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Negativity boosts memory

FDG

pathwise dependent
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I don't know, I can't see this as applying to me. I have an awesome/photographic memory, but I think I memorize best when I'm in a neutral mood. If we're speaking about completing detail-oriented tasks, though, I can see how being sad helps. I had a depressive girlfriend once for some months, and her thinking/memory were absolutely awful, partially due to the state she was in.
 

Z Buck McFate

Pepperidge Farm remembers.
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I think it's more that skepticism is a direct result of analysis. In other words, the more one ruminates, the more one comes to negative conclusions. Whereas happiness seems to stem from a distinct lack of analysis. No one really goes, "I've thought long and hard about it and have decided I am happy." Happiness is more like a decision NOT to think about things too deeply.

I think it would be a mistake to confuse the kind of happiness being referred to here with joy; it’s more like comfort. A mind that is comfortable enough to instinctively avoid questioning things doesn’t feel much more joy than it feels sadness.

Comfort is a bitch like that. It provides enough security for people to take things for granted. But it never takes the negative end of the spectrum of emotions away without taking a proportional amount of the positive end as well.

An example that comes to mind of someone who might say, “I’ve thought long and hard about it and decided that I am happy” is the Dalai Lama. Although the itch to think long and hard in the first place is usually born from suffering; ignorance isn’t necessarily a product of happiness (or vice versa). Ignorance is however, more often than not, a product of excessive comfort (and vice versa).

It *is* possible to be deeply analytical AND happy, it just takes a lot of work (such as meditation).
 

wolfy

awsm
Joined
Jun 30, 2008
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12,251
Makes sense. There is a link between epinephrine, cortisol and memory.
 

Halla74

Artisan Conquerer
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An example that comes to mind of someone who might say, “I’ve thought long and hard about it and decided that I am happy” is the Dalai Lama. Although the itch to think long and hard in the first place is usually born from suffering; ignorance isn’t necessarily a product of happiness (or vice versa). Ignorance is however, more often than not, a product of excessive comfort (and vice versa).

It *is* possible to be deeply analytical AND happy, it just takes a lot of work (such as meditation).

Nicely put. I'm one of the happiest people I know.
I do not suffer a lack of analytical perspective.

The things in my life that compel me to be so happy do not have a negative influence on my ability to observe, hypothesize, analyze, and ultimately problem solve in real time.

I disagree that happiness is a decision to NOT think about things too deeply. It means you have thought about them, rejected some, accepted others and moved forward, ready for another round.

Being happy doesn't mean you have to be a slobbering idiot, Synarch, you grumpy curmudgeon! :harhar:
 
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