Counterintuitive Spring 2023

From a young age parents tell their children to keep an open mind and embrace different cultures. They teach us to be courteous and mindful of different backgrounds and traditions. Regardless of whether one agrees with a culture or not, norms tell us to be accepting  of it and what it bring to the world. A brand new culture has been introduced to society today. A culture that doesn’t rely on different food or a person’s origin. Rape culture is when society blames victims of sexual assault and normalize male sexual violence. In the midst in this craze based around social acceptance, the quality of cultures in being confused and people are so willing to accept a culture based around the exploitation of women. Children are growing up in a time where we are teaching young girls how to be extra careful and avoid rape instead of teaching boys not to be rapists.

When victims comes forward they are often brushed aside or condemned for being victims. Victims are shamed and their abusers go on living a normal life. When brought to face the justice system, rapists often roam free the very next day. Only 16% of rapists spend a night in jail. The victims may be severely traumatized by the event and their attackers are back on the streets. Due to the inconsistencies in the justice system rapists have no fear when it comes to punishment. Instead of being prosecuted, they are free to assault or abuse once again.

At Columbia University, Emma Sulkowicz was raped. Her rapist still goes to her school and roams campus freely along side of her and her peers. After reporting her assault she learned that two other young women reported that the same man raped and assaulted them in the past. However, the University found a way to dismiss each of the three cases. Students at the University filed a federal report saying that the “school is too lenient with alleged perpetrators and it discourages students from reporting assault.” So instead of being comfortable with reporting an assault, students feel uneasy. This encourages perpetrators to continue assaulting because there is no punishment for their actions.

Sources:

New source: http://time.com/98433/video-ivy-league-rape/

http://www.rccmsc.org/resources/get-the-facts.aspx

Coping Through Comedy

Childhood is emotionally scarring for everyone, to some degree. For every few that make it out alive and unscathed, there are more who suffered some trauma, wether it be neglect or abuse, creating a mound of insecurities to sort through as they aged. A need for validation and acceptance is born, leading many to act out and perform outrageous acts to be noticed and cared about. Those who manage to channel that energy into constructive activity as they reached adulthood have the potential to be successful, and one such category of people are comedians. Comedians, those who bring light to a dreary day but exploiting their own personal problems have a gift that is hard to replicate. This is because their talent for wit, satire, and observational comedy comes from a biological root, as the best comedians seem to suffer from various mental illnesses rooted in their insecurities. Mental illnesses are most commonly caused by a rough childhood or a traumatic event, as many may experience. Comedians are special, however, because they specifically tested higher than the average person for psychotic traits, which researchers speculate quintessential to create interesting material that is new and thought provoking, as these traits help comedians view the world in a more creative and intriguing way.

Although most, if not all comedians tested for high levels of these traits, that is almost where the similarities end, from a biological standpoint. Not every comedian is plagued by mental illness, but those that are potentially share the same disorder. While one would assume this would lead to similar thought patterns and ideas, in observing several comedian’s routines, we see that is not true. Cognitive functions vary for person to person, and past experiences will always influence how a person perceives and reacts to stimulus. As every person is unique in the world, the same rules apply to everyone’s work. No two people will produce the exact same work in any field, and the same is true for comedians. Coming from different backgrounds, each performer will create individual routines and bits based of of what they themselves have experienced and what is relevant to them. While one jokes about divorce and depression in one breath, another will take jabs at themselves for never getting a date in the first place due to social anxiety. Even performers who share the same struggles and situations have that creative worldview at their advantage and will never comment on a topic the exact same way, creating a plethora of interesting and hilarious choices and viewpoints.

In the wide spectrum of comedy, it’s difficult to determine where the line is draw between funny and not. There is a delicate balance that is difficult to maintain, as the extremes are either the routine is so safe it’s terribly boring, or so offensive and personal it is unwatchable. This fine line is tackled by Peter McGraw and Caleb Warren, who decided to delve into the world of comedy to explain why we find personal struggle of those we don’t know funny. They call their findings the “Benign Violation Theory of Comedy.” As stated in their research, “Benign violations in comedy are anything from bizarre and unusual social acts, to physical deformity, to physical threats, so there is a wide range of potential topics to address,” meaning there is an endless pool of potential material (McGraw & Warren, 2010). These acts are considered funny because they are outside the audience’s perception of how the world should be, threatening their paradigm. The comedy comes in when the offending circumstances, or violation, is made out to be harmless, or benign. The correlation in why we find struggle funny is boiled down to two variables: distance and severity. In their studies, they found that a small mishap, like a stubbed toe, is only funny when in close proximity as opposed to years in the past, while a serious tragedy is not funny when in close proximity, but as time goes on, it is able to be joked about, and can even be an emotional release for most, including the comedians themselves. Talking about stubbing a toe two years ago is boring, safe comedy while joking about a terrorist attack barely weeks after is insensitive, unbearable, and unwatchable comedy. There needs to be a balance between the two extremes to create a great routine.

While it can’t help a performer find this balance, Benign Violation Theory has helped researchers understand how comedy helps with stress, anxiety, and depression. When the threat of a potentially offensive or dangerous violation is diffused, it becomes benign which, in turn, gives an audience the opportunity to release their stress through laughter, guilt-free. A comedian owes a paying audience a good show, so it is common to see intimate struggle come up in a routine, because that is what the performer would know best. The violation here, in general terms, is that a private life becomes public. While these topics are traditionally taboo and not meant for crowds of hundreds or thousands, audiences are given the chance to release themselves from their own troubles. By the Benign Violation Theory, the private stories violation is made benign because comedians have to power and skill to bring devastating topic to light, wether it be about failed relationships, social anxieties, familial issues, illegal drugs, depression, or anxiety, and spin them in a way that provides catharsis, helping people let go and laugh at an otherwise miserable situation. The stress relief works both ways, for when the performer expresses their thoughts, opinions, and troubles to an audience, he or she is able to better cope with the issue, making it a little less sad.

Comedy is a tough business to get by in, and has driven many to the absolute edge, resulting in self-harm and even suicide. Mental illnesses can be enough to break down the strongest of people, and those who are willing to bear all, even use their issues to their own advantage, are a sight to behold. Comedians have a hard enough job, getting in front of hundreds or thousands of people and helping them forget their troubles. These talented performers are laughing along with us (not at us) and use their own routines and fans to potentially help themselves. It takes a trained, skilled eye to manipulate that fine line between safe and offensive comedy, and those that succeed do the world and themselves a great good, and reminds everyone that while some circumstances may seem like the end of the world, there is always a way back. As stated by McGraw & Warren (2010), “Laughter and amusement signal to the world that a violation is indeed okay.” We all need our daily laugh to keep us moving on in hopes of a better, brighter tomorrow.

Mcgraw, A. P., C. Warren, L. E. Williams, and B. Leonard. “Too Close for Comfort, or Too Far to Care? Finding Humor in Distant Tragedies and Close Mishaps.” Psychological Science (2012): 1215-223. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.

Mcgraw, A. P., and C. Warren. “Benign Violations: Making Immoral Behavior Funny.” Psychological Science (2010): 1141-149. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.

Khazan, Olga. “The Dark Psychology of Being a Good Comedian.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 27 Feb. 2014. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.

(New Source) Snow, Shane. “A Quest to Understand What Makes Things Funny.” The New Yorker. Condé Nast, 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

Wooden shields

When presidential corruption surpasses all the limits and the entire nation suffers because of unfair one-sided laws and low salaries, every next decision made by the president can be turned into provocation against the society and cause big revolutionary movement. Viktor Yanukovich,  became a president of Ukraine in 2010 and since that moment he  has done everything to enrich himself, while every average person had to struggle because of new laws and fees.

Yanukovich had a questionable reputation way before his first appearance on the presidential election in 2005.  At his young age he was convicted twice for the theft and the infliction of bodily harm. These facts didn’t stay unnoticed by the journalists, and shortly it became generally known. Regardless of the negative attitude to Yanukovich, he managed to win the election with a small lead. It caused a national indignation and Orange Revolution because people believed that it was an obvious cheating. The Supreme Court agreed to hold the third round of the election, which Yanukovich lost to his opponent Viktor Ushchenko.

However, once it was time for new election 4 years later, Yanukovich took the presidential seat without resistance. It became possible for him, because the high expectations of the people that were supporting Ushchenko did not turn into reality, and there was no new promising candidate, so many of them were just generally tired and disappointed. Once Yanukovich became a president he cleared his criminal history with the help of a court hearing, which recognized his convictions illegal.

For the next few years, bit by bit, he was taking advantage of his position by enriching himself in every possible way. For example, almost every month his security cortege would get brand new models of Mercedes vehicles. While hundreds thousands of dollars were spent just on the presidential transportation, all the previous models would always mysteriously disappear. By the year 2012 Yanukovich ranked 4th in the world on the list of  “presidential expenses – average income” statistics.

When the president of Ukraine failed to sign the agreements with the European Union on November 29, students’ response was immediate – via social media, they decided to meet in the center of the city, on the Independence Square and stay for as long as necessary for the president to change his mind. Although almost everyone in the country was mad and disappointed, the situation wasn’t anywhere close to critical or unexpected, so just young adults were willing to fight for changes, while most of elderly people, and middle-aged adults weren’t motivated enough to make any actual moves against the government.

By the morning, around 500 harmless unarmed students that were still standing near the Independence Monument were attacked. Special police forces “Berkut”without any warnings  started beating up everyone with batons, and drag whoever they could catch to the police cars. Upon waking up and reading the news, people were shocked. The nation could no longer deal with presidential inhumanity and lawlessness. The night incident galvanized the country, a result the president was not expecting. Thousands of people of all ages, started gathering together in the central squares asking for justice. For the next 2 months revolutionaries occupied the center of the city,  demanding drastic changes in the government and laws, while well-paid special forces were trying to disorganize and weaken the revolution.

By the end of February it became already clear for everyone that there was no way back. After spending almost 3 months in the cold, fighting against the dictatorship, surviving in cold winter with almost no shelter and just support by other people from all over the country protesters could no longer  afford giving up. The president and his associates realized that their crimes were not unnoticed anymore, but Yanukovich after years of spoiling himself wasn’t willing to give up on his power and treasures. He started enacting new ridiculous and dictatorial laws. For example, using helmets became illegal, punishable by  jail without a court hearing. Because many people in the “Occupy” camp were using helmets, almost all the time, they automatically became criminals.

On February 18th the president implemented a law that would allow police use a real weapons against the protesters. All the special police forces were sent to the center of the city and were commanded to regain control of the Independence Square and all the adjacent streets.  The assaults on the revolution camp were continuously happening for 3 days in a row, trying to exhaust already tired people and take the control over the situation by force. However, as soon as people got notifications about the latest news from Maydan, many left their job places, and rushed to the center of the capital to join the revolutionary forces. Police were trying to scare people away  by pouring icy water on them, while professional snipers were injuring some of the most active protesters.

On February 22nd, policemen realized that no matter what they do, they just met higher resistance every hour. They started backing up while snipers were trying to shoot dead as many people as they could. Protesters with wooden shields, doctors with no body armor would get killed or injured while they were trying to just get bodies of the people that still could be saved.  After policemen ran away, the country found out that president was no longer at his residence, and a few weeks after running away, he announced his presence far away in Russia.

Works Cited

1. “History of Euromaidan” Insider. Web. 18 November 2015
2. “History of Euromaidan: from the peaceful protests to bloody shooting” iPress.ua.21 November 2014. Web. 18 November 2015

Communications and Patient’s Care

To observe the performance of doctors in hospitals, often times patients are given surveys to rate how their treatment was. Shockingly, results shown that families with lower income generally have poorer performances. Some assumptions came up by people claiming that perhaps some doctors are biased to their patients and perform better for the richer people; however, that thought was discarded because there is no way of telling which doctors have that mindset. In addition, majority of the patients are changed into hospital gowns, which may make it harder to distinguish between rich and poor patients.  Therefore, to dig deeper into finding out why does poor patients do not get the same care from doctors, the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston raises the possibility, “do patients of higher socioeconomic status simply have an easier time communicating with doctors, and hence are more satisfied with their care than less-well-off people?”

Communication between the physicians and the patient play a huge part because with that communication, it helps the doctors make decisions and  figure out how to help the patient. According to American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the benefits of effective communication is that “the patient and physician have developed a ‘partnership’ and the patient has been fully educated in the nature of his or her condition and the different methods to address the problem.” By forming this partnership, patients will have more of a say of what they want, which has shown more satisfactory. Studies by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons show that a more effective partnerships include doctors who are good listeners and the patient’s communication skills. Furthermore, with good communication between the doctors and patients, it will be made clear between the doctors and patients what to expect, the goals, and what is going on in the processes of the care.

Since communication has a huge influence on how well the doctors perform and how satisfied the patients are, it is a possible answer to why people from poorer backgrounds give lower ratings for doctors because there may be a gap between the patient and doctor. Gaps like a language barrier, lack of health literacy, and lack of communication skills are things that are common in people living in the lower social class and may cause difficulty for understanding between patients and doctors.