The most uncanny thing I’ve ever seen February 28, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: 7/7 bombings, London, psychology, uncanny
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I know I just wrote yesterday, but I made a really good connection to today’s class discussion about the “uncanny,” modified human-like figures. On July 7th, 2005, just a week after I was in London, three bombs went off in the London Underground and one in a London bus. The images that haunted newspapers and CNN were horrifying. The most traumatic image, I thought, was not the one of what was left of a bombed-out bus or the mangled subway car, but the image of a man with a burn mask on his face being helped out of the underground station by a paramedic. (found here. Don’t worry, it’s just creepy, not overly graphic) This image gives me the chills every time I see it because it is the altered but still realistic human face we talked about in class. (Come to think of it, the faces of both the paramedic and of the victim are a bit creepy.)
UPDATE: Other uncanny things include these people who are spending the Iraq War’s fifth aniversery protesting in masks in Washington and the women seen starting at the 4:05 time mark in this clip from Across the Universe. (great movie, by the way. It is hard to get the uncanny feel for the scene from this clip, given the low Youtube quality. Those of you who have seen it know what I mean!)
I’ll bet that I can find one good example… February 27, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: coping mechanisms, procrastination, psychology, repression
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…of a time when I’ve used each coping method described in our textbook. These methods of dealing with situations are really quite common. Perhaps I’m using poor examples for all of these because the real coping methods are active in the unconscious, but I think I might use most of these in real-life.
Rationalization: On several occasions, I’ve told my friends things such as “my mom wants me home for dinner” just because I’m ready to go home. I really don’t know why I do this, seeing as I usually end up going home and sitting on my computer for hours before doing anything worthwhile upon returning home anyway, but I am occasionally tempted to do so if I get bored.
Reaction formation: There really isn’t a point to using Facebook as long as I’m still in high school. I see almost everyone on my friends list face-to-face on a daily basis, and I even see those who don’t go to school with me at least every month or so. Even so, I check the website constantly, despite the fact that I know it wastes time and serves little purpose at this point in my life, and I enjoy every minute of it. Even when I send friends messages on the website that I know they won’t recieve until after I’ve seen them at school, it still occupies a significant portion of my time. I take the addictive, pointless Facebook and turn it into a hobby I love.
Regression: When I got deferred at three colleges last month (Three out of the nine colleges I applied to) I complained for days. I was so tired of getting applications in early, writing essays, and typing my date of birth over and over and still getting no response back from the admissions officers with power that I whined to every adult-especially my parents-for a week.
Projection: This summer, my family and I went to Costa Rica. When I came home, I told everyone how awful San Jose was. There are too many cars and not enough pollution laws, so a partially-visible black cloud of exhaust fills the streets. There isn’t that much to see. People are always trying to sell tourists souviners that they don’t need, and some vendors wait at stoplights and try and make some quick money while the lights are red by walking up to cars. Guidebooks warn tourists not to walk the streets at night, which means no going out after 6:00 regardless of the season due to the proximity to the equator. What I don’t tell people is that once I got past the unclean air and annoying vendors, it’s a pretty pleasant city. The city center is very walkable, the architechure is and the breakfast food is amazing. (Huge doughnuts for 50 cents without the fatty oils that Dunkin Donuts’ pastries are cooked in.) Though I might repeat how much I hate San Jose again and again, it was actually a pretty nice city.
Sublimination: This one’s simple: If I’ve had a bad day, I usually come home, start my computer, put on some sad music, and browse through pictures and art on the Internet. Usually, this is when I contemplate past experiences, future plans, and life.
Displacement: This one is even simpler: I slam doors when I am mad.
Procrastination: I am admittedly only writing in this blog tonight because I don’t want to have to read about Mexican politics for AP Government.
Okay, so I don’t have an example for repression, but I think these coping mechanisms are used frequently by myself and others. I have little doubt that others in this class have also used the same techniques.
Free Association February 19, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: activity, Free Associayion, life, psychology
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Last week in class we did an activity in which we described a scene when prompted to do so. The activity was called “Free Association,” and it gave us an insight as to how we think. Here is what I wrote:
“I am on a road in a suburban area. It takes a sharp turn not too far from where I am standing, so I cannot see the end. Houses with neatly trimmed bushes line the street, houses have sprinklers running, and there is very little traffic. It is a warm, sunny morning. As I walk further, I see a big chocolate milkshake sitting in the road with whipped cream on top and a color-changing-straw like the ones they have at Friendly’s and little chocolate shavings like the hot coca Flanders gives Bart in The Simpsons Movie. It seems safe enough, so I pick up the milkshake and start drinking it while I walk. Shortly after that, I encounter a bear. The bear digs through some trashcans. It seems to be minding its own business, but I cross the street, just to be safe, and keep walking. A few paces later, however, I hit a problem: A bridge that crossed a stream had caved in. I keep walking, however, and cross the stream on stepping stones. I walk a bit further and find that the road ends at a lake. I walk along the lake, but don’t go in the water.”
The street is supposed to symbolize my outlook on life. According to this, I’m a pretty optimistic person. Life isn’t too busy, but it can get messy at times. There is no clear direction, I am just enjoying the ride. The drink in the middle of the road is supposed to symbolize how I take oppertunities. Apparently, I take advantage of every oppertunity I get. And if the bear symbolizes authority, I tend to mind my own business and hope that those in charge mind their own business, too. I can work around obstacles in life, although they may slow me down a bit. I do not always indluge in life’s pleasures, seeing as I did not imagine myself swimming in the lake at the end of the road.
Overall, this activity portrayed me in a pretty accurate manner. I don’t think I take advantage of every oppertunity presented to me, but other than that, this activity is essentially how I see myself and my life.
Don’t look! It’s a phallic symbol! February 7, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: dirty, Dubai, penis, psychology, Sigmund Freud, United Arab Emirates, vagina
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When we talked about sexual symbolism in class, I thought Sigmund Freud might just have a dirty mind. There is no way that guns, buildings, and other long, tall things were supposed to symbolize a penis. The following period, however, I looked around the room and began noticed certain things: The sprinkler stuck out of the ceiling, like, well, a penis, a powerful device used to fight fires and save lives. When I got into my car that afternoon, I felt dirty as I released the emergency brake, its force no longer being used to stop the car from rolling down the hill. At this point, I began to think, “Maybe Freud doesn’t just have a naughty, immature mind. Maybe all this is supposed to mean something.”
A while back, I encountered a series of photos on the Internet titled “10 things that look like penises/vaginas, but aren’t.” (found here and here) (Note: Pictures might be blocked by school filter, but they aren’t actually that bad. Also, I have no idea how I found these pictures, but I can assure you I was not searching for anything naughty) When I discovered the pictures, I laughed a bit and thought they were a bit strange. Now I realize the Freudian ideas expressed in the series.
And finally, here is the really, really tall skyscraper that’s being built in Dubai, United Arab Emirates that I was talking about in class. At more than half a mile high, it just might be the world’s biggest penis.
My Oedipus Complex February 5, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: Frank O'Conner, Oedipus Complex, Psychology in Literature
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-Frank saw very little of his father when growing up because his father was in WWI
-The day his father comes home from the army, Frank is so anxious to talk to him that he interrupts his mother
-When taking a walk with his father, Frank constantly stops walking, which annoys him
-Upon arriving home, Frank continues to interrupt his mother when she is speaking to his father.
-Early in the morning, after promising not to wake his father, Frank does so anyway.
-That same morning, Frank shouts insults at his underslept father
-As time went on, Frank realized that he was getting what he wanted, that is, his father left him alone with his mother
-Frank tells his mother that he would like to marry her
-Frank’s mother has a baby
-One night, Frank wakes up and finds his father in bed with him. They do not fight.
