Synthesizing Happiness

This blog post is a reflection on a TED talk called "The Surprising Science of Happiness" that I watched for my Personality Theories class, and my professor later recommended that I turn it into a blog post. Like my previous post, this is a slightly modified version of the original assignment.Hope you enjoy! The reference section has a link to the video discussed here. I highly recommend watching it! 

As soon as I opened this video, I realized I had seen it before. I do not remember when, in which class, or if I saw it on my own time, but this video is extremely familiar. It is discussing happiness. Dan Gilbert opens with a discussion of how our brain structures, such as the prefrontal cortex, allow us to figure out how things might work out in the future. He uses an example of knowing that liver and onions ice cream would be gross before trying it. I was reminded of what happens when I start picking classes for the next semester. I read the course description for a class I am considering, and that allows me to think about how I might perform in that kind of class. When I read about Personality Theories, for example, my first thought was that I could see myself being fascinated by the subject. However, when I had to choose a science course, I could skip over the section on chemistry courses because I could envision how unwise of a decision that would be without having to register for the class and attempt the coursework.  Next, Gilbert began to discuss how happy people are with their circumstances. As it turns out, people who win the lottery, and people who become paraplegic have the same level of happiness a year afterwards. The reason he brought this up was to discuss the hedonic bias, or the idea that people tend to think a positive experience will make them happier than it really will. I was always jealous of my friends who had iPhones in high school because my parents would not let me have one. I was sure I was missing out on something amazing, but when I got one this year, I realized that I do not love it as much as I thought I would. I would have been perfectly happy with a less expensive phone.

Next, Gilbert makes the claim that we can “synthesize happiness.” In other words, we can make ourselves happy, even though we assume that we have to find happiness. Synthetic happiness is what we create when things do not go our way. He discussed examples such as Pete Best, the drummer who was replaced by Ringo Starr before The Beatles got famous. People are always surprised when I tell them how blessed I am and how much I genuinely love my life. They assume that because my life is oftendifficult, it automatically is unpleasant. This is not the case. I have learned to find joy in my family, my faith, my friends, my school, and my interests even when my health is not as good as it could be. I have made it through seven major surgeries, four of which were brain surgeries, three pressure sores that rendered me unable to walk for several weeks at a time, chronic pain, anxiety, depression, and bullying, and I made it through with hope for a better future, a positive attitude (except when I was depressed, of course), and my faith in God largely intact. My ability to do this is probably related to my  ability to synthesize happiness, and find joy wherever I can. Another example of synthesizing happiness was shown in a series of experiments. Interestingly, after performing experiments on amnesiac and non-amnesiac patients where they had to rank certain paintings, and then were given a print of their third choice, both groups later ranked this third choice higher than they had before. His next point is directly related to the example I gave related to my disability. He points out that people synthesize happiness best when they are in a situation they cannot get out of. When I was very little, my physical therapist would tell me that by high school, I would be walking unassisted. In first grade, I could stumble slowly down a hallway without assistance and I loved it. Unfortunately, a couple years later, I had a growth spurt and lost the ability to walk without crutches. I struggled for years to get the ability back, but to no avail. When I finally realized that it was not going to happen and decided to focus on what I can do, I was much happier and more at peace with my disability. Similarly, I used to hate the idea of using a wheelchair instead of crutches, but when I realized it would be the only way I could go to the mall, go to Disney World, go to high school on rainy days, and eventually, go to Spring Hill, suddenly being in a wheelchair did not seem so terrible. I find that I am much less tired and achy at the end of the day. I can get around faster. I can dance...well, sorta...I don't like to dance on my own, but I like dancing with a partner and occasionally in groups.I can play wheelchair basketball, and I can even go to ice-skating rinks! We rationalize our circumstances and see them positively. 

His last point illustrated that indecisiveness, whether it is indecisiveness when choosing a picture to keep after completing a photography course, indecisiveness over choosing a college, etc., are not worth worrying about because we will find a way to be happy with whatever decision we make (TED2004, 2004). I've been in many situations where I drove myself nuts after a difficult decisions, worrying that I did the wrong thing. Now, I try to impose limits on myself, such as, "You can ask x amount of people for advice and then you have to make a decision and stick to it" or "you need to make a decision by such and such time and then you need to stop thinking about it," and that has helped quite a bit. I still worry, because that's just part of my personality, but I'm getting better about it. I got tired of driving myself nuts over decisions, and I'm choosing to be at peace with my decisions. Time I spend worrying is time I could be spending on useful pursuits, like academic work, reading, drawing, or blogging about social justice issues. 

Findings discussed in my Personality Theories textbook corroborate what Gilbert is saying. In the text, happy people are described as self-reporting positive emotions, and being perceived by family and friends as being particularly happy as well. Happy people also tend to focus more on the positive aspects of their life, rather than the negative, much like Pete Best who was kicked out of the Beatles before they got famous but still managed to make a happy, satisfying life for himself. Another finding suggests that some people are going to be happier than others despite having more difficult circumstances or despite differences in age, health, gender, etc. Also, wealth does not make people happier once it hits a certain level of wealth (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2002) Once people have enough money to live comfortably, adding on extra wealth does not change their level of happiness (Larsen & Buss, 2014.) Readers, my challenge to you is twofold: for the sake of your health and happiness,"Worry less. Smile more Accept criticism. Take responsibility. Listen & Love. Don't hate. Embrace change..." and spread that joy to others! God bless. :) (www.idlehearts.com/worry-less-smile-more/1277)

References

TED2004 (2004).The surprising science of happiness. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy?language=en

Larsen, R. J., & Buss, D. M. (2014). Personality psychology: domains of knowledge about human nature. (5th ed., pp. 535-536). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

www.idlehearts.com/worry-less-smile-more/1277

Comparative Case Studies on Water Pollution: Maywood, California and Beijing, China

This paper was submitted to my Issues in Social Justice: Globalizing Water class, and was subsequently used as a required reading for a class called Comparative Government. I also submitted it to my school's social justice magazine PAX, per the request of another teacher. I'm quite proud of it, and it discusses an issue I have recently become passionate about, and have never discussed on my blog: access to safe water. Hope you enjoy! After the semester is over, I will be writing an in-depth reflection of what I learned in the class and how it made me a better activist, so stay tuned for that!

Water pollution is a serious problem both nationally and globally. Toxins, heavy metals, and other pollutants can affect the taste, appearance, and most importantly, the safety of a community’s water supply. In the United States, in the city of Maywood, California, there are serious issues with water contamination that local governing bodies are attempting to rectify. There has been a great deal of press coverage about this community and the struggles it has had with cleaning up their water, and the local government has been transparent about legislation related to this issue. On the other hand, in the city of Beijing, the government claims to be making changes and improvements to deal with the water supply, yet very little visible progress has been made. These two case studies, while similar in that both communities are dealing with the consequences of water pollution, vary in the solutions proposed by the people and the governing bodies, how effective their respective solutions have been, and how open to discussing these issues the communities’ governing bodies have been.

In Maywood, California, there are two types of contaminants found in their water supply: manganese and trichloroethene (TCE). TCE is more hazardous, but manganese is more prevalent in the Maywood water supply, so the bulk of the information available about Maywood’s water pollution problem focuses on manganese pollution. TCE was only found in one of the three water systems analyzed in a 2010 study, while manganese was found in high concentrations in wells from all three water systems analyzed in this study (GeoTrans, Inc. 2010). TCE has a variety of uses, but unfortunately for the people of Maywood, none of those uses include being a safe additive to water. TCE is used to dissolve greasy, oily substances, particularly substances built up on machinery. It is also found in cleaners for upholstery, paint removers, glues, and correction fluid. If it is not disposed of properly, it can easily get into water supplies. In studies performed on rodents, TCE was shown to have more severe effects if ingested rather than inhaled, which is why its presence in a water supply is such a serious problem. Symptoms of TCE exposure include a euphoric high much like what one would experience after taking drugs, numbness in the facial muscles and tissue, lethargy, and weakness. There have also been studies that suggest possible links between TCE and an increased risk of miscarriages, as well as an increased risk of cancer. However, it is important to note that correlation does not imply causation, and therefore it cannot be assumed that TCE is the only reason for these findings. There may be complicating factors aside from TCE that are affecting the rates of cancer and miscarriages (United State Environmental Protection Agency [EPA], 2000). Manganese, on the other hand, mostly leads to unpleasant aesthetic qualities in the water, such as a brown tint that can stain clothes. Manganese is only dangerous in large quantities, but the aesthetic effect it has on water certainly makes the water unpleasant to use and consume. This is certainly not the worst water-related problem to have, but it still is an issue of concern for the people in the community.

According to the City of Maywood Water Quality Assessment, TCE was found in only 1 of 3 water suppliers’ water supplies. However, the amount of TCE was found to be under the allowed level of 5, but it occasionally came very close to being 5. Despite the fact that TCE has come close to being a health hazard and despite the fact that much of the problem with manganese involves the way it affects the way the water looks, much of the focus has been on the overabundance of manganese in the water supply (GeoTrans, Inc. 2010).  It seems that the more pressing issue in this community is related to aesthetics, rather than public health (Becerra, 2013).

There are several stakeholders in this issue, such as politicians, business owners, activists, and community members. Mayor Oscar Magana dealt with having brown water when he was just a teen living in the community. Since he sympathizes with the community that is still facing the challenges he faced as a teen, the issue of water pollution has remained an important area of concern for him. Activists have also taken an interest in the water pollution in Maywood. Activists worked with a member of Del Amo Action Committee, Cynthia Babich, in order to make progress with this issue. As a group, they were able to convince members of a governmental department, called the Department of Toxic Substances Control, to test their water for manganese. This testing led to the discovery of high, but still legal, amounts of TCE in Maywood’s water supply. Roger Kintz and Rick Fears, both of whom work in the Department of Toxic Substances Control, are working to improve the situation. In 2010, several solutions were proposed to rectify the overabundance of manganese in the water supply (Becerra, 2013).  Three different water supply companies proposed solutions to this issue. The first company suggested mixing water with high concentrations of manganese with water that has little or no manganese, which is more of a short-term solution. This company also proposed solutions with longer-lasting effects including processing the water to take out the manganese or building brand-new or modifying older wells so that less manganese gets into the water in the first place. The second company suggested mixing water with high and low manganese levels as well, but chose different locations than the first. The long-term solution, which would cost one million dollars or more, was to run a pipe from a well to their treatment site in order to process the water and remove the manganese. The third and final company’s proposal includes, yet again, blending the water to lower the concentration of contaminants, but they focused on TCE rather than manganese. They also suggest costly additions to the water system such as a facility to remove TCE from the water, replacing the water system entirely with components that do not produce TCE, or blocking TCE-contaminated sections of the water system to prevent TCE from getting into the water. Despite the cost of $250,000-$1.5 million, these solutions seem to be the most sensible, and the most focused on what should be the more pressing issue.(GeoTrans, Inc. 2010) Cost could become a complicating factor, though. It is important for the decision-makers in this community to budget accordingly so that this issue can be resolved without causing financial problems. (Becerra, 2013) Another complicating factor is that other contaminants could get in the water if these structures are not made correctly, but so far, these solutions are being implemented correctly and the situations are showing improvement. (GeoTrans, Inc. 2010; Becerra, 2013)

In contrast to Maywood’s relatively minor issues with discolored water and potentially dangerous chemicals in the water, the people of Beijing, China are dealing with much worse pollutions, and more severe consequences because of this pollution. For example, a canal called the North Canal, was found to have pollution levels that are “nearly 95 times higher than what is deemed safe.” Another water issue is the lack of sewage treatment plants in nearly half of Beijing, which has resulted in severe fecal contamination in many bodies of water. (Shuang, 2013).  Other water pollutants include chemical runoff from farming, heavy metals, and in a particularly disturbing instance, dead pigs (Tan, 2014).

Beijing is not the only city in China facing serious problems as the result of water contamination. Cities known as “cancer villages” are popping up all over China. As the name suggests, these are cities, which, due to water contamination, have seen a major increase in cancer deaths and diagnoses over the last few decades (Shuang, 2013). Another major health concern as a result of Beijing’s water pollution is diseases that lead to severe diarrhea. These types of diseases can lead to rapid dehydration, particularly in children. While it is important that all people have access to clean water, it is particularly important that children have access to clean water in order to facilitate development and to avoid potentially life-threatening diarrheal illnesses (Carlton et al., 2012).

The Chinese government has proposed several potential solutions to the pollution problem. Unfortunately, the primary source documents that outline the specific measures to be taken regarding this issue are not available to the general public, or at least not at Spring Hill. The security settings on our server prevented me from accessing a document that outlines the Chinese government’s specific plans to deal with this issue, but I was able to find a secondary source that summarizes the initiatives taken to tackle this issue. The Chinese government has been dealing with environmental issues such as water pollution for about thirty years. It seems odd that so little progress seems to have been made in all that time. Various initiatives have been taken over the years in order to deal with this issue, each one spanning five years. The most recent one deals with the pollution issues by continually testing the polluted water and keeping track of the health of the citizens. Overseeing what the water companies are doing is a very important step for the Chinese government to take because “28% of municipal plants and 53% of private plants were not complying with water quality monitoring requirements. Over 16% of water samples did not meet drinking water standards, most often on account of microbial parameters” (Carlton et al., 2012).

Various measures are being discussed to deal with the widespread dangerous pollution in Beijing and other parts of China, which the activist group China Water Risk outlined on their website. There are several legislative changes in the works to deter polluters. There will be harsher punishments for people who pollute. There will be stricter water safety standards for industries and businesses that contribute the most to the pollution, such as tanners and ceramic makers. A new bill is also being voted on that provides free water for farmers and outlines specific water safety guidelines for people in agricultural fields. These guidelines will include topics such as how to dispose of animal carcasses. One would hope this would prevent future incidents involving dead pigs in Chinese water supplies.  In terms of steps that affect all citizens, rather than just those in agricultural fields, environmental reports, such as water quality reports, will be available to the public. This is a very important step, because it will allow Chinese citizens to educate themselves about the issues surrounding water safety and will allow them to make informed decisions about how to dispose of human and agricultural waste without contaminating the water. Another important step in providing safe water for all people is allocating more funds to water treatment efforts. There will also be standardized water treatment guidelines so that everyone in Beijing and other areas in China will have equal access to potable water. Despite these proposed changes, it will be a long time before the decisions are made final (Tan, 2014).

The main basis for comparison of these two cases involves the fact that these cases are both modern examples of the dangers of water pollution. The most illuminating aspects of these cases can be found in how they differ. There are socioeconomic and political aspects that affect both the causes of the water pollution and the responses to the pollution. In Maywood, clearly the pollution problem is much less significant than the pollution in Beijing. Maywood’s pollution is predominantly manganese, which is causing mostly aesthetic issues with the water. It seems to be a rather clear statement of their socioeconomic status if their biggest problem is stained clothing and brown water. Their priorities may not be in quite the right order. While TCE is not yet at a life-threatening level in the Maywood water supply, the levels of TCE have been very close to dangerous levels. It seems that reducing the levels of TCE to even lower, safer levels might be a more pressing issue than discoloration that could be filtered out relatively easily. However, Maywood legislation and citizens of Maywood disagree. On the other hand, China is facing significantly worse problems than Maywood. A variety of contaminants have been found in Chinese water, from agricultural runoff, to fecal matter, to the infamous, aforementioned dead pigs. (Tan, 2014). Rather than dealing with discolored clothing, the people of Beijing and other areas in China are dealing with water that has the potential to make them very sick, as made evident by the surge in cancer diagnoses. There is a clear difference in how the governing bodies of Maywood and Beijing are dealing with their water issues. In Maywood, the citizens have a voice in town hall meetings, grassroots movements, government jobs, and in the newspapers. In return, government offices are being transparent about what they are doing to fix the issues they are facing, and progress has been made (Becerra, 2013).  On the other hand, it is very difficult to find specific plans outlined by the Chinese government about how to deal with the water issues, and it is therefore difficult to tell if notable progress has been made and if they are keeping up with their end of the bargain. This points to a difference in governmental practices and their willingness to protect their citizens (Tan, 2014).

Overall, the water pollution in Maywood and the water pollution in Beijing have very different causes and very different solutions. As such, the approaches taken by their respective governing bodies are very different as well. If these solutions are not effective enough, it would be interesting to see if any of the solutions that Fr. Chamberlain discussed in his presentations might be potential solutions to aid in the water pollution issues these areas are experiencing. Specifically, Arborloos might be a useful means of prevent further fecal contamination in China’s water supply. Also, bone and ceramic filters could help with chemical and heavy metal pollution. PUR water packets could be beneficial in both Beijing and Maywood (Chamberlain, 2014). Clean water is a vital, universal human right. In time, maybe it will become a right that is attainable for the people of Beijing, Maywood, and other communities dealing with water pollution.

PS: This was not a part of my paper, but, readers, I challenge you to research about an issue you don't know much about. You may find something new to be passionate about, much like I did! God bless!

Sources

Becerra, H, (2013, June). Maywood gets straight talk about its water quality. Los Angeles Times, 1-3. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/29/local/la-me-maywood-water0629-20130630.

Carlton, E.J., Liang, S., McDowell, J.Z., Li, H., Luo, W., and Remais, J.V. Regional disparities in the burden of disease attributable to unsafe water and poor sanitation in China (2012). Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2012 (90), 578-587. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/90/8/11-098343/en/ doi: 10.2471/BLT.11.098343

Chamberlain, J. (2014) Water for emerging regions: Science, Challenges, Solutions. Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL.

GeoTrans, Inc. (2010). City of Maywood water quality assessment. City of Maywood: Los Angeles County, California. 1-69. Retrieved from http://asmdc.org/speaker/pdf/MaywoodWaterQuality.pdf

Shuang, L. All five of Beijing’s major water systems seriously polluted (2013). The Epoch Times, 1-2. Retrieved from http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/251030-all-five-of-beijings-major-water-systems-seriously-polluted/

Tan, D. The war on water pollution. China Water Risk. Retrieved from http://chinawaterrisk.org/resources/analysis-reviews/the-war-on-water-pollution/

United State Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] (2000). Trichloroethylene, 1-3. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/ttnatw01/hlthef/tri-ethy.html