Immune to Reality

Ta'tyana Manning

Mr. Seibert

Expository Writing 101

December 2nd, 2013

The Power of the Psychological Immune System

Behavior is a result of emotion. In many cases, ones actions can be explained by the emotional state that caused them. In Nicholas Carr’s essay “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, he gives insight on how individuals have become attached to technology which is becoming detrimental to their cognitive behavior. The idea of one’s behavior being manipulated by their emotions is also addressed in Malcolm Gladwell’s essay “The Power of Context: Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime”. He further talks about Goetz’s feeling of “embitterness” due to his surroundings and events that have occurred earlier in his life, and the influence that played in him killing the three youths. Lastly, in Daniel Gilbert’s essay “Immune to Reality”, Gilbert presents the reader with an idea that individuals make up excuses for their behavior in defense to their psychological immune system. Together all three authors would agree that one’s actions are not conscious behaviors. Therefore, if the psychological immune system applied to the role of context mentioned in both Gladwell and Carr’s essay, than it would reshape how individuals approach situations, their behavior, and emotional responses.

For every action, there is a reaction. We as humans tend to make decisions based on how we feel at the moment, ignoring any possible consequences that may occur in the future. In Gilbert’s essay he mentions how our psychological immune system allows for individuals to deal with “major” problems; however, he does not suggest how to cope with minor problems. When discussing things that trigger ones psychological immune system, Gilbert states “[that] it doesn’t do this every time we feel the slightest tingle of sadness, jealousy, anger, or frustration. Failed marriages and lost jobs are the kinds of large-scale assaults on our happiness that trigger our psychological...