Mistakes In Me

This book connects with me in a way that only one other book has (that book being Fahrenheit 451). It digs deep into my mind and takes things out that I have buried away and hoped to never think of again. Most of the people in my family suffer from depression, including me. The author and I are very much alike. I don’t tell anyone about it because not a lot of people understand what it means to suffer from depression. A deep part of my mind doesn’t want to tell anyone in my family because they all think I’m a happy and joyful person with a bright future and I don’t want to smash their hopes in thinking that at least one of my parents’ kids doesn’t suffer from depression. But the truth is, is that I

Two different but similar forms of writing are able to be tied down into one general but specific category. In the book, Mistakes Were Made (but not by me), by Elliot Aronson and Carol Tavris, Aronson and Tavris commentates on events that people go through. The book is mainly about Elliot Aronson’s and Carol Tavris’ opinion on how people behave and should behave when caught in tough situations. Instead of focusing on one main character in the book, each section of the book illustrates a different person 's’ situation and that situation would correspond with a specific theme in the chapter. Throughout the book, Aronson and Tavris give us a broad idea of how some psychological thinking/processes comes into play, each psychological concept corresponds to a chapter or section in the book, these ideas are: confirmation bias, revision of memories, self-justification, pyramid of choice, cognitive dissonance, blind spots, closed loops, reducing cognitive dissonance, blaming, self-justification (for the greater good), and (sunk costs). Another form of writing, “Wrong Answer”, by Rachel Aviv, is an article focusing on the main idea of a school going through tough times and the outcome of the actions taken by the staff. The article revolves around Parks Middle School in Atlanta. The teachers and staff in Parks Middle School were caught cheating and changing the answers students submitted for standardized tests, and this little mess resulted in hundreds of teachers being laid off and

I truly believe that the thematic connection in this book is that even though your past has been hard, it does not mean you can not become a good person from it. I think because Piper always blamed herself for not being able to save her little brother, but in the end she was able to save three people that were very close to her.

“Like any book about mistakes and redemption, the mistakes are far more interesting to read about and write about,” as said by Jack Gantos.

In reading "Mistakes were Made but Not by me," multiple accounts are given of traits exhibited by humans that are displayed subconsciously. The authors, Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, begin by defining these traits and give readers the actual terminology to these characteristics. With various examples being provided to the reading audience they are then able to make a clear correlation between the behaviors displayed and how they may impact not only themselves but others around them. "Mistakes were Made but Not by me" has a theme which is centralized around the two key facets which are cognitive dissonance and self- justification.

Have you develop certain character traits based on your past? One example that’s used in the story Little Bee, is how Cleave develops Little Bee into a mature and understanding girl after she migrates to The United Kingdom. Little Bee matures due her past experiences and tragic events that have occurred within her. This allowed her to reconigze her past and her traits reflect of the unpleasant past. One of the many lessons in the story ‘Little Bee’, one major lesson through Little Bee and my experience is that your past will affect the person you are in the future.

A human truth I found pertains to this story is “You make your own happiness”. At the beginning of the story, Russell was trying way too hard to get happiness in his life. After he quit his job and started a business of his own, he was not very successful. He learned to make the best of it. He also had to juggle taking care of London and working when he could. He was upset that he hardly got to see his wife, who was working a lot out of town. He learned to have fun with London and that spending time with her was a really good thing. He appreciated the time he got to spend with her and the made the best of his situation. This is an example of how Russel made his own happiness. If he would’ve had a negative attitude about his situation, he would not have been happy.

When reading about, errors in personal human inquiry, in the book, Basics of Research Methods for Criminal Justice & Criminology, it talked about many errors regarding human inquiries. People are vulnerable on a day to day basis on having a margin of error when using personal memory. Inaccurate observations can happen to the brain without a person meaning to lie or be wrong. For example in policing witnesses are often inaccurate when they are trying to recall what an individual may look like. This is simply because the brain was not stimulated to be knowledgeable of its surroundings to later on be tested for remembering that specific detail. But, if the witness knew that he/she was going to be asked a certain question about the event,

“Too many people go through life complaining about their problems. I’ve always believed that if you took one-tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you’d be surprised by how well things can work out.

My worldviews can be inadequate at times, but I believe that everyone makes mistakes. Many people can say they believe one thing, but contradict themselves by acting out differently. For example, a lot of people get into relationships and believe they are in love with someone, but within a few moths they cannot stand the other person. Majority of the people I know will not admit that they jump around in worldviews. However, I am not afraid to say that some of my worldviews do not match up. Even though I grew up in a Christianity home environment, my views on the world are slightly different from the Christian Worldview. Sometimes I find myself second guessing what I believe, but I am still in the process of figuring out who I am and where I

In this section of the text can you make any connections with your own life or personal experiences? Explain

I find myself sitting on a bench at 2 am. As I look look around and see the lake, the wind blowing on it so perfectly making ripples in the water. That was the moment I realized the extent of trouble I was in. I looked at the ripples on the water, how one flow of water simultaneously makes another. It dawned on me that life is like ripples of water, and how one decision can affect the rest of your life. For me, it was making a friend, something so innocent, it would have never thought to cause major problems. A feeling of nostalgia overtook me, and I started to daydream, back to the moment I met Anthony.

“The Mistake” suggests the underlying value that it is okay to believe everything others say simply because they appear knowledgeable. Asimov portrays Scott Robertson as a college English teacher who seems to believe everything Dr. Welch says simply because he is a famous scientist. In reality, everything that Dr. Welch says throughout this story seems rather absurd and impossible.

Dan did not realize that he had been living in the future and in the past, but when he did, he started succeeding in sports and started building more meaningful relationships. This was an impactful way of showing people how focusing on the present can positively impact one’s life. The story is packed with advice on how to live life and how to succeed in life. Dan was taught to focus on every moment. At one point in the story an old man Dan met told Dan, “You’re missing out on everything that’s going on… The only thing that matters is this moment, here,now.”(Millman,2006) After the talk, Dan started to focus on the present and began to improve in his sport, gymnastics. The story has an effect on many people’s emotions because Dan shatters the bone in his leg and is unable to practice and compete for months in his favorite sport. Countless people can connect to this because they are athletes or people who have jobs they cannot do anymore due to an injury or a medical condition they have. This story shows those people that while they are not able to do some of the things they love, they can still succeed and be happy. By focusing on their present feelings they will not dwell on what they used to love, but find a new love they can do or practice recovering so they can get back to where they used to be. The old man shows Dan how to succeed and not only focus on gymnastics. He

Everyone, at some point in their life, has made a mistake. Sometimes we get lucky and only falter a little, making it through the problem relatively intact. Other times, we mess up a lot and have to fix what was damaged over a long period of time. However, the same is true for most, if not all cases—those who make the mistake learn from it. Often times, our failures teach us valuable lessons that we only gained because of the experience we gathered after messing up. I have personally achieved a wealth of knowledge and experience just from all of my own little mishaps, and a few major ones.