Food and Endurance

After reading Endurance and reading though the Food Lecture, I couldn't help but draw parallels between the circumstances that drive people throughout the world to eat foods that are considered taboo here in the United States. Having a severe case of arachnophobia, I have every confidence that I will be avoiding sautéed spiders for the foreseeable future. As noted in the lecture, some likes and dislikes are caused due to exposure and cultural acceptance.
    When I dug deeper into Endurance, I found that I struggled with the mental image of not only killing dogs (particularly puppies) but also with the idea that these animals would be eaten. It became even more difficult to process these images as the crew's various journal entries described the level of attachment that had formed between the men and their dogs. But the concept of human survival began to take its toll on the pet-loving portion of my brain and made me connect-the-dots between the Food Lecture and those excerpts from Endurance. The will to survive was far greater than the attachment formed with the canines.
   The thought of passing judgment on the men stuck on the floes in the Antarctic Sea or the people digging for rats in the mud to provide a meager source of protein for their families incites a deep feeling of guilt. The guilt does not exist because I was born into a society where I am able to choose my preferential source of nutrition; but because I had the thought: Ugh! How could anyone eat those things?!
   These examples of "odd" cuisine made me really evaluate how I nourish my body and also how I think about basic, everyday necessities. Would I be motivated to eat my pet if it came down to their survival or my own? Would I be deathly afraid of spiders if my mother served them to me as a favorite snack? I grew up with an extreme aversion to any and all seafood that looked the same on the plate as it did swimming around the screen on The Little Mermaid - this sensitivity to the suffering of Sebastian the Crab may be yet another example of how our culture has shaped our food preferences? 

Reproduction Lecture: Attraction

    In the slide that outlined Mate Value inventory and the following slide that instructed us to calculate our score I was almost immediately struck by the thought that in today's society, one's perception of one's own attractiveness is being more frequently challenged by different ideas of what beauty and attractiveness should be. The existence of technology at the fingertips of many people have also enabled us to have constant exposure to the images of the "ideal" mate.
     As a woman, I have noted that my perception of my own physical attractiveness and overall desirability have been vastly different than the opinions of friends and mates. As I tallied up my score, I couldn't help but think of the Dove Sketch Project and wonder what the two sketches would look like if I were a subject of that study. I am also intrigued by how one's own perceived attractiveness may effect the level of desirability perceived by others. Does a generally attractive person go unnoticed because they little confidence in their beauty?
     As I moved deeper into the lecture, I noticed that Dr. Berg presented the Evolution video also produced by Dove. I was moved by the transformation that the model had made with just hair and makeup adjustments, but the changes made with Photoshop (or a similar program) shocked me.   While there are many contributing factors to make selection that are primal and have been found in studies of mate-selection across many different cultures throughout history; the influence of technology and social media on these instincts could alter these innate behaviors and beliefs.

Impulsivity and Self Control

As I re-read though the slides for this lecture, I am slightly amazed at the difference in what it means to me at this point in the class, versus the first time I read it. Initially, I thought, "I am going to use this first set of slides to help identify impulsive behaviors that caused added stress and frustration in previous classes and use them to motivate me to mend my fine-tuned procrastination skills!" What was the result? I did exactly that, I identified that last semester I was more focused on my current career (taking work home with me, spending longer hours at work, etc) than completing my coursework in a manageable, timely fashion. After that, I realized that I had a to-do list the length of my arm and stowed my school work, and began to chip away at my other tasks. I was successful at work, completing yearly associate evaluations ahead of schedule, and receiving a very positive evaluation in my quarterly touch base with my own boss. I felt great in the moment, but, the joy of success in the workplace was soon overshadowed by the fact that I was neglecting my educational commitments. I reasoned with myself that I need to be successful in my work to continue to be able to fund an education that will yield an opportunity to shift careers from one that constantly wins in the work-life balance competition, to one that may provide me with deeper satisfaction and opportunity to expend my energy in a more balanced manner..
  Yet, here I am, down to the wire, looking back at the rewards I've gained in the last month, and comparing the feelings between the two. Having always been a diligent student with unwavering work-ethic, I find that I may have put myself in the position to accept a smaller, more immediate reward in a few, sincere, "Thank you's" from my boss, peers, and customers; in lieu of the greatest reward of all, completing my coursework in a way that will enable me to finally complete my degree after just under 10 years of setbacks. The greatest lesson I've taken away from this particular lecture is that my day-to-day actions have been a crisp example of Howard Rachlin's Primrose Path. Also, I am certain that on more than one occasion, I have used some very circular reasoning in modeling an everyday version of the Primrose Path.

Mate poaching

Mate poaching.  Something I never understood, as least on the surface level, but something I now know is also something innate within us to be attracted to someone who has been "pre-approved" by someone else.  I generally feel that I have always been capable of shutting down sexual attraction to someone if I found out they were in a relationship.  It's a shifting in the dynamic, from a flirtatious encounter to a friends-only one, but something I have never found hard simply because I would become immediately disinterested.  It has always been a turnoff to me when a person in a relationship disregards their partner and makes advances towards me or someone else.  But it does seem like there's more to it than men just being dogs and women being heartless.  Dr. Valerie Goldman explains possible reasons for mate poaching in her article "Why Women want Married Men".  She states it could be anything from the pre-approval process aforementioned, to the self-esteem boost some women get from taking part in a affair with a married man.  As far as tactics are concerned Goldman describes a few in relation to mate poaching.  Some do a bait and switch approach, initially appearing as a no strings attached fling, while later expecting love and marriage.  Mate poachers can also play down the current partners qaulities and play up more desirable qaulities of their own.  And they often put down the current partner in order to make themselves appear better.

In this article, Goldman also says that a large study found that 90% of women were attracted to a man when she thought he was taken, while only 59% of them were attracted to him with the knowledge of him being single.  I wonder, is it possible we are attracted to someone who appears as "safe"?  Women are constantly approached and hit on, so maybe there is some level of attraction to someone who you think will not make you feel uncomfortable.  I'm not sure.  What I do know is this: in the casino bar I work at, a single male bartender will always wear a fake wedding ring.  He puts it simply: he gets bigger, better tips from women when they think he is married.  

Here's Dr. Goldman's full article for anyone interested: 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/apologies-freud/201210/why-women-want-married-men

Self Control

In the lecture on impulsivity and self-control,  Howard Rachlin's explanation of the primrose path is an interesting interpretation on self-control, and one that I had not been aware of prior to this.  Self-control brings up many images and notions which we have heard in the past, but the definition of an individual unable to seek out bigger future rewards at the expense of accepting the immediate gratification of something else is simple, yet  sparks my mind to my own self-control.  It illustrates my own issue of self-control within the boundaries of food and eating.  I was raised a vegetarian, and after researching/reading/watching negative health effects of continuing to eat dairy and eggs, decided about a year ago that I was going to go vegan.  My issue with self-control in this area though, has thus far inhibited me from obtaining the optimal health benefits that eating vegan would grant me.    In my mind, I know that once I got in the habit of eating according to my goal diet, it would be easy enough to maintain it.  However, I have yet to go even two weeks without falling victim to a creamy indian dish or a bit of cheese.  I am apparently on the primrose path! I am negating the long term positive effects of eating better, for the immediate and simple pleasure of eating a particular irresistible meal.  This also falls in line with the conflicting outcomes that arises from self-control.  I always said I had bad willpower, now I know my mind is fogged conflicting outcomes (as well as the chemical addiction to casein in cheese).  I will eat the cheesy meal and enjoy it greatly, but be mad at myself and find myself further (or just as far) from my ultimate goal.

I actually can apply this to a lot of areas.  I have been setting an alarm for 5:30 am, for the past two weeks, to get up and get my workout done before my 3 year old wakes up and the chaos begins.  Every single morning I have turned my alarm off and went back to sleep.  Every single morning.  I am holding onto the immediate gratification of sleep, and not reaping the long term positive effects of actually getting a workout.  I will be thinking a lot about this today.  Maybe I will be a well worked out vegan by next month.  ;)

Attraction and Perception

Physical attraction, without a doubt, is an important characteristic of any relationship.  On the more evolutionary/psychological level, it allows us to pick partners who appear to be healthy and who carry good genes.  As we learned, we also choose our mates, on this level, with the intention of passing on good genes to our children, and increasing the potential for healthy kids.  We understand that this is a part of life, and we accept it.  We cannot apologize or feel guilty for something that is literally innately embedded in our minds.   What I think is particularly interesting about this facet of relationships though, is how much personality can shape physical attraction to a person.  I know for me, I have been completely physically attracted to someone who, had I not known their sexy/kind/etc personality, I probably would not have considered attractive (to me).  And I have also dated men who were universally very good looking, but whose personalities, once I saw them a little closer, made me lose all physical attraction to them.   With that said, a good looking person, with a fabulous personality, makes them off the charts attractive.  To see how much something physical is effected so greatly by psychological forces and how we end up perceiving these contributions is mind-blowing.  It shows us, in  sense, how the physical world is constantly altered by our own perceptions of it.  And since everyone has a different mind, the same thing can have endless disparities in the minds of two people.

With all of that said, and how much the physical world is effected by our own perceptions, our perceptions and preferences, maybe personalities,  are also shaped by the physical world.  I imagine this is just one big correlation, as it is hard to determine causation, but an article written by Eric Dolan "Men’s Personality and Preferences in Female Body Shape", explains a 1968 study done out of the University of Illinois that relates the attraction to certain female body types to specific personality traits in men.  The results where interesting.  From the site:  "According to Wiggins and his colleagues, preference for the figure with large breasts, large buttocks, and large legs “was associated with a need for achievement” while those who preferred the figure with small breasts, buttocks, and legs were “not cynical about authority and reported coming from an upper-class background.” Preference for the standard figure “was associated with heterosexuality and a tendency to be disorganized in personal habits.”  

Heres the link for anyone interestd in the article:
 http://www.psypost.org/2010/04/2010-personality-female-body-shape-495

Reproduction/Attraction

Being attracted to your partner physically for most people is very important, I believe physical attractiveness is an important part of a relationship since you were attracted to what your partner looks like at first sight. t Since there may be a mutual physical connection then they can work their way of getting to know each other. I believe it is very important to know what we are looking for when looking for a partner, making sure that they have the characteristics that make them desirable to us. As time goes by I think many things can change, depending on how each person's expectations change. It is hard for some people to maintain a "good" relationship, no relationship is perfect. There are ups and downs but it is really up to the each person to change that if they are both willing to stay together. Many things can come in between and unfortunately for some people they decide to brake up. 

    

Impulsivity and Self Control

After looking over these slides I thought about impulsive choices, that many of us have probably encountered at some point in our lives. Where do impulsive choices come from? How do we determine if we are being impulsive or not? In my opinion people make most of their impulsive choices out of anger or sometimes just to get out of a situation as soon as possible depending on what the problem may be.
In some cases it could just be making a decision without thinking about the consequences, such as the video from Justin Bieber, it clearly shows he was not thinking about anybody else but himself and the consequences of his actions.
I believe self-control it's extremely important whether we have to make a simple decision or a tough one. I enjoyed the second video with the children and the marshmallows, I thought it was cute but at the same time, you could see the children having self control, well most of them since there was one child that ate it and the other one picking on it. I will try that with my 4 year old son, I think it will help him make some type of decision and help him build self-control.

Everyone is an Addict

I felt that the slide about "Soft Commitment" which is defined as, "Development of valuable patterns of behavior that bridge over individual temptations" was interesting. As I read on about examples of soft commitment, I realized that I am guilty of having an addiction to working out. I came across this realization when I actually broke down my actions with addiction in mind:

1. Desire- I get this weird urge when I start my day to go to the gym. It is a similar feeling that one would get the urge to go downstairs and make food. It is not an overwhelming urge, but is apparent enough to be persuasive.

2. Satisfaction- When I am in the gym my endorphins go crazy and I am so happy when I am active. I feel unstoppable and energetic. Even when I leave the gym, as tired as I am, I am automatically in a better mood than I was before working out.

3. Withdrawal- If it is has been more than a day or two of me not going to the gym I start to feel weird. I start to feel disgusting and unmotivated. My energy is extremely low and I do not feel 100%.

Now if you were to read these 3 steps without an explanation, your first thought would be drug use. I have a positive addiction to working out and I never thought of it as one because it was positive. I honestly had never heard of "positive addictions" before because I am around so many negative addictions. This slide opened my mind to a different perspective of looking at someone who has an addiction. The only difference between me and a drug user is that mine is positive and benefits my body, and theirs does the opposite. Very mind opening experience.

What do you all think?!

Food

The slides about food seem very interesting to me; I know the different variety of foods around the world, but I did not know for example about people eating rats; personally I think that's disgusting and I would not try that. That may seem a bit contradicting since I do eat other animals such as chicken or beef. In one of the videos on the slide presentation, they show people eating guinea pigs, that is very common in south american countries, such as Peru which is where I'm from, I have seen people eat it; I will say that I have never tried it and I don't think I ever will. I have family members that have ate it and I asked them how does it taste and they tell me it's really good. I will share that I have eaten deer before, at first I did not want to because I did not think I would like it, but eventually I did. I only had it once in my life but I won't eat it again.
People have different taste buds and it also depends on what they are used to and what they see around them since they were children. That is another point that I wanted to point out, my son who is now 4 years old has almost the same tastes that I have, when I was pregnant I used to eat a lot of yogurt and drink lots of water, he loves yogurt ever since he was an infant and for a 4 year old to really like water is very rare to me but everytime he is thirsty that's all he asks for.
I believe people as infants get used to the kind of food that is presented to them and as they get older they start liking the same things whether is healthy or unhealthy; which is something important people must consider.

Food

Out of all the slide shows, one that I thought was the one on food. Everyone has different taste preferences and favorites. Some people are picky, others will eat anything. It makes me curious as to know why some people can have such a large preference and others so little. We even have this preference when we are younger. If a little kid does not like something, they will make a certain facial expression to alert the parent they do not like it. Some people eat too much or too little. Not to mention the portion that is given to us in a restaurant. A friend of mine is from Bulgaria and told me that people eat extremely huge portions here, compared to people in her country. She said everyone there is skinny and does not over eat. Obesity is definitely an issue in our country. One problem is knowing when someone feels stuffed, they will just continue to eat because their eyes are bigger than their stomach. People do not realize the seriousness of obesity and how it can damage ones life. I feel like food is an interesting topic because there are so many choices and topics you can talk about. We love food and need it to survive every day.

Attraction

Attraction seems to be one of those things we all ask ourselves what do we do with this. I say that with the fact that all the marriages and relationships we see around us, and what is acceptable is changing rapidly in our society. Things that today are seen as normal 50 years ago were never talked about or thought of. Divorce rates are on the rise and there are so many broken relationships around us which were once whole. What is the explanation for this? There at one time had to be some sort of attraction for the relationship to start. I seem to wonder how such relationships did not turn out to be as successful as they were brought forth. We all desire certain aspects from a mate that make us feel good and wanted. Over the course of time do our desires in that change, or were they ever there in the first place.

Foods

This day in age its interesting the different options we have in America to eat on a regular basis. With the unfortunate fact that most Americans do not have any time in a day to prepare a home cooked meal for themselves and their families anymore. This obviously has led to some bad habits and poor eating choices. I assume that is where the phrase "fat america" comes from when we were ranked the fattest nation in the world, now I believe Mexico has taken our place. There has been a huge transition however. We see all sorts of ways to athletically train being fads such a crossfit, p90x and so forth. These programs for results also require healthy eating to go along with it. I remember when the movie "Super Size Me" came out. I though how interesting it was that a man almost died after attempting to binge on a mcdonalds only diet. I understand thats what it did to "his" body. All situations are obviously going to vary, but I think thats a landmark case for sure. I want to say around 2008 is when things began to shift and people were more aware of their health, and it almost became a new movement to be healthy,exercise and stay healthy.

Food

I thought that the slides on food were very interesting. Food is something we all enjoy, but tastes vary greatly from one person to the next. I liked learning the technical terms, such as 'food neophobia' instead of just 'pickiness'. Although I have lived in America my whole life, my food preferences are very different than the average American's. I don't eat meat, so I can't eat most of the stereotypical American dishes such as fried chicken, hamburgers, meatballs, and things like that. The rest of my family is similar in that we enjoy non-traditional food over those kinds. I would rather eat Indian food than Italian, or real Chinese food instead of general chicken and lo mein. My mom has always prepared multicultural food, so my siblings and I grew up to be very non-picky and will try anything once. Are you a picky eater? What is the strangest thing you've ever eaten?

I would say that Americans in general are the world's pickiest eaters, but they are also among the fattest! In America, beef, pork and chicken are by far the most popular meats. Most countries eat these, but they also eat other proteins such as guinea pigs or spiders. Most people I know wouldn't eat a spider unless you paid them! The reason that Americans tend to be more overweight is definitely due to portion size. People often eat whatever is put in front of them, even if they get full before they finish.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TGA6nAarT0bX6_iOh285G2JtGXHF8HkpOmu8rPMP04s/edit?hl=en

Endurance- Part 1

As I continued reading the first part of this book it made me think about how our society used to be, and how it has changed over the years. The amount of bravery that these men had is amazing when you think about it. Not knowing anything about what they would be facing, or if they would even make it out alive was amazing to read about. The difficulties that these men encountered and the determination that they had to finish what they started really stood out to me. This book so far has taught me that no matter how hard things may be or may get, there is always hope if you put your mind to it and do not give up. It has taught me to fight for what you want and give it all you have even when you feel like you won't get anywhere. These men are not only fighting for their lives, but they are fighting to finish what they have set out to do. To see that these men kept their heads up through the hardships they faced was truly incredible. People today take a lot of things for granted and I think it's extremely rewarding that this book proves that you may have to go through hell to get where you need to be. These men made the most of what they had and that was the biggest lesson I have learned from this book so far.

Danielle Bush

All addictions

After seeing the lecture slide on drugs. I personally have some of my own things to add to this. We see  addictions and people with them with all sorts of labels usually negative unfortunately. Whether an addiction is to a drug,food,sex,gambling the list goes on and on. What one must realize is in the scheme of things these are just symptoms of a much greater issue. A person who takes drugs of all sorts is self medicating themselves and this most often comes in a pattern. Starts with one drug then goes to the next, and their are also an entire host of addictions involved. These people who self medicate are trying to escape something by distorting their reality. Alot of this is due to early trauma in a childhood seen in the younger generations. However this goes on and on with war veterans and such. Anything could be used as a drug to stimulate euphoria in some type of way. As I said earlier addiction is a symptom of something greater, imagine getting to the bottom of what is causing such a compulsive behaviour to take place. Memories which are traumatic that one has not yet faced always has a part where the individual tries to do something about it. Alone in these addictions the individual is powerless because no amount of reasoning will stop them.

My Mother

This post is a little personal for me but I have been thinking about it a lot since I began this class. My mother was born in 1961 with cerebral palsy (CP). (The CP only affected her psychically not mentally).  My mother had four siblings, an alcoholic mother and an abusive father. My mom was always left out of sibling activities due to her disability. Her father thought that she would never marry let alone have children. However my mom was the first of her father's five children to get married and have a child. She graduated with her masters degree from St John's University in New York in Speech Language Pathology and now she works with children with much more severe disabilities than her.

My mother has always been my role model but this class has made me really think of what gave her the motivation to do all she has done. When I was in high school I went to the Atlantic City Boardwalk with my friend and a man about my mothers age asked me for some money. He was homeless and was missing an arm. I offered to buy him a slice of pizza and he continued to tell me about his life and as far as I could tell he had no mental impairments. So I wondered to myself about my mother and this man both has physical disabilities but my mother had made the most of her life and pushed past her psychical impairment while this man just took the easy route living on the boardwalk and begging people for money.

What motivations did my mom have that he did not? Most people would think it was the family they each came from. However my mom's family was very dysfunctional as I stated before. So I have been thinking about it for a while and the only thing I came up with is that my mom is very religious. She is a christian and she always says that she could not do it without God. I do not have any references for this post because my reference is from my personal life. Religion was not in any of the lectures for this class but I do think that religion helps motivate people. It gives a person something to believe in bigger than themselves and that gives them a little bit of a push to help them do their best in life.

Book Report

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage is an amazing book to be read, especially for those who need to be inspired and motivated to accomplish anything in life. This book is based on a true incredible journey called the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton in its attempt to cross the Antarctic continent in 1914. The ship was named Endurance because of the two-year struggle for survival they were going to endure. The Endurance consumed 28 crew-members that volunteered for the voyage and all had different skills sets. On their voyage they encountered ice floes however, the Endurance was beset in the Weddell Sea. After a few months, the Endurance was completely submerged under sea and the crew-members could no longer see anything but snow and ice floats. The crew-members were then afloat on the ice for about a year. The struggle these men went through for food and warmth is unimaginable. The hardest thing to understand is how all the men kept on going with a positive outlook. They all worked together and were optimistic for what ever they were about to endure. Shackleton and five other crew-members took on the task from Elephant Island to South Georgia with a 22-foot boat, in the jagged sea. No one person had ever done what Shackleton had accomplished. Their journey is something unimaginable to anyone and it is amazing how they all survived it.

My favorite part of the book was when Shackleton, Worsley and Crean set out for South Georgia and were faced with a hard decision. They were on a small platform and their only option was to stay were they were and freeze to death or they had to slide. Worsley and Crean assumed Shackleton was joking because it seemed ridiculous that cautious Jack would have a suggestion so dangerous. The great part is that he wasn’t joking; there was no other choice for them. They all could have easily hit rocks as they landed and died but thankfully they didn’t. They tied the rope and it held them together as the held on to each other tight. They stopped against a snow bank and were laughing uncontrollably. They did not know what was going to happen to them as they were sliding down a dangerous glacier. I felt they found laughter because of how many obstacles they encountered and that they survived something most people would not believe. These men were close to dying every step they took and yet found an ounce of laughter and positivity left inside them. I cannot imagine how I would of react in a situation such as the one these brave men were in. These men were motivated and nothing could stop them from getting what they want, South Georgia. The inverted- U arousal – Relationship is as situation or arousal increases, the performance increases and levels and then declines. I believe this is what happens with the men on the endurance voyage. They had no strength to do anything but because they were so motivated that their arousal increased and they were able to do things and their performance increased.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xloKsz2Kl8I

Extension:

I think this book should be an example to all, that even the most dangerous and craziest things can happen if you are motivated and have the will power to do something. I think today people give up on things way to quickly and assume they can’t do it. I know these men had great fear that they would never see home again but they stayed positive and happy throughout the journey. People need to try and put forth their best in everything they do and want to do because anything is possible. If 28 men can endure this incredible journey and all survive, we can all accomplish our everyday fears and dreams.

Motivation

Since I have started reading the book Endurance, it really got me thinking about the men on the ship and how much motivation they really did have. Along with that, it also made me think about my life and the lives around me. When I look around, I see people who are striving to be the best or do great things. I myself try to be as motivated or even half as motivated as those men in the book. They risked their lives every day to do what we would call impossible. Even though sometimes it is hard to get out of bed and get yourself going in the morning, it is still so important to always think positive. What motivates people? What is the one thing that fuels people to begin their day? To some, this could be money. To others, motivation could come from making a difference in someone's life. Having this motivation in your life will give you something to always look forward to. For the lives of these men, they fought every day to get through whatever attack was happening and signed up for something that was not only dangerous, but deadly.

Culinary Preference

I really enjoyed the lecture slide about the motivation of foods. Why do we eat what we eat? Why do some people like sushi and others (like myself) gag at the sight of it? Most of all why is the stuff we find to be so delicious so bad for us? There are so many questions wondering why we have certain culinary preferences. The first thing I found interesting was food neophobia which is the "tendency to avoid novel foods and prefer familiar ones" (Berg). It explains that food neophobia developed as a defense against illness or death from foods. I thought this was cool because it makes me think of foods I do not like: for example sushi. It is probably an unconscious defense mechanism of my body to protect me from the possibility of getting sick off of raw fish. This brings me to the subject of food aversions which is when you once ate something that made you sick and it was such a horrible experience you will never go near that taste again. For me that taste is Southern Comfort. When I was 19 years old my cat had just passed away and I was very upset, so I decided it was a good idea to get drunk. My friend had a bottle of SoCo and I took ten shots within a twenty minute period on an empty stomach. Needless to say I got very, very sick. I threw up about a million times that night and for twenty four hours after the fact. Although I have gotten hung over on many of alcoholic beverages before, I have never had such an awful experience as with SoCo that horrible night. I have not and will not go near the drink ever again. I believe that everyone reading this is thinking of a food or drink that they will never go near again because of an experience where they got so sick it scarred them for life. The whole concept of food neophobia and food aversion is so interesting to me. We think of eating as such a simple thing but really its such a complex psychological matter that has a lot more to it than just filling up our stomachs. Feel free to comment about what your food aversion is!!

Berg, M (2014). Foods. Retrieved from:      https://sites.google.com/site/markrscnj/Home/motivation/motivation-lectures

Solot, D. (2011, November 2). The psychology of food aversions. Retrieved July 20, 2014, from http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/11/02/the-psychology-of-food-aversions/

part 2

In the second part of the book, they experience new living conditions that turned into very uncomfortable conditions. I could never imagine having to live on ice even a day or so and in the beginning of the chapter, they did it for a week! Food has also become their number one problem. Even though these issues were tough for them, they were still somewhat happy and began to adapt to this new way of living. I definitely could not do it. Sleeping on wet sleeping bags while its already cold out and sleeping so crammed would not sit well with me. Even in the summertime it wasn’t comfortable for them because it was incredibly hard to walk in the snow since it was all melted and up to their waists.

Personally, I would really enjoy Shakleton as a friend! He is adventurous and seems motivated to do anything he puts his mind to. I like how much of a leader he is and how he does whatever he can to keep everyone in control such as know who to put who with in separate tents. He shows he is a true leader when he says that since he got all his men into that mess, he will get them out. He also wants to be treated like everyone else and doesn’t expect nor does he want special treatment.

I feel like Orde-Lees is most like me because he is known as a bit childish to the other men and randomly went on a bike ride on the floes without Shakleton knowing, which I thought was funny. He also has a morbid fear of starving to death and stores his food in case of an emergency which is something I would do.

In the end, Shakleton said they couldn’t go further. I would feel scared and hopeless if I heard Shakleton say this because Shakleton is the one person who has always had high hopes in the expedition and survival of all his men and is who basically kept everyone sane. 

Endurance- part one

So far, in the first part of the book, it gets you thinking about how motivated these group of men are to basically do what is known as the dangerous and “impossible”. The entire crew has suffered a few attacks that don’t exactly get better each time. Aside from their bravery, they all work together as one even when they are going through the roughest times. During these times, they were actually drawn closer together while the polar nights were occurring rather than going insane such as previous people have.

            Instead of making it a bad time through the journey, they simply make the best of it by reading, playing cards, having “lantern chats”, making bets with dice, and having a midwinter celebration. They do whatever they can to get their mind off the cruel expedition. I like the fact that they made bets while playing dice because all their bets had to do with when they finally arrived back home, which means they have high hopes in getting home no matter what the weather is. It shows true dedication.

You can easily tell how motivated Shakleton is because he doesn’t like Marston for the sole reason of his negative attitude and he is scared that he’ll pass that attitude to his other men.

It was all done as a volunteered job as well. Despite of how dangerous the journey would be, Shakleton still wanted to take it on because of the thrill of the adventure. “…if it hadn’t been audacious, it wouldn’t have been to Shakleton’s liking” (Pg.11). He had no doubt in his mind that he wouldn’t achieve his goal.

Everyone somehow had something that motivated them to take a part in the expedition which I think is fascinating and makes you look deeper into your own life. For example, Shakleton was motivated by Scotts achievement and wanted to succeed in something bigger, and Worsley was inspired/motivated by a dream he had and went after it.

Addiction

Gambling, drug and alcohol addiction is an on going phenomenon in our world. Young adults get involved with these types of risk and think their invisible. The problem is that young adults think they can stop whenever they want, but the problem is their already addicted and don’t even know it. Their hurting their family and friends that loves them and don’t see it. Addiction is something that I never really understood because I always thought if you really wanted to stop doing something you would just stop. Addiction is not so simple as I had thought; it will control your life. People have lost their family, friends, great jobs and homes because of addiction. I knew someone that was addicted to gambling and by looking at him you would never think he was that type of person. He started gambling at a very young age and tried so hard to stop but the urge to gamble was stronger than him. He went to meetings every week and seemed like he was changing but in reality he couldn’t stop. I think if an young adult has an addiction and is helped within an reasonable time frame, they can be addiction free. If a person is an addict for many years, in most cases they can never be addiction free. It’s very sad to see families that love their children and want to help but cant get through to them because their addiction is so bad. My brother started smoking cigarettes causally at the age of fifteen. I was so mad when I caught my brother smoking for the first time. He promised me that he only dose it casually and could stop whenever he wanted too. I believed him but now he is twenty-five and is still smoking. My brother is having a baby and he wants to quite before the baby comes but is having a hard time with it. I think if he would of stopped at fifteen he would of never looked at a cigarette again.