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Mistakenly Seeking Solitude Analysis

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In today’s society, a major recurring question involves the amount of emphasis that should be placed on ourselves compared to that we place and spend with others in our social life. In a society so fixated around human interaction, could humans possibly reach a un- describable capacity of internal happiness through living in a state of solitude? Humans can be described by many as social beings, therefore, the constant social interaction would seem necessary for one’s happiness but at many times, we seek a more pleasurable experience through solitude especially regarding interaction with strangers. A diagnosis of solitude’s effect on happiness is described in “Mistakenly Seeking Solitude” by Nicholas Epley and Juliana Schroeder, “The Measurement of Self-Sufficiency” by Robert Bernreuter and “Happy Like God” by Simon Critchley. In an article named “Mistakenly Seeking Solitude” by Nicholas Epley and Juliana Schroeder, two professors at the University of Chicago conduct an experiment regarding happiness levels regarding the effects of communicating with strangers on trains …show more content…

Bernreuter a former professor at Pennsylvania State College, conducts an experiment regarding one 's happiness and it 's correlation to how self-fulfilled one is regarding social interaction with others rather than staying in a more self-oriented state of solitude. Bernreuter designs a test to identify a factor behind social interaction due to a lack of dependency. Bernreuter also believes that depending on how self-sufficient one was, the more willing they are to engage in solitude. Bernreuter’s test of self-sufficiency was given to 127 elementary students, 388 college men, and 456 college women at various colleges and universities around the same geographic area of California. This discrepancy in ages and sex could distinguish a difference in answers regarding self-sufficiency which in turn could correlate to happiness and

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