Bliss decreases with Understanding

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Bliss decreases with Understanding

Certain factors and things in the world begin to lose their value and appreciation as time progresses. A child perceives the world as a safe playground full of fun and new exciting adventures waiting for them to explore. When a child gets ready to explore this world, they approach it with a blissful ignorance of not knowing the reality and truth behind many things. This very world the child lives in is viewed differently by an adult. As one grows into an adult, and gains an understanding and knowledge about the world around them, it just seems a little less shiny. When we are young we are at the peak of our innocence because we have a minimal understanding and knowledge about the world and its realties. The blissful mindset a child has is caused by this lack of understanding. This mindset gradually changes with age because we gain a better understanding and knowledge of certain realties, influencing us to view the world less happily. Many people have a difficult time viewing the world as a blissful place as adults. In Martha Stout’s “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, It was Friday,” trauma victims deal with the constant dilemma of having overwhelming and unexplainable dissociations. These victims seem to portray something different from what normal people experience. Trauma causes a person to remain in the past instead of moving forward in the present and future. In Daniel Gilbert’s “Immune to Reality”, a person’s psychological mindset has the power to formulate explanations for certain circumstances, which leads to a positive outlook. The world becomes a less blissful place with age because we gain understanding and knowledge while our youthful innocence diminishes, as explanations for events b...

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...the realities and pains behind certain things. It is extremely common for adults to be able to explain most of the events they are involved with at an older age. When an adult comes across something that is unexplainable, they seem to view it with more joy. Explanations are the key to what we view as pleasure or joy in the world. When we do not have an explanation for events or surroundings, they seem to linger and stay in our mind where when we do have an explanation, we simply forget about them. Simply as Gilbert states, “Explanation rocs events of their emotional impact because it makes them seem likely and allows us to stop thinking about them” (227). We can apply this concept to solar eclipses, as it is a beautiful sight to see and cherish, yet it in unexplainable. We do not need to have explanations for things to be viewed upon as blissful.

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