Connection Between Gilbert and Stout

MEMORY
The human thoughts, actions, and feelings are all affected by the human’s brain. The brain is extremely complex and without it one is not capable to live. Being a part of one’s central nervous system the brain serves a big role in our behaviors and creates the image of our self. It is very fragile and sensitive that anything done to affect the brain or put it to work comes with a response almost instantly. In “When I woke up Tuesday Morning, it was Friday” written by Martha Stout, she explains how traumatic experiences allows the brain to dissociate itself from the real world leading one to cope from unpleasant experiences. Dissociation is a detachment from reality and allows one to enter a new state of consciousness to overcome bad experiences. Although the purpose of this is beneficial for one to get rid of trauma, such dissociation can also be dangerous to one’s health. Similarly, Gilbert explains how our experiences trigger our psychological defense systems in which force our minds to make bad situations seem not terrible. In “Immune to Reality” by Daniel Gilbert, he explains how our psychological immune system can generate positive views of any experience. Even if we do not anticipate it, our mind automatically finds ways to cope from terrible experiences we are force to deal with so our only option is to make it better. If people are stuck in situations that seem unbearable or severely unpleasant they detach themselves from the truth of reality and finds ways to lessen their situation by finding positive views of their experiences.