Answer to Question #309469 in English for Kelsey Jand

Question

Instructions: Read and annotate the following excerpts from “In Pursuit of Unhappiness” by Darrin McMahon, originally published in the New York Times, December 29, 2005.

(5) That shift was monumental, and its implications far reaching. Among other things, it was behind the transformation of the holiday season from a time of pious remembrance into one of unadulterated bliss. Yet the effects were greater than that. As Carlyle complained, "Every pitifulest whipster that walks within a skin has had his head filled with the notion that he is, shall be, or by all human and divine laws ought to be, 'happy.'”

(6) Carlyle was notoriously cranky, but his central insight -- that the new doctrine of happiness tended to raise expectations that could never possibly be fulfilled -- remains as relevant today as it was in 1843. Despite enjoying far better living standards and more avenues for pleasure than before, human beings are arguably no happier now than they've ever been.

Answer 1

In the article, In Pursuit of Unhappiness, college professor Darrin M. McMahon claims that in order to pursuit your own happiness you must be able to see outside of yourself and to make an effort to make others happy as well as yourself.