely acting with total actualization.
ReplyDeleteb. It is important that, in IB and in any other educational institution or program throughout one's life, one remain happy. Studies show that it is somewhere between difficult and impossible for an otherwise healthy body and brain to react and interact without happiness.
c. The relationship between quantity and quality is, from a logical standpoint, a bell curve, with quantity on the X-axis and quality on the Y-axis. Very low quantity items, not able to be mass produced on a scale that would provide a quality relative to the quantity. In this same vein, items that are overproduced will have such a low quality that even their market saturation cannot compensate for the low quality. However, in theory there lies a vertex wherein there is a perfect balance between the quantity of the items and their quality, where an item is exactly the quality that it should be relative to its quantity.
I firmly believe that TOK, all be it occasionally depressing, is necessary. It allows us time in class to evaluate matters that we would otherwise have to evaluate alone. It provides a sense of community as you can see that a whole room of students are just as anxious and unsure about the future as you are. TOK does not always depress us, it makes us face things which we might otherwise opt to ignore in our day-to-day lives only to be smacked in the face with these very problems at a later date.
ReplyDeleteHow do we get happy? That's a really fantastic question, and I do not believe I will ever be able to cease my pursuit of attaining an answer to this question. I can't answer it in a universal matter because happiness to one is not necessarily happiness to another. It is intriguing to me that I find it more achievable to explain how we get sad. But, I do believe that happiness starts with you. "If you change your thinking, you change your actions and if you change your actions, you change your thinking." Happiness for many is so frequently an illusion. My freshman year, I was frequently presented with the question, "Why are you so happy all the time?" Well, why the hell not? As a United States middle class citizen, I have had more than my fair share of privilege in this world. But I fear that it is all to often the fault of human nature to quantify suffering into means of those who "deserve" to do so. No. Suffering is as personal as you want it to be and it does not even have to be the cause of an outside factor. If it is, perhaps it is more understandable to outsiders, but the lack of understanding of others does not remove the existence of suffering.
As rooted in biology as happiness is, I do think that it is not always the doing of your hormones. Happiness can be a decision. If you project happiness enough, it becomes you. This was myself my freshman year, I made the decision that I would enjoy my life more if others believed I was happy, so I placed so much effort in doing so that it became me. And I was happy. Happiness is so hard to define, to discern, and yet I do think that it requires a certain degree of selflessness. This isn't even necessarily selflessness in actions, but rather in thoughts. "He who is able to concentrate on that which is not himself is better able to achieve peace." You have to remove yourself sometimes. As impossible and infuriating as that is, it is absolutely necessary. We get happy by deciding to do so.
This has to do with education because frequently education is blamed for being the cause of depression. "Ignorance is bliss." Perhaps this is true, yes. But why must it be the case that you cannot be simultaneously educated and happy? Happiness is not idiocy, ignorance is. But ignorance is not always equatable with happiness either. Education and the pursuit of knowledge is sometimes an inner journey, and often that inner journey is a quest for happiness.
Mr. C's class has been criticized for being depressing, (nope) really depressing.
ReplyDeletea. So how do we get happy?
b. What in the world does this have to do with IB or your education?
c. What is the relationship between quality and quantity?
TOK presents itself as depressing because, throughout the course of the year, we students unveil certain unalienable truths and face gruesome life facts. The purpose of this class, however, is to highlight the thought patterns associated with certain phenomena and work to explore new ways of thinking and thought patterns in order to cope with such events and excel in life. We "get happy" through thinking about what can be gained in an opportunity, what we are grateful for, and finding others who share similar grief and with whom we can empathize. This parallels IB and our education by teaching us how to gain deeper understandings of what happened, what we're currently doing, and how we can work with others for greater success. The relationship between quality and quantity is one of value. There is a common saying, that which has been bothering me for quite some time, that goes "a jack of all trades, but a master of nothing." This goes to say that while a person can have a basic knowledge of many things, they are consequently not a master or expert of any particular field. Mastery of a certain subject helps people excel academically, professionally, socially, and personally throughout life. This is not to say that large quantity of knowledge is not beneficial, as knowledge is cumulative, but quality knowledge and mastery will take one farther in those fields than will a general knowledge of many things. This mastery and quality of knowledge leads to passion and pursuit, which positions people on a life path. This path, when tied back to the skills learned in TOK and with IB, is enhanced because we, as learners, have been taught to gain a deeper understanding of what we do, to be grateful for every opportunity, and to collaborate with others to further ourselves in our field.
I think the thing about happiness is that it's not necessarily conditional. Sure, having a stable job, a nice group of friends and food on the the table will contribute to a person being happy. Not having those things may make life harder, a lot harder, but when it comes down to it, I firmly believe being happy is a conscious choice. So how does someone "get happy?" They decide to be. I really do think it's that simple, and maybe I'm naive for thinking that but maybe being naive contributes to my happiness.
ReplyDeleteWhat does this have to do with the IB and TOK? I don't know. "Theory of Knowledge" yeah, the class is depressing. I am a little speck on a speck shooting through some kind of space, but I'm a happy speck. Does the IB programme foster happy kids? Maybe. Maybe we think that by taking IB classes, doing well, getting into a brand name college, "working hard," we will open up opportunities that make us happy? Who knows. In regards to quality v quantity, there is a trade off. Can someone really do 6 IB classes, and do all the work for each class with high quality? Debatable. I could be wrong, but we all have to prioritize in some way, and make sacrifices. Like the quality of the work for the quantity of classes.
A) In order to be happy, sometimes it is essential to make things seem happy and try and see all the positive things in life rather than focus on the negative ones. It is easy to see negative things in life and look at the worst in people but in order to be happy, focus on the uplifting events in life that you enjoy. Happiness is different for everyone and finding it will be different for every person, but as long as you can find it, life will be a lot better. I think it is important to surround yourself with positive people who enjoy activities you enjoy. If someone is in a group and is being negative, the entire group dynamic changes immediately, even if everyone was happy before hand. By convincing someone to be happy, an entire environment can change for the better. To address the quality vs. quantity subject, for many people quantity seems to be the thing that will make one happy. In reality though, when a person gets 10 cars and doesn't know what to do with them and can't use all of them, then it really isn't happiness anymore. At first, quantity may seem important but once you realize quantity isn't actually helpful, you begin to realize what does matter and what makes you happy which is quality.
ReplyDeleteB) I think Mr. C brings up great real life examples in class although they but be really depressing at first glance. I also think though, that sometimes these events are slightly exaggerated and can be fixed and avoided. Usually we go to the worst case scenario when talking about life events and even Mr. C said, he doesn't actually think this is going to happen and he believes we are in the greatest time of human existence. If you look at it that way and take the depressing scenarios and find ways to make them more achievable and more positive, life won't seem to be as bad as it was.
Yes in TOK we occasionally address topics that are depressing but I don’t think that is necessarily bad. Discussing these not so uplifting topics are important for us in that it is preparing us for reality. Going out into the world blindly with high expectations is a formula for disaster but in class to avoid this we try to address all the probable outcomes good and bad (mostly bad) which is necessary to prepare us. This alone can help a person become happy, feeling prepared and knowing the possibilities of what he/she might encounter makes them less vulnerable and feeling more secure which ultimately are the components (along with other components) of being happy.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to differentiate between quality and quantity. This goes with the saying “quality over quantity” which is having preference to better things, as opposed to more things. Ultimately quality becomes more beneficial to a person than quantity because then you have something of value. What is the point of having so much of something if it ultimately gives you nothing?
ReplyDeleteI've been mulling over the question about where the balance success and the strive for success lies. For example, some people don't push themselves and are resigned to accepting their realities, such as housing situation, relationship, or career status, and end up living a disgruntled life. Alternately, some people are never satisfied with what they've accomplished, and constantly strive for the next level of success, competition or recognition, and again, they end up living a disgruntled life. So, the real question is, where can we stop pursuing greater things and be content with what we've achieved?
ReplyDeletePhysical capabilities, emotional states, and societal status could serve as a barrier to certain successes, and we must take those into consideration when defining the balance between active achievement and acceptance of achievement.
I think that one shouldn't feel content unless they've achieved as much as their potential holds, but that potential relies entirely on the possible barriers to success.
The question "So how do we get happy?" to me, seems to be relative. I know you can make everything relative, but there's no simple "one answer fits all" for that question. If you look up ways to get happy on the internet it'll tell you things like "Exercise: 7 Minutes Could Be Enough" "Sleep More: You'll Be Less Sensitive to Negative Emotions" and "Spend More Time With Friends/Family: Money Can't Buy You Happiness". These are said to be "scientifically proven" and they may be the closest general answer we have, but in reality people "get happy" in so many different ways. Also maybe you hate your family, or maybe you're physically incapable of exercising, etc. If you searched that same question in another different country and culture the answers that are generated will probably be different. I think it's important to discover what makes us happy individually. If our world understands that everyone has a different form of happiness, like how maybe not everyone is happy with the idea of getting married, having kids, and living in the suburbs with a white picket fence, to name one example, then maybe positive cooperation between people could increase. This idea can be tied into our education in the sense that not everyone gains happiness with the idea of going to college and then getting a job, or taking endless notes, etc. If we understand what kind of education "gets us happy" and the system could be tailored to it then our willingness to go to a class at 6:50 in the morning might increase as well.
ReplyDeleteI really like and agree with Kenzie's comment above. Happiness isn't the same for any two people. Whatever it entails for any specific individual, happiness most often involves finding some source of meaning within the vast meaningless in which we exist, even if this source of meaning begins with an acceptance of our obsolescence. I think it's very possible to exist with TOK-esque concepts in mind, without being perpetually depressed. I know I've mentioned this in previous blog posts, but I really like the concept of existing with a sense of one's own meaninglessness. This knowledge is both freeing, and indirectly emphasizes the importance of happiness. We aren't here for very long, so why not make the most of the time we do have?
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I want to say that I enjoy having the question be merely a prompt. Frankly, I feel this is more effective than a video, as it comes more from the students than from external sources. Secondly: TOK is NOT depressing. The nature of humanity, however, is depressing at times. However, I feel that it is more depressing to know of the problems of humanity and not acknowledge them, rather than to acknowledge them and the depressing nature of them. Back to the prompt though: How does one get happy? I feel that this is a very personal question which will not be answered uniformly, as happiness is a very individualized thing. I know several people who are going to college for dance because they hate to sit still and love to move around. For me, I'm not against moving around, but my idea of a great time is sitting down with friends and video games for a period of time (at times a great period of time). It all depends on what one appreciates, and it's the same thing with genres. One might dislike pop, but that doesn't mean it is objectively bad, just that that person cannot fully appreciate it. Of course, one can lower their expectations and appreciate things more openly to become happier. What this has to do with IB and education: I think that happiness is very important to one's education. If one is unhappy, they will retain less knowledge and be less receptive to that field in the future. However, if they are happy, they will likely enjoy this to its fullest extent and will more so appreciate the subject or the field. If one is taking a class that intrinsically does not make them happy, or rather makes them quite the opposite, they should drop it. That's not to say one should give up on math because they don't like it, but rather to say that one doesn't need it to be prominent in their life if they do not appreciate it. While quality and quantity are important to happiness, it does not directly connect with what I have done in this journal so far. I believe that quality is more often more enjoyable than quantity. Of course, with money one doesn't care if they have a bunch of torn and folded dollar bills versus one pristine dollar bill. That's a whole different realm of happiness. However, as video games are something which I know well, I will give them as an example. It's fine to have a dozen, excuse my language, shitty games on steam. However, these games will likely not compare to a new big company title. Can they? Of course. But that is an anomaly, and not the point. The point is, one is happier with a quality game than a bunch of mediocre at best games.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that happiness is about appreciating or enjoying the small pleasures in life, like move night and things like that. It may sound cliche, but its helpful to zone in on one small thing that makes you happy in, to whatever extent, in complicated world we live in. I think part of it is either accepting your life or situation and being content with it, or planning to change it. It can depend on who you surround yourselves with too; people you love who reciprocate it, or people who don't. Feeling alive and full can mean happiness; doing what you love can also contribute to the feeling. Caring about loved ones' happiness and them caring about your happiness is important. Essentially, your personal outlook on the world is a big determinant of your happiness. You can't always predict or decide how your life progresses, but you can choose how you interpret its meaning, or relevance.
ReplyDeleteHappiness is extremely important to our IB experience and education. Its difficult not to get bogged down with stress and question everything we are doing. Happiness can keep us in the right mindset and on the right track, not to mention it helps our sanity. Finding ways to be happy during our education is a must. It makes me more willing to learn and participate, and influences my performance on assignments and being around people in general. We may be going to school because of the system that the government set up, but its also for us, so we can find out more about ourselves and maybe get some inkling as to what we want to contribute to the world after high school.
ReplyDeleteI do not think the Mr. C's class is depressing, I think it forces us to acknowledge things we normally shy away from. I think it is safe to say that none of us will experience a life free of difficulty, heartache and challenges, so why do we as a society act as if these things do not happen. I think that acknowledging these things is essential to finding happiness. Happiness is obviously intangible, but the pursuit of happiness, I think starts with understanding what makes you, as an individual, happy. To know what makes you happy you must also know what does the opposite. In our class we always joke that all of our discussions end with "and your kid has cancer" or "and nuclear winter", which I would argue are both horrible things. But happiness for someone could be based in family, making the risk of illness of a child necessary in order for this person to achieve happiness. A balance of risk and reward is central to happiness, making the lessons and discussions we have in TOK necessary to our ultimate happiness.
ReplyDeleteI also recently read something online that made an interesting claim very applicable to this topic. It claimed that people who shut out, or don't allow themselves to experience sadness and not fully capable of experiencing happiness either, similar to the way a drug user will eventually no longer experience the positive affects of the drug, only the "negative" affects of not using the drug. I find this very interesting, and believe it to be true. People that tend to ignore or push away their sadness may be positive on the outside, but from my experience when this happens it is a superficial happiness. This is obviously very applicable to our discussions in TOK as they generally revolve around the difficulty of life.
ReplyDeleteJonathan-
ReplyDeleteA. I think that the only way to be happy is by doing what we enjoy and love most, and that depends on each and individual person.
B. IB is all about having a balanced life and that also includes being happy as well.
C.I think that depends on the person when it comes to happiness if they want happiness in quantity rather in quality or if they want the opposite.
Happiness is a complex word. To each society it has different meanings, to each era it has different meanings, to each person it has different meanings. Happiness is not a word that should be defined lightly. It cannot be nicely placed in a box and wrapped with a bow, because happiness is not simple, happiness is complex. In class, it seems that there is a general consensus that happiness, whatever it may be, is something worth striving for. Happiness seems to be the key to life, to be happy is to be right. So the question how do we get happy is much more complicated than it at first seems. Their are certain goals which can help to reach happiness, but it is hard reach happiness if it's unclear what your reaching for. Even if someone reaches happiness what if they don't notice it? Will they continue on looking for something better? In that case if they always are searching for some goal in which the only requirement is it's better than what they have now, then it's unreachable. So the problem lies, before we can even go about saying how to get happiness, we must figure out what happiness is. Or else one risks being caught in a marathon with no end.
ReplyDeleteAnd going back, this seemingly simple first step of defining happiness is much more hard because, as I mentioned before, happiness is different for every person. So I believe that to achieve happiness, first one must truly search themselves for the answer to what happiness is for them. And only after doing that can they set the goal to reach it.
In IB we usually learn about facts and affects, but the goal of education I believe is too prepare us for life. Yes we could live life working and never worrying about happiness, but that sounds horrible. We should try to learn about how to find a balance between work/life and happiness. TOK seems to be a class that is more about life in general and seeing the connection between classes’ more than learning facts. Because happiness is an important aspect of life, it makes sense for us to learn about being happy in class.
ReplyDeleteI think that often people worry so often about being happy instead of enjoying the moment that they don’t have fun. One way that people are happy is by practicing gratitude. In class we did the five minutes of happiness, and that is one way to get happy. Optimism is a way to achieve happiness, when we look at the world in a happy way, we become happier. When happiness is achieved that way, it can last longer; the issue with happiness through material objects is that it is short lived. It can create a cycle where people try to achieve more and more objects to make them happy, and that striving can strain there happiness.
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, TOK it’s self is not a depression class, it’s just that there are certain aspects of the class that you tend to play up with these so called “games” of yours. Not all of our lives are going to consist of marriages falling apart, losing our jobs, and then have one kid get cancer while the other runs off to become a drug dealer or something like that, and on top of that we are going to be paying student loans. And I understand that these things do happen in people’s lives and the statistical average for divorce amongst people who have stressful job is but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen to us. I get that it’s best to prepare for the worst and under normal circumstances these “games” wouldn’t be so bad but most of us are in IBDP and if not that we are taking multiple IB and AP classes while applying to college and dealing with our own lives, and you always just seem to play these games at the worst possible time. TOK sometimes can just be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, but that’s all it is a straw.
ReplyDeleteSecondly there are the questions
ReplyDeleteA- I honestly don’t know how we get happy. It’s different for each person and more often than not I’m doing too much that I don’t realize if I’m happy or not. But when I am happy I’m usually interacting with people I find to be unexplainably amazing, doing things I enjoy. I also have found that kind of lowering your expectation so to speak or enjoy the little things like only having homework in ½ of your classes or that you get to go home at 7:30 instead of 9 tend to make me feel better about my life.
B- So as crazy as it may sound and I am sure all the other Diploma kids agree with me, but as frequently as we may complain and talking about IB being the literal Satan, it makes me happy. If I went back in time I will still do IBDP (hopefully better than I am now). Diploma as awful and stressful and terrible as it is, is great, the environment that it creates is something I wouldn’t trade for the world. So I suppose in that way happiness ties into IB and my education, if I wasn’t at least kind of happy I wouldn’t be doing it.
C- Quality and Quantity are the two opposing sides on the education spectrum and I guess on the bigger picture the life spectrum as well. On one hand you have quality, if you were to spend 7 years only learning about glass, you would have a much better quality education. On the other hand, you could spend 7 years learning 70 000 different things, thus having a more quantity based education. I believe that the key to a good education is having a balance of both of those things
a) Your class has been called depressing because you bring to the stage the very important yet ever overwhelming heap of impending problems. Yet something that helps me to be in the moment lately in the midst of trying to many decisions, is just doing the next best step you can: big or small, when you accomplish what you can one day at a time-- personal or global-- it builds up to success to you and others. This can help build a foundation to happiness- when you take action.
ReplyDeleteb)Welllll.... Since IB wants so much for us to be balanced, it is important to be able to handle all that you have going on while taking time for yourself. Something that I have tried to do at school or in my activities is find the small things to get excited about, appreciate, or seek out: how people or situations can be little gifts of joy amidst the chaos.
c) We live in a world of quantity over quality-- which for the most part, we have and continue to see, how this technique can so quickly lead to downfalls as it seems to mostly create a society who is trying to perfect a facade. If one works on quality= proud of hard work=self worth=appreciation of other's works too= happier.
Personally, I know that I am most depressed when I am overwhelmed with too many things to do and can't find a place to start. When this happens I get into the "comparison game" and start to become even more depressed, discontented, and really unthankful. To help myself brake out of the comparison rut, I try to slow down and think about all of the things in my life that I am thankful for, and especially how far I have come; grown as a person in general or academically. If you begin to see that you aren't actually doing as bad as your dramatic teen mind thought, your perspective on your work load ahead totally changes. Time to time it is important to give yourself the credit you have earned. Everyday it is important to think about what you are thankful for!
ReplyDeleteI think it is difficult to run a class where everyone is happy. This is because everyone's idea of happiness is achieved in different ways. I think TOK is not depressing just intimidating.
ReplyDeleteWhen people are forced to think about and discuss their future they can become intimidated and uncomfortable. This is something that we must often do in TOK. However, I think TOK prepares us for situations we may face and not all of them are going to be exciting. However, it is more realistic which makes this class unique in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteIn looking at ToK itself, I do not think that it is depressing in itself, but is rather simply acknowledging future problems that we will experience. The idea that I think many people find depressing is that we will have to face almost every single one of the problems mentioned in the class. As young adults, we want to believe that we will have a bright, vibrant future in which we will minimize the number of possible problems. When faced with the acknowledgement of these future problems, we are forced to face the harsh reality that life has many negative qualities and that in the society in which we live in today, a large part of our lives must be spent acknowledging and fixing these problems that are unavoidable. ToK is simply forcing us to acknowledge that life is not all sunshine and rainbows, and to some extent, it is scary. We don’t want to think about the idea that we will have big problems, no matter what we do. In some ways, ToK is extremely beneficial, because it acknowledges future problems (that we already know to some extent but don’t want to think about) and then subsequently calms our fears, sometimes showing that said problems are manageable and that we our strong human beings that can cope with whatever life throws at us.
ReplyDeleteIn looking at the question, ‘So how do we get happy?’, I feel like the simple answer to that is to do what you love. The difficulty lies in finding out what you truly love and enjoy doing. I feel like that is one of the many quests we are forced to go on in life, is to find what we love, and then once we have discovered those things, attempting to do those as much as possible for the rest of our lives. In regards to IB and our education, the IB program, as well as our education, is attempting to make us more well-rounded individuals. This quality, I think, opens up our possibilities in the world to discover and do what we love, maximizing our possibilities and options in our life. As far as considering quality and quantity of happiness among other things, I feel that the most fulfilling life is a balance between the two, again as an attempt to maximize your happiness in this world.
ReplyDeleteFrom personal experience (limited I know), I would have to say that the biggest factor separating a happy mentality from a sad mentality is perspective. However, tis isn't to say that shifting perspectives is easy, or that circumstance has nothing to do with happiness. There are hundreds of factors that influence one's ability to be happy. Almost fifty percent of this is decided at birth, because some people are inherently happier than others. The other fifty percent is affected by circumstance, and ability to see the "cup half empty", or the "cup half full." To get happy, people should focus on the "cup half full" side of things.
ReplyDeleteb) This relates to the IB Education because happiness is a factor in everything we do. Happiness affects both how we think and how we act. The IB Diploma wants us to "think about thinking", so to do this completely, we need to think about happiness.
c) Quality and quantity can, in a way, be seen as opposites. On with quantity and not quality may feel happy in a material, consumerist sense, while one with quality and not quantity may feel emotionally happy but might not have the same number of resources and appliances as the former.
There is no one way of getting happy. Its different person to person, and what makes you happy one day, might not on another day. Happiness is really the root of all human suffering, if you think about it. Humans are perpetually trying to reach happiness, trying to be content, and we go through hell to get there. People will work their lives away, so they can earn money to be happy. Its sort of a conundrum, and one we've created for ourselves. As far as how people are happy, that's a very complex question, which is heavily linked to neuroscience, I'm sure, but from a philosophical and psychological standpoint, there are some people who don't always want to be happy, who suffer from depression or anxiety. Its the root of everything humans want, and its also the only thing standing in the way of our achieving it.
ReplyDeleteIf you had to ask me, I would say that the best way to be happy is to fill your life with a large amount of ease, but also a good amount of challenges. Doing things that you love, working out, eating right, all of these things give your brain ways to be happy. Happiness is a makeup of multiple different factors. Balance, health, joy, challenge, and some that I'm sure I'm missing.
There's a kind of paradox to happiness, which fascinates me. Utter and complete happiness is never really fulfilled because of what happiness is. Happiness, to many, is having no stress, and not worrying about anything. But in order to ever feel happy, there must also be hope for the future. If a person is perfectly stress free and comfortable, what do they have to hope for? If you look forward to something, or wish to achieve something, there's a certain amount of effort that must go in, and if there is effort, there is also likely stress. But if happiness is avoiding stress, then we're right back where we started at having no stress. Its a conundrum, and shows how happiness is always ahead of us, always something for us to achieve, but never for us to actually reach.
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