How to get positive energy
Author: Beckham Source: Sanlian Life Weekly
Richard wiseman, a British psychologist, thinks that it is a great pity that the emotional theory of American philosopher William James was ignored by the world 100 years ago, because it can make us happy quickly and effortlessly. Have we really missed the Jane's panacea of 100 years?
According to Wiseman's summary, James believes that emotions are the result of people observing expressions. People never smile because they are happy. On the contrary, people feel happy because they are smiling. In James's own words, you run when you see a bear, not because you are afraid of it. On the contrary, it is because you ran away that you are afraid of bears. James clearly distinguished the instinctive reaction of the human body from the formation of emotions. He believes that when stimulated, the human body will react instinctively: it may take its hand away from the flame; Perhaps after seeing an angry bear, people's feet are ready to run away immediately. Emotion is formed by the instantaneous judgment of the human brain after observing the human reaction: when seeing a bear, the instinctive reaction of the body is to run, and then the brain makes a judgment: "I am afraid."
Wiseman said that many contemporary people's interpretation of James's theory holds that emotion and behavior are interactive, just as positive energy and negative energy are transformed into each other. For example, people smile because they are happy, and at the same time, people will become happier because they smile. The view that behavior determines emotions holds that people can get corresponding emotional feelings by expressing certain emotions. As James said, "If you want to have a quality, act as if you already have it." This kind of psychological suggestion, which sounds familiar to us, was summarized by Wiseman as the principle of emotional expression.
On the one hand, Wiseman coaxed the readers, on the other hand, he showed the humor and self-mockery of psychologists: "Some psychologists say that the longer you spend with a person, the more likely that person will like you or even fall in love with you in the end. This principle explains why many people eventually marry their neighbors. Inspired by this theory, a man wrote 700 letters to his girlfriend, and finally her girlfriend married the postman. "
The power of expressing principles is unbelievable to Wiseman. He wrote: "For thousands of years, people have always thought that our brains direct our body actions. Because of this, people need to invest a lot of time and money to change their lives. Encouraged by the self-styled masters, they tried to remain optimistic. Unfortunately, these methods are very difficult, time-consuming and laborious, and often ineffective. A century ago, william james, a philosopher of Harvard University, completely subverted our traditional view of human psychology. He believes that people's behavior affects people's thoughts and feelings. This simple concept inspired a series of quick, simple and effective methods to help people become happier, get rid of anxiety and depression, fall in love and live happily together forever. Overcome procrastination and delay aging. "
James said that behavior can trigger emotions, thoughts and willpower, so smile and you will feel happier; Holding hands, you will find each other more attractive; Tighten your muscles and you will have more self-control. This is not to say that in order to make a person in a bad mood happy and the people happy, they are ordered to laugh. Isn't this inhuman and insane? Wiseman also said that people's mood will be changed by the outside world: "Hard furniture will make people stubborn. People sitting in hard chairs will be stubborn in negotiations. When you wear black clothes, you become autocratic and aggressive; Put on comfortable clothes and you will become more tolerant and helpful. " In fact, when people enter the working state, they don't remember what they are sitting on or whether they are comfortable to wear.
Wiseman said that behavior can change people's mood. According to the usual meaning of behavior, we can agree with this statement: for example, in order to overcome procrastination, we should bite the bullet and start working at once, and then your little breakthrough will bring you a little sense of accomplishment, which will motivate you to continue working until the task is finally completed. Wiseman quoted many famous sayings about actions under the titles of some chapters in the book, and the actions mentioned in them are consistent with our daily usage. For example, Frederick Douglass said, "I prayed for 20 years, but it was useless; Before that, I prayed with my legs. " Joan baez said: "Action is the only antidote to despair." Aristotle said: "No matter what we learn, we must learn from action. People can only become architects after building their own houses, and can only become harp players after playing the harp. Similarly, only by controlling yourself can you become self-denial; Only through fearless travel can we become brave people. " However, in the text, Wiseman mostly replaced the usual actions and things with psychological activities such as smiling and self-confidence, or put on comfortable clothes.
From the beginning of the book, Wiseman is a clear-headed and humorous person, but the whole book makes people feel that if Wiseman really believes in his exposition of the so-called expression principle, then he is a little possessed; If he doesn't believe his explanation and writes this book just to get close to the market against his will, then he is very insincere.