TRUTH OF HAPPINESS PROJECT:
This project is my point of view of what happiness is. I really enjoyed this project because it was an opportunity for me to spend my time learning about how I can be happy. When we first started this project, I had just started at Animas, so things were a little difficult getting started, but we first started the project by reading a book called "Brave New World" and what I learned from it was that society wants everyone to be the same, but true happiness is created from within and from people you love.
Annotated Bibliography
Merrie Aragon
Class research:
#1.
Citation: Bellic, Roco, director. Happy. 2011.
Summary: The movie “Happy” was about how you can be happy. If you do things that make you happy on a daily basis, and if you surround yourself with happy people, and other beings, then it will send dopamine, the chemical in your brain that makes you happy, to your brain, and it will create neurological pathways and you will learn how to accept the troubled moments in your life. The movie explains how society tells you that if you have beauty, money, and a good social status, then you will be happy, but in reality, there are people who have none of that, and they are just as happy, or even happier because they have interenzic goals.
Assessment: I think this is a reliable source because the actors are people who have gone through tragic events, or have had nothing besides their loved ones and still experience happiness. The other actors are psychologists who have spent years learning about what happiness is and how one can feel happy.
Reflection: This source helps me answer the essential question because it provided me with lots of information about what happiness is and how even the people who don’t have anything, find the greatest happiness and meaning in their lives
Evidence:
“Nature is a good medicine” -Roy Blanchard from the movie “Happy”
“Try to work so you’ll be able to live in your own tranquillity”
#2.
Citation:
Smith, Emily Esfahani. “There's More to Life Than Being Happy.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 9 Jan. 2013,
Summary: The article “There’s More to Life Than Being Happy” is about a Jewish psychiatrist and neurologist named Viktor Frankl, who was arrested and transported to a concentration camp with his wife and parents in September 1942. While he was in the camp, he wrote his best selling book called, “Man’s search for meaning.” Frankl believed that there truly was more to life than happiness, such as being a giving person and that some people find meaning in their life through giving.
Assessment:
I think this source is reliable because the information had come from someone who had studied the human brain, so he was a professional, and he also had been through such a low point in life, that he understands the pain that people can go through, and exactly what it is like to be treated so poorly.
Reflection:
This source will help me with the essential question, because it provides me with a different perspective that people can find meaning in their life through giving and being a helpful person.
Evidence:
"Life is nothing more than a combustion process, a process of oxidation." Frankl jumped out of his chair and responded, "Sir, if this is so, then what can be the meaning of life?"
“Leading a happy life, the psychologists found, is associated with being a "taker" while leading a meaningful life corresponds with being a "giver."
#3.
Citation:
The New Era of Positive Psychology
Summary:
The TED Talk “The New Era of Positive Psychology is about how psychology used to only be for people who were depressed and needed mental help, but no one ever really thought about how happy people were to keep going, and for someone to always still support them and keep them on track on being happy and to help them understand what it making them happy.
Assessment:
This source is reliable because the information came from a man who was the President of the American Psychology Association and has studied the human brain for many years, and knows what makes a person feel depressed, and what can make someone feel happy.
Reflection:
I think that this source will help me with the essential question because it teaches people the reason why they are happy, so they can continue to do good for themselves and others around them so they are happy.
Evidence:
“They were saying psychology is about finding what's wrong with you.“
“The conclusion of that is, psychology and psychiatry of the last 60 years can actually claim that we can make miserable people less miserable.”
#4.
Citation:
Becker, Joshua. “10 Positive Psychology Studies to Change Your View of Happiness.”Becoming Minimalist , Joshua Becker, 2017, www.becomingminimalist.com/happier/.
Summary:
The article, “10 Positive Psychology Studies to Change Your Point of View of Happiness” is about how positive psychology is described as “making a normal life more fulfilling” and 10 different ways that positive psychology can change your point of view on happiness.
Assessment:
I think this is a reliable source because the information is from Dr. William Compton who had written a book, called, “Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Flourishing.” that was released on February 22, 2012.
Reflection:
I think this will help me with the essential question because the information gives you 10 different points of views of what happiness is.
Evidence:
“ Dr. William Compton describes positive psychology as seeking “to make normal life more fulfilling.” ‘
“These pursuits are available to us regardless of our heritage, background, or socioeconomic standing. They are freely available to anyone who chooses to dedicate their lives to them.”
Research Question- How does a person learn how to change their mindset?
Individual Research:
#1.
Citation:
7 Mindsets, director. Chattahoochee Elementary: Trailer Film.
https://7mindsets.com/chattahoochee/
Summary:
The film “Chattahoochee Elementary: Trailer Film” is about how teaching at school needs to not just learn academics, but also to teach elementary, middle, and high school kids social and emotional learning and to really make them understand the work that they are doing to they can take the information out into the world and learn how to be lifelong learners. And the relationship based teaches so the students can build close relationships with their teachers and almost being like “family”
Assessment:
I think this source is reliable because it is by a program that goes to different schools and trains teachers to teach kids social and emotional learning that they can carry with them all through their school careers and throughout their lives.
Reflection:
I think this source is going to help me with my research question “How does a person change their mindset” because the program goes to many different schools succeeding to have relationship based teaching and social and emotional learning.
Evidence:
“This year, 7 Mindsets explores seven amazing schools from across the United States.
“The first is Chattahoochee Elementary in Cumming, GA: a rural school with a unique recipe for cultural transformation.”
#2.
Citation:
Jeffery , Scott. “Change Your Fixed Mindset to Access Your Hidden Potential.”ScottJeffrey.com, 3 Feb. 2018, scottjeffrey.com/change-your-fixed-mindset/.
Summary:
The website is a guide that thoroughly explains the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset, and gives information of how you can change your mind to a growth mindset.
Assessment:
This source is reliable because the author of the website also writes guides thats include topics such as psychology, brain health, productivity, mind training, self-mastery, and entrepreneurship for people's’ success. The website says that over 80,000 people each month read the guides.
Reflection:
This will help with my research question because this source is all about how someone can change their mindset so they can live a more positive and stable life.
Evidence:
“Dweck has found that just learning about the growth mindset can cause major shifts in how people view themselves and their lives.”
“This occurs with all forms of learning whether athletic, artistic, musical, mathematical, and so on. It’s simply how the brain learns. And this process doesn’t just happen in childre
#3.
Citation:
TEDxTalks. “The Power of Belief -- Mindset and Success | Eduardo Briceno | TEDxManhattanBeach.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Nov. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=112&v=pN34FNbOKXc.
Summary:
This video was a Ted Talk about how there are 2 different mindsets, a fixed mindset and a growth mindset and explains how people with fixed mindsets have a lack of motivation and they are afraid of being judged, and don’t try their hardest, whereas people with a growth mindset, try their hardest and they realize that life has set backs, and they learn how to work around it.
Assessment:
I think this is a reliable source because the man, Eduardo Briceno, who is speaking in the Ted Talk, has done lots of research with schools, jobs, psychiatrists, and scientists and people in the past who have had a growth mindset and how it is developed, or how to change it from being a fixed mindset.
Reflection:
I think this will help me with my research question because the video explains how to change your mindset, and how important it is.
Evidence:
“He realized that he had learned how to grow and succeed and he could apply that understanding to other domains”
“The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability, we will brittle in the face of adversity.”
-Josh Waitzkin
Merrie Aragon
Class research:
#1.
Citation: Bellic, Roco, director. Happy. 2011.
Summary: The movie “Happy” was about how you can be happy. If you do things that make you happy on a daily basis, and if you surround yourself with happy people, and other beings, then it will send dopamine, the chemical in your brain that makes you happy, to your brain, and it will create neurological pathways and you will learn how to accept the troubled moments in your life. The movie explains how society tells you that if you have beauty, money, and a good social status, then you will be happy, but in reality, there are people who have none of that, and they are just as happy, or even happier because they have interenzic goals.
Assessment: I think this is a reliable source because the actors are people who have gone through tragic events, or have had nothing besides their loved ones and still experience happiness. The other actors are psychologists who have spent years learning about what happiness is and how one can feel happy.
Reflection: This source helps me answer the essential question because it provided me with lots of information about what happiness is and how even the people who don’t have anything, find the greatest happiness and meaning in their lives
Evidence:
“Nature is a good medicine” -Roy Blanchard from the movie “Happy”
“Try to work so you’ll be able to live in your own tranquillity”
#2.
Citation:
Smith, Emily Esfahani. “There's More to Life Than Being Happy.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 9 Jan. 2013,
Summary: The article “There’s More to Life Than Being Happy” is about a Jewish psychiatrist and neurologist named Viktor Frankl, who was arrested and transported to a concentration camp with his wife and parents in September 1942. While he was in the camp, he wrote his best selling book called, “Man’s search for meaning.” Frankl believed that there truly was more to life than happiness, such as being a giving person and that some people find meaning in their life through giving.
Assessment:
I think this source is reliable because the information had come from someone who had studied the human brain, so he was a professional, and he also had been through such a low point in life, that he understands the pain that people can go through, and exactly what it is like to be treated so poorly.
Reflection:
This source will help me with the essential question, because it provides me with a different perspective that people can find meaning in their life through giving and being a helpful person.
Evidence:
"Life is nothing more than a combustion process, a process of oxidation." Frankl jumped out of his chair and responded, "Sir, if this is so, then what can be the meaning of life?"
“Leading a happy life, the psychologists found, is associated with being a "taker" while leading a meaningful life corresponds with being a "giver."
#3.
Citation:
The New Era of Positive Psychology
Summary:
The TED Talk “The New Era of Positive Psychology is about how psychology used to only be for people who were depressed and needed mental help, but no one ever really thought about how happy people were to keep going, and for someone to always still support them and keep them on track on being happy and to help them understand what it making them happy.
Assessment:
This source is reliable because the information came from a man who was the President of the American Psychology Association and has studied the human brain for many years, and knows what makes a person feel depressed, and what can make someone feel happy.
Reflection:
I think that this source will help me with the essential question because it teaches people the reason why they are happy, so they can continue to do good for themselves and others around them so they are happy.
Evidence:
“They were saying psychology is about finding what's wrong with you.“
“The conclusion of that is, psychology and psychiatry of the last 60 years can actually claim that we can make miserable people less miserable.”
#4.
Citation:
Becker, Joshua. “10 Positive Psychology Studies to Change Your View of Happiness.”Becoming Minimalist , Joshua Becker, 2017, www.becomingminimalist.com/happier/.
Summary:
The article, “10 Positive Psychology Studies to Change Your Point of View of Happiness” is about how positive psychology is described as “making a normal life more fulfilling” and 10 different ways that positive psychology can change your point of view on happiness.
Assessment:
I think this is a reliable source because the information is from Dr. William Compton who had written a book, called, “Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Flourishing.” that was released on February 22, 2012.
Reflection:
I think this will help me with the essential question because the information gives you 10 different points of views of what happiness is.
Evidence:
“ Dr. William Compton describes positive psychology as seeking “to make normal life more fulfilling.” ‘
“These pursuits are available to us regardless of our heritage, background, or socioeconomic standing. They are freely available to anyone who chooses to dedicate their lives to them.”
Research Question- How does a person learn how to change their mindset?
Individual Research:
#1.
Citation:
7 Mindsets, director. Chattahoochee Elementary: Trailer Film.
https://7mindsets.com/chattahoochee/
Summary:
The film “Chattahoochee Elementary: Trailer Film” is about how teaching at school needs to not just learn academics, but also to teach elementary, middle, and high school kids social and emotional learning and to really make them understand the work that they are doing to they can take the information out into the world and learn how to be lifelong learners. And the relationship based teaches so the students can build close relationships with their teachers and almost being like “family”
Assessment:
I think this source is reliable because it is by a program that goes to different schools and trains teachers to teach kids social and emotional learning that they can carry with them all through their school careers and throughout their lives.
Reflection:
I think this source is going to help me with my research question “How does a person change their mindset” because the program goes to many different schools succeeding to have relationship based teaching and social and emotional learning.
Evidence:
“This year, 7 Mindsets explores seven amazing schools from across the United States.
“The first is Chattahoochee Elementary in Cumming, GA: a rural school with a unique recipe for cultural transformation.”
#2.
Citation:
Jeffery , Scott. “Change Your Fixed Mindset to Access Your Hidden Potential.”ScottJeffrey.com, 3 Feb. 2018, scottjeffrey.com/change-your-fixed-mindset/.
Summary:
The website is a guide that thoroughly explains the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset, and gives information of how you can change your mind to a growth mindset.
Assessment:
This source is reliable because the author of the website also writes guides thats include topics such as psychology, brain health, productivity, mind training, self-mastery, and entrepreneurship for people's’ success. The website says that over 80,000 people each month read the guides.
Reflection:
This will help with my research question because this source is all about how someone can change their mindset so they can live a more positive and stable life.
Evidence:
“Dweck has found that just learning about the growth mindset can cause major shifts in how people view themselves and their lives.”
“This occurs with all forms of learning whether athletic, artistic, musical, mathematical, and so on. It’s simply how the brain learns. And this process doesn’t just happen in childre
#3.
Citation:
TEDxTalks. “The Power of Belief -- Mindset and Success | Eduardo Briceno | TEDxManhattanBeach.” YouTube, YouTube, 18 Nov. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=112&v=pN34FNbOKXc.
Summary:
This video was a Ted Talk about how there are 2 different mindsets, a fixed mindset and a growth mindset and explains how people with fixed mindsets have a lack of motivation and they are afraid of being judged, and don’t try their hardest, whereas people with a growth mindset, try their hardest and they realize that life has set backs, and they learn how to work around it.
Assessment:
I think this is a reliable source because the man, Eduardo Briceno, who is speaking in the Ted Talk, has done lots of research with schools, jobs, psychiatrists, and scientists and people in the past who have had a growth mindset and how it is developed, or how to change it from being a fixed mindset.
Reflection:
I think this will help me with my research question because the video explains how to change your mindset, and how important it is.
Evidence:
“He realized that he had learned how to grow and succeed and he could apply that understanding to other domains”
“The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability, we will brittle in the face of adversity.”
-Josh Waitzkin