Kyle Tazelaar

English Composition
Eng 1100-8
The Relationship Between Education and The Good Life
Education and the good life may be two different things, but they do have their fair share
of similarities. Education is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge,
developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others
intellectually for mature life, and the good life is a life abounding in material comforts and
luxuries, or a life lived according to the moral and religious laws of ones culture
(Dictionary.com). One thing these two words have in common is knowledge and maturity; both
have an idea that you need a vast amount of knowledge to understand these things. Without truly
knowing what education and the good life is, it would be tough for a person to get through life
knowing what to do for those things. This paper will be talking about the connections between
education and the good life, by going over happiness, the economy, and behaviorism.
In order to succeed in education and the good life, people need happiness in their life.
Happiness is one of the main key factors of going through life. Whats different from this than
education is that its more toward a persons personal life since people act so different in school
and outside of class. Happiness also makes us more disposed to engage in creative endeavor,
which is itself, another source of fulfillment (Happiness matter: towards pedagogy of happiness
and well-being). If people are engaged in activities they enjoy then they would feel happy and
have a good life. Having friends that are very close, a good neighbor and being a good person
make people feel happier and can lead away from being stressed out. When people are young, all

they think about is toys, games, and television, but as they get older, they think about
themselves, their future, and other people they care about. These ideas about education and the
good life connect with each other since both affect how peoples life goes, and can make things a
lot better. If a person is not happy, then their life would be full of sadness. It would be tough for
a person to do their daily routines such as going to school, hanging out with friends, or doing
homework. A person should think more about doing positive things rather than negative. That
way would make them feel more joyful and not feel pressured. For education, if a person is not
happy with school, then it could affect their personal life and emotions. That person would feel
stressed and not confident in themselves. Stress and fear also prompt the amygdala to release
stress hormones into the blood, temporarily interrupting our thoughts and activating the rapid
bodily responses critical for survival (Happiness matter: towards pedagogy of happiness and
well-being). As long as people put effort into their education and make the best of it, then they
will feel happy and not be that sad since the more knowledge they obtain, the more possibilities
there are for people to obtain.
One question people might ask themselves could be how does education and the good life
affect the economy. Even though the economy is rapidly changing over the years, if people make
the best out of both education and the good life, then the economy wouldnt be as bad. Current
literature recognizes the importance of emotions for economy because they either help
individuals perform economic roles through emotion management or enhancement of emotional
intelligence or because they aid rationality through their influence on preference formation
(Emotions in economic action and interaction). This means that education is very important
because it can help people perform their own roles more and make them smarter than ever
before. Even though there are some people who extremely dislike society, they still need to be

eligible to get a good education. Having access to education can help a person be more
successful and help them get a good life. Having a good quality career can have a positive effect
on not just the economy, but also a persons future. People these days want to hire hard working
and dedicated workers, but for the ones who are lazy, its tough for them to get jobs. Its very
important to work hard because all in the end, it can affect how a person lives their life and their
emotions. Specifically, emotions influence what the goals of economic action should be (eg,
may be money or happiness), and they influence how we order our preferences to help achieve
our goals (eg, we can evaluate strategies based on analytical considerations of costs and benefits,
or we pick something over another thing based on the level of our emotional attachment to it).
(Nina Bandelj, Emotions in economic action and interaction). People need to have strong
emotions to perform well, but if they dont it could be stressful for them.
A persons behavior can either have a positive or negative affect for education and the
good life. It can affect how others look at them and personality. An example of how this can
affect education is personal conduct in high school. Lots of kids dont listen to the rules of school
and cause chaos. This can range from cutting or ditching class, bullying, in school fights,
smoking, drinking, and disrupting class. If students do this then it shows they dont do their
work, and that they are careless. They wouldnt be able to go to college and would instead keep
getting held back. It can have a very bad impact on ones future, but if they change that then
school would be more worth it to them. As for the good life, how one behaves can impact
making friends, and what a persons morals are. People growing up may not had that much
friends to hang out with, but they possibly can have bad or good morals. Being surrounded by
people who care for others can seem like having more of a purpose in life. It can make a person
feel more caring and dedicated towards others that make them happy. Being happy is one of the

main purposes in life, otherwise if a person is not happy, then its questionable how one would
behave in life.
In conclusion, education and the good life do have their fair share of relationships
regarding happiness, the economy, and behaviorism. A lot of times, we need to think about our
education and life because its a major deal. A lot of times it seems time flies by fast and we lose
track, but if we keep focus on ourselves and people we care about then we would have bigger
priorities.

References Emotions in economic action and interaction:

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2daed9f7-7e7b-4ef2-9608
6f5ae9747271%40sessionmgr4002&vid=9&hid=4114
Happiness matters: Towards pedagogy of happiness and well being:
http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=2daed9f7-7e7b-4ef2-96086f5ae9747271%40sessionmgr4002&vid=12&hid=4114
Happiness in education theory, practice and possibility: http://infed.org/mobi/happiness-andeducation-theory-practice-and-possibility/