CATW Prompt Rewrite

Individuals in Groups

Something happens to individuals when they are in a group. They think and act differently than they would on their own. Most people, if they observe some disaster or danger on their own—a woman being stabbed, a pedestrian slammed by a hit-and-run driver—will at least call for help; many will even risk their own safety to intervene. But if they are in a group observing the same danger, they hold back. The reason has more to do with the nature of groups than the nature of individuals.

In one experiment in behavioral psychology, students were seated in a room, either alone or in groups of three, as a staged emergency occurred: Smoke began pouring through the vents. Students who were on their own usually hesitated a minute, got up, checked the vents and then went out to report what certainly seemed like a fire. But the students who were sitting in groups of three did not move. They sat there for six minutes, with smoke so thick they could barely see, rubbing their eyes and coughing.

In another experiment, psychologists staged a situation in which people overheard a loud crash, a scream and a woman in pain, moaning that her ankle was broken. Seventy percent of those who were alone when the “accident” occurred went to her aid, compared with only 40 percent of those who heard her in the presence of another person.

Psychologists call this “diffusion of responsibility” or “social loafing.” The more people in a group, the lazier each individual in it becomes. Often, observers think nothing needs to be done because someone else has already taken care of it, and the more observers there are, the less likely any one person is to call for help.

Adapted from “In Groups We Shrink” by Carol Tavris. Originally published in the Los Angeles Times, 1991.

Sample Essay Response

People are not the same when they are in a group. A person is smart, responsible, reasonable, and hardworking. A person cares for others and knows his or her moral standing. People are unintelligent, scared, lazy and onlooking. People seem to think that its always some elses problem All they can do is watch so thats what they will do. Yes, a person is less likely to act if no one else is acting. Even if it is the moral or professional duty of a person to help or act, they may fail if they feel out numbered.

Carol Tavris says from her “In Groups We Shrink” that, in groups, people have, what Psychologist call, “diffusion of responsibility” or “social loafing.”

Experiments show that students, in a room filling with smoke, would be more likely to call for help if they were alone. This is contrary to the test with multiple students who would sit there and allow the smoke to fill the room. In a real life situation the people who do not act upon smoke is not likely to survive.

This behavior is not restricted to young college or high school students which have little life experience. In a surveillance video of a parking lot, a man was stabbed and then mugged. The assailant escape leaving the man bleeding. The man gathered enough strenght to stumble in front of the traffic going though the parking lot. He might have thought to himself that this would be a fast way to get help. The drivers proved him wrong. Cars would drive around him to avoid him. Perhaps these people did not want to hold up traffic. Each minute wasted is more blood drained. Even a school bus carefully tried to avoid him. The man, knelt down hold his arms up with blood on them Finally a lone man got out of his car and assisted the man to the hospital. It took almost an hour for someone to decide to help and it was during a gap where the savior was alone with no traffic behind him and no passenger.

At the hospital one could be treated for whatever ailments one may have. That is why the stab victim wanted to go so badly. But even at the hospital there is no guarantee. At one New York City hospital, a elderly woman collapsed due to a heart condition in the lobby. All the people waiting watched as she hit the floor. However they returned to whatever they were doing. Minutes go by and activity around her remained normal. Doctors were seen walking passed and then disappearing past the camera. Almost an hour passes and finally a guard is seen feeling her pulse. After ten minutes a stretcher comes to take her away. What took so long? Whatever the case may be the assured thought was that some else must be handling it.

There are cases of individuals who would help despite other people. But the general masses are always onlookers. As seen, students seem to disregard their own life from laziness. Even adults and professionals are guilty of this. This is the nature of people. That is why there are heroes in the world. There needs to be balance.

Post 11 Response to prompt from 11/5

                In the passage “Imitation of Film: Here’s Smoking for You Kid” the author Nicholas Balakar expresses how much movies influence and expose young children to smoke. He mentions in studies how percentages increase on children who begin smoking by imitation because of the rated R movies they have seen. To lower the percentage of children smoking at a younger age, more parents need to become stricter on what their children watch.

                Dr. James D. Sargent stated, “Rated R movies contain twice as much smoking” and “studies show that kids begin watching rated R movies usually in the fourth or fifth grade.”  Though rated R movies are not specifically meant for younger children, parents are becoming more careless. So now with the permission from parents or lack of carelessness their children become a target for underage smoking without them realizing what they are doing.

                As parents, it is our job to filter what our children watch as much as possible. For example, most 10-14 year old boys cannot resist watching the X-men movies. One of the main characters in the movie is Wolverine. Parents pay no mind to the fact he is constantly smoking a cigar, but only because he is perceived to be a hero in the production.  Another example is some movie theaters. I recently went to the movies to watch “Bad Grandpa” which was rated R film with plenty of profanity, nudity, and of course smoking. I could not believe the amount of under aged kids that were there with an adult present in the theater.

                By watching a specific character or movie because of its level of humor, these young kids are subconsciously being exposed and influenced to smoke. The study also says “the child who has the greatest amount of exposure to smoking  in movies were more than two and a half times more likely to smoke as to those who had the least exposure.”

                Since children are so easily influenced by what they see, they don’t believe smoking is bad. Our job as adults and parents is to do more filtering on what our kids watch so we can prevent that. I believe if this is done more often; the percentage of under aged smoking will decrease drastically.  

Blog 10

                                                              Bye-Bye Education

      In the article " The Dangers of Reality TV", Timothy Sexton gives us reasons why reality television is bad. One of the reasons that I feel is most important is the obsolescence of education. I agree in the sense of it not being recognized as much in the idea of becoming successful in life. I also disagree, because it is not an immediate answer when a child is asked about their ideas on how to become successful.
 
        Looking Back on society, education was the key to becoming prosperous.Young children's main goal was graduating from college and beginning their career. When comparing it to our youth now, the dangerous message reality shows put out is that education is completely unnecessary to gain success. These reality shows not only give children, but adults the idea to turn away from education.
   
        I believe these shows also give self-esteem issues when coming education. By watching reality shows, they subconsciously raise hopes by putting some type of reward and disguising it as success. This gives people the excuse "school is a waste of time" and " why go to school and face the difficulties of learning when I could just get on a reality show and humiliate myself  for money? " Again giving the thought of success and wealthiness with little effort.

   In conclusion, education should be taken more seriously instead of being pushed aside. Instead of  being the next contestant or cast member of a so called "reality show" earning fast money , people should concentrate more on their education and knowledge to get them far in life.

Blog 7

I always wondered what it would feel like to be a star in my own reality show since I was younger. Having cameras following me around and documenting everything I did. I started watching reality shows like "The Real World" and "Keeping Up With the Kardashians". I thought that this was actually how they lived every day until I learned that most scenes in the show were staged; just like the movie “The Truman Show.”

                In the passage "Truman Show Syndrome" by Colin Lecher, he explains how reality television has corrupted minds of most people. The majority of people that do watch reality shows seem to believe they are in one. As stated in the passage, "... these delusions are put into two categories: bizarre and non-bizarre.” Using examples of "I'm dead ', is bizarre and "Millions of strangers are obsessed with me' being non-bizarre.”  That example is a perfect statement to describe today's society. Using the examples social media such as Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube has people believing they grew famous over night or through time based on how many follower, likes, or subscribers they have. We watch reality shows so much that we start believing that people are watching us, or even compare their lifestyles to the people they are watching. As I mentioned before, the media has staged most reality shows. Adding more drama and characters we may think that are real people just for higher ratings.

I remember watching an E! special on former reality star Kristen Cavelleri from show " Laguna Beach". She said that most of the scenes were fake and some of the cast members were paid or bribed with expensive things to carry out rumors and drama just to make the show better. Another perfect way to get higher rating and watchers hooked; comparing this to a scene in the movie "The Truman Show" when Christof controls the rain when Truman is at sea. It was done for higher ratings.

      In conclusion, I believe reality shows are just like the chip the CIA planted into people’s brains. There to brainwash and control our way of living, and also produced  to distract us from bigger things happening in the world.

Blog 6

2. Throughout the film, there are shameless advertisements and product placements presented as part of Truman’s life. Is it moral to use Truman’s life as a means to monetary gain?

 In today's society people buy most things because a celebrity uses, wears, or makes it. That is one of the strongest strategies used in marketing. They figured that if a celebrity or reality star uses a certain product it can make a steady income. Using Truman was a moral way to sell things for the networks monetary gain, but it was also an immoral thing to do because Truman didn't know about it. A perfect example from the movie is when Truman is trying to speak to Meryl about his suspicions of living a staged life, and out of no where she starts reciting lines as if she were in a commercial for the hot cocoa mix. She did it mainly because if Truman used the hot cocoa mix people watching would use and drink it too. She also did it at the wrong moment, trying not to expose the secret that Truman was slowly catching on to. But that is our norm now; we buy things because a celebrity uses it. It may not necessarily be good, but if it is instructed from the celebrity to buy it, we do. Hence the fact that this is the best way from marketing purposes. They will always use this strategy because it has never steered them wrong.

Blog 5

         In the passage written by Jefferey Kluger " I Know the Truth, So Don't Bother Me With Facts", he writes about people believing in false beliefs and what it takes to get people to change their mind about them. Based on studies by professors from Ohio State University, they recorded that 750 people believed at least one rumor about the Islamic cultural center. Then decided on which true fact to expose in order change the opinion of the people. Further studies are being conducted on the brain to look deeper into why most people don't change their opinions even when presented with real facts.

         "Even when people do take time to learn the facts, the effort does no good". I took this statement from the passage because I believe that it has a lot to do with ego and experience. It takes a lot for a person to change what they thought and believed in after proving them wrong with true facts. Just like my grandparents, most people are very stubborn with what they believe in, and in order to change things true facts need to be presented

         As a girl, growing up with plenty of aunts, uncles, and cousins there was always something or someone being talked about. Whether it was a crazy rumor about who was dating or a twisted story about how someone in the newspaper died. I also had my grandparents who always spoke of stories and lessons that were quite outdated. They were such strong believers in what they preached. If you told them different to change what they thought, they would be more stubborn than an ox. Here’s a good example of when my uncle met his wife. It was like any other day, I was in my grandparent’s house after a long day of school. My uncle came home from work with a big smile on his face. Something was obviously up with him, so I asked him why he had such a big smile on. He had told me that his new relationship was going very well and my aunt said yes to be his girlfriend. He had told the family about his news after everyone came home. We were all happy for my uncle. Until my aunt Maribel asked what nationality she was. My uncle took a minute to respond, and finally said she was Puerto Rican. That’s when all the idiotic rumors about Puerto Rican Women started; how they were gold diggers, how they couldn’t cook as well as Dominican women, etc. My grandmother went on for about an hour saying that it wasn’t going to last and how she would rob him blind. Since I was young I told my uncle not to worry about what they said and how I couldn’t wait to meet her. He took my advice and they have been married for 7 years now and have a 2-year-old son. But still to this day my aunt and some others in the family say those things.

         I think some of my family’s thoughts and view on things will never change. I also think it has a lot to do with age and their experiences they’ve gone through. Hearing all these stories and gossip as a kid sounded so real to me just because it was my family, why would they lie. As I got older, I realized what instigation and adding a little white lie was. People added their two senses to the story just to make it sound more interesting, whether it was true or not. That is what everything comes down to; a whole bunch of misheard stories, instigation, and flat out lies. 

Blog 4

    Back then, during the time of 500 B.C.E. , people in society were brought up believing in thinking one way. If you were to think anything other then what you were taught or told, you were classified as crazy and sent into exile. In the reading " The Allegory of the Cave," Plato describes people in society having no knowledge of anything other than what they're told. He uses the example of prisoners being chained and held being immobile. The only view they have is a wall with a fire behind them projecting the images from people and animals walking by. They are forced to believe that this was life; Nothing more nothing less. Until one of the prisoners were released and exposed to society. The prisoner started learning about what else was outside of the cave. Since he was being exposed to all these new things he wanted to tell the other prisoners about what he was experiencing. When he went back to share this exciting news, screaming and shouting what he knew and been through outside of the cave. The other prisoners weren't responding. He didn't realize that they didn't understand him nor knew who or what he was. I Believe Plato was trying to explain that growing up being told what and how to think, not to have your own ideas, and to learn outside of what you were taught was not the real way of living. By being exposed to different ideas and ways of life it can change society's perspective on living.
      Comparing my life to Plato's allegory, I would say my life is like the prisoner being released from the cave. My whole life I was brought up with the idea of finishing school, begin my career, get married, and finally start my family. As of right now I'm starting off at my last step. Before telling my family I was with child I felt like a prisoner awaiting their sentence. Thinking of what my parents would say was by far the scariest most nerve wrecking thing I would ever have to experience.
      When doom's day approached and the moment I came forward with my news I felt like the prisoner from the cave being released. It just so happened my parents did accept me and my new little one that was coming into the world. Like the prisoner being exposed to new things, I was getting the same treatment. From experiencing morning sickness to my parents educating me about parenthood I felt like I was taking a class and getting ready for the biggest exam of my life. Though my journey isn't finished yet I look forward to taking on this challenge of motherhood.