Although it's difficult to narrow down all that I've learned in Psychology 1001 to one memorable topic, there is something that sticks out in my mind; the idea that we all have a baseline of happiness and that we are constantly on what Brickman and Campbell call the hedonic treadmill (which says that our moods are always adjusting and adapting to our external environments).
As humans, we all tend to overestimate the amount of time that our moods will affect us (which is the durability bias), when in reality, we are very resilient and we can bounce back rather quickly.
After reading about this in chapter eleven, I realized how true it really was; when we do poorly on an important test or experience some other sort of devastating or exhilarating event, we think these events will have major impacts on our mood and our life in general, when we really just return to "baseline" happiness within a fairly short matter of time.
This is something that I will remember because it reminds me that nothing is really as bad (or good, for that matter) as it seems. We will have highs, and we will have lows, and it can all depend on how we view our experiences. Humans are very strong beings in general, and can withstand the worst of the worst. We can adjust our moods to fit our circumstances. So, for the most part, no matter what happens, life will go on.
Amanda Blake
