tangling spiders in the webs you weave

[theladyrose]

If you were interested in that article about how women supposedly think about shopping as much as men do about sex, there's an interesting complementary article about how sexual arousal can lead to more impulse spending, at least for men. I'm curious as to why women weren't included in the study, as theoretically the study implies that neural mechanisms for rewarding behaviors driven by the biological imperative for reproduction or novelty should be roughly the same. I'm sure the psych geeks among you have much more insightful comments about the matter.



You fall too hard for the freedom and forget that you also forget that you have to reckon with the mistakes made and living with the consequences.

Basically, I'm being way too angsty about my GPA. Yes, I know that in the long run I won't be regretting what I got on my last Italian test when I'm 80. The fault is really my own- I've become too complacent this summer, and now I don't know if I'll be able to get back to my old study habits now that coursework is only going to get harder from here. This past year I was able to take calculated risks and get away with it, which left me with a rather arrogant faith in luck. Honestly, though, the thought of applying to and surviving psych doctoral programs terrifies me in ways I don't know how to articulate. But when the admittance rates for clinical and counseling psych PhD programs are lower than those for med schools, then the terror and dread is a reasonable one. At the same time, though, I'm afraid I'm not pushing myself hard enough to get what I should want. I don't mind compromises, but does that mean I should see those as an inevitable course of action that I should pursue instead of risking more effort for the more difficult path?

I have a pretty strong idea of what I want to do for a while now, and I think that in the end I could be good at it. It's more that I don't know if I can handle 6+ years of soul-sucking research to get there because I burnt out on my last research project. Isn't it awful when you know that you have this amazing opportunity that just isn't for you, that you're just wrong? In the fall I have to go shopping around again to be a RA for something new and hope I'll be able to survive it so I can prove that I'm competent and not a flake. And there's film score research that I'm way behind on now that the official publishing deadline is for mid-February.

I'll be able to figure things out eventually; it's just the process of getting life into order is probably going to be unpleasant.

Comments

[andrew-day.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I count... but I think about sex and shopping at about an equal rate. Sometimes of one during the other, or vice-versa!

I think this is why nobody should ever put me in their research study, because I will kill their thesis.

I'm bummed about my gpa too. I dunno how I am going to get into the nursing program. Right now it's looking more and more like taking a year off would be a good plan. I am taking a phlebotomy course this fall so that I can be a medical tech or lab assistant.

[theladyrose.livejournal.com]

It doesn't take too much to screw up a research study. Although for that, I guess you could try looking for interaction effects...

Are there pre-reqs you need to take for your current program?

[dragonfly66.livejournal.com]

I'm confused--do the grades you get for this summer program count toward your college gpa?

[theladyrose.livejournal.com]

My Italian class does as I'm taking art history pass/fail. Therefore I should be writing two papers and studying instead of wandering around Hapsburg palaces, but my inner procrastinator has taken over.

[dragonfly66.livejournal.com]

wander around the hapsburg palaces--they're a lot cooler than studying, and you'll be happier you did it.