Mate Selection and Attraction - Post #2

Reading the PowerPoint slides about reproduction and mate selection really sparked my interest and I decided to look more into this topic. Something related that I found interesting was that birth control may actually alter who women are attracted to. Certain female hormones become activated and begin to take over while women are on the birth control pill, and this change in the body causes sexual/mate preference to be altered. Women on the pill have a higher and more consistent level of the hormone progesterone, and   this causes the body not to ovulate or have a need to be fertile, just like when a woman is pregnant. There is evidence that heterosexual women on the pill are more attracted to things like intelligence, kindness, and financial stability rather than a more muscular and physically attractive male. In addition, according to research done by Birnbaum et al., published in Evolutionary Psychological Science, women who are on the pill when the meet their partners and then stop taking the pill far along into the relationship, are more likely to fall out of love with their partner and suddenly find things like sex appeal and risky behavior more attractive (2019). They are also more prone to divorce. They go from being attracted to the nice intellectual guy with financial stability to the bad boy with less dependability, once they come off the pill. Due to this, these women who stop the pill during their long term relationship may be more likely to cheat on their partner. While more research on this subject still needs to be done, it is definitely interesting to think about in terms of what motivates mate selection!  

Interesting article in Psychology Today!: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/intimately-connected/201901/do-contraceptive-pills-affect-attraction

Reference

 Birnbaum, G. E., Zholtack, K., Mizrahi, M., & Ein-Dor, T. (2019). The Bitter Pill: Cessation of Oral Contraceptives Enhances the Appeal of Alternative Mates. Evolutionary Psychological Science, 5(3), 276–285. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-018-00186-6

Reinforcements and Punishments (post #3)

Throughout my college education I have learned a great deal about the concept of reinforcements and punishments. I understand that reinforcements increase the likelihood of a behavior, whereas punishments decrease the likelihood that a behavior with reoccur. However, reinforcements can be either positive or negative so long as they increase the likelihood of a certain behavior to occur. These concepts are great to know as we get older because it enables us to develop the idea that certain things have good or bad consequences. For example, if I was trying to teach my dog a new trick then I would reward her with a treat each time she did as she was instructed (i.e positive reinforcement). However, if my dog were to ignore me or get out of line then she would not receive the treat that had been originally presented ( I.e negative punishment). On the other hand, negative reinforcement would be if a parent were to take away a house hold chore as a reward for doing all of the other chores they were asked to do. One final example for positive punishment would be a parent spanking their child when they throw a tantrum. In this instance, the spanking is the thing being added to the mix in order to make the behavior (a tantrum) less likely to reoccur.

As we come to understand the difference between positive and negative reinforcement as well as positive and negative punishments, we will be more capable of influencing certain behaviors within others as a result. This concept also enables individuals to show others that actions come with consequences and that good motives often get rewarded, just as bad motives often come at a cost. Positive and negative punishments and reinforcements can be used in a variety of ways. For example, they can be used as a parent, within the classroom, as well as in the work place! An article that I found by Courtney E Ackerman illustrates a wide variety of ways in which these tactics can be used in different ways to produce the best results! Incentives tie into this concept of reinforcements and punishments because the incentive being presented in order to elicit a positive response must be desirable enough for an individual to go along with what is being asked of them. For example, if a parent wants their child to finish all of their homework before watching TV then they might provide the child with the reward of watching tv for a longer period of time, so long as they complete their assignments in a timely manner after school. Without a quality incentive, reinforcements may not always be successful. Therefore, it seems crucial for individuals to come up with specific and quality incentives in order to achieve their reinforcement efforts.

https://positivepsychology.com/positive-punishment/

Legal Psychoactive Drugs (Post #2)

 

    Although there are a few legal psychoactive drugs, all of them can definitely have dangerous side effects. These drugs exert a considerable influence on the cardiovascular system and behavioral mood state. Caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine are all legal substances that most people use to make themselves feel good. Caffeine is the most used psychoactive stimulant in the world. Caffeine is in your coffee, sodas, chocolates, and energy drinks. Caffeine makes a person feel awake, alert, and alive which is so why so many people drink coffee the second they roll out of bed. Caffeine can be addictive and people often begin to depend on it or experience withdrawal side effects. Alcohol is another psychoactive drug. Ethanol is the alcohol inside of a drink, when taken in low amounts it can produce euphoria and releases social inhibitions. When taken in large amounts, alcohol can make you feel pretty much the opposite. Leaving you feeling sick, in a low mood, and with a nasty hangover the next morning. Lastly, nicotine is a psychoactive drug in tobacco. It is highly addictive but smokers report that nicotine is mood-enhancing and relaxing.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3621324/

Good Gene Hypothesis (P-3)

The Good Gene Hypothesis suggests that the traits females choose when selecting a breeding mate are true indicators of a male partner’s ability to pass on genes that will increase the survival or reproductive success of their offspring. There are a couple of ways females naturally select mates with a better gene pool, with one being using body symmetry as a selection factor. Symmetry is when dual body parts on a human body are equivalent to each other. For example, if both of your wrists, ankles, and knees are pretty much equal in size to each other, it’s said that they are symmetrical. For a long time there has been a belief that body or facial symmetry can predict human health. There are two types of symmetry: low and high symmetry. Low symmetry is believed to be a predictor of poor genetics, low physical and mental health, as well as poor cognitive skill and IQ. On the other hand, it’s believed that high body symmetry is a good predictor that people will potentially have healthy offspring. It’s obvious that low symmetry is very difficult to detect by looking at a body with the naked eye, so, nature has given us the ability to smell one’s body symmetry. Of course it’s impossible to smell body symmetry off say a person’s wrist for example. However, it turns out that women can smell odors that result as an effect of physiological processes in men that have symmetrical bodies while they are in their fertile phase. A woman will be able to basically smell symmetry in a man. Also, women on their fertile phase rate the odor of more dominant males as sexier than the odors of less dominant males. Also, women in this phase rate the odor of more dominant males as sexier than the odors of less dominant males. A woman who is not currently in her fertile phase does not have these preferences though. So, if you are a male with high body symmetry, you are more likely to have luck finding a romantic partner, especially if she is in her fertile phase when you meet or are with her. 

 

https://youtu.be/5pJHj8sCDSQ

 

Incentives and Motivation - Post #1

 Incentives are defined as being any kind of external stimuli that motivates, drives, or influences someone to do something. After learning about reinforcers and punishers, as well as positive and negative incentives, in the class PowerPoints, I decided to do some more research on the importance of incentives and why they make a difference in terms of human motivation. One interesting example of incentives I discovered, while doing my research, is that of the transportation of prisoners from England to Australia in 1787. The captains on the ship were paid simply for taking each of the prisoners to Australia and it did not matter if the prisoners ended up dead or alive, the captains were paid the same wage. The captains on the ship treated the prisoners horribly and would beat them, starve them, and neglect their needs while they were on board. This obviously caused a great deal of unnecessary prisoner deaths. Even though the public was outright horrified, the clergy begged the captains to see the prisoners as real people just like them, and the British parliament created regulations that told the captains they had to treat the prisoners better, it was not until the reward (pay) was altered that the treatment of the prisoners improved. Rather than the captains being paid for simply taking the prisoners on the journey to Australia, they were now only being paid by the government for the amount of live prisoners that made it. This incentive completely changed the game and almost all of the prisoners were now being delivered safely to their destination. This example made me realize just how crucial incentives are to our motivation and behavior. In this case, money was the only incentive that could make a difference to the captains. 

In a personal example, my incentive for going to college is to become a child psychologist and be able to work with/help children who struggle with anxiety and depression. Before I had this goal and discovered my passion for child psychology, through teaching preschool, I had no real incentive or motivation for going to school and I did not care as much about my grades as I do now. I went from an average GPA in community college to a 4.0 GPA once I had the incentive and goal to one day be able to have a career as a child psychologist and earn a high pay, while being able to help children and adolescents with anxiety and depression. Had it not been for this incentive to help children psychologically, I may have dropped out of school or my grades may have gotten even worse. What I have learned from this course, about my own life, and about human behavior and motivation in general, is that incentives are everything and they matter greatly. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3z0Rxummxc

Food Preferences (P-2)

 Some of my favorite foods are fajitas, nachos, and burritos. They are my favorite foods because of the flavors they have from the array of ingredients in them and especially how they are cooked in restaurants. Typically the main ingredients in these dishes are beans, corn, tomatoes, and sometimes rice, along with some sort of meat like chicken or steak. Part of me liking this is due to the fact that humans are omnivorous, meaning they eat both plants and animals. 

 

One big reason to human eating habits is neophobia towards food. This is when people avoid new foods when offered or shown and stick to their old eating habits instead. I myself tend to exhibit this pattern as my son is vegan and whenever he tries to offer me a vegan meal or substitute to a food I eat regularly I typically decline his offer. I do not even want to try other non vegan foods like when my son and daughter tried to get me to eat vietnamese food and I refused. Another reason I may like to eat what I do is because of what my mother used to eat when I was an infant, being very similar to what I eat now as we are from the same culture and country. 

 

Another reason I prefer to eat the foods that I do is because of innate fat preference in humans. Many times I will go out to eat lunch or dinner and sometimes I will be at home eating ice cream or other junk foods as snacks, both leading to very high fat consumption in my diet. My eating patterns likely feed into this biological preference. However there is another side to my tastes, being conditioned food preferences, such as mere exposure effect, taste aversion, cephalic responses, and palatability. Mere exposure effect ties in with my preferences in that I have grown up eating these foods since I was young, especially the junk foods as they are higher in calories which is something that is biologically preferred over foods with lower calories. In relation to cephalic responses, my favorite foods usually come fresh off a grill at restaurants which causes them to give off an aroma that I’ve become so accustomed to and enjoy, making me like those foods even more (such as fajitas). Even the palatability of food is a major factor as many of the foods I eat are very flavorful and I tend to not eat foods that are very bland as they do not appeal to me.

 

A final reason that can account for my eating habits and preferences is stress. Stress can make one eat more than they usually do in order to cope as their body thinks that they are in some sort of danger or serious issue that makes them need more calories. At the same time, I work a full time job and must also balance college alongside it, meaning that I deal with very high stress at times and that I will go for easier foods such as ice cream as I mentioned before. Even at movie theaters though, certain movies like horror ones will induce stress, making viewers more inclined to eat or drink snacks like popcorn and soda. This is especially common in those that place a cognitive restraint on their eating as stress will make this restraint fail and ultimately lead to the person straying off their usual eating patterns.

Overall, eating habits and preferences is a somewhat complex subject. It can be caused either by learning them or from biological factors, however it can also be caused by both which makes them more ingrained within the person. These factors lead a person to develop their unique taste as well as determine what they eat on a daily basis. They will even cause the person to likely avoid certain foods as they are not familiar with them and do not feel comfortable eating them even when offered. 

https://youtu.be/ogvv6EDhHhU

Impulsivity & Self Control (Post #1)

      

    Willpower is defined as control exerted to do something or restrain impulses. Many people believe their lives would be drastically improved if they had more willpower. Lack of willpower is often the reason people fail to reach their goals. Quitting smoking and restraining from junk food are two very good examples of things that take strong willpower. The temptation is often so strong to light that cigarette or eat that cheeseburger, so many people cannot meet their goals. The secret to gaining strong willpower is to train your mind. Avoiding triggers, starting small, and giving yourself an incentive or reward are just a few ways you can improve your willpower. Willpower is a mind game but it most definitely can be improved and you can become mentally tough. 

https://www.apa.org/topics/personality/willpower

Tonic Immobility and PTSD

     Tonic immobility is a subconscious response to fear in which the body freezes behavior and enters an unresponsive, unmoving state (Wynkoop, 2017). For animals, tonic immobility can be useful because it tricks the predator into thinking that it is dead and, as a result, the predator looses interest (Ruxton, 2006). Humans enter a state of tonic immobility when the body assesses that resisting the inescapable threat would increase the risk of suffering. While this prevents the person from escaping the dangerous situation, this "freeze response" is a subconscious defense response that the individual has no control over (Wynkoop, 2017) While tonic immobility is still being researched, cumulative clinical evidence shows an association between tonic immobility and the severity of post traumatic stress disorder.

    Systematic studies using retrospective reports, objective biological recordings, and biological indicators using posturography and electrocardiography have observed a correlation between peritraumatic tonic immobility and the severity of PTSD (Norte, 2019). Additionally, an increasing amount of studies evaluating the effects on cardiac defense response provide evidence suggesting that some PTSD patients may be evoked to re-experience tonic immobility episodes in daily life (Volchan, 2011). Tonic immobility has been observed in soldiers in battle and sexual assault survivors. A recent study by "Emergency Clinic for Rape Victims in Stockholm" found that the majority of female sexual assault victims did not fight back and experienced tonic immobility. The study also reported that the victims who experienced tonic immobility were three times as likely to be depressed for the months following the assault and twice as likely to suffer PTSD (Russo, 2017). Not only is this research important for the treatment of PTSD patients, but it will also help protect sexual assault victims who experience tonic immobility from being queried by the police and court for not fighting back and from victim blaming. 

    

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01213/full 

https://mcasa.org/newsletters/article/trauma-and-the-brain-understanding-tonic-immobility 

https://www.nature.com/articles/440880a 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21693167/ 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sexual-assault-may-trigger-involuntary-paralysis/

The choices we make

 One of the topics that we discuss in this course that resonated with me is the idea that individuals frequently go through a choice overload. A choice overload occurs when too many choices are present in the decision-making process. I feel that this idea really got me thinking because I feel that I frequently cannot make up my mind when I am presented with a multitude of choices! Although I do feel that I am slowly improving on my decision making skills, I believe that this is a major issue amongst individuals everywhere. For instance, an individual is presented with a wide variety of food choices to pick from for dinner but each option is just as appealing as the next. This individual must make a decision on which entree they would prefer the most in a relatively timely manner. If this individual does not make a decision, they risk not eating dinner. On the other hand, If they end up not liking the entree that they chose then they still risk not eating dinner. That being said, decision making has many factors that go into an individual’s final choice and their choices are not always the best option.  

This concept also brings me to the topic of regret.  An individual may feel regret when they reflect on rejected opportunities. In reference to my previous example, the individual who had to make a decision on which dinner to eat may later reflect on the other choices they had and in turn regretting their final choice. However,  I believe that regret is a silly concept because how can one regret doing something that they at one point had a desire to do? Overall,  I feel that these concepts really got me to think about all of the different choices we as human beings have to make on a daily basis. One final example that  I would like to note is that in the book “Endurance”, Shackleton had to make numerous decisions on his journey across Antarctica from deciding on where to camp, whether or not to keep their dogs, or even whether or not to take a certain path. Shackleton is a wonderful example of the tough choices that we must make on a daily basis and he demonstrates how hard it can be to make those decisions. 

https://www.psafinancial.com/2017/05/shackletons-leadership-lessons-bottom-world/

Food Neophobia and Mukbangs

     While picky eating is characterized by only eating a small selection of foods due to the refusal of eating many familiar or unfamiliar foods, food neophobia is the fear of eating new of unfamiliar foods. Evolutionary history shows that food neophobia has protected humans from eating harmful foods that may cause sickness (Bowden, 2014). However, for individuals with food neophobia, encountering unfamiliar foods can cause severe anxiety or panic (Holland, 2019). Thanks to the rise of social media such as Youtube, a coping strategy that can help treat food neophobia is now accessible and popular. Mukbangs are videos or live-streams that broadcast an individual eating a large amount of food for their virtual audience. Originating in South Korea, the term loosely translates to "eating broadcast" (Braithwaite, 2019). For individuals with food neophobia, watching Mukbangs when eating meals can help reshape their perspective toward food. 

    Eating food is a sensory experience that involves a visual aspect (Braithwaite, 2019). Seeing food that looks delicious can cause feelings of hunger or a craving for that specific food. For people with food neophobia, watching Mukbangs of someone eating food that looks good can motivate them to feel hungry or want to try that specific food. Another way watching Mukbangs while eating may help individuals overcome food neophobia is the exposure to a positive eating experience which reinforces the idea that eating foods can be enjoyable. Seeing someone happily enjoying their food in a Mukbang video can associate positive feelings with eating food and therefore, help reshape their relationship with food (Bedingfield, 2021). 

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/vicarious-eating 

https://www.self.com/story/is-it-weird-that-i-love-to-watch-mukbangers-eat-on-youtube 

https://www.healthline.com/health/cibophobia#complications 

https://www.healthyfood.com/advice/fussy-eaters-when-should-you-worry/ 

Instant Gratification and Sleep Procrastination

     Instant gratification refers to the tendency of choosing less rewarding behaviors for immediate satisfaction over behaviors that produce a better future benefit (Ackerman, 2011). Instant gratification delays or prevents an individual from meeting their long term goals even when they are aware the future benefits outweigh the short-term benefits. The inability to resist instant gratification temptations derives from personal problems with self-control. For example, impulsiveness makes delaying gratification when tempted difficult. Another self-control issue that can make instant gratification harder to resist is anticipation. Humans prefer to anticipate positive things but not negative things; this makes choosing discomfort over instant satisfaction difficult (Ackerman, 2011). A consequence of engaging in instant gratification is procrastination. 

    With the rise of social media and cell phones, a phenomenon called "revenge sleep procrastination" is occurring due to the instant gratification of screen time. In 2014, the behavioral scientist Dr. Floor Kroese described bedtime procrastination as choosing to go to bed later than intended without a valid reason (Cohut, 2021). A study done in 2020 found that adults were choosing to watch videos, text, or scroll on social media instead of sleeping. One of the driving forces behind revenge sleep procrastination is having to resist one's desires to do enjoyable things during the day due to work or school and, as a result, engaging in those activities at night. Choosing the instant gratification of screen time over sleep prevents an individual from obtaining quality sleep which can negatively impact mood regulation, cardiovascular health, inflammation, productivity, and mental health (Cohut, 2021).

https://positivepsychology.com/instant-gratification/ 

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/revenge-bedtime-procrastination-a-plight-of-our-times 

Psychoactive Drugs (P-1)

 Psychoactive drugs are chemical substances that alter mood and behavior. Thousands of people use some type of psychoactive drugs to alter their mood, emotions, and thoughts. Some people use these drugs to for medical pursposes, others use them for recreational purpuses, whereas some are just addicted to these drugs. Some drugs are more addictive and potent than others, and some are illegal in some states while others are not. Today, I will be commenting on two very common drugs in American and even global culture.

 

Legal drugs are those than are not forbidden by the law and can be purchased in any convience store, such as caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol. Caffeine is the psychoactive drug that is used the most worlwide. Caffeine comes from many natural sources, such as coffee beans, tea leaves, and cacao beans. Because it comes from different sources, it can be made readily available and it makes it easy to produce variouse type of beverages with it. I personaly stop at wawa and buy a 16 ounce cup of coffee. I notice that it is the drink of choice in the morning. Coffee does wake a person up, makes them energetic and alert. Even though it is legal, drinking it continously for some time can be very addictive, so I can see why is the most popular Psychoactive drug.

                                                      

Alcohol is another psychoactive drug that is very popular. Alocohol is also known as ethanol. The process of making alcohol is done when yeast ferments the sugars of grains, fruits, and vegetables. It seems that alcohol is one of the few drugs that is part of mass culture. Most adults in the USA have consumed alcohol at one point in their lives. Since it’s socially acceptable, people drink alcohol in the form of wine, beer, and hard liquor. Some people drink alcohol over dinner or when they are socializing. Others use it to wind down from a long day of work. Beer, I believe, is drank by all age groups, especially when they go to a bar. Alcohol in any form does change one’s mood, emotions, feelings, and thoughts. It also makes people do things they otherwise would not do; since alcohol impares judgement and the nervous system,  it causes agression in people. 

 

Users of Psychoactive drugs can become addicts and dependent on these drugs, with it happening in some people more than others due to genetic disposition, enviroment, and culture. Over time, the body builds a tolerance towards the drug(s) and an individual can become dependent on them, even facing withdrawals if they try to stop use.

 

https://youtu.be/6EghiY_s2ts

Self control (Post #3)

 

One of nature's wonders is the human mind's ability to change its own reactions. It is a necessary basis for culture, growth, achievement, morality, and personal success. The capacity to control one's emotions and conduct is an important element of executive function, which is the set of abilities that allows an individual to plan, monitor, and achieve goals. People employ self-control to resist their wants and urges. For example, weight loss. People with higher self-control often consume less calories, are more mindful of their eating choices, and acquire less weight over time. People with poor self-control, on the other hand, are more likely to overeat and gain weight. Avoiding triggers is key, avoid circumstances where you know you will be confronted with temptation. For example, if you're tempted to consume junk food, avoid fast food places and skip the snacks. Genetics have no bearing on self-control. It is motivated by information and a desire for better health and/or body image. Self-control can alter over time as a result of new information, greater understanding, and societal standards.

https://www.pnas.org/content/108/7/2639

https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/60844

Caffeine addiction (Post #2)

 

As I reviewed the lecture slides of addiction, I didn't realize how powerful and also popular caffeine is in this world. As I am also a coffee lover, it was interesting to learn how addiction works, especially with coffee. Caffeine is used by the majority of individuals in the United States, whether in coffee, soda, energy drinks, or chocolate. People can easily get addicted to coffee and other caffeinated beverages. Caffeine tolerance develops in the same way as it does with other drugs or alcohol. Caffeine users who consume the drug on a regular basis get used to the wake-up effect it causes, and progressively demand greater doses to acquire the same “caffeine fix.” Caffeine is addictive due to the way it affects the human brain and provides the alert sensation that individuals seek. 

However, there are negative sides to caffeine. Such as if it is taken within six hours of bedtime, it can potentially harm your health by interfering with your sleep. Caffeine is also known to increase anxiety; these effects may become more apparent with greater dosages, resulting in nervousness and anxiousness. Another problem is digestive issues, as caffeine appears to promote bowel motions through boosting peristalsis, or the contractions that transport food through the digestive system. And lastly addiction, despite all of caffeine's health advantages, there's no doubting that it may become daily ritual.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3777290/

 

Eating (Post #1)

 Every day, people participate in eating behavior as a necessity of survival. However, overweight, obesity, and other bad health problems are on the rise all across the world...

 

Eating habits are often affected by a variety of factors, including environmental, biological, and cultural influences. Feelings of anxiety or concern over body form or weight can lead to disordered eating behaviors, which impair normal body composition and function. Eating is motivated by biological signals such as hunger, but the rest of eating is motivated by psychological variables such as cognitions, hedonics, emotions, and our perception of our environment.  To help block this form of action, a trick that can help prevent unnecessary eating is to drink water. Drinking a glass of water before searching for anything to eat can help to reduce unnecessary snacking.Water can assist to fill up stomach space, resulting in a sensation of fullness and a decrease in appetite. Drinking at least 3 glasses of water on an empty stomach can also lower the amount of acidity in your stomach, reducing the frequency of cramps. This comes with many other health benefits such as boosting your immune system, detox your body, and improve your overall health

https://www.drinkoptimum.com/how-drinking-water-can-help-control-your-appetite/

https://speakingofwomenshealth.com/health-library/the-psychology-of-eating

Good Gene Hypothesis of Reproduction

Before approaching anybody, most people judge others by their appearance. This is almost an innate feature in the human mind. The reason that this judgment exists is because it is used for reproductive purposes. The more attractive a person is, the more likely they are to reproduce healthy children. 

This is something that can be seen through different cultures around the world. One of the more common features found attractive in all cultures is symmetry. 

The human brain likes when things are evenly distributed. Because of that even distribution across the face, people who have more symmetrical faces are seen to be more attractive when compared to those with asymmetrical ones. 

Attractiveness also is believed to be correlated with the person's health, the more attractive the person the healthier they are. When looking for mates, this will allow women to find men that will provide healthy genes for their offspring, and vice versa. This process goes along with the Good Gene Hypothesis.

The Decision

 The decision to leave 22 men whose lives and health Shackleton almost maniacally cared for and preserved for over a year, must have been gut and heart-wrenching. At the same time, it was the one and only choice he could have made — no way he was sending someone else to sail on a tiny boat through the Drake Passage — one of the most dangerous bodies of water on Earth. At the end of the day, it was his responsibility to get help for the men that enlisted for his expedition. Who knows, maybe the fact that it was him that left on the Caird was the one factor that allowed people stuck on the Elephant Island to believe that they will be fine — after all, the Boss simply cannot fail.

In addition to that, Shackleton did not leave them without a plan in place. He designated Wild to take charge and created a contingency plan for the next crew to sail to Deception Island in case of his and his companions' failure. This allowed men to keep hope and not give up when no rescue ships were to be seen from the elevated spots of the Elephant Island. The fate of his crew must have been on Shackleton's mind constantly, providing extra drive for this almost suicide mission. His sense of responsibility was like a never-ending source of energy, supplying that extra push even in the hardest, coldest and darkest moments of the trip towards South Georgia, eventually allowing them to reach the whaling station — a feat that seems extremely improbable. Just reading the description of Shackleton introducing himself to Sorlle created an exceptionally emotional response in me, and I cannot even imagine what the 22 inhabitants of the Patience Camp must have felt when they saw the stocky figure of the Boss coming for them onboard the Yelcho. He never gave up, and used all the resources available, even if it meant literally harassing foreign governments for help. Well done, Sir — now rest in peace with fair winds and following seas.

The Tents

 Sir Ernest Shackleton had a knack for quickly recognizing personality types — a trait of almost every great leader. His uncanny ability to navigate not only the high seas and treacherous mountains but the pitfalls of personal quarrels just as well, was indispensable for the survival of the crew.

Tent assignments might seem like a trivial task, and you could use so many physical metrics to guide your decision — size of the people assigned, for example, to ensure as much comfort as possible. But Shackleton paid attention to something more ephemeral — personalities. His decision to assign all the possible troublemakers to his tent was nothing but a stroke of genius. And he went even further, often sacrificing his personal beliefs and comfort, just to keep the rabble-rousers content. Padding egos was not easy for someone of his stature and experience, but he understood that it is a sacrifice that has to be made for the greater good.

As someone who completed two full deployments onboard a US Navy vessel, I know from experience how important it is to establish proper crews — a task we would deliberate with leadership for weeks before the beginning of the deployment just to ensure a smooth beginning in the most trying times of the early weeks of the cruise. 

I cannot even begin to imagine how crucial it was to the survival when stuck on floes in one of the most dangerous places in the world. But once again, Shackleton did not lose his cool, and managed to spin the situation in a way that ensured the least possible amount of friction.

The Ad

 

    When making plans for the Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914, Ernest Shackleton was already an established and savvy explorer who knew the tastes of both victory and a demoralizing defeat. He has been beaten by Amundsen to be the first person to reach the South Pole, and he set his sights on completing the feat of being the first to cross the continent of Antarctica, from the Weddell Sea, through the pole, all the way to the Ross Sea. He understood that the expedition will be extremely hard and dangerous, and did not obscure that fact in his newspaper advertisement that called for perspective members. And this stroke of his leadership genius might be what allowed all the men to survive, sans one foot of poor Blackboro. 

If Shackleton picked his men based on their intellectual merit or skills, who knows if there would be enough motivation and spirit between them to power through what seems like 17 months in the frozen hell. Shackleton's decision to choose men driven by the spirit of adventure rather than monetary or personal gains might have been the most important one, and the now famous newspaper ad allows us a glimpse into how leadership genius can express itself in just a few words.

Food Preferences (post #1)

 The idea that infants can develop preferences for specific food from what their mother happens to eat while pregnant and/or breast feeding is quite interesting. Upon reading through the "Food" power-point, I was able to learn a great deal about how individual's grow to like certain foods over others. For example, when my mother was pregnant with me she told me that she would crave chocolate constantly and growing up I have always loved anything chocolate. To this day my favorite sweet treat is anything chocolate, such as chocolate ice cream, chocolate covered pretzels or apples. Although I am aware that there is a correlation between what a mother eats throughout her pregnancy and what the child prefers to eat, I still find it intriguing to learn about the science behind this theory. Human beings not only have an innate preference for specific foods, they also have learned preferences for different foods. 

For example, when an individual is exposed to a specific type of food on multiple occasions then they are more likely to desire that specific food (as long as they enjoy the specific food choice). I also understand that food often tastes better when an individual is hungry rather than when they are not as hungry. I have experienced this before when I ate a salad from my work when I was hungry versus when I was not so hungry. When I ate the salad when I was hungry, it was delicious but when I ate that same salad when I was not very hungry, that same salad was not very good at all. Overall, I find the concept of human beings food preferences to be a quite interesting topic.