Intrinsic Motivation and TED Talks

In my Business Management class, the topic of Extrinsic and Intrinsic motivation comes up quite frequently. Extrinsic motivation refers to some sort of physical reward, whereas intrinsic motivation involves doing something because you want to, or because you should. For example, we had a Holiday Silent Auction for the Make A Wish Foundation in December, and the Business class that brought in the most items to be auctioned would get a pizza party. Our teacher hesitated to lure us in with the party because he thought that it we should help in order to help, and that we should be intrinsically motivated.

This relates to an article I just read/TED talk above that I just watched: Dan Buettner spoke about "Blue Zone Regions." Blue Zone Regions are regions where people live the longest throughout the world. Buettner mentions that those who live with a sense of purpose are going to live longer. Those that live "rewardingly inconvenient lives" are going to live longer, as he put it quite beautifully. He discusses the U.S. and how it's focus is elsewhere - our environment has become bombarded with competition and stress. I feel as though Americans are constantly looking for a reward, a quick fix. Buettner and his partners decided to make an American town a Blue Zone last year, which involved making walking to school easier, public gardens, and a more walkable and bike-able town. The results proved that the Americans could live just like the Sardinians, given the right environment. "If the trends continue, life expectancy for the average participant would rise about three years and health care costs for city workers would decrease by 48 percent," Buettner says. Maybe the health care debate would not be so heated if preventative healthcare was valued more.

This is where I thought of Barry Schwartz. He encouraged doing things because they were the right thing to do - he said even if your job does not involve skill, it involves compassion.

Do you think it's too late for America to become a Blue Zone Region? What would it take?

Corduroy

Talking about Corduroy brings tears to my eyes. He's really cute.

Corduroy is a bear missing a button, that wants to be purchased so he can leave the department store and find a home. His missing button on his green overalls is the reason why the mother in the story tells her daughter she should not buy him. At first, I thought maybe there is too strong a connection between consumerism and happiness present. It was hard for me to think that there were any underlying messages, but as I was reading about Corduroy and I found that apparently it was not mainstream to have one of the main characters, the girl who wants to buy him, be African-American in children books.

Maybe Don Freeman, the author, wanted people to value acceptance more. I find it interesting that we read all of these books just for fun, and now we can delve into them a bit more - what do you think? Are there any other messages?

Brainwashing and the Taliban

Today in class, questions were raised about whether or not the millions of dollars spent on the advertising industry in order to play with kids' plasticity - or the brain's ability to change based on sensory input and experiences - had negative effects on them. I came across an article that shocked me:

"Almost 90 percent of suicide bombers, if you look at their profile, are 12 to 18 years old," Taliban expert Zahid Hussein says

There have been camps set up in Pakistan that lead parents to believe that their children are going away to receive an education and free food. They are set up so that children can compare their poverty stricken homes to the one that the Taliban promise: Heaven. Paintings of rivers and swans and as the title of the article reads, virgins are hung upon their wall as promises for suicide bombing.

Even though American commercials are not designed to promote suicidal bombings, they are both are designed to work the same way. The children in this compound are told that everything in their life is worthless; the children in front of the TV have wants imposed on them, their sense of value weakened. In both situations, kids want to have a sense of control after some sort of an offset, and the adults or advertisers show them one way, and one way only, to get it.

I begin to wonder, if the way in which we acknowledge the manipulation involved in both of these situations is the same, are not the extra few toys kids get a big deal?

"How did you get caught?"

After hearing Mr. O'Connor talk about the latest University of Chicago college essay scandal, I was intrigued to find out a little more about it. This article was helpful, and showed me the essay that a boy identified only as Rohan, who was accepted early decision, wrote:

“Dear University of Chicago, It fills me up with that gooey sap you feel late at night when I think about things that are really special to me about you,” the essay began. “Tell me, was I just one in a line of many? Was I just another supple ‘applicant’ to you, looking for a place to live, looking for someone to teach me the ways of the world?”

Many students freaked out; one commented about wanting to cry, another was scared cause his followed a similar format. So, Dean James G. Nondorf sent out this e-mail trying to let students know that they could calm down, and have a little fun with this stuff.

The University of Chicago not only encourages but wants you to have fun with their essays. Before I found the news article, I was looking at the University of Chicago admissions site and was noting how interesting their essay questions were; recently, I had been reading a friend's college essays and was surprised to find that almost all of her schools' asked her to write about an activity she did and why she did it.

Some questions at Chicago included "How did you get caught? (Or not caught as the case may be.)", or a create your own. Considering I would probably be the one to comment about crying, I'm happy I came across this article. Today in class we discussed the importance of content in writing, and how it is often overlooked in writing portions of standardized tests, such as the SAT.

Would you prefer to answer prompts such as these or the more generic ones? Did you find the above essay inappropriate? Some argue the University is trying too hard...what do you think?