Fake smiling makes you miserable

Every business class I have ever attended teaches "Fake it til you make it". So that doesn't really work, huh?

Every business class I have ever attended teaches "Fake it til you make it". So that doesn't really work, huh? Nope, they just want you to fall happily in line.

I admit it seems to make sense, but I am a bit of a Devil's Advocate. I naturally going to take another position on this one. I just read a few days ago the top 10 things science says will make you happy. #7 was...Smile even when you dont feel like it. (about being optimistic) Which is a form of a fake smile. There are different types of fake smiles. Back to the new study that was posted. First question is "How" if you are already unhappy. Stay with me If a kid is always being blame, yell at,and being told they are no good, bad or worthless, etc, studies show that the kid will start to believe... [More]

So, if you smile a lot even when you dont mean it, wouldnt you start to believe it, like the above example. According to this new study that was posted, it seems to suggest that all the studies before it saying that if you do something enough times, you will start to believe it... are wrong then? You can't believe it. Because deep down in your mind, you've already knew that you are not happy. There is no point in believing something else if you've already got the answer. The power of suggestion works only when you didn't know the answer. Smile is the result of happiness, not vice versa. You ca... [More]

Does anyone remember when we used to be told that if you smiled you would feel better? Now the opposite seems to be true. Isn't it interesting how societal values change over time? It used to be 'smile to the world but cry to yourself' and not its more acceptable to not give a fake smile. Does that mean that it is now okay to actually tell someone that you are not okay when they ask you 'how are you'?

Smiling is a reaction to being happy or content. It doesn't seem to work the other way around, but laughter actually seems to work for me. I tried a few times when I was alone to make sure nobody thought me completely insane, to just laugh at online jokes that weren't all that funny, I found it amusing that I was doing such a strange thing and started laughing a bit for real, the whole thing eventually became so surreal it actually cheered my up and i laughed properly. But smiling? No not really. Mostly when you fake a smile is when you want to "seem" happy, which reminds you that you're not a... [More]

Fake emotions of any kind are not attractive, are they ? Some people spend most of their lives in various 'persona' modes, one for the spouse, another for the boss, something else when socialising with friends, a whole 'nother thing dealing with strangers, etc etc. I take it as a sign of real character that a person interacts with a person unknown to them, in a fashion indistinguishable from that with an "important" acquaintance.

I never fake a smile, but then again I am generally a pretty happy person anyway, so I have no need to fake a smile.

You can't believe it. Because deep down in your mind, you've already knew that you are not happy. There is no point in believing something else if you've already got the answer. The power of suggestion works only when you didn't know the answer. Smile is the result of happiness, not vice versa. You can't use smile to create happiness. Not entirely true...the power of suggestion has an exception..if I dont like the answer I have already got, then I would see it to be a very good point to believe in something else..especially if that something else is more of a benefit to me. It really all comes... [More]

Was there a scarcity of subjects to study?