The And The Brain By Tobias Wolff

A passion is something that makes you drive forward in life, but not something you want or that you are trying to get. In the novel The Contender by Robert Lipsyte, there is a high school dropout who does not know what he is going to do with his life while everyone around him is either reaching their goals or slowly dying. In The Contender people without a passion seem to die off and it is the same about people with bad passions. The high school dropout, Alfred is very lost and does not know what to do in life. Alfred’s best friend James is also a dropout and later on in the book a drug addict. Major, a drug dealer tries to pull down Alfred, his only passion is drugs and money. In the context of The Contender people with a

Consciousness, Thomas Nagel states, “is what makes the mind-body problem really intractable.” Here he refers particularly to phenomenal consciousness, which Block defines as “perceptual experiences,” and Nagel describes as “something that it is to be.’ This experiential element appears to present a challenge to the physicalist assertion that all mental processes are explicable in terms of physical brain states, biochemical reactions and the laws of physics. Frank Jackson presents this argument in his 1982 thesis Epiphenomenal Qualia. Whilst Jackson’s argument occupies a seminal position in philosophy of mind, whether he adds anything new to knowledge of the nature of conscious experience, is debateable. Thomas Nagel’s What is it like to

In the beginning of the story, the author presents the story with third person point of view with limited. This point of view allows the reader to privy Anders’ thoughts and it shows one dimension of Anders’ personality. Also this point of view tends to be objective so that the reader might judge Anders quickly, and it makes little ambiguity about the character because the character does not introduce himself. For instance, while he was waiting in line, his reaction to the woman in front of him on the line at the bank, “He got stuck behind two women whose loud, stupid conversation put him in a murderous temper.” (Wolff1244), shows he is an impatient person. Also, he adds more, “Tragic, really. If they’re not chopping off the wrong leg or bombing your ancestral village, they are closing their positions.” (Wolff1245), after the teller closes

Imagine; you’re at a party with your friends just having a casual chat, when all of the sudden a man with a megaphone starts yelling about whatever it is he’s thinking about in that moment. How are you and your friends supposed to continue your conversation when all you can hear is this stranger yelling about how much he loves early mornings in spring? George Saunders begins his essay “The Braindead Megaphone” with this exact scenario - the megaphone being used as a metaphor. Saunders uses the metaphor of the megaphone to depict, and further - criticize the way news media has been corrupted and how this impacts the people that have become subject

Anders is strangely aroused, elated by these final words, their pure unexpectedness and their music. This is in contrast to the robber's language, which is slang, crude and inauthentic. The robber is portrayed as sensitive and self- absorbed with a strong persecution complex and murderous temper. The robber is also stupid and heartless. He could have just knocked down Anders with a pistol so as not to attract the cops. Instead he shoots him.

David Dobbs in the Article “Beautiful Brains” proves the theme that it takes teenage brains longer to mature due to the recent change in impulsivity and adolescent behaviors.

In the book, The Conscious Reader, there are many stories by many different authors. All these stories are different but at the same time they are alike. They all in some way deal with education. Whether it is using education, gaining education, or giving education, they all have their way to show that education is important.

Thoughts can be fleeting, however some of the feelings resulting from thought and can have a long lasting impact on the mental state of a person. In my metacognitive exploration I found an interesting comparison between the way in which I think and approach my past feelings and the methods which Tim O’Brien, from The Things They Carried, and Paul D from Beloved express their thinking about the past. I have discovered that the expression of thoughts, including memories and feelings, is the key to a healthy mental state of a person.

Throughout the past few years people have started to become more cautious of what they say and do in public because everyone reacts differently to all kinds of things and it is not hard to offend someone. In the essay “Coddling of the American Mind” by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, they discuss the rise of microaggression, which fosters a culture where young adults are sheltered from concepts that give offense. They focus on the idea of removing offensive words, ideas, and subjects from college campuses because they believe it is disastrous to protect the words and ideas that may cause “microaggression” from college students. In order to persuade the readers that colleges are distorting and coddling the minds of their students, Lukianoff and Haidt use modes of persuasion, examples, and definitions.

According to Drugabuse.gov, Drug addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. Addiction is viewed as brain disease due to the changes that are going on in the brain due to the usage of the drugs, so it alters the structure and how it regularly functions. However, after reading Maia Szalavitz book, “Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary new way of understanding addiction (2016)”, she has a unique view of what brain addiction is and her experience with addiction. In her novel, she views addiction as a learning disorder, like in her case it started early on in her as a child learning to be addicted to other things that develop habits of pleasure, reaction that makes up their addiction. Her memoir is her personal experience with addiction with using reputable journals and study to convey her point on what her rollercoaster with addictions has been starting early on in early childhood.

The short story “Bullet in the Brain” by Tobias Wolff brings the reader to the attention of how one’s life can be influenced by “something as timid as a word” (Von Ancken). In this story, a protagonist is a man by the name of Anders, who is a book critic. The story starts with Anders arriving at the bank just before it closes. The line is really long and he is stuck in line with two loud ladies who drive him crazy with their stupid conversation. He is characterized as, “weary, elegant savagery with which he dispatched almost everything he reviewed” (Wolff). He is also portrayed as a man who is miserable and constantly criticizing his surroundings. Even as he waits in the line at the bank, his sarcastic comments do not stop to represent his perspective of his disappointment of the world. When one of the tellers closed her window, Anders conveys a hatred towards the teller’s action by stating, “Damned unfair, he said. Tragic, really. If they’re not chopping off the wrong leg, or bombing your ancestral village, they’re closing their positions” (Wolff).

The book Healing the Soul in the Age of the Brain by Elio Frattaroli, M.D. Explains why medication isn’t enough when treating mental illness. The Talking Cure by Susan C.Vaughan explains why traditional therapy offers a chance for long-term relief more than any other drug. In this essay, I will write about what I have learned from both books, and I will provide examples of how effective therapy is and the impact that can do on clients. I will explain why medication is not always enough for clients suffering from mental illness. Also, I will compare the content of both books with the Comer’s psychological models.

This distinctive book called, “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman, is one of very few exquisite readings I’ve completed so far. Daniel Kahneman is a psychologist in Princeton University, and due to his research, he won a Nobel Prize in 2002 in economics. In the beginning of his book, he speaks of our cognitive System 1 and System 2 ways of thinking. System 1 generates feelings, impressions, and memory. It is very instinctive, automatic, and is considered quick thinking. System 2 on the other hand, is alert during complex problem solving, while dealing with facts and knowledge, and is attentive while working with difficult calculations. For example, a problem such as 24 x 13, this takes more time and knowledge to figure out (System 2), rather then recognizing an emotion from face expressions (System 1). When System 1 is strained, your System 2 steps in to help you process through that specific instant. Now aside from the psychological portion of this book, Mr. Kahneman divulges about a consolidated economic analysis with elemental intuitions from the psychological perspective; such as, luck and skill, overconfidence, risks in the stock market, factors of success and the decision making process. This book is overall concluded with the understanding of behavioral economics, which is the social and cognitive components on economic decisions that are defined by individuals and have consequences that reflect from making those decisions and taking those risks.

The period between the wars was a very difficult time in Germany. The currency was enormously depreciated and there were extreme poverty, depression, and political instability. When the Nazis took power in 1933, horror was their method of achieving their goals. Fear and violence became very common among a society that was still in shock after the First World War. In the book The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink, one of the main themes is a conflict with the inner-self. This is seen throughout the book when Michael is young and indecisive between spending time with Hanna or his new friends, when Hanna is on trial and does not know whether to confess her illiteracy or accept being declared guilty, and finally when an older Michael is trying to decide on whether he should save Hanna or respect her dignity.

Thinking, fast and slow written by an empirical researcher and psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, The book tells us how we can afford to think while we’re not even paying attention. It offers us the paths to better understanding ourselves, how to think automatically and common, instead of difficult and rare.