....Envy

....Envy is a series of documentaries created for Virgin 1 designed to highlight growing British obsessions.

Seasons

Season 1

The first season's episodes began airing on 1 October 2007.

The original airdates (UK) are listed here for each episode.

References

External links

Envy

Envy (from Latin invidia) is an emotion which "occurs when a person lacks another's superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it".

Bertrand Russell said that envy was one of the most potent causes of unhappiness. Not only is the envious person rendered unhappy by his or her envy, but that person also wishes to inflict misfortune on others. Although envy is generally seen as something negative, Russell also believed that envy was a driving force behind the movement towards democracy and must be endured to achieve a more just social system. However, psychologists have recently suggested that there may be two types of envy: malicious envy and benign envy—benign envy being proposed as a type of positive motivational force.

Socioevolutionary view

One theory that helps to explain envy and its effects on human behavior is the Socioevolutionary theory. Based upon (Charles) Darwin's (1859) theory of evolution through natural selection, socioevolutionary theory predicts that humans behave in ways that enhance individual survival and also the reproduction of their genes. Thus, this theory provides a framework for understanding social behavior and experiences, such as the experience and expression of envy, as rooted in biological drives for survival and procreation. Recent studies have demonstrated that inciting envy actually changes cognitive function, boosting mental persistence and memory.

Envy (novel)

Envy (Russian: Зависть) is a novel published in 1927 by the Russian novelist Yuri Olesha. It is remarkable both for its poetic style, undulating modes of transition between the scenes, innovative structure, biting satire, and ruthless examination of Socialist ideals.

Plot summary

The novel is about a pathetic young man named Nikolai Kavalerov, who refuses to accept Communist values and is consumed by loathing and envy for his benefactor Andrei Babichev, a model Soviet citizen who manages a successful sausage factory. With Andrei Babichev's brother Ivan, Kavalerov attempts to stage a comeback of all the old, petty feelings that were crushed under communism. In the end, Ivan and Kavalerov are crushed by their own iniquity.

Publication History

"Envy" first appeared in Red Virgin Soil, a Soviet literary magazine, in late 1927. Olesha wrote the novel while working at the "Whistle", a widely read newspaper of the Railway Workers' Union. He read pages of the novel to other notable Soviet writers: Mikhail Bulgakov, Isaac Babel, Ilya Ilf, and Yevgeny Petrov.