Section Four

Okay let me start off by saying I do not know how these men are still alive. After all that they have been through over a span of a year, it blows my mind how they have not fully given up yet. Everything seems to be going from bad to worse and it is almost like a never ending cycle. This was the most intense section of the book so far in my opinion. These men are literally frozen, they cannot sleep because they cannot control their shivering. They are basically freezing to death and unable to sleep because of it. As night rolls around, the men are unsure if they will make it till the morning. As sad as it is to say, I know I would have lost motivation at this point. The men are starting to lose sight of hope, and Shackleton became aware of this and offered to allow them to eat what food they wanted, when they wanted it, and how much of it they wanted. He did this so it could lift up the spirits of his men and help bring them back to life, however some men were still not happy. All of the men are freezing and sleep deprived, a few of the crew members grew seasick, some are physically injured, and some can no longer go to the bathroom normally anymore. So it was no surprise to me that offering the men more food did not fully cheer them up, however it showed once again how much Shackleton cares about his crew and only wants them to survive through all of this. As this chapter came to an end and they finally became in view of Elephant Island, the men knew better than to show their excitement, they knew better than to react because they were so fully exhausted. After a year of struggling on this journey, the crew is staying persistent with all that they have left in them, and Shackleton remains positive for the sake of his crew. I can honestly say I cannot predict how this book is going to end.

Section Three

Throughout section three there are many more obstacles which makes the crews journey to Paulet Island seem even more challenging. At certain times, members of the crew start to lose faith. Hunger was a prominent issue in this section because seal blubber became very scarce for the men. Shackleton, being the inspiring leader he is, tried his best to motivate his crew and raise their spirits as well as truck on with their journey. He knew how devastating this was for his crew and it really warmed my heart when he allowed them to eat twice as much on Christmas because he thought they deserved it and wanted them to be happy. A lot of the men were almost at their breaking point with everything going on such as becoming super low on food and the freezing cold weather condition. It had gotten so bad that they ran so low on seal blubber Shackleton suggested that the men sacrifice and eat their own dogs in order to survive. Some men had strong bonds with the dogs and it become emotional for a lot of them. I could never imagine getting to the point of starvation where I have no other option but to eat my own dog, that's heartbreaking! On the other hand, the crew understands what needed to be done because the ultimate mission at this point is survival, and that is their main priority. I would not have been able to make it as far as these men did and they definitely deserve credit. However, everything seems to be getting harder and harder and the morale of the men seems to be getting lower and lower.

Endurance Parts 1-3

I normally assume that I will hate most books I need to read for school. When I found out Endurance was a historical novel, I got excited because novels are more interesting than textbooks! I also love history so I knew I would enjoy reading an authentic account of something that happened so many years ago.

The strength of the men in this book, especially Shackleton, was so impressive to me. They weren't going to get paid a lot and they knew it would be a treacherous journey, but they wanted to join the expedition in order to have an adventure and explore an uncharted land. Shackleton was such a great leader because he didn't let his men see him worry. He knew there was a high chance that many would perish once the ship was destroyed, but he still displayed strength and kept the hope of his men up. Without him, I think that the men would've given up all chances of survival.

I was surprised that all of the men on the expedition lived. They were living on ice with few supplies, but they made it through months of freezing cold. I had never heard of the Endurance or its crew in any history classes, so I am glad I got the chance to learn about them for this course.

What is your favorite or least favorite part of the book? My least favorite is when they were killing the dogs and cat. I know it was something they had to do, but I didn't like reading about it!

Parts 3-5

When I first starting reading this book, I was not interested in it at all. I read the first few pages and was not sucked into it like I wish I would have been. I thought it was going to be boring and not teach me anything, but I was wrong. The book has picked up a lot and it has hooked me in the more I continue to read it. At first, I was taking my time with the book because it didn't keep me interested, but the more I read, the more I started to love it. Not only has it showed me true bravery of these men, it has also showed me to appreciate the life that we have now. We don't always realize what we have until we no longer have it, and reading the story of the men in this book is truly amazing. They never once complained about what they didn't have and always stayed positive even when there seemed to be no hope at all. I mentioned this in my last post, but it stuns me every time I read more. Today we take food for granted and where it comes from or how we get it and that's something that opened my eyes up. I know for sure that I would not have been able to survive on the food that they have survived on. Eating seal, penguins, and even dog is not the main thing that they wanted to have, but they made the most of it. They were thankful when they found a seal to eat and didn't complain about the work that they had to do to even catch it. And their sleeping situations? We take having air condition in the summer for granted, the heat in the winter time, or complain when it's too hot or too cold, but imagine being in their shoes. Sleeping on sheets of ice in one set of clothes that never even get a chance to dry and NEVER once having anything to say. They lived on a day to day survival but no matter what weather they faced, what ships were getting destroyed, what land they had to search for next, who was having their body parts removed (Blackboro's foot), they were always thankful for making progress no matter how little progress it may have been, they were always optimistic and hopeful of their outcome.

Incentives

The loss aversion section of this lecture struck me as personally significant. I have never been a gambler because I hate to lose. In fact, I get really angry if I lose more than twenty dollars. Even if I have the chance to win twenty dollars, I would still rather secure the twenty in my pocket than from going down the drain. I found the article below which overviews how our brains process losses if the wording is presented to us differently. This plays a huge role when it comes to marketing for major companies.

 

http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/loss-winning.htm

Performance

                The man that chased down his prey for eight hours is truly the most athletic person I have ever seen. The way in which he bonded with the animal by using its saliva and rubbing it into his sore muscles was odd but seemed traditionalistic. His deep respect for the animal was overwhelmingly apparent. His energy never seemed to cease as long as the animal was still within his reach.  The link below shows how our ancestors have been human hunting for years.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/sep/23/human-hunting-evolution-2million-years

Drugs

                The most interesting segment in this lecture was the portion on exercise because we don’t often think of it as an addiction. I was amazed to see how people can lose control and over exercise just to get that release of dopamine. Exercise Bulimia is a silent killer in America because we are a country that’s fixated on obesity. Below is a you tube video I found on a girl that overcame this disease and talks about her ongoing struggle with it. She explains how being underweight is often worse than being overweight. Interestingly, she says it’s difficult to keep herself in check because people constantly comment on her weight and tell her how great she looks. With alcohol or drug addiction, the addict is never being complimented for their drug abuse. I think this is an important diagnosis to get out there and make more people aware of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SVh-YOh3uw

Reproduction

                The theory that women pick wealthier men because they can “provide for the family” and that men pick more attractive women because they are more “fertile” is a bit farfetched to me. In another generation, I might be able to believe this, however, our society is shallow and does not think about long term goals like these. They are fixated on immediate gratification, hence the terms gold digger and cradle robber. Although, I do agree that we are inclined to pick someone that is equal to our number in attractiveness. We are also apparent to it when we meet a couple where this balance is off, we wonder what happened.

Food

                A couple things I thought were interesting, were the delicacy’s that other countries enjoy so much that repulse us. For instance, the tarantulas that were fried were absolutely revolting and the roasted guinea pigs somehow seemed wrong. At the end the lecture, we learned that stress can induce over eating, especially in horror films. Recently, I went to see a horror film and I ate a considerable amount of popcorn. Previous to this lecture I hadn’t related it to the fact that it was stress induced eating because of the movie.

Rewards

                I found a you tube video that really breaks down the premack principle and applies it to a real life situation. The idea is to say first we will do this then we will do that. The first thing involving something that is unappealing then the second thing follows with something appealing. In this particular video the man is trying to teach viewers how to deal with autistic children through applying ABA strategies. As we can see with the bird video, this theory really does seem to work.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPodUlf6DGo

Impulsivity & Self Control

                This lecture reminded me of a study I researched a couple years ago regarding correlations found between impulsivity in children and drug use later in adolescence. The marshmallow test is indicative of self-control. Below is a link from Psych central that explains how a traumatic childhood could initiate impulse control issues which are later ignited into drug abuse. The study focuses on siblings, one with addiction issues and the others without. While correlations were found there was no direct causation links found.           

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/09/04/hurtful-childhood-can-hike-risk-of-impulsivity-drug-addiction/44101.html

Endurance

Beginning the book Endurance was challenging for me. I had a hard time placing myself in their shoes because, let’s face it, we are worlds apart. I kept thinking to myself these men have an incredible sense of character via their strength, determination, passion and persistence. When I read their many uses for blubber I was completely appalled, especially, eating it. Our biggest concern in this generation is whether our cell phones are about to die or if we accidentally left it at home. These men were so dedicated to their cause that they didn’t contemplate trivial matters.  Every day they were legitimately struggling to survive, fighting for their lives, and enduring torturous conditions for their mission.

                After sometime, I began to find a parallel to my own world. No, my life does not even begin to compare to such bravery; however, we all are really just trying to survive and reach our own goals. Whether you’re a hurricane Sandy victim and you’re rebuilding your life piece by piece or you’re overcoming an addiction and beginning a new chapter of your life. The underlying message is that we all encompass this greatness, but are we using it? Personally, I tend to juggle too many hats at the same time. Frequently, I need to keep myself in check by making sure that what I’m sacrificing for, are things that will truly be worth something in the end. I believe Shackleton had similar thinking. He kept his eye on the prize, while remaining to be a tremendous leader and man of true character.

Section Two

Throughout section two, the story really picked up and became much more adventurous. The topic of food and hunger was very prominent in this section and the lack of it became much more of a struggle. These men were stuck in dreadful, freezing weather while scavenging for food and I could never imagine being in that situation! I cannot stand the cold to begin with, anything under fifty degrees is not pleasant for me to be in. I try to stay dry and inside as much as I can during the winter months and while reading these chapters I really felt for these guys especially because they held such positive mindsets the entire time! That was hard for me to believe, I doubt I would be able to do the same if I were in their situation unfortunately. The fact that they can stay hopeful and continue to look on the bright side in such poor conditions is truly inspiring. Throughout the chapters these men grew more and more hungry, and with that being said, that was constantly a leering thought. When you are hungry it is very difficult to focus on anything else, your hunger starts to take over as if it had a mind of its own. Ship members were so hungry they got their food from whale blubber, hunger definitely becomes a driving motivation and you will eat anything you get your hands on in the time of need in order to satisfy your hunger. Even after the boat sank, Shackleton continues to keep his crew together like a team. I cannot imagine how devastating that must have been for him.. watching his dreams literally sink in front of him and still remaining a positive outlook. The main motivation now is the will for survival and I cannot wait to find out if they make it across the Antarctic! 
 

Endurance Section 1. Chapters 1-8

Okay I must admit, I judged this book by the cover and assumed that I would not enjoy it but fortunately I was wrong! To my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage and parts of this book have certainly left me in awe. It is a very inspiring book because these men have gone through so much hardship and they still remain positive and did not lose their faith even in terrible circumstances and severe weather which is unbelievable. It was truly inspiring how the crew on the ship stuck together like a team despite the fact that everyone on the ship was aware that the ship was going to go down. They were fighting for their lives while also still determined to complete what they had originally set out to do even with the daunting worry of never returning which is amazing in itself. These men have tried everything in their power and never once thought about giving up, not only that but they all remained positive and never lost site of hope throughout the entire year while they were stuck. The fact that this book is based on a true story is even more mind-blowing because it holds even more significance and I applaud those men to the highest degree. They remained persistent and did not give up no matter what was thrown at them and I find that remarkable. Throughout section one I really enjoyed the fact that Lansing personified the ship as a human and gave the ship emotions, that helped bring the feel of the book to life and held a much more powerful meaning in my opinion. To sum up, the entire crew never lost their will to survive and were motivated to make their situation better in any way they could and that is what was so important. 

Endurance Part 1 and 2

While reading part 1 and 2 of the novel, I began to place myself in the situation of the men living on the floes. Just the thought of living on ice with two changes of clothing and a sleeping bag made me not ever want to be in that situation. I can't imagine actually having to live on the ice. When the book describes the men sleeping on the ice, I can't help but imagine how uncomfortable it would be to feel ice and moisture seeping through the sleeping bag. It almost seems like a miracle no one has died from frost bite at this point in the book.

Continuing on through the parts, it makes me wonder how the crew stayed so motivated. There was a motivation to survive, but how could they stay so positive even in the darkest of days. One part that stuck out to me in particular was when it was described that the men had no longings. Some of the journal entries talked of things they missed, but that they still didn't long for them. The displacement from society almost made their lives of higher value. The men didn't expect anything, they just lived from day to day. They had the worries of surviving, but this didn't cross their mind as much as it would have crossed mine. The only thing the men valued more now was food. Their day revolved around being fed. Besides that, the living was almost easier than at home. No one would want to find themselves in this position, but it seemed as though the men learned a lot from being in it.

I know this book took place 100 years ago, but it is crazy to think how different times were then compared to now. I think that if anyone from our society was to be placed in this situation, they would die immediately. Today, society is too attached to technology and people to be able to survive in frigid temperatures such as these men did. The way these men stayed optimistic and the way Shackelton helped to ensure there were no problems is remarkable.

Self Control and Marshmallow Test

After looking over the self-control slides, I found the Marshmallow Test to be very interesting. This video was a great example of how individuals would prefer immediate gratification rather than delayed gratification.

In the video, the lady offered children one marshmallow. She informed them that they could either eat the first one right away, or they could wait until she got back and they could have a second. While she left the room, the children were recorded on camera to see how they reacted. While many of the children didn't eat the marshmallow, they were very close to eating it. Many of the children made motions of pretending to eat the marshmallow while others placed it on their lips without eating it. Some of the kids would even touch the marshmallow and then lick their fingers. The temptation of the marshmallow was difficult for them to overcome. The children wanted immediate gratification rather than delayed; however, they knew if they waited they would get another marshmallow.

It is interesting to see this concept on tape about the two types of gratification. Recently, I bought a new car. The shopping process was a long one and I had to ensure that I made the right choice with the best deal. This was difficult because once I heard a good deal on a car I really wanted, I wanted to say yes in that moment; however, my parents would walk out causing the dealers to make even better deals. We would then move on to the next dealer to see if they could offer a better deal. Without my parents, I probably would have fallen into the cycle of immediate gratification. Luckily, my parents prolonged the search to reach delayed gratification which was the best option in the end.

I think this is an interesting concept because I feel some people may rush into things to quickly without exploring all of their options. Individuals should be more aware of the choices they are making and why they are motivated to make those choices.

Impulsivity and Self Control

We are all motivated by some force whether it be love, revenge, success, power, etc., there is always a reason behind why we act the way we do. Motivation is much different than acting on impulse. When we are motivated by a certain force we know what it is we are trying to achieve and we work towards it, much like a plan. Acting on impulse, however, is often done in a hurry without much thinking or planning behind it. There might be a giant freshly grilled cheese burger and warm salted fries placed promptly in front of you, your mouth starts to water and you can practically taste it. And out of impulse, the entire cheeseburger is gone within five minutes. Some people may say that these people have no willpower but that is not necessarily true, they may just not have the best self control. When you truly want something and it means a great amount to you, then you will have better willpower. I thoroughly enjoyed the videos with the children and the marshmallows because you could obviously see how difficult it was for these children to not eat the marshmallow right in front of them, they were really struggling and I could not help but chuckle. They wanted that marshmallow so badly you could see it in their faces, their eyes just staring at it, their hands starting to play with it and pick at it, but their self control was applaudable! They would have rather had two marshmallows than one and therefore they restrained themselves from acting on impulse because they knew what they wanted. As for me, when I am placed in situations where I want something badly but try to control myself, I think of the long run and how it will benefit me if I refrain from doing what I want so badly in the present moment. Having self control is very important because it is healthy to think things through before acting on impulse.

Book Report: The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal

"The Willpower Instinct" was written in 2011 by Kelly McGonigal. In the book, McGonical explores the field and science of self-control and how it can be used to change things in our lives such as the amount of health, happiness, and productivity we have. "The Willpower Instinct" explains why willpower is important and why/how it works. Having strong willpower will make for a good life, but having high willpower will make better everything including our relationships, leaders, and friends. All of these things can become extremely complex and demanding but one must work through everything so he/she can have a better understanding. Another important part of willpower is being able to have self control. When it comes to self control, there are two sides: I will and I won't. To get passed the two sides, you need a third, which is figuring out what you want. This part is always the hardest and can take serious work.

The book also focuses on how our body was born to use willpower instinctively. For example, when a person walks past a certain food that they love, they begin to crave it. After this moment, every single cell in a person's body is telling them to eat it and this is when the person has to either resist it or go against their willpower and eat it. Craving something is both a physical and psychological event that takes place, which can either hurt someone or help them when they experience a craving. When we see something we like or want, our brain releases something called dopamine, which plays tricks on one's actions, planning, motivation, and attention. This is when one is forced to work against his/her life long goals and try and get rid of the craving, which is not easy for everyone.

My favorite part of the book was in Chapter 3, where McGonical focuses on how self control is like a muscle. In the chapter, I found it interesting that one can use self control and integrate it the same way you do exercises for physical muscles. For example, what does one do during finals week? Instead of studying throughout the semester, many will run to the library and cram everything in at once for tests for days and days. This takes an extremely large amount of willpower and can be quite exhausting for many students. On the other hand, some students work better like this, making it easier for them to remember and having things fresh in their minds. When students do this, they use it all up and stop using it in other areas of their life. Every ounce of willpower comes from the same place. After a while, self control can become limited and more self control we use, the less active our brain becomes.

In Chapter 4, it briefly explains why being good gives one the permission to be bad. I believe this is one hundred percent true in our society. For example, if a person goes to the gym six days a week, works their butt off, eats fairly healthy, and constantly does good deeds, they deserve a cheat day, or a "night out." Not necessarily saying they deserve to do something explainable bad, but just something that excuses them from being good all the time, every day. Some people will do this if they are on a diet. For instance, if they have eaten good all week and want to splurge, they will treat themselves with candy or dessert. It is important for one to do this every so often so that they feel good about themselves and feel rewarded.

Chapter 6: What The Hell: How Feeling Bad Leads to Giving In. Do I give in? Yes, a lot actually. And I always thought it was a bad thing, but according to the book, giving in makes you stronger. There were times where I would feel bad for someone and promise myself that I would not give in, but I would anyway. Like the book says, giving in makes people compassionate and caring people.

Book Report: Walden Two by B.F. Skinner

            “Walden Two” was written in 1948 by B.F. Skinner, the most well-known behavioral psychologist in recent times. Skinner uses the form of a novel to espouse his ideas of an ideal society based on social engineering. The narrator of the story, Burris, is a psychology professor who is surprised by a visit from his former student Rogers and Rogers’ friend Jamnik. These two young men are dissatisfied with their lives after returning from war, and are interested in the idea of a utopian society. Burris remembers a former colleague, Frazier, who often talked about his ideas of creating a new social system and gets in touch with him. Frazier invites all of them to visit Walden Two, the community he has been running for ten years. Rogers and Jamnik bring their girlfriends while Burris invites his colleague Castle, a professor of philosophy. 

            Over the next few days, Frazier introduces them to the different aspects of life at Walden Two. There is no money in this community; instead, people earn labor credits for performing various duties. Manual labor is not valued any less than working as a doctor. The people that live there are given a generous amount of leisure time, which is rarely wasted. Instead, they pour their free time into the arts and improving Walden. Frazier asserts that a new Golden Age will flourish here. People are encouraged to marry and have children young since they will not face any economic struggles. All children are raised communally, thus giving them an equal chance at success. Castle often questions Frazier throughout the visit, but Frazier is incredibly assured that his methods are sound and Walden Two will continue to be successful. At the end of their visit, Jamnik and his girlfriend Mary decide to stay since life in this commune will give them equal opportunities without having to worry about socio-economic oppression. Burris is impressed by the community, but doesn’t think he will be able to leave his own life. On his trip back to the university, during which he must listen to Castle’s endless criticisms of Frazier and Walden Two, he decides in a moment of inspiration that he must return to the community. He walks the entire sixty-mile journey back to Walden Two, and finds that Frazier had expected him to return. 

            The most interesting part of the book to me was Chapter 14, when we finally learn Frazier’s exact methods of ‘social engineering’. Up to that point, Walden Two seemed like a true utopia but I could tell that was too good to be true. Frazier explains to his guests that when a child is born, society shapes them in order to better serve their community. With Walden Two, Frazier sets out to create a community where people do not feel jealousy or other unpleasant emotions. He uses experimentation to accomplish this. One method is similar to the video of the kids with the marshmallows in the first lecture. The children are given lollipops coated in powdered sugar so that it will be apparent if they lick it. They are told not to eat it and they will be able to have it later. After repeating the experiment, the children began to hide the lollipops so that they wouldn’t be tempted. Frazier says that this will teach the children self-control. Another way he controls the children’s behavior is by having them stand in front of food but forbidding them to eat it until an amount of time elapses. Then some of the children can eat, but the others must wait longer. As Skinner is a behaviorist, other examples of conditioning exist throughout the book.  Frazier admits towards the end of the book that his goal is to control a person’s behavior through creating positive situations or removing negative situations. 

All children born into this society are treated equally, and raised in the same environment so one cannot have an advantage over the other due to class or economic status. In Walden Two, everyone is supposedly equal. It’s a nice thought, but personally I disagree with this sentiment. Everyone is born with different innate skills and personalities, and the childrearing techniques used in Walden Two set out to erase what makes everyone unique. Frazier seems to think that by placing everyone in the same exact environment, they will all end up equal and happy. That sounds pretty boring to me! 

Would I live in a place like Walden Two if given the opportunity? Probably not! Skinner/Frazier insists throughout the book that you can easily control a person’s behavior through conditioning, and that is the purpose of this society. I don’t want to live in another person’s social experiment. I’d like to imagine that we have more free will than implied in this book. I don’t think a community like Walden Two would be very successful in today’s society. It would probably be admonished by most of society as an attempt at brainwashing. Life in Walden Two had a very cultish vibe in my eyes, and I was expecting that more extreme uses of conditioning were being used. My impression is that Frazier was a man who wanted to play god. You can’t force society to be better by erasing what makes people different from each other. 

Upon further research, I discovered a Walden Two-inspired community was founded in Virginia in 1967. The Twin Oaks Intentional Community has since abandoned the use of behavioral methods, but they are still run by a Board of Planners like Walden Two. As in the book, no member of this community has more money than the others and they operate on labor credits. They also use a communal method of raising children. Twin Oaks seems to be a smaller-scale, more rustic interpretation of Skinner’s vision. Here are some pictures from their website, it actually reminds me of the camp I used to go to as a child.

 

Final Project: Willpower by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney

Reading the book "Willpower" was a huge eye opener for me. It was filled with experiments and ideas about how willpower works, and on a daily basis how people lose it in activities. Different peoples from parts of the world have willpower more so than other cultures from other parts in the world. A great example of this from the book is when you have alot of work to do in a semester and by the end you study so hard. As you study harder and harder you soon reach a point of exhaustion and some people will make statements like " I don't care what grade I get I just want to get this overwith". This is an example of a person losing the will to keep peaking in their performance.

Chapter 9 creates an interesting viewpoint about Asian peoples and narcissism. It seems as though considering Asian people have a strong emphasis on discipline and self control from an early age, narcissism doesn't seem to effect them like it does in the West. This is interesting to me considering I have done martial arts for several years and I too feel in control of myself and a lot more disciplined than the years I was not involved.

Chapter 8 there is a man named Eric Clapton who has a problem with substance abuse. In this particular case it seems he is distorting his realities in which he goes on binges drinking, snorting cocaine, using heroin and such. This goes on a on until he then checks himself into a clinic for treatment. After treatment he drives past a pub and at the time gave up the willpower to say "no" and had a beer on tap and from that point on he divulged himself into substance abuse once again. All along he had been contemplating suicide with a shotgun and would get messed up on drugs with a shotgun beside him as he thought. This goes to show that substance abuse is always a symptom of a much larger problem a person might have.

This book helped me in ways where I see that it takes "willpower" and acknowledging your circumstances through mindfulness to fix a problem. Now when I see and feel myself losing willpower and I can remind myself of everything I learned in this reading.