Immune to Reality
Kristyn Reynolds
Professor Tiernan
Response to Immune To Reality
9/07/12
Response to Immune To Reality “Upon my back, to defend my belly; upon my wit, to defend my wiles; upon my secrecy, to defend mine honesty; my mask, to defend my beauty.” (William Shakespeare Troilus and Cressida) (Gilbert 133)This quote pertains to the mind protecting and or lying to you to not be harmed, which has been proved in test today. Immune To Reality written by Daniel Gilbert is a piece about how the mind can play tricks on us by covering up the truth with a believable lie, how we “cook facts” (134), and how our mind’s choices can affect our feelings. Throughout this essay I will be discussing a real life situation of my own, and the studies and the outcomes and whether they make sense or not. They say the mind protects us from ourselves, but we also “cook facts” (134) which happen to go hand in hand. Cooking facts are “…deliberate attempts to generate positive views…” (134) a few examples are failing miserably on the test but tell yourself there is always next time and you’ll study harder for the next one and example from the book being is that your fiancé left you at the altar but saying “She was never really right for me…”(134). The mind tries to protect us from remembering bad things or bad experiences. I’ve seen some of my friends try and deny the fact that his father had died of cancer, he just didn’t believe it until the day of his funeral. But in the end they made it in their mind that he was in a better place and no longer suffering. In my own case, my family and I were coming back from a trip to Florida on a coach bus which ended up being hit by another car and flipped on its side on a four lane highway which ended up being hit by two more cars. I am thankful to say that I was buckled so I only came out of the crash with a concussion, but it still affects me every day. My vision has never been the same, yeah sure I can read really fast when I’m reading to myself
Professor Tiernan
Response to Immune To Reality
9/07/12
Response to Immune To Reality “Upon my back, to defend my belly; upon my wit, to defend my wiles; upon my secrecy, to defend mine honesty; my mask, to defend my beauty.” (William Shakespeare Troilus and Cressida) (Gilbert 133)This quote pertains to the mind protecting and or lying to you to not be harmed, which has been proved in test today. Immune To Reality written by Daniel Gilbert is a piece about how the mind can play tricks on us by covering up the truth with a believable lie, how we “cook facts” (134), and how our mind’s choices can affect our feelings. Throughout this essay I will be discussing a real life situation of my own, and the studies and the outcomes and whether they make sense or not. They say the mind protects us from ourselves, but we also “cook facts” (134) which happen to go hand in hand. Cooking facts are “…deliberate attempts to generate positive views…” (134) a few examples are failing miserably on the test but tell yourself there is always next time and you’ll study harder for the next one and example from the book being is that your fiancé left you at the altar but saying “She was never really right for me…”(134). The mind tries to protect us from remembering bad things or bad experiences. I’ve seen some of my friends try and deny the fact that his father had died of cancer, he just didn’t believe it until the day of his funeral. But in the end they made it in their mind that he was in a better place and no longer suffering. In my own case, my family and I were coming back from a trip to Florida on a coach bus which ended up being hit by another car and flipped on its side on a four lane highway which ended up being hit by two more cars. I am thankful to say that I was buckled so I only came out of the crash with a concussion, but it still affects me every day. My vision has never been the same, yeah sure I can read really fast when I’m reading to myself
References: * Gilbert, Daniel. "Immune to Reality." The New Humanities Reader. By Richard E. Miller and Kurt Spellmeyer. 4th ed. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, n.d. 133-50. Print.