Position

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.

- William Shakespeare

One of the girls in DPA, I noticed today, has eleven fingers. It's a little blob with a little fingernail, attached to the side of her thumb by a bit of flesh so small that when she moves her hands around, the little bugger wiggles. Must have been staring at it for a full minute and then some.

I've been holding off on posting - little things that I notice everyday aren't going to be interesting to readers individually. Better to compile 'em into something larger.

My social scene is still sparse; I wasn't invited to a birthday party that I offered to contribute extra money towards and when I walk past it in the canteen all I felt was the usual hunger. And fatigue.

You can't procrastinate and stay ahead of the class at the same time. Tuesday night I stayed up till 3am, and Wednesday till 4am. I can't even think straight some days. Honey stars + coffee for breakfast. om nom nom.

Another interesting lesson in Psychology today, because Thursdays are for tutorials, and tutorials teach by demonstration instead of by powerpoint slide. 11 students were chosen to sit in a circle and roleplay as survivors of a plane crash. We were stranded in a desolate ice forest, 20 miles from the nearest settlement. At 20 degrees Farenheit and without a pilot or co-pilot, we had to decide as a group which supplies had higher priority.

While we played out a disaster, the rest of the students were given the job of observing us and trying to fit us into social, functional, and dysfunctional roles (tension-reliever, information-giver, aggressor, etc.). These were the supplies given, organized in the order of priority that we eventually conformed to.

Extra shirts+pants x11
Newspapers x11
Compass
20x20 inch canvas
Can of shortening
Some steel wool
Cigarette lighter (no fluid)
A quart of whiskey
Chocolate bars x11
Loaded .45 pistol
Hand axe
A plastic section of an air map

In the end, the lecturer told us that we probably would have died. Most of us were thinking of walking 20 miles, but the truth was that the terrain would probably have been hazardous, and even under normal conditions trekking to the settlement was a formidable challenge. The much better bet was to dig in and wait for rescue. So yeah. Completely screwed.


The 'model' priority list:

Cigarette lighter (no fluid) - Although there is no more lighter fluid, the lighter can still generate a spark which can then be caught on the steel wool in the interests of making a fire. At 20 degrees, a fire is absolutely essential, not jsut for warmth but also to melt ice for water. Without water or warmth, you will die very fast.

Some steel wool - Previous psychology students were actually dumb enough to propose using the steel wool to wash dishes. What the fuck?

Extra shirts+pants x11 - Cloth is very versatile; you can use it for personal insulation, bandages, bedding, extra tent insulation, fuel for burning, as colourful flags to alert rescuers...

Can of shortening - The shortening (veggie fat) is not really for consumption. Eating pure fat would cause us to fall sick or vomit. The fat should instead be used as extra insulation (rub it over the body), but the can is the real jewel here. The metal can may be used to reflect light as a beacon, as well as store drinking water.

20x20 inch canvas - you can use this to shield eleven people from blizzard winds. Moreover, its a hugeass marker for rescuers searching for survivors.

Hand axe - Chop firewood. Fire is very important to stay alive.

Chocolate bars x11 - Food. This is a source of energy that our bodies can digest on its own (unlike shortening).

Newspapers x11 - Insulation, burning, and it gives survivors something to read, as opposed to going insane over the possibility of death. Psychological purpose.

Loaded .45 pistol - Hunting wild animals is out of the question. Chasing wild animals creates exertion, and then you have to drag the carcass all the way back to camp - more exertion. Moreover, it is difficult to aim well with a pistol, and the presence of a lethal weapon is very dangerous in the hands of people that may go crazy and resort to cannibalism. On the other hand, the butt can be used as a hammer, and the powder can be used as fuel. Not least of all, firing a loud firearm into the air is bound to attract attention from nearby rescuers.

A quart of whiskey - DO NOT DRINK. Whiskey will dilate the blood vessels, expelling valuable body heat and making your heart work harder. The alcohol in the whiskey can be burned as fuel, and the whiskey bottle can be used to store drinking water.

Compass - Since it's suicide to try trekking away from the crash site (the crash site is a nice big landmark for rescuers to find), the compass is useless except for light reflection. It's dangerous because it encourages desperate people to take the compass and try to head out.

A plastic section of an air map - Wave it as a flag or something, you can't even use it as toilet paper.

Correct answers in red

Wasn't interested in other aspects of the psychological evaluation - I'm prepared to bet my left nut that we'd be reacting more than a little differently if we were in a real life-or-chilly-death situation.

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Today I was singled out by a lecturer again for what he called a near-perfect essay. Strangers left and right were asking to read it. The essay dealt with the conflicts that arose during the twinning programme back in 2007 (a somewhat modified version, heh).

Ms Z, my NLP lecturer, my Psychology lecturer, my yoga instructor... the consensus between them seems to be that I'm intellectually ahead, but socially impaired - and that impairment is a tremendous pity. Today one of the DPA girls from team five - my orientation group - had her birthday, but I couldn't even find it in me to tell her happy birthday though someone kept urging me to. Do you gatecrash strangers' birthday parties and tell them happy birthday? Ironic that she's very the first person I began talking to in polytechnic.

It's weird to have better relationships with older people than with people of your own age.

That girl I was friends with from Psychology? She's also moved on.