Psychology

This is page where students are exploring //Life of Pi// using the focus topic of Psychology and what this teaches Pi.

Please respect students' responses by leaving the comments, additions, etc. as is.

**Period 2: Three Amigos**
"I asked myself everyday, where is God? Where is god?" pg. 35...... Mr. Kumar believes that God is a myth because as a kid he was diagnosed with Polio, only God wasn't there to heal him, only medicine could.



"If we had politicians like theses goats and rhinos we'd have fewer problems in this country." pg. 39......Animals are learning to adapt and bond with each other based on the environments that they are in.

"Life will defend itself no matter how small it is." pg. 47.....No matter the circumstances we all value life and will defend ourselves regardless of our size or stature.

"To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choose immobility as a means of transportation." pg. 36....Never doubt, always believe in something or you will become more and more irrelevant to the world.



"I don't believe in religion, religion is darkness." pg. 34....Mr. Kumar thinks that religion causes turmoil and it is a myth anyway, he is an atheist.




 * Period 3: MDEA**



"Just beyond the ticket booth Father had had painted in bright red letters the question: DO YOU KNOW WHICH IS THE MOST DANGEROUS ANIMAL IN THE ZOO? an arrow pointed to a small curtain. There were so many eager, curious hands that pulled at the curtain that we had to replace it regularly. Behind it was a mirror." -pg 38

People are so eager to see what the most bloodthirsty savage animal in this zoo is, that people are shocked when they learn its themselves. In this point it shows that human kind doesn't care about the animal's, they just care about how they kill each other or attack each other, showing the violent side of human culture. Also, having the mirror will make some people think about what they do to animals. Others will just feel insulted.

" 'Religion?' Mr. Kumar grinned broadly. 'I don't believe in religion. Religion is darkness.' " -pg 34

At this point in the story, Pi is saying that religion is light. But do humans have to be religious to be human? If a person is different in one way or another, do we separate them from society? No, everyone is unique in their own way. Paradox, yes, but it's saying that we are all human, and each human is different, which is a good thing. If everyone was the same it would be boring.



"My zoology thesis was a functional analysis of the thyroid gland of the three-toed sloth. I chose the sloth because its demeanour-calm, quiet, and introspective- did something to soothe my shattered soul." -pg 3

Like the test that we took, your favorite animal shows how people see you. When we think of our favorite animal you think of an animal that can relate to you, we tested this with multiple people we know. This says that people view Pi as lazy. But the knowledge we have from the book, says that he is outgoing and full of energy.



[|Ugly Ducking Theorem]: The book starts this idea with the rhino and the goats. It's the idea that although humans have created biases to categorize the "normal," animals have not. In some cases, as in the story of the ugly duckling which is where this theorem got its name, even though the duckling didn't fit in, after awhile the differences seem less and less until it wasn't apparent and the duckling was accepted. The rhino was similarly accepted after the differences had "disappeared". This connects to Pi's idea about religion. He sees the "priests" using biases, because they were caught in a stage of categorizing in a strict manor. Pi however had let himself stray from the categories and accept all as one. Maslow's hierarchy of need: Throughout the book, and showed more while on the boat, Pi explains the hierachy of need as. In the begining he establishes his Self-actualization. His morals,lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts was established first.Then his esteem comes next: his confidence. This still flutters. With people it his high, but as seen on the boat he still loses it next to superiour animals. [|Anamorphism]: More specifically in this book, it is refered to as animalia anamorphism. Anamorphism is the function of perception or projection, constructed by one on another object, in this case animals. An inner construction that unfolds into how one sees an animal, often based off pieces of the person. We fear an animal, and we see the ferociousness.

you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain." -The Matrix
"Today I would be rescued. To think that, to string those words together in my mind, was itself a source of hope. Hope fed on hope." Page 150 But this hope will inevitably lead to despair. If he thinks every morning "Today I will be rescued" he will go to sleep disappointed each night. This disappointment will feed on disappointment. He will grow evermore pessimistic each day that passes. To constantly pound a hopeless dream into his head will leave him emotionally exhausted and broken. "It was on its side, facing me, its head and neck propped against the boat's side bench. It had badly broken a rear leg. The angle was completely unnatural. Bone protruded through the skin and there was bleeding." pg 136 Human nature is to show sympathy to animals or creatures that are weaker than us. We want to feel bad for them and make them have human charactoristics. "The sea was quite and there was hardly any wind. So I could hardly ground myself in sound. I seemed to be floating in pure abstract blacknees. I kept my eyes fixed on where i thought the horizon was, while my ears were on guard for any sign of the animals. I couldn't imagine lasting the night." pg148 It seems like he is going into shock and that his life is changing and not for the better. He has lost hope and that relates to the sudden changes in his life. He has lost everything.

"Pity about the fat, but given the acceptional circumstances, the vegetarian part of me would simply pinch it's nose and bear it." pg 181 Pi goes against everything he has known to survive. He sacrifices his beliefs and culture in order to save himself. This shows great understanding of what he has to do in order to make it to land and not become hyena food.

"What a downright wierd story. What peculiar psychology." Page 67 Pi states that the catholic religion is wierd pyschology. He doesn't understand why if humanity sins God's Son pays the price. I think this is why the Catholic religion is so hard to believe in because it is so far fetched. "He looked panic-strickened. He started swimming my way. The water about him was shifting wildly. He looked small and helpless." Page 121 Pi is talking about Richard Parker and even though he looks helpless he has the mind set to save himself and keeps swimming.
 * Period 2: Three Amigos**

"Fear and reason fought over the answer. Fear said yes. He was a fierce, 450- pound carnivore." Page 135 The size of Richard Parker is putting fear in Pi's mind and psyching him out. When really Richard Parker could not harm him at all.

"They were using me as fodder. They were hoping the hyena would attack me and that somehow I would get rid of it and make the boat safe..." Page 138 In the moment when people face death they will do whatever it takes(even risking someone else's life) to survive.

"Everything about the end of the day scared me." Page 148 When it becomes dark out and humans can't see as well the mind starts to play games on you and you hear things and think you see things that really aren't there.

Existentialism Period 2 the belief that one shapes one's basic nature through the direction of life one chooses to live. [|london.sonoma.edu/Essays/glossary.html] A philosophical perspective in which it is believed that humans are totally responsible for their actions; from this perspective, art is a conscious act. [|www.artsconnected.org/artsnetmn/whatsart/whatvoc.html] existentialist - a philosopher who emphasizes freedom of choice and personal responsibility but who regards human existence in a hostile universe as unexplainable [|wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn]

you don’t think about it you just act on it

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz-xIdb47xs

 * "Existentialism On Prom Night"**

When the sun came up, We were sleeping in, Sunk inside our blankets, Sprawled across the bed, And we were dreaming,

There are moments when, When I know it and The world revolves around us, And we're keeping it, Keep it all going, This delicate balance, Vulnerable all knowing,

Sing like you think no one's listening, You would kill for this, Just a little bit, Just a little bit, You would, kill for this

Sing like you think no one's listening, You would kill for this, Just a little bit, Just a little bit, You would, you would...

Sing me something soft, Sad and delicate, Or loud and out of key, Sing me anything, we're glad for what we've got, Done with what we've lost Our whole lives laid out right in front of us,

Sing like you think no one's listening, You would kill for this, Just a little bit, Just a little bit, You would,

Sing like you think no one's listening, You would kill for this, Just a little bit, Just a little bit, You would, you would....

Sing me something soft, Sad and delicate, Or loud and out of key, Sing me anything.

Based on the lyrics of this song, existentialism deals primarily with living YOUR life as YOU want to live it. Don't worry about what people tell you to do, because in the end all that matters is if you were happy by your own definition.

Definitions of **existentialism** on the Web: > [|wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn] > [|en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism] > [|en.wiktionary.org/wiki/existentialism] > [|wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn] Something we've just come to realize through ourselves is that our hobbies reflect on how we view people. For example, Kanin enjoys tinkering with cars, and with cars a bad part can always be replaced with something better. People can always be better and improve themselves. For Mara, who makes props for theater, everything is very detail oriented, and she views people as their small details as opposed to what they are as a whole. Jillian works more on the set in theater, and as long as the front of the set looks good the back doesn't matter. If no one will notice it, it isn't worth fixing. So, with people, if no one will get to know you well enough to know how you think, it doesn't matter how you think. Matt likes to draw, which implies he sees people as what he makes of them in his own mind. He 'draws' a picture of who he thinks you are. For JoJo, who is on color guard, she views importance as lying in the unification of the total, in addition to the individual performance. If one person falls out of line by being significantly better or worse than the rest it makes everyone look bad. Therefore, she values normalcy in behavior and fitting in with what others view as right.
 * (philosophy) a 20th-century philosophical movement chiefly in Europe; assumes that people are entirely free and thus responsible for what they make of themselves
 * Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, generally held that the focus of philosophical thought should be to deal with the conditions of existence of the individual person and their emotions ...
 * A twentieth-century philosophical movement emphasizing the uniqueness of each human existence in freely making its self-defining choices, with foundations in the thought of Soren Kierkegaard (1813-55) and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) and notably represented in the works of Karl Jaspers (1883 ...
 * existential - experiential: derived from experience or the experience of existence; "the rich experiential content of the teachings of the older philosophers"- Benjamin Farrington; "formal logicians are not concerned with existential matters"- John Dewey
 * existential - of or as conceived by existentialism; "an existential moment of choice"
 * existential - relating to or dealing with existence (especially with human existence)
 * existentialist - a philosopher who emphasizes freedom of choice and personal responsibility but who regards human existence in a hostile universe as unexplainable
 * [|wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn]

"...the individual is defined only by his relationship to the world and to other individuals; he exists only by transcending himself, and his freedom can be achieved only through the freedom of others. He justifies his existence by a movement which, like freedom, springs from his heart but which leads outside of himself." ~ Simone de Beauvoir, 1948, [|//The Ethics Of Ambiguity//], p. 156

Psychology! The study of the human brain, neurons moving connecting, chemicals interacting with biological cells. Together working like a binary computer. Emotions are created through chemicals, and all thought is processes. Dreams are meaningless blobs of unconscienceness that come from a relaxed axon state. But life and nature has come to be not through perfection but incidents that have happened despite perfection. The universe formed in an all being place where physics causes perfection, but if the universe were perfect in terms of physics it would not have become what it is today. Life would not come to be. Life in itself is an exception; there being our processes and being is beyond perfection an exception beyond all knowing because no knowledge can comprehend beyond perfection where algorithms of the universe cease, where throughout perfection true perfection cannot be perfect.