Rationalization March 31, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: i just lost the game, Nothing, procrastination, rationalization, speeding
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This makes post #10! I couldn’t think of anything to write about, though, besides the rationalization coping method. It’s okay that this post is about nothing for two reasons.
1. I have this theory that you can’t get caught speeding on the highway as long as there’s someone in front of you is going the same speed or faster than you are. The same applies to these blog posts. I have more posts than many of the blogs I’ve looked at in Mr. Kurtz’s “blogroll.” Usually, I use this “You-can’t-fail-all-of-us” reasoning too often and wind up with low grades, but we’re closing in on second semester senior year here.
2. I have nine perfectly good posts on here so far. These posts will probably get me an 85 or better. An 85 is a perfectly good grade. Again, it’s second semester senior year.
2.5 I just thought of something good to write on that conformity stuff we discussed last class, but if I don’t hit the “publish” button soon, I won’t have time to do the reading and consequently fail tomorrow’s quiz, if we have one.
Courant Psychology March 30, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: courant, inkblot, Jim Shea, Rorschach
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I love Jim Shea’s weekly column in the Hartford Courant. This week’s column made references to some of the psychology topics we have talked about in class. Shea says that “One of the legitimate problems you do have after combing through cornflakes for a few hours is that you begin to see these weird Rorschach inkblot shapes, which can conjure up all kinds of psychological stuff like long-repressed images of nuns, crime scenes, your parents making out.” He is discussing the recent phenomonon in which people make national headlines because they found celebrity faces or biblical figures in toast or corn flakes or other food items. These people later sell the food on ebay for thousands of dollars. This is similar to the Rorschach inkblot test. Maybe Mr. Rorschach could have used toast, and gotten more accurate results than he could have with the inkblots.
Article found here
Paul’s Case and Catcher in the Rye March 30, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: Catcher in the Rye, Cather, Paul's Case, Salinger
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Paul’s Case and The Catcher in the Rye were so similar that if I were Willa Cather, I would have filed a lawsuit claiming that J.D. Salinger violated copyright laws. Both stories indirectly address teenage boys being mentally instable. Both stories involve running away to New York City. The stories, however, have very different endings. Paul ends up killing himself, and Holden ends up in a mental institution. (Did anyone else notice this similarity when reading?) From a critical standpoint, I liked Catcher in the Rye better because it went into more detail and Holden was an even more developed character than Paul was.
A Brief Biography of Alfred Adler, Volume 2 March 25, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: Alfred Adler, france, lance armstrong, napoleon, The game
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Examples of Adler’s psychological theories applied to real-life situations and people include:
1. Lance Armstrong (No, I did not just include the biking reference to please Mr. Kurtz) battled with cancer and won in the 1990s. He then went on to win the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005. Adler would have said that Armstrong was taking an obstacle in his past and using his inferiority complex for constructive means. Armstrong is a hero to many, and his hard work and ability to overcome may be due to his inferiority complex. (picture here)
2. The ever-famous Napoleon complex. Many historians think that Napoleon Bonaparte had an inferiority complex due to his height (or lack of it.) He used this to his advantage, however, and became a ruthless military leader. Again, Adler would have said that this is all part of the inferority complex.
3. Every time I walk into my H-block drama class I lose the game. (rules here) In the first few weeks of class, Ned Allen would walk in and lose the game each day. Now, even if I get to class before Ned does, I lose the game because I have been conditioned, according to Alfred Adler, to lose the game upon entering Mr. Fisher’s room. Other friends of mine say that certain words make them lose the game. One friend says that the word “damn” makes him lose. Another says that each time she thinks about beef or sees my screenname online, she loses the game. Everyone around me seems to be conditioned, in one way or another, to lose via associations with other words or objects.
P.S. Haha. You just lost the game.
A brief biography of Alfred Adler, volume I March 17, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: Alfred Adler, inferiority, personality, psychology, teleology, theory
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Alfred Adler suffered from rickets, a disease that softens the bones, and did not walk until he was four. When he was five years old, he almost died from pneumonia. These medical incidents inspired Adler to be a doctor and cure these ailments. When Adler did become a doctor, he seemed to be living his own theory. His inferiority complex took the medical problems that made him weaker and drove to make Adler a stronger man. Adler thought that the inferiority complex was the primary force of personal development.
Adler believed in teleology, or the desire to be superior. As humans, we want to not only be better than everyone else, but we want to be perfect, even if we know we cannot be. Childhood trauma or abuse, or any sort of disaster can have lasting effects on the inferiority complex. We learn to adapt to our environment, however, and try to be superior, despite the events that may have damaged us in our past. On the other hand, people can develop a superiority complex. People will hide their inferiority by pretending like they are better than everyone else.
Adler suggested that therapists should try and inspire people to find something they are good at and something that sparks their interest. Only after discovering this can people live their lives to their full potential. Adler believed that “what doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger.”
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/adler.htm
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/adler.html
Fictional finalism and core ethical values March 10, 2008
Posted by fs2004 in Uncategorized.Tags: Adler, Core Ethical Values, psychology, subway
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In a way, Region 13’s core ethical values are a form of fictional finalism. These values are good to have, but there are times when these values can or even should be upheld. The example I use most often to prove my point (or even just to undermine everything that is set forth by the institution that is Regional District 13) is courage on the New York subway. A year ago Wesley Autrey made national headlines when he saved a man who had fallen onto the tracks at a Manhattan subway station. I have decided that, as reckless as it sounds, I too will dive over the station platform if I am ever in a similar situation on a field trip to New York. After all, I would not want to let the district down on its core ethical values. Furthermore, if kids are responsible all the time, every single day-That is, they cook dinner for the family, take out the trash, always study, and never have fun-they never have a chance to be kids. This applies mostly to children younger than us seniors. I would suppose that this relates to Adler’s concept of overcompensation. Anything in excess is bad.
