Evolution Discussion

So as you all know, we embarked on an interesting discussion Thursday as Darwin's idea of "natural selection" came up. To remind you, natural selection is "The survival and successful reproduction of the organisms that are best suited to their environment." In relation to this came up the idea of survival of the fittest. However, things got interesting when the idea of Evolution came up and how we can reconcile Evolution with the Religious World.

Emmanuel shared with us an impassioned response to his belief in regards to this. While some students agreed, others did not. So you may continue the discussion here. I will leave you with some guided questions to assist in the facilitation.


Is it possible to believe in both Evolution and the Creation story of a particular religious faith?

How does religion fit into the larger framework of the Nature vs Nurture debate? In other words, is religion nature...or nurture?


There you go.

That Buck Could Strike the Lotto

I’m reminded by the rapper Nas’ address to African-Americans in regards to the ills plaguing our communities in which he states, “The buck that bought the bottle, could’ve struck the lotto.” I personally grew up devastatingly poor, often times going without food or having to get creative to satisfy my hunger. However, I do recall whenever my mother had an extra dollar to spare (which was rare) she would purchase lotto tickets, and then watch the news religiously that night waiting for the numbers to be revealed. Here is a study conducted on the fascination of families in poverty with the lotto.

"In the study, published in the July issue of the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, participants who were made to feel subjectively poor bought nearly twice as many lottery tickets as a comparison group that was made to feel subjectively more affluent. The Carnegie Mellon findings point to poverty’s central role in people’s decisions to buy lottery tickets."

"The hope of getting out of poverty encourages people to continue to buy tickets, even though their chances of stumbling upon a life-changing windfall are nearly impossibly slim and buying lottery tickets in fact exacerbates the very poverty that purchasers are hoping to escape."

The article then goes on and reports a second study

"A second experiment reported in the paper found that indirectly reminding participants that, while different income groups face unequal outcomes in education, jobs and housing, everyone has equal chances of winning the lottery induced an increase in the number of lottery tickets purchased. The group given this reminder purchased 1.31 tickets, compared with 0.54 for the group not given such a reminder."

What do you all think? Despite being reminded of their social status and the economic inequality they face, lower-income people continue to buy lottery tickets. Therefore, it is evident that this reminder actually served as a stimulus (eliciting a response) to purchase more tickets.

As I recall my own childhood it makes me wonder why any human being would willingly participate and indulge in maladaptive behavior (bringing about stress; in this sense financial). All those tickets cost money and that surely adds up, which brings more stress upon a family’s finances.

Let me also state, just because I can recall my mother’s purchasing tickets and because of the results of the experiment does not mean that this experiment would hold completely true in real life. To go further, how would the experiment have faired differently if the lottery tickets weren’t as easily accessible. I wonder, would impoverished individuals travel extra lengths in order to purchase these tickets or does accessibility play a larger role? In other words, why purchase lotto tickets if you could go to the casino? Hence, this is a problem with research and experiments (we will discuss this in Chapter 1).

I'm not going to lie...I have often times thought to myself, "I should start playing the lotto," but I never bring myself to actually purchase a ticket.

What are your thoughts?

Perception of Film

I went to see the film Dark Knight four times this summer, and yes, I even took notes. I’m not ashamed of that. If you have not seen it, I suggest you check it out because not only is it entertaining, but it is philosophical and psychological. The History Channel even aired a program entitled Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight. Immediately after seeing the film for the first time I got chills and couldn’t get the film out of my mind. Every time I go see it again I notice things I never noticed before. As a result, I decided to post my thoughts about the film for your responses. Throughout the year I will point out topics in Psychology that are present in this film and other films.

In the comic book The Killing Joke, the Joker tells Batman: “All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That’s how far the world is from where I am: just one bad day. You had a bad day once, am I right? I know I am. I can tell. You had a bad day and everything changed—why else would you dress up like a flying rat? You had a bad day, and it drove you as crazy as everybody else…only you won’t admit it! You have to keep pretending that life makes sense; that there’s some point to all this struggling!”

In psychological terms it makes us wonder, how do individuals respond to traumatic events? What causes individuals to respond in the form of the Joker, a psychotic criminal, as opposed to Batman, a heroic vigilante?

In true scientific and psychological form, Joker must test his hypothesis, and he does so on Harvey Dent aka Two-Face. The “White Knight”, most law-abiding citizen in Gotham City, and is struck where it hurt most. The Joker has proved his hypothesis. Yet he fails in his attempts to prove it in regards to Batman.

Bruce Wayne (Batman) has personal issues, which is why he is Batman. He is human, not a superhero. He has absolutely no superpowers except for unrelenting determination, constantly pushing the limits. The Joker is an “agent of chaos” as he says, while Harvey Dent aka Two-Face is the existence of “chance.” This is life…this is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. We’re not talking about Superman who has to stay away from Kryptonite or any other superhero born on another planet. We are talking about a man who witnessed the tragic murder of his parents, was determined to overcome his fears (including that of bats), and now is an evening vigilante fighting crime by taking justice into his own hands. Bruce Wayne is a billionaire, highly intelligent, and again…has no special powers. The reality is, any one of us could have been Batman.

Even his nemesis Joker is merely human with no special powers, though with psychological issues like every other character in the film. Determination and motivation linger throughout the film. From the very beginning Alfred pleads with Bruce Wayne to “Know your limits,” to which Bruce Wayne responds, “Batman has no limits.” Alfred follows stating, “But you do.” So the question throughout the film is, how far will Batman go to stop the maniacal Joker? Remember, Batman vowed to never use guns or to kill.

The Joker destroys all social values and every notion of morality and he creates his own, based on his own vision of chaos. He doesn’t want money. He doesn’t want fame. He just wants to show his own perception of chaos to the world. As he says, “It’s not about the money, it’s about sending a message.” This just may be his only source of pleasure, judging from how much he truly enjoys this process. He is the “agent of chaos” who despises order, yet there is a sense of order in chaos (higher order; See: Chaos Theory).

Joker even says, “This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets the immovable object.” Which one is he? Why doesn’t Batman kill the psychopath Joker? Is it because of his respect for law and morality? Perhaps it is because they give each other purpose in life.

Reality is you can see almost anything in an allegorical context. It all comes down to perception and observation.

What are your thoughts?

What are your flashbulb memories?

A flashbulb memory is a very vivid memory that is "burned" into our minds for a VERY long time. Memories could be a variety of events and can also be quite traumatic. We will take a look at memory

We will study memory in an upcoming chapter. Take some time to think of a flashbulb memory that you have. For example, I can recall exactly where I was on 9-11, when 2Pac died, and when I first fell in love with poetry. Describe your flashbulb memory. I will ask you to recall your responses when we go over this in class if you are willing to share.

Here is one of mine:

As a young child I had an abusive father. When I was around 4 years old my mother gathered me and my sister and moved us from Oklahoma City to the State of Texas. As a child in Oklahoma there was this towel in my household. It was old, the threads were thinning and worn, and it was light blue and white. I used this towel to cover me on the Greyhound Bus on our journey to Texas. When we arrived to San Antonio we were homeless and went to the Salvation Army around 1A.M. We walked into the room where there were no beds but several dozen cots. At that time we were told that all of the cot beds were taken and there would be no room for my mother, sister, and I.

Fortunately, they allowed us to sleep in the lobby that night. Again, I used that towel as my blanket. It never fully covered me, but it always comforted me. That was especially important during this time in which it seemed from the reaction of people on the streets that no one wanted us, and now even the Salvation Army was turning us away. The next morning we were back to sleeping on the streets. Finally, we were informed of a Battered Women's Shelter we could go to, but we would have to walk several miles to get to it. At that time it was dark, my mother was frustrated and tired, and she made us leave some things behind before we started the long walk. One of the things I had to leave was my towel. I still remember the dark night in Downtown San Antonio, how I softly placed the towel on the street trash can. As we began our trek to the Batted Women's Shelter I remember looking back to make sure it was still there and no one had taken it. With no food and no home, it was the one thing I had that was mine...and just like that...it was gone.

Post one of your flashbulb memories!

Welcome to AP Psychology 2008-2009

I am extremely excited to have you all in AP Psychology. This course is challenging, but also intriguing and relevant to us all.

This blog will be utilized to introduce topics we will talk about in the coming months, continue class discussion, and provide additional relevant materials. At times I may take a position I believe the class will disagree with simply for the sake of discussion (devil's advocate). You may also utilize the blog to receive answers to questions you were uncomfortable asking in class or did not get a chance to ask.

You are expected to read and respond to EVERY blog post unless otherwise indicated within the posting. It is imperative that you take extra strides to ensure your posts are free of grammatical errors.

Also, make sure that your posts are spread out over the Nine Week period. I will not accept last minute posts. Feel free to post as often as you want and respond to your classmates. However, posts such as "I agree," will not count towards your grade. You should either make an argument, pose a question, a general comment/answer on a topic, or elaborate on another student's comment.

I encourage you to be honest in your responses to the blogs. You are not required to use your government name (real name), but I also expect you will not abuse/misuse this forum. Inappropriate comments will not be tolerated. You are all wonderful, mature, Red Raiders, and I am confident we will have no issues. This is a Hate-Free community :)

With that said, I would like you to respond to the following questions:

What are your strengths and weaknesses academically?
What circumstances may prevent you from keeping up with home learning assignments?
How can I best support you throughout this school year?

I certainly look forward to receiving and reading your responses, and I am looking forward to an eventful year of Psychology.