Decision-Making: Emotion vs. Reason

1.) The role of myelin in the frontal lobe and decision-making is that since the frontal lobe isn't fully connected yet and doesn't have much myelin, which basically acts as insulation for the nerves, it is less capable of making good decisions. Adults have fully developed frontal lobes and more myelin, thus their brain signals can flow more freely than that have teenagers.

2.) The role of the cerebellum in decision-making is to coordinate the thinking process and to smooth over the thoughts resulting from life experiences in an organized matter. The cerebellum doesn't fully develop until the late 20s, so it is certainly not completely developed in a teenager, and thus the adolescent thinking process is less organized, leading to worse decisions.

3.) The role of socialization in the moral development of children is to shape their possibly already existing moral codes so that they adhere to the norms. The implications of socialization on the possibility of a universal moral code are that if our morality can be molded from that start, we can aspire as a race to achieving a universal moral code where we can all understand each other and be truly unselfish through cultural experiences.

4.) When I'm making a decision, I try to consider all of the pros and cons of that decision, and the results of it if I take action. In doing so, I  weigh the benefits of that decision against the costs, and can determine if it is a good decision to take action on or not. For example, I'm looking at colleges right now as a junior in high school, and when I'm narrowing colleges down it's a matter of weighing the good against the bad. Eventually, I'm going to have to make that big decision and choose my college, and to do that I'll have to determine whether or not the benefits of that college will outweigh the costs by just trying to predict all the possible outcomes. I'd say that being able to make good, smart decisions,   is extremely important and definitely matters. The decisions I make now determine my future, so it's worrisome that my brain isn't as capable of making them according to the neurological studies.

The 16th Man Blog Post

1.) Knowledge issue question: Can sports really change people's minds so drastically as to significantly change the world, or it something else beyond the sport itself?

2.) My CAS activity: World Challenge Ecuador
  
In relation to Mandela Quote: Mandela believed that something like sport could change the world, and it's the aspect of sports that involves people of different cultures being able to work together that is what has that ability. When I go to Ecuador this summer, I'm going to be doing some community service for mentally challenged kids who speak a totally different language and who have grown up in a completely different culture. We will be working together, and will be simultaneously understanding each others' lives better while doing so. In that way, we will be bridging cultural gaps, like the rugby teams did, but on a bit smaller scale.

Reflection Assignment

1.) Emotion and memory have many links, and can be quite dependent on eachother. When a person feels an intense emotion, it is more likely that they will have a more vivid memory of the situation surrounding that emotion. Conversely, memories are often based upon what someone felt at a time rather than what they saw, smelt, or touched. For example, I can remember times when I was really sad, but not exactly what was going on at the time. This however is not always the case. Sometimes intense negative emotions that are scarring and traumatic can cause someone to subconsciously rid of the memories of that situation. A memory can actually cause new emotions too, for example remembering a lost loved one can stir up emotions of grief and sadness. Basically emotions and memories are connected in various ways that directly affect one another.

2.) High reason is "the point of view that someone other than you might take with respect to your future," it "values pure reason and logical deduction above all else." Somatic hypothesis is when you have a gut feeling about something, a feeling about something that affects you physically and affects your decision on something. For me, when I'm making a decision I tend to try to be as logical as possible but I don't disregard my gut feeling either. I'm currently looking at colleges and I look logically at their benefits as well as if they just feel right for me in my gut. That being said, I'm not terrific at making decisions as I put a lot of thought into each one I make.