Blog Post #11

I would describe my personality as being unique. I tend to go on my own and do my own things. I am easy to get along with and love meeting new people. I am nice to everyone, no matter what race, sex, or size someone is. I believe that I am fun to be around and always make a good time out of things. I love to try new things no matter what. At times, I can be shy if I don’t know the people around me, but when I do get to know them I open up a lot and show my true colors of having a sense of humor. When awkward moments occur, I always laugh and try to make it less awkward, either by making a joke out of it or just change the subject completely. I understand how people are feeling just by looking at them; therefore, I try to get them to open up to me. I am willing to hear people’s problems and love to give them advice; therefore, I would say I am helpful in such situations. I would also say that I am mature/serious at times when I need to be. If I see someone acting inappropriate, I feel embarrassed and try to persuade him or her into acting his or her age. Although, I will admit I can be immature when being around my friends. I love to laugh and joke around. I try to make dull moments fun. Five traits I would consider to be positive of myself are dedication, toughness, responsibility, humor, and honesty. Three things I consider to being negative about myself are I am very gullible, sensitive to people’s comments, and stubborn. Dedication is positive because it allows you to become extremely knowledgeable and loyal to what you’re dedicated to. Dedication is needed in a job, relationships, and education. If you were not dedicated, you would never stick to one thing, therefore, you appear flighty. You would also not have much of a future because you would never know if your plan would have worked or not. Toughness is positive because it allows me to bounce back from hardships and allows me to solve my own problems in my own way. I can rely on myself because I know I am tough enough to accomplish what needs to be done without relying on others. Responsibility is positive because others can rely on me to do my part. In the future, I will probably handle adult situations like credit cards, bills, and job duties with the same responsibility that I handle my homework with today. If you weren’t responsible, you would never get your work done and would not be trusted with large and important tasks including a good job. Humor is positive because it allows you to get through life’s tough situations and helps others get through. Humor makes you likeable and helps you take life less seriously. It’s proven to be healthy for your heart. It can turn bad situations into bearable. It also can reduce someone’s stress. Lastly, honesty is a positive trait to have because it is the basis for trust. Honesty in relationships keeps them positive and strong. Honesty is necessary for you to have and keep many friends because they will go to you for your opinions and for your suggestions. Honesty in a job makes you valuable and a good employee. If you weren’t honest, relationships, jobs, and friends would always be unstable. Being gullible is negative because you believe things event though they are not true. People take advantage of you if you’re gullible and will likely lie to you because they will believe that you will believe them. If you are gullible, you are likely to lose money as an adult because there are many scam artists out there. If you were told a story that is not true, you could pass it on to someone else. When you believe silly things, you appear to be dumb and not taken seriously. Being sensitive to people’s comments is negative because it would make it easy to blow up at someone. When a person gets hurt easily, they tend to withdraw from social situations or backstab. This confuses others and makes them think twice about being your friend. It also appears to be rude. Lastly, stubbornness is a negative trait to have because it prevents you from thinking of all the sides of the situation. When you insist that you are right and refuse to bend, others tend to withdraw from you and see you as inflexible. If you are stubborn, you could also lose out and lose your opportunities to experience things even if you wanted to do them, but were too stubborn to agree.

In my opinion, I would not consider myself as an optimist. I would consider my level of optimism as being very low. Whenever I compete in a competition or have a test in school, I always assume the worst. Even when I feel I may do ok in something, I always say out loud that I’m going to do bad or fail. I say this because I don’t want to feel the disappointment if I would fail or do bad. Even when I do bad and say I will do badly, I still feel disappointed in myself. It irritates me when people are always optimistic. It seems like they are high on themselves and I don’t like that about people. I dislike how people could feel so strongly about themselves. They also seem like they think that they are better than everyone else. I would consider myself to have a high degree of pessimism. For example, I always assume the worst. When it is likely that school will be cancelled do to bad snow days, I never allow myself to believe that it will be cancelled. This allows me to be prepared for the worse. Therefore, my disappointments would not be as high as they would be if I had planned for the best. This impacts my life because it bothers the people around me when I constantly say I am going to do badly. For example, when I tell my friends that I’m going to fail my Adv.Chemistry test, they get annoyed by me and tell me that I will do just fine. I have a tendency to repeat myself over and over when I am stressed, therefore I irritate them. They sometimes will tell me to be quiet and let it go. Another example when I use a pessimistic attitude is when I am competing in a rodeo, which means a lot to me, I will get extremely nervous. Everyone has big expectations of me, which makes it even harder. I don’t want to disappoint them nor myself. I will say I will do badly to them so they don’t expect much of me. I do this because even if I am trying my best and still have a bad run, they won’t be as disappointed. I am a perfectionist and work hard to do my best in everything I do. I will think about bad things that happen to me for a very long time and try to think what I did wrong or how I could have done them better. Though pessimism usually prevents people from trying new things, it has not done that for me; it simply makes it better if I would happen to do well.

I have a trait of stubbornness that changes depending on the situation I am in. I may be in a very stubborn, unmovable position where I am taking a stand against my mother’s orders. However, if a male friend walks in during the stand-off, I am likely to back down and let it go. The situation changes because of the person who hears what is going on. When someone who does not know me personally enters the situation and sees my stubbornness, I am able to assess the situation more thoroughly from the eye of a stranger and back down. Suddenly, my stand does not seem so important. However, this would not change if it was a stand that upheld my deep values. No matter who saw the situation unfold, I would not give in if my values were at stake. This is adaptive because the level of stubbornness changes based on the importance of the situation. My trait of dedication also changes depending on who or what my dedication is for. If I am dedicated to a person who has continually proven to be trustworthy, then this dedication is warranted. If the person I am dedicated to proves to be untrustworthy, then my dedication changes and wanes. This is adaptive because it allows us to protect ourselves from destructive people or environments. We reap the benefits of allowing ourselves to dissolve our dedication or stubbornness based on new information gained. Assessing the situation and being able to change because of it is always beneficial.

One big defense mechanism I use is projection in which I throw insults at a person that takes them off guard and prevents them from hurling insults at me. I try to stun them and embarrass them. This takes the focus off of me and prevents me from being hurt more. Of course, I usually pay for it in the end because our conflict continues for several days. Projection is a way people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others. I also often rationalize my actions by creating explanations that make what I do seem right. For example, I often blame my horse for not behaving when I actually am directing my horse to do what he does through my sloppy riding. By saying my horse is not behaving, I am taking the blame off of my riding ability. Rationalization offers a justification for the real reason for one’s actions. I also use displacement, which is directing your feelings toward someone or something that is less threatening. Sometimes, when I am angry at my friend, I will go home and yell at my mom for no good reason. She eventually yells back, which makes it feel like I am also angry at her. This displacement of emotions allows me an outlet that is safer and will not result in the loss of a friend.

Blog Post #10

One thing I learned in Chapter 9 was about overconfidence. Overconfidence is the tendency to assume that our knowledge and judgments are correct when they can actually be way off. Many people just assume that their right in some situations. For example, the saying “your eyes are bigger than your stomach.” I believe that this is very true because it happens to me sometimes. When you are really hungry, and you see all different kinds of foods that you love to eat, you generally will take all those things and double the serving size that you would normally take. In this case, very few are able to clean their whole plate even though they assumed that they were that hungry to finish it all up. Sometimes people believe that they can do something when they can’t. It is surprising how wrong some people can be. For example, if someone says they can get a task done quickly, generally it will take a little longer than they expected. Usually it will take twice as long as they expected. I also learned that many people believe that they will have free time in the future, when actually they realize that they in fact maybe busy from making plans. Most everyone freely accepts invitations. Therefore, this shows that we are actually busy and shouldn’t just assume of those things. I thought it was interesting to learn that people who normally show overconfidence are generally happier than non overconfidence people. They get less stressed and can find a way to work out tough situations easier. They also give themselves credit for the work that they accomplished. In my opinion, it sounds like people who are overconfident are generally optimistic. I would say that I am not a very overconfident person, because I generally assume for the worst and would say I am a pessimist.

Creativity is an important skill to have in my opinion. It allows you to come up with ideas. There are five components of creativity. First, expertise which is a very good understanding of a specific topic. This would be very effective because if one knows about a subject before researching it, it would make ones’ life more tangible. For example, I believe that one of my expertises is on riding horses. Since I have been around them my whole life, I’ve over the years learned more and more about them. The second component is imaginative thinking skills. This involves being able to recognize things, such as patterns or reasons. A person who has this skill can critically think and evaluate things more easily. They have a better understanding of how things work. I feel that I lack this component. I am very bad at coming up with ideas and don’t recognize patterns easily. The third component is a venturesome personality. This requires someone that is adventurous, is willing to try new things, and ready for a risk that may be involved. I strongly believe that I would fit in this category. I love to try new things and take a little bit of risk. It entertains me and allows for a good story to tell when I am done doing a stunt, etc. For example, one time my cousins and I intentionally hopped in a barrel and put some blankets in it for some sort of protection and we had a rope tied around it. A person on a horse would hold on to this rope and take off as fast as they could, pulling the barrel behind. Many people believed that we were crazy for doing this, but they don’t realize that it is the thrill and excitement that makes this event awesome! It didn’t even hurt because we had so many pads in the barrel to protect us plus we wore a helmet. The fourth component is intrinsic motivation. This involves being more driven and accepting challenges. Also, someone who has this will do something even if there is no reward at the end. They will try their hardest just to accomplish something. I believe that I have this component sometimes but sometimes not. I like to take challenges that I believe I can accomplish, but if I am not sure if I can do something, I shy away doing it. Once I am sure of what my goal is, I become very driven and will work hard to achieve something either by practicing everyday or requesting for help to help me succeed. The last component is a creative environment. This involves someone who can easily come up with creative ideas. I wish I had this component. I am not a very creative person. I need an idea to begin a project, etc. Although, once an idea has been proposed to me, I feel that I become creative and come up with ideas to add to it. Overall, I believe that I can be creative if I really set my mind to it. I am creative in ways such as adding designs to templates or coloring. I love to add color to projects and like things to be neat and in order. I am a perfectionist, so my work always has to be the best I can make it. I apply creativity to my life by coming up with new ideas and making things the best they can be. For example, if I have an assignment, I try to come up with the best details and try to make it nice and organized. I try to make it unique and eye-catching. Therefore by doing this, will help me get a better grade hopefully. I feel that creativity is a very important aspect to have because without it, ones’ life would be plain boring. There would be no excitement in their life. Everything would just be normal and how it is now, without being changed to make things more interesting. Also, one would not try new things and to me that would be boring just to do the same things all the time and not change it up a little bit by trying or doing new things.

One thing that I thought was interesting in Chapter 10 was about brain size and complexity. Doctors discovered that Lord Bryon, who was a smart poet, had a massive brain. Beethoven had convulsions in his head; therefore, scientists went into further study of this. The question was, do people who have bigger brains also become smarter? The answer was no. Some very smart people had small brains that they discovered. I’ve always wondered if that was true, but found it interesting that it is not. In my opinion, I would have believed that this would be true. Smart people differ in their neural plasticity. There childhood and environment has a greater effect on how smart they are. I found that very interesting. I believe that this is true. Kids who get out more and are able to learn more at a younger age, would most likely become smarter than a kid sheltered his whole life because they would learn more from others around them and be able to see things and experience more helping them learn from them. They would be able to relate things to their own life and be able to come up with questions on what they see or feel about an activity. Therefore, a parent for example, would be able to provide the answer for that child.

Blog Post #9

Memory is very important because it becomes a defining part of who we are. We remember how our actions were accepted and learn how to behave through others’ reactions. If we don’t remember, then we can’t determine how appropriate our behavior is. Our memory helps us understand how we feel about other people. Our encounters with other people build our feelings toward them. Each encounter strengthens our feelings for love, hate, fear, sadness, etc. If we can’t remember each encounter and build upon the previous encounters, then we cannot develop any type of relationship or determine how we can act around them. With no memory, we wouldn’t understand our world and wouldn’t know how to interact in it. We wouldn’t know sadness, sorrow, or happiness because we would not have any memory of what would trigger such emotion. For example, if someone you cared about died, you would not feel sad because you would not remember your relationship and times you’ve shared with them. On the other hand, you could experience excitement, like sledding down a hill for the first time. It would be the first time every time that you’ve done it, so you would feel the same thrill each time.

In the Clive Wearing situation, Clive really is no one to be described. He has no background knowledge to develop a character. He essentially is a new person each day. Clive’s wife is handling his situation with hope and faith. She believes he does remember in his own way and is optimistic that his condition will improve. In my opinion, she handles the situation really well. She keeps a positive attitude and does not show any sad emotions even if deep down she is feeling sad. She has a lot of guts to be able to handle the situation like that. If I was in her shoes, I would be very devastated. I don’t know if I would be able to handle the pressure of my loved one not remembering the times we’ve shared. It would be very frustrated to put up with because it gets aggravating for when someone doesn’t remember something, when you know it happened and you have the memory in your head.

This gives me a new appreciation of my own memory. It is something we take for granted and never imagine losing. Even though it gets frustrating to deal with bad situations, I know that I learn from them and can better decisions in the future. It would be hard for others around me to deal with. Before this video, I didn’t know there was such a condition and that people were living with it each day.

I never thought about how memory worked before. All I knew is that I didn’t have very good memory. However, I know that I have much more memory stored in my brain than I realize. I know that my brain works to piece my memory together and is able to pull out pieces of information that my brain has stored during times of need. Now that I read this chapter, I notice episodes of people having memory loss. For example, my cousin repeats the same thing to me several times and doesn’t realize he has told me if before. I now see my own memory as bits of data stored in a computer. It is an extremely organized mechanism. Most of the time I do trust my own memories. I realize though that they maybe altered, or influenced by other events around them. For example, if I hear a story from different people telling me it, I will take pieces of each story and create my own story even if it is not how the first story was. Another example is the Human Memory: Recall activity that I took. In this activity, you were supposed to listen to person reading off a bunch of words. After they have been said, you were supposed to write down as many words as you could. I thought this was very interesting. Even though I heard the words called, I forgot to write them down on my paper. There were also a few words I wrote that I heard wrong. During the reading of words, I made the connection that some of the words were fruits, directional terms, names, or money forms. I wrote down a wrong answer even though it associated with the type. For example, I wrote down dime because it associated with currency, but it was not said out loud. I also used things that resembled my life to remember the words. For example, my favorite color is red and they listed it so that is why I remembered it. This whole process demonstrates that our memory can be forgetful even if you are trying hard to focus and remember something.

One thing I have learned in this section is that there are different processing methods to form memories. There are visual, acoustic, and semantic encoding methods. In visual, we can remember things easier if we see them. Acoustically we understand better, if we hear them in rhyme or music. Semantic encoding is the understanding of what we hear. This is important to me because I personally can learn better from visuals than actually hearing things. This can help me learn through my strengths and use them to get a deeper understanding so that my semantic memory helps me understand and becomes embedded in me. I know that understanding something will help me remember better than just doing work to get it done without understanding it.