...and by the way...

there was some fine writing on here last week! Shockingly good stuff!

WEEK TEN BLOG ENTRY....no other blog work this week

Ok, folks, this is the last week of reading and writing on here. obviously, you still get to do your final essay, due on turnitin on the 25th, but you also have one more chance to blog this week.

Tell the others in the class of a reading that you have done lately that you find compelling for whatever reason. For me, I subscribe to Outside magazine and just read an article they have that is pretty frightening. It is called "How to Unplug from the Wired World" and deals with the problems associated with being so plugged in all the time. There is a real re-wiring of the brain that occurs, and it mimics addiction to drugs...so, the article deals with the need to get out to nature and leave the phone and ipod at home. You should read Outside. It is a great magazine. I could not find the article online, but here is a pretty good one on the same issue: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/how-the-worlds-most-wired-people-unplug-techies_n_1653809.html
TELL US SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ AND EXPLAIN WHY WE SHOULD READ IT. Maybe it's obvious, but as you read through the entries this week, build your own Winter break reading list.
Aside from that, we have no other blog work this week. HOWEVER, you do need to finish The Tipping Point and draft your final paper. Remember, that is due on the 25th. Be sure to email me if you have any questions.

 Enjoy,
dr. s

TIPPING POINT ESSAY ASSIGNMENT...

Can you believe that the quarter is coming to an end? Our final assignment(we have no final exam, by the way) deals with our final reading of the quarter, Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point.

The assignment is below. If you have any questions, please oh please let me know!!!

TIPPING POINT ESSAY ASSIGNMENT: (30%)

The essay should uploaded to turnitin.com. It will be 2-4 pages in length, double spaced.

There are two essay topics to choose from.

Obviously, as you read through the book look for examples that will help you build a fabulous final paper!

Write a 2-4 page double spaced essay on one of the following topics:

 

1. How might one or more of the ideas in the book The Tipping Point apply to your chosen major or profession?

2. Locate a trend [social, political, cultural, other] that seems to exhibit a "tipping point" phenomenon. Provide a brief explanation of why you think this phenomenon meets Gladwell's criteria for tipping point phenomenon; does it exhibit contagiousness. or little causes having big effects, or dramatic change?

THIS IS DUE NOVEMBER 25 TO TURNITIN.

LATE PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED, AND YOU CANNOT PASS THE CLASS WITHOUT THIS ASSIGNMENT, SO BE SURE IT IS IN ON TIME.

WEEK NINE BLOG ENTRY

What is the most important question a human can ask? Is it this one? Or perhaps that one?

WEEK NINE READING

Read the Tipping Point this week. You really have two weeks for it, kind of, but definitely get it started this week.
Don't worry about writing about the reading this week.

IN CLASS ESSAY TOPIC

Essay Assignment to replace the In Class Essay

In a three to four paragraph response, agree or disagree with one of the following statements. You may use outside information and may cite it however you would like. But the essay does not require this. In fact, it is intended for you to be able to answer it simply by sitting down and responding, using the wealth of knowledge that you have gained from the many courses you have taken and from life itself.

You have until Wednesday, Nov. 13 to email me your response. Simply attach the essay to an email and send it to me.

Topic 1

“I've learned one thing, and that's to quit worrying about stupid things. You have four years to be irresponsible here, relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember the time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So stay out late. Go out with your friends on a Tuesday when you have a paper due on Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does...” Tom Petty

Topic 2

“I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

Week Eight Blog Entry

I once heard a psychologist say that the difference in happiness between someone who earns $5000 per year and $50,000 per year is enormous, but the difference in levels of happiness between someone earning $50,000 per year and $50 million is negligible. One is no more happy with $50,000 than with $50 million.
Can money buy happiness?





(SOURCE: it was this netflix documentary called Happy. I recommend it.)

Wek Eight Reading

Money can't buy happiness

Extremely wealthy people have their own set of concerns: anxiety about their children, uncertainty over their relationships and fears of isolation, finds research by Robert Kenny.

By Amy Novotney

July/August 2012, Vol 43, No. 7

Print version: page 24

Most of what we think we know about people with a lot of money comes from television, movies and beach novels — and a lot of it is inaccurate, says Robert Kenny, EdD.

In an effort to remedy that, Kenny, a developmental psychologist and senior advisor at the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College, is co-leading a research project on the aspirations, dilemmas and personal philosophies of people worth $25 million or more. Kenny and his colleagues surveyed approximately 165 households via an anonymous online survey and were surprised to find that while money eased many aspects of these people's lives, it made other aspects more difficult.

The Monitor spoke to Kenny about his findings and about the significance of his research for those of us who don't have a net worth of $25 million or more.

WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO STUDY WEALTHY FAMILIES?

We wanted to try to understand the deeper motivations of people in high net worth households. They are rarely questioned about this, and instead are asked whether they would like a Mercedes or a Lexus. Do they prefer Tiffany's or Cartier? Most surveys of high net worth households are marketing surveys to sell a product, so the questions that are asked are pretty narrow.

We decided to ask three major questions: First, we asked, "What is the greatest aspiration for your life?" As far as we can tell, no one has ever asked this population that question, yet there are assumptions made about this all the time. The second major question was, "What's your greatest aspiration for your children?" Our third question was, "What's your greatest aspiration for the world?" After each of the major questions we asked, "How does your money help you with your greatest aspiration?" and, "How does your money get in the way?"

WHAT DID YOU FIND?

People consistently said that their greatest aspiration in life was to be a good parent — not exactly the stereotype some might expect. When asked whether their money helps with that, they answered with all the obvious: good schools, travel, security, varied experiences. But when we asked how their money gets in the way, that was a payload. We received response after response on how money is not always helpful. They mentioned very specific concerns, such as the way their children would be treated by others and stereotyped as rich kids or trust fund babies, they wondered if their children would know if people really loved them or their money, whether they'd know if their achievements were because of their own skills, knowledge and talent or because they have a lot of money.

Some were concerned about motivation. They worried that if their children have enough money and don't have to worry about covering the mortgage, what will motivate them? How will they lead meaningful lives? This is where the money might get in the way and make things confusing, not necessarily better. Very few said they hoped their children made a lot of money, and not many said they were going to give all the money to charity and let their kids fend for themselves. They were, however, really interested in helping their children figure out how they could live a meaningful life. Even though they did not have to "make a living," they did need to make a life.

As for the respondents' aspirations for the world, they focused, once again, on how to help the youth in the world live healthy, meaningful and impactful lives. Their answers were consistently youth-focused: They were concerned about being good parents, they were concerned about their children and they were concerned about the children of the world in general. We found that to be very interesting, and even surprising because it runs contrary to so many of the stereotypes about this population.

WHAT HAD YOU EXPECTED TO HEAR?

One could expect that you might hear things like, "I wanted to make a lot of money and become financially independent and be able to do whatever I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it." But very few said anything like that, although they appreciated the temporal freedom. It was so non-financially focused. I expected that when we asked them about their greatest aspiration for their children, we'd get a lot more people saying they wanted their children to be world leaders, but that's not what they said at all. People said, "I'd like them to think about how to make their world a better place." Not the world, their world — their community, theirneighborhood, their family.

WHAT MIGHT PSYCHOLOGISTS FIND MOST INTERESTING ABOUT THIS WORK?

A net worth of $25 million or more brings temporal freedom, spatial freedom and sometimes psychological freedom, but it's not always easy. Eventually temporal freedom — the freedom to do anything you want — raises dilemmas about what the best way to use all your time might be. There's also spatial freedom: You get to build anything you want — a house, a business, a new nonprofit — and people often get lost or befuddled with all of their options. And you get choice. You can go to this restaurant or that one, this resort or that one, buy this car or that one. People can get overwhelmed by all the choices and possibilities, and the amount of freedom that they have.

Then the overwhelming question becomes: What is the best use of my time and resources? After a while one can actually become stymied and even dispirited. There are plenty of folks who are more than willing to make suggestions, but it takes a lot of individual work to develop the psychological freedom to make decisions. For most, that's not a problem because time and money are limited, so the choices are limited. Being willing to try to understand the challenges of having an oversupply of time and money can be difficult for therapists.

The takeaway from all of this is that there seemed to be a trend that said you can't buy your way out of the human condition. For example, one survey participant told me that he'd sold his business, made a lot of money off that and lived high for a while. He said, "You know, Bob, you can just buy so much stuff, and when you get to the point where you can just buy so much stuff, now what are you going to do?"

WHAT'S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS RESEARCH FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF US WHO AREN'T WEALTHY?

This research shows the rest of the world, who often think that if they just made one more bonus or sold one more item or got one more promotion, then their world and their family's world would be so much better, that this isn't necessarily true. There's another whole level of concerns that parents are going to have about their kids. One of those concerns is this feeling of isolation. That's actually a No. 1 concern for families with a high net worth — this sense of isolation — and the higher the wealth, the worse it gets. We know this is a very powerful feeling when it comes to one's overall sense of well-being, and these people feel very isolated because they have what most of the world thinks they want. But just because you have money doesn't mean you're not going to have a bad day every once in a while. But what you often lose when you have all this money is the friendships that support you through the difficult times.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED THROUGH YOUR YEARS OF WORKING WITH PEOPLE WITH A HIGH NET WORTH?

I think the toughest part about both working with this population and being in this population is that as soon as you say they have a net worth of $25 million, someone will start playing the violin. Like, "Oh, cry me a river, you have all this money and it's causing problems?"

No one is saying, "Poor me, I have a lot of money." In fact, most of them are saying, "I love having a lot of money. But don't get me wrong, there are some downsides."

These people don't have to worry about whether they'll have enough to make the mortgage payment, and they feel very fortunate. But it isn't nirvana either. If their kids have access to a lot of money, and therefore a lot of drugs, that hurts just as much as if they don't have any money and their kids are doing drugs. It doesn't save you from any of that. It's still a parent who has a child who is hurting.

---

Amy Novotney is a writer in Chicago.

Week Eight Writing About What You Read

Take a position for or against the author's main point or any of the secondary points made in this article.