So what do I write about today? Well after looking back on the week, I figured it out and somehow it relates to Lincoln University. Normally I try to separate myself from school as much as possible but I found this subject too good not to write about. So I was sitting in my Social Psychology class the other day and was introduced to a new topic. Basically, some folks did some research to see how easily people would obey an order from a person who they thought was a figure of importance.

This guy named Stanley Milgram came up with an experiment to see if people would follow orders. What he did was tell one participant that they were conducting an experiment in regards to memory. The participant would be the “teacher” and another person, whom was an actor for the sake of the study, would be the “learner.” The teacher would ask a series of questions and with each wrong answer they would have to shock the learner. Now what they did first was shock the teacher with 45 volts of electricity to give them a taste of what it would be like. From the reactions of the participants, I could tell it wasn’t very comfortable. I’ll say again the person the participant was shocking as just an actor. He wasn’t really shocked.

So the experiment starts and with each wrong answer the voltage goes up. The scale goes from 15 to a LETHAL 450. Yea! LETHAL! Keep in mind the people doing the shocking see the actual scale in front of them. It has labels warning them of the severity of the shocks that they’re administering. During the questioning the participant has a “researcher” sitting in the room telling them that the experiment requires them to continue shocking after wrong answers are given.

What happens throughout is absolutely mind blowing. The actors in the experiment are in a different room but the participant can hear their reactions so they know the consequences of every shock. When they reach about 220 volts, the actor starts shouting “let me out of here… my heart is bothering me.” Wow! You’ve gotta be thinking that after hearing that, participants would refuse to go on. Nope, the show must continue. Some question whether or not they should but the “researcher” in the room says the experiment requires that they go on.

Surprisingly, some people went on without being phased. Oh, by the way, after the actor said he was having heart problems, he fell completely silent. The participants even ask if they killed him. Yet they still fucking go on! Some people even finished, yep they went all the way to 450. Some even ask where they go from there. Now, nobody was really harmed in the experiment of course but after finding out the intentions of the study the participants definitely had some thinking to do. There was a percentage, however, that did stop after a certain voltage was reached. With all of the instances of this experiment, the number was around 30 percent of the people actually stopping.

Some literally believed they may have killed or seriously harmed another person. At the time it was kind of funny to see their reactions during the experiment but as I analyzed the situation further it was rather disturbing. These people knew they were hurting someone and just the presence and suggestions of a so called researcher influenced them to keep going. They knew it was wrong, yet they kept going.
What does this say about human nature? We all say that when faced with a dilemma such as this that we would do the right thing. Well I’m sure that’s what the participants of this experiment said too. Milgram likened this experiment to the Holocaust because of its nature. The Nazis under the leadership of Adolph Hitler, simply just did what they were told and executed over 11 million people. That’s a lot of people! He filled their heads with so much jacked-up nonsense and they actually believed they were cleansing the world. It’s absolutely crazy that one man would go to such extraordinary lengths to cause so much pain and suffering among innocent people. The reasoning given during the trials of Nazi soldiers was simply as I said above; they just did what they were told. Just like the participants in the experiment.

This has to be one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. The messed up thing is the people in the experiment were just average Joes off of the street. Not some crazy Nazi fuckers. This means that any one of us can be influenced to do some dumb, useless, immoral, and horrible things. After seeing this, I’ve decided I’m going to do my level best to keep thinking for myself and take the road less traveled. I don’t want to just be another Kool-Aid drinker especially when it goes against my beliefs. Granted, I’ve followed when I didn’t completely agree and we all have but seeing this study puts a new spin on that. I now see how easily people can be convinced into doing something that in their hearts they know is wrong. So let this be a little inspiration to do what you believe is right. That might be a little cliché but that’s because it’s held true for so long. Give it some thought. Until next time. God bless.

Branson Shenanigans

After another week in my moderately interesting life, I figured I would do a little blogging. I try to have a good time every weekend and the most recent was no different. Billy (my best friend), Katie (my best friend’s girl) and I went to Branson this weekend. It was definitely nice getting out of Jefferson City for a little while. Don’t get me wrong, JC will be a nice place to live in ten years or so when I’ve most likely settled down with a family. But for an adventurous twenty-one year old, it can be somewhat of a boring place to live. I guess being stranded in a town with limited activities ones whole life, and where being twenty-three and single is an odd thing, there are only two possible ways to go. You either accept it and stay or your brain grows an exploratory section and just takes off.

At the moment, I feel the need to just get out and see as many places as I can. For example, I went to Hollywood and Los Angeles over the summer and it was probably the most surreal experience I’ve ever had. To actually see and be in a place that I’ve only seen in movies or on television was absolutely crazy. The weather was unbelievable. No rain, sunshine all the time, and no humidity. Why did I leave? I guess it is true, there’s no place like home.

You might be wondering why I went to Branson. Well I’ll let you in on it. Our little group or the Three Amigos went to see Sebastian Maniscalco. He happens to be the guy in the picture above next to a strikingly handsome individual. This guy is probably my favorite comedian with Joe Rogan and Dane Cook coming in close behind him. Much like any good comedian, he can relate to an audience. He takes things that occur in everyday life and ads his own comedic flare to them. It’s got to be some of the funniest shit I’ve ever heard and seen. I’ll post a link to a couple videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSGOFnyr3OU

http://comedians.comedycentral.com/sebastian-maniscalco/videos/sebastian---working-the-shower

Hope you got to take a look at the videos and liked em. After this little comedy show and some time to let it sit in my brain and settle in, I did some thinking today. I do that sort of thing a lot. Being able to laugh at things is fantastic. Realizing the things that we laugh at most probably happen everyday is even better. Seeing this comedy show just reminded me to just take the time and laugh at the little things. Life is funny, and it always will be. Everybody has their own little behaviors, their own characteristics that make them seem funny to the rest of the world.

For example, I’m a short, somewhat skinny, average looking (at best) white guy who doesn’t make much money and sings in the car while no one is looking. Some times I go around the house shadow boxing or quoting various lines from movies to myself. This could be a little funny to some. God forbid people actually knew how crazy we were. Why not let people know? If everyone said some of the crazy things they did, we would realize we have more in common with each other than ever though possible.

I don’t really have much to elaborate on in this blog but I hope there’s still some meaning in it. I just want to remind you fine folks to take the time out of your day and find some humor in the little things. Life doesn’t always have to be so serious. Take a look around and you’ll probably see some funny stuff if you pay attention. Nothing extraordinary has to take place either. Just walk into a local grocery store or restaurant and spend a little time there. Trust me, something will make you laugh or think about laughing while you’re there. That’s the beauty of it. Appreciation of little things in life can bring tons of satisfaction. Until next time. God bless.

Halloween Hijinks and Maybe Some Hidden Meaning

Ahh, Halloween. Another one has come and gone just like any other day of the week. Halloween is what I like to call the holiday of excuses. It gives guys an excuse to go shirtless and show off what they think the ladies like. It gives little kids an excuse to gorge themselves on kit-kats, gobstoppers, tootsie rolls, butterfingers, and whatever else they can stuff into their pillow cases. And my personal favorite, it gives the gals an excuse to run around in scantily clad outfits. Any way you look at it, Halloween is an excuse to act completely out of character without worrying about what others think. I believe this is the true beauty of this pagan holiday. No matter what disguise a person uses, they seem to come out of the shell that they live in every other day of the year. What if people use the disguise to act in ways they really want to? That’s a definite possibility because I know I wouldn’t mind acting in a way that didn’t result in certain consequences. That, my friends is what Halloween offers.

As for me, a buddy and I dressed up as Goose and Maverick from the classic 1980’s movie Top Gun and yours truly was Goose. Yes, the same guy who dies in the movie. Not to worry though, I was very much alive this weekend. On Friday, my wing man and I went to Fulton in the truck that we made into a ham-handed replica of the F-14 Tomcat that was featured in the movie. The back wings didn’t hold up the first night but we had fun none the less. We even got a picture with a former member of the A-Team… That’s right, Mr. T!

Saturday, Maverick and I rebuilt the wings to our trusty steed. The final product had to have been the coolest fuckin thing I have ever seen. The collaboration of our flight suits, aviators, the decorated plane and the cd with Highway to the Danger Zone, Great Balls of Fire, and You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ was nothing short of epic. We cruised around Columbia with no qualms about what others thought. We took pride in our Halloween costumes. People enjoyed our enthusiasm about this classic movie. At one point we were actually flagged down just to take pictures by our “plane.” I dare you to tell me that’s not the best compliment ever.

After a lofty cruise downtown, we proceeded to head to a party with our friends who were apparently Frick and Frack a.k.a Megan and Breanna. They definitely had the most interesting and thought provoking costumes of the night. During this party, Mav and I decided that we were going to steal a scene from the movie. We decided we would sing You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ to the ladies we went with. The odds were against us since we didn’t know one person at this shindig but to our surprise the guy running the show was all for us singing. This had to have been a sign. The music was cut and the stage was set. We did our thing and that was it, everybody loved it. It was kind of like American Idol without the sarcastic British comments.

We ended up singing the same thing at another party to some other people but both performances were to be remembered. Four years ago I would have never thought about singing to people in front of a crowd I didn’t know but that was then. Call me a late bloomer but I feel as if I’m getting a grasp on certain aspects of life. In the grand scheme of things, who really cares? Sure, we might have looked like fools at the moment but nobody forgot who we were. I feel like I should try to take the path that leads to the most interesting story. After all that’s exactly what life is… A compilation of stories. So why not try to make things as interesting as possible for our short time here?

I no longer want to sit back and watch life pass me by. I want to live everyday as if I had a specific goal in mind, like I’m the star of my own movie. Realizing this outlook on life, I would definitely like to make a difference in someone else’s. I’m not trying to save the world or get all mushy but I just want to know that I’ve made a positive impact on somebody else before I exit this world. Whether I inspire them to do something great with their lives or just simply make them laugh when they’re having a bad day, nothing will make me happier than having an influence.

So let me just tie the last paragraph to the Halloween theme of this blog. Even if our costumes didn’t matter or our vocal exploits had no impact around the world, we still made some people laugh. We enhanced the mood of the room. Even if only for a brief moment, we were a bright spot in people’s lives. That is what I hope to give everyone I know for the rest of my life. Something to make the day easier, something to inspire them to live to their potential. That was my Halloween excuse, to act a little out of character and possibly make someone else have a better day. All I ask is that, like the movie, they pay it forward. Take it upon yourself to make people have a better day. Until next time. God Bless.