![]() The students reported that these things gave them tremendous meaning, but that the cost was high. In one 2018 study, for example, two psychologists at Western Illinois University asked a large group of college students to report the positive and negative emotions-as well as the meaningfulness-they associated with their education and with their relationships. Psychologists have found that many of the most meaningful experiences in life are quite painful. This is how failure, via the resulting negative emotions, can help lead to later success. Sadness can even make us more productive at work by enhancing focus and helping us learn from mistakes. There is evidence that sadness makes us better at assessing reality in social situations, because we are less likely to flatter ourselves or gloss over negative truths. Anderson Thomson argue that sadness-and even depression-have persisted in the face of evolution because they bring cognitive benefits. In an influential 2009 article in the journal Psychological Review, the evolutionary psychologists Paul W. Negative emotions can also make us more effective in our day-to-day activities. Read: Science’s struggle to define emotions Of course, your system can be hyperactive-you can have an anger-management problem or be excessively fearful-but the broader point is: Although they aren’t fun, bad feelings are supremely important. Disgust similarly alerts us involuntarily to potential pathogens. You never say to yourself, Hey, I think I’ll feel afraid now-you just feel it and react with fight or flight, which can save your life. ![]() We experience them in an involuntary way in response to environmental stimuli. The primary negative emotions include sadness, anger, fear, and disgust. Let’s start with a fairly obvious point: Negative emotions exist to keep us safe. Want to stay current with Arthur's writing? Sign up to get an email every time a new column comes out. But we have an opportunity here to assess the benefits of negative emotions and experiences-and how we can use them for personal improvement instead of trying to push them away. Even for those of us who haven’t, however, the pandemic is a particularly rough patch in our lives. Many have lost jobs and loved ones and are feeling the devastation of this once-in-a-lifetime tragedy. People are experiencing more than just everyday bad feelings right now. (Including me, by the way: No one studies happiness unless they find it elusive.) ![]() ![]() I am talking about the sadness and misfortunes that are inherent to a normal life, and even the “negative affect” that some people have in relative abundance. To be clear, I am not talking about medical issues such as clinical depression, anxiety, or trauma. I don’t believe that either radical hedonism or eradicating bad feelings is the path to a good life, or for that matter, very sensible. This is an error, as was the Woodstock motto. Read: A rational case for following your emotions It might be summarized as “If it feels bad, make it stop.” From schools to workplaces, we are told that ordinary negative emotions and experiences-fear of failure, or sadness over a breakup, maybe-should be treated or eliminated. I think that a similarly radical life philosophy is brewing in our culture, and it started well before the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world inside out with fear of sickness and economic pain. ![]() The only thing I remember about it was a hippie on television saying, “If it feels good, do it.” Given the limits of my feel-good experiences at the time, I imagined not the sexual revolution and drug culture but hippies eating lots of candy and staying up past their bedtime watching television. I was 5 years old when Woodstock took place. Editor’s Note: “ How to Build a Life” is a biweekly column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness. ![]()
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