Source: http://www.theemotionmachine.com
This website lifehacker.com is written by Thorlin Klowski, and his article is about why materialistic things make people happy. "When a product image flashes before people's eyes, an area of the brain called the nucleus accumbens lights up when a subject likes what they see. Essentially, the brain's pleasure center kicks into gear and floods the brain with dopamine at the very thought of getting something we want." In all actuality the thought about buying something is actually the same thing as buying it because dopamine is created because you are happy with the idea of the substance and not as much as the actual object. This website is reliable because it was published December 19, 2013 and they write articles where other people can comment on his writing.
This article does not just explain why desire and material items are interlinked but it also teaches the reader why they crave that feeling and actually wanting an item is the same as purchasing it. It makes complete sense actually because when you want something you have a drive to get it, but once you finally get that item it becomes less exciting for you to use or you get bored of it and find something new you want. "This seems to make sense in terms of Darwin's theory of evolution: since natural resources are limited, human beings have to compete over them, and try to claim as large a part of them as possible… We tend to equate buying things with positive emotions. Subsequently, we think that purchasing new stuff makes us happy." The bottom line is: our brains think that acquiring new stuff will make us happy, but we're not entirely sure why our brains work this way. We might not be entirely certain why we crave material things, but we do know it has to do with the thought of something we want sends out dopamine which makes us happy so the idea of something is what makes us happy.
FUTURE RESEARCH: What role does value play on happiness?
This is a great point, it seems we are to focused on new and better materialistic things but once we get used to these materialistic things they become just regular items. So, it's like a cycle, we want new, than it goes to old, and than we want new things again. But, it ultimately doesn't make us happy, and this blog post made me realize what we do, and this happens all the time everywhere.
ReplyDeleteLiv, I really liked what you wrote, very informative and well spoken. I disagree with your source being reliable because of the fact that people can comment on the blog. I think your facts are spot on for your topic and I'm glad you can connect the parts of the brain to real examples. I would love to see more on this and will probably check out the link in your blog.
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