Self-Control

 

Self-control is yet another issue that hit’s home for all of us and we defiantly can relate to it as described in our class. We marry it up to our everyday concerns all of the time, whether is overeating, under eating, smoking or trying to quit smoking, these are the impulses that are positive and negative, that conflict with our outcomes and not an issue of willpower. One classical example that I read in our class slides was that of “Ulysses and The Sirens” a beautiful classic example cited from Greek Mythology. Greek Mythology has given us plenty examples of self- control and this one is my favorite. Basically, I will try to summarize it in a short paragraph. Odysseus and the sirens also known as Ulysses was a respected warrior who is returning to home, it is a war he never wants to fight but his concern comes from an oracle’s prophecy that if he fights, his post war journey home will take a really long time. In retrospect he ends up fighting in the Trojan war and becomes a hero. The sirens are then introduced into the tale and what the sirens want is to really kill all and any humans. What transposes from this are techniques that are used from Ulysses and his crew members aboard his ship that practice self-control and hinder these attacks off. It’s best to read our class slide https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1t8RNaXnCnL1F9IClxiwed8IF2S67yXHiTRAXxCtFjeg/edit#slide=id.g2a7a18e1e_0105 https://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Odysseus-and-the-Sirens to really enjoy the magic of the demonstrated reason behind self-control as an example of ancient Greek Mythology and the relation to our current understanding of it, being Self-Control.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

 An example from our class relating to empathy and compassion is the voyage of Ernest Shackleton and his crew who set off to concur the Antarctic. My experience in reading this book was that I had a lot of Empathy, Compassion, and was astonished about the huge amount of motivation that was portrayed in this book “Endurance”, and adventure that he undertook. To sum it up he had a passion of a goal and shared this with 27 men that he led, and although he was motivated in a sense that I would take as being mostly positive, there were at times, almost all of the time that he was endangering the entire crew with his motivation for doing so. But at the same time Ernest Shackleton could never be accused of this because of his positive empathy and compassion for all of his crew, and to me is an example of a brave and caring leader on this voyage. And related to Motivation on a positive level, what he and his crew put on the table is and has been beyond to this date in an example that we in a future social society could never imagine for its real meaning of motivation. Let us face it, in my world with my Motivation as I see I would have never lasted a week on this voyage, let alone would have been at any extent what Ernest Shackleton and his crew were with Endurance, Motivation, compassion, and what Empathy is all about in that time of history! Please share any thoughts as a class with me about this and thanks for listening!

Healing From Spouse's Substance Abuse

In general, relationships thrive and rely on trust, communication, respect, and commitment. However, when a romantic partner has a substance abuse problem it affects many of these key components. Not only does it affect the relationship, but it also affects the partner who is not addicted. Whether the couple divorce or not, one thing remains, the trauma of the partner who had to endure and witness the substance abuse of their partner. It’s an exhausting and draining journey they have had to endure, that it’s normal that they need time to heal from their spouse’s addiction. Some ways to heal from their trauma is by seeking counseling services, establishing clear and healthy boundaries with their spouse or ex-spouse, showing some self-compassion, taking the time to do some self-care routines, and seeking supportive friends and family members. It may take them time to heal, but they deserve it after all they have had to endure.

Drug Addiction

When people start out doing drugs, they start either smoking marijuana, taking pills, or trying something that may have been laced with something else. A lot of people start to think that what they're doing isn't enough anymore. That's where they try hard core drugs such as heroin, coke, meth, etc. Unfortunately, a lot of the times people become very addicted after their first time trying it. Some people may be curious on what it feels like and before you know it their hooked on it. I feel that a lot of people don't get the help they need, nor do they want help. They know they have a problem but don't want to do anything about it. They're not only affecting themselves, but also affecting everyone else around them as well. I think we should take addiction more seriously and talk about it more. It's very sad to say how many people are addicted to drugs. A guy I went to high school with that a bad heroin addiction, and it started out as smoking marijuana and drinking. Until he started doing coke and eventually moved onto heroin. He had just died about a year ago. He was so nice and friendly and it's a shame addiction had gotten to him. 

Against Empathy Book Report

Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion by Paul Bloom explores aspects of empathy, as well as its pros and cons.  The author is clearly against empathy.  He acknowledges that, generally, people think that being against empathy is inherently wrong.  However, it is important to look at things from different perspectives.  For example, empathy has different definitions depending on who you ask.

A key point is that people tend to be inherently selfish and irrational.  Also, empathy can expose our biases.  Another argument against empathy is that other things cause good actions besides empathy.  These include self-satisfaction and appearing respectable.  Furthermore, empathy can have intended consequences that are detrimental down the road (Bloom, 2016).

My favorite topic to read about in the book involved consequentialism.  Bloom states that “One way to try to be good and do good is to attend to the consequences of one’s actions” (Bloom, 2016).  Unfortunately, he also points out that humans are not the best at doing this.  We often do not think things through enough.  Even a simple kind act – such as giving money to a homeless person – can spiral and cause bad outcomes.  

In class, we covered extrinsic motivation and intrinsic value.  People want to feel good, to feel rewarded for their actions.  In the book, it is mentioned that people often do nice – supposedly empathic – things because of the reward: they will feel better about themselves, others will look at them in a better light, etc.  

Currently, the situation involving Ukraine is devastating.  Some are eager to donate.  Others do good by spreading awareness on apps like Tik Tok.  One way to boost donations is a tactic suggested in the book: use rationality to get people to show empathy.  For example, people are more likely to donate when they’re donating to one person instead of thousands, the recipient is a child, the recipient is someone they care about already, and if the recipient is cute (this is specifically the case with animals but can apply to humans).  So, those collecting money for those struggling in Ukraine might benefit from showing pictures of suffering children in their advertisements.  We can even test this by simply showing a picture.  Who would you rather help in a time of need: a cute pouting child with tears in their eyes, or the man a few cubicles away from you in the office?

  

Bloom, P. (2016). Against empathy: The case for rational compassion. Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

- Jennifer Guallpa

Procrastination

 Procrastination is one of the biggest things that I have struggled with when going to school. Procrastination is such a bad thing that I've gotten to do from going to school because I've become lazy and always tell myself I'll do it later or I have time. When it comes to a point that I leave things until last minute and wonder why I'm stressed. Procrastination is such a bad habit to get out of. It has affected my life negatively when it comes to schoolwork. Over time, I have realized that I shouldn't be doing this to myself because in the end the only person I'm hurting is myself. I've learned to organize my schoolwork better and use my notes to plan out the days I'm going to do homework and it has helped a lot. I want to be able to learn more things on how to help myself, so I don't keep struggling with doing a lot of work last minute. 

Self Control

 Dealing with self-control is very hard for everyone. Having self-control can mean to know when to control yourself with your own emotions, or desires that may not be the best for you. It's in order to avoid bad habits that may start to occur. For example, I know when it comes to food, I don't have any self-control. I want to eat what I enjoy but I know the food I eat isn't the best for me. I believe that you have to train your brain to tell yourself you don't necessarily "need" that craving. It's all in your head. There are a few ways you can teach yourself self-control such as avoiding your temptations, plan things to avoid, focus on one goal at a time, and practice using self-control to improve your will power. 

Procrastination

Procrastination is something we all have encountered multiple times in our lives, but what happens when we can’t stop? Unfortunately, there are many negative consequences when we can’t stop and some of the reasons why people tend to procrastinate are because their goals are unreasonable, they have a fear failure, and they struggle with perfectionism. I honestly believe that it is easy to construct goals for ourselves that are unreasonable because we may struggle with structure in our lives that one may not notice when a goal is unattainable. The fear of failure is an interesting reason for someone to procrastinate because people who use this reason use it as a coping mechanism to protect themselves from failure. It’s an interesting coping mechanism because it’s really just harming them and not helping them to believe in their self. Now, people who struggle with perfectionism are also harming themselves because no matter how many times they fix something again, they will not feel satisfied with their result, and it makes them look like procrastinators in the end.

The Mere Exposure Effect

 The mere exposure effect is something that a lot of people can relate to and may not even realize. This is when people tend to be more fond of things that they are familiar and comfortable with rather than unfamiliar with. This can relate to a large range of things whether it be food, people or places. For example, people can be hesitant to try foods that may not be in the norm in their culture or that they have never seen before. If they begin to try that food they may think its okay the first time and then the second time it will be slightly better an the more a person can get accustomed and familiar with a food they will enjoy it more. Another example could be relating to people. Lets say you meet a new coworker and at first you guys are just acquaintances, but as you guys work more and more together and get more comfortable with one another they will tend to develop a relationship. I think this is very interesting due to the fact that it can happen subconsciously and can happen in everyday scenarios.
 

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance Book Report

 

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

    Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, written by Angela Duckworth, is a book that details how grit can help people achieve their goals with passion and perseverance. In her book, she interviewed many folks like Bill Gates and conducted studies using a grit scale and questionnaires. In each chapter, she explains how each factor is linked to grit, such as parenting, purpose, practice, passion, and hard work, by providing examples throughout the book. 

My favorite part of this book is when she explains that talent is virtually useless without hard work because most hardworking people can rise to the same level of greatness. For example, my favorite was about Scott Barry Kaufman’s backstory because he mentioned that he had a lot of ear infections as a kid and could not process information from sound; he had a learning disability. However, when he grew older, he played the cello and was determined that he would improve his cello skills. He earned a seat in his high school orchestra and did well in his honors classes. He auditioned for the opera program since it didn’t focus on test scores. He took a psychology course as an elective and chose psychology as his minor. He transferred from opera to psychology and graduated Phi Beta Kappa (Duckworth, 2016, p. 31-34). 

I like this book section because it informs the reader that focusing on talent distracts us from something worth more. I also have a couple learning disabilities and I take a long time to understand new material.  I used strategies such as asking a tutor to help view my papers for feedback, asking a ton of questions to my professors when I am not understanding the material, I do my assignments in order based on their due dates and exercise to help me feel less overwhelmed.  I may not be very talented but I have a lot of grit because I have a lot of support from my parents, I follow my passion and I want to graduate. 

I experienced times when I felt like I was procrastinating because I felt stressed. For example,  in my Painting I class, I asked my professor about how I was doing in his class. He told me my grade average was a C after doing poorly on a previous art project. He told me that if I improved on my final project, I would pass with a B. However, the last assignment was a self-portrait which made me feel stressed. I began to work on my assignment and took my time each work day. Then I asked my professor and some students for feedback on how to improve my self-portrait. However, I was stuck when the due date got closer because I didn’t understand my professor’s feedback. I solved my problem by asking one of my classmates to show me what the professor wanted so I could get a decent grade. On the due date, I texted one of my classmates to help put the finishing touches on my self-portrait. At the end of the semester, I earned a B minus, but I was proud of it; instead of procrastinating, I learned to have self-control. 

The book provides a couple scenarios about how students can understand that they do not need talent to become successful. Instead, they should focus on their passions, work hard, and ask for help.  The book can provide a different perspective for college students struggling in their classes. The book made me feel less alone and that we all struggle with classes and life in general. 

TEDxBlue - Angela Lee Duckworth, Ph.D - 10/18/09

Here is a Ted talk link to view the author's view on Grit and why it's important

https://youtu.be/qaeFnxSfSC4

New York, NY: Scribner. Duckworth, Angela, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. New York, NY: Scribner, 2016.

TEDxTalks. (2009, November 12). TEDxBlue - Angela Lee Duckworth, ph.D - 10/18/09. YouTube. Retrieved August 1, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaeFnxSfSC4 

Psychoactive Drugs

 Drugs are all around us in the world and we do not even realize it. A psychoactive drugs is something that can "affect how the brain works and causes changes in mood, awareness, thoughts, feelings, or behaviors." When you think of drugs, many of us think of illegal substances however, caffeine and nicotine are legal drugs. Caffeine is the most common psychoactive drug because it can "speed up your breathing, heart rate, thoughts, and actions." If often makes people feel more awake and alert throughout their day. People who drink caffeine, whether it is coffee, soda, or energy drinks often feel more on top of things and like they are more ready to take on what the day brings. This causes them to feel the need to always have caffeine in their systems on a daily. "at least 80% of the adult population consumes caffeine in amounts large enough to have an effect of the brain." 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9889511/

https://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/infosheet/learn-about-caffeine

Stress Eating

 As a college student, we are all stressed. According to the Cleveland Clinic, when someone is stressed their bodies sends out Cortisol, which makes you crave sugar, fat, and salt. This causes your brain to fuel up to fight what your body thinks is causing the stress. Many people over eat when they are stressed because this mind and body function. This leads to many busy or stressed people grabbing salty or fatty foods to suppress their hungry or stress causing them to overeat and not make healthy choices. I thought this was so interesting because we often see that obesity is a big issue in America and this can be linked to stress and fast paced careers or life in general. 

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-stress-can-make-you-eat-more-or-not-at-all/

The Power of Habits book report

    The Power of Habits is a motivational novel written by Charles Duhigg. In this book he discusses why habits exist in the first place, and what we can do to change those already existing habits. We all can be held down by lingering and nonproductive habits, but the hardest part is breaking them once they've already been made. Duhigg teaches us new approaches and outlooks on how to change be a new person and discover how successful you can be once these habits are broken. 

  One of my favorite discussions from this book was in Chapter 5. In this chapter, Duhigg discussed Travis and how by simply getting a job at Starbucks, he was able to turn his life completely around from being a child of drug addicts. Starbucks really focused on his willpower and self-control of his anger. I think this is so important and other companies should follow suit. Travis' IQ level or education was not a factor in whether or not he could be a functioning and hardworking employee at Starbucks. With the difficulties and trouble he had gone through with drugs, having this job really helped push him forward in the right direction. Duhigg then talked about willpower and if you turn it into an automatic habit, it could only work in your favor. 

  This book relates to this class in many ways. Throughout it, it discusses motivation itself, willpower, self-control, rewards, and more. Many things can be tied back to the discussions in this class. The habits that can be broken simply by having self-control and motivation are something that was highlighted throughout The Power of Habits. In class, we were able to discuss and see the psychology behind all these topics. So it was very interesting to see how they correlate to everyday life as well. 

This video discusses the development of habits and had some very interesting takes. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TalIDzwr2Ps 

Post3 Arousal and Perfomance

Arousal is referred to the state of alertness and excitement which impacts how well one can complete a task. Depending on the task arousal can either benefit the efficiency in which someone completes a task or harms the efficiency. According to the Yerkes-Dodson Law, the inverted U-model displays how stimulation increases so does performance, optimal arousal is reached but then begins to decline as arousal keeps growing. The zone of optimal functioning is an idea in sports psychology that every individual has a unique optimal U curve.

Complex tasks vs easy tasks require a different level of arousal to best perform. The Hull-Spence Drive Theory says that in easy tasks the correct response is greater than the incorrect because arousal amplifies the difference allowing them to perform better. In contrast, difficult tasks will have weaker correct responses than incorrect responses. The arousal is so high in difficult tasks incorrect responses became stronger.

The Cusp Catastrophe Model says that cognitive and physical arousal engage to swiftly alter ones performance. While someone is at the cusp of their U curve their cognitive performance is optimal but when arousal continues catastrophe ensues.

I found this subject to be very insightful when it comes to performing in high pressure situations. It's a great reminder to always stay calm and not stress in order to best execute. I am a waitress and sometimes it is very busy and overwhelming; the more I stress the more I have anxiety, resulting in mistakes. When I stay calm and collected, I perform much more efficiently 

post2 Drug use and personality dispositions

Different personality dispositions are related to individuals drug experimentation, use, and addiction. 

Impulsiveness can be described as the tendency to act without thought and with no awareness of consequences. Impulsiveness is a character disposition that can make someone more susceptible to drug use. Those with this trait have a higher sensitivity to the effects of drugs and less recognition to the consequences. They will have less self-control and be more likely to get into the pattern of drug use resulting in addiction

Reward deficiency is another major personality disposition that can result in drug addiction. Reward deficiency refers to the brain being less sensitive to dopamine. When dopamine is released people feel a sense of meaning and pleasure, and many people can achieve this reward simply by doing physical activities, spending time with someone they love, spending time in nature, listening to music, etc. Those with reward deficiency do not feel that fulfillment from ordinary pleasurable activities. Because their brain is less sensitive to dopamine, they will seek more intense pleasures like drug use. 

This YouTube video by Dr. Todd Grande talks about impulsivity and its negative impact on an individual's behaviors. Dr. Todd says drug use is the first disorder commonly discussed when speaking of impulsivity. Not only does this video go more in-depth as to why impulsivity can lead to drug use, it also touches upon sensation seeking aligning with reward deficiency. Furthermore, it directly relates to this class in a broader view because it narrows in on impulsivities relation to ones motivation, negative habits, and personality traits.

https://youtu.be/xwmNiKAXCEw 

Book Report

 The book I chose to read was "The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg". This book provides examples of different types of habits people have and how they are able to overcome them. He then, had come up with a 3-step loop: cue, routine, and reward. He also talks about different types of habits we all may experience and gives advice on how to stop them whether they are good or bad. He talks about how habits start, and once they start, they can be stopped. 

My favorite part of the book was just giving life examples of how everyone overcame their habits. For example, my favorite was about Travis who had struggled with anger management, had drug addict parents, and couldn't keep a job. Finally, he wanted to get his life together and found a job at Starbucks. This was where he turned his life completely around because he was tired of going through the same old habits all the time. I thought that this was very inspiring. Although he had suffered with his anger problems, and his parents struggling as well, he wanted to do better for himself. 

I thought this book was a great example that related to this course. In the course it talks about complex schedules. A lot of the times, we fall into bad habits because of our crazy schedules whether it be work, school, hobbies, etc., many people struggle to find time into doing that's most important. They are unable to do what they want to do. Sometimes, we may not be able to make time for things that we really want to do. We may become lazy or tired. This is where the bad habits occur. Since we are used to a hectic schedule, it may be hard to balance everything. This can relate to the book because it talks about how we fall into habits because we are used to them but sometimes, they aren't good for our physical or mental health. 

After reading this book, I felt that I've related to habits I've had in the past or even now. We all struggle with different habits whether they may be good or bad. For example, I used to go get iced coffee every single day. It was to the point; I was gaining weight and even when I didn't want to have iced coffee, I would still go get it because it was a part of my routine. Luckily, I tried to start working out in the mornings instead or made coffee at home. Eventually, I was able to tell myself I didn't need or want it and got out of going all the time. Until this day, I have coffee once in a while but not every day anymore and I'm glad I don't drink it or rely on it anymore and feel so much better.

Here's a link to watch to understand how to get out of bad habits and why we do the things we do. 

How to Break Bad Habits - YouTube

Post1 Self-Control

 Immediate gratification vs. delayed gratification plays a major role in in self-control. According to Howard Rachlin many individuals' personal problems stem from their inability to delay immediate gratification for more rewarding results that will come in the future. Howarch Rachlin used alcohol as his primary example. Someone who chooses to drink may feel immediate gratification but will wake up feeling worse. Other examples of this are someone who is delaying school work for pleasure but then crams school work into short periods of time resulting in poorly executed work. This sequence is referred to as the "primrose path" which is described as, "low-valued pattern of acts."

Unfortunately, this is how poor habits and consistent harmful patterns are formed. If one keeps choosing alcohol to feel instant gratification, they can eventually become an alcoholic, if someone continues to choose fast food over healthy food they will fall into the repetitive pattern and the long term reward will be an unhealthy over weight individual.

Here is a TedTalk by John Davidson. He shares how instant gratification is harming society and different tips to change some of our harmful habits. He compares our habits to a boomerang and how when you chose instant gratification the boomerang does not come back. When you delay the gratifications and chose long-term rewards the boomerang comes back creating healthy habits and beneficial rewards. A simple example is choosing to go to bed early every day rather than staying up late resulting in better performance throughout everyday activities.

https://youtu.be/4StLXX1k_9I