The TED talk video I chose to write about was by Martin Seligman during TED2004. In his presentation, Seligman presents a field of study created by him called Positive Psychology. The video introduces the field and what it is which intrigued me most. When introduced to psychology, I found out that it was about trying to treat people back to into a state of “normal-ness” and not necessarily into happiness. Seligman decided early on to begin this new field because of all the emphasis psychology already has on treating people who are sad and depressed. His presentation has a comedic lead-in which quickly turns into a serious discussion about positive psychology. The lead-in is about how psychology today isn’t good enough right now. He essentially narrows the types of happy lives in to three categories: the Pleasant life, where one has as many pleasures as possible and learning the skills to amplify them, the Good life, where one’s work life flows and simply put, one loves what they do and then the Meaningful life, where one knows their signature strengths and use them in service of something larger than themselves. He goes on to describe how technology, entertainment and design is increasingly becoming more developed and will soon help psychology be good enough. I was interested by this TED talk because I want to become a psychologist and his new field of study is essentially the main reason why I was interested in this major and job. Seligman’s explanation was hardly boring at all and brought new interest to a field I was already considering. It also gave me a new view as to how psychiatric methods have only brought people back to “normal” and not truly up to happiness. The reason that pushed me towards psychology is a bit on the sensitive and personal side and I don’t really feel confortable sharing that bit of information on a public forum. It does have a long background and history, occupying a large part of my life and it shows who I am once people really get to know me well.
Martin Seligman today contributes to the field of positive psychology and strives to make his vision of a happier world a reality. However, his dream for a happier world wasn’t always there. After graduating from high school, he attended Princeton for a B.A. and then continued onto University of Pennsylvania to earn a Ph.D. in psychology. He worked his way up to the Director of the Clinical Training Program of the Psychology Department at the University of Pennsylvania in 1980 through a series of education related jobs. He first started out as an associate professor and then a professor, both of psychology. All the meanwhile, he researched psychology and began a theory about learned helplessness. His research led him through important breakthroughs for depression, pushing him towards his ideas for optimism.
After high school, right now I’m thinking about going for a business major so I have a solid footing once I get out of college and a decent job. Once that is established I hope to return for graduate school and get a Ph.D. in psychology like Seligman did. Before I started my college application process, I talked to my older sister’s friend who majored in psychology. She said that internships were essential to getting a job in a field like psychology and because there’s really only one job with two types for such a major, it could be hard to find a location with many internship opportunities. So wherever I end up for college and professional schooling, I intend to jump at any internship I can get my hands on for experience. I hope to end up as a clinical psychologist or possibly a professor teaching psychology.
Thank you Aaron T!
ReplyDeleteswag.
ReplyDeleteThat is very cool that you have found something that you are very interested in Matt. I would tend to agree with your sister's friend because in almost every field that people hope to go into later in life, internships will usually give you a better chance of obtaining a job after graduating college. Good luck in your Life After High School.
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