Book Reading #4: Obedience to Authority

Summary:

The essence of the book revolves around the idea of not only how easy people submit to authority, but also, how they can confirm to evil actions. Stanley Milgram sets up an experiment with a subject, learner, and experimenter. The experimenter informs the subject that he is performing a study on punishment and learning. However, he truly aims at discovering the relationship between obedience and authority. The subject is instructed to shock the learner from 15-450 volts in 15 volt increments as the learner misses questions. In actuality, the learner is an actor and faking the shocks. The results of the experiment reveal that nearly two thirds of participants are willing to shock the victim to 450 volts with little incentive or instruction. On the monitor, it even display 'XXX' at 450 volts.

The results of the study were shocking. Nearly two-thirds of participants went beyond the 'XXX' on the display, up to 450 volts. Milgram and his team even thought they would need to include additional experimental features to make people more obedient, but in fact, the opposite was true. The question then transformed into whether this study assess obedience or the inherent evil within human beings. Although we later find out, through subsequent experiments, that people blindly follow authority, even if it means 'killing' another person.

Milgram wanted to delve further into the human psyche. He uncovered the fact that as the victim is closer in proximity to the subject, obedience was followed less. This demonstrates the power of empathy and also the power of a division of labor in a corrupt organization. The subjects rarely felt responsible for their actions and instead, protested that "they were just doing their job". It should be noted that even in scenarios when the subject had to physically place the learner's hand on an electric plate, substantial obedience still occurred within the lab.

The next portion of the book revolves around Milgram trying to pin point the exact breaking point in which a person submits to authority. Although other factors come into play, such as the authenticity of the lab environment, the number one important factor was the main authority. While two authorities split decision or one authority instructs to shock another authority, the main point boiled down to whether the victim felt submissive to the one authority in the room. It took little power or influence to knock this authority off his throne by such methods of either removing him from the room, or putting him in place as the learner. Thus, it becomes clear that human beings have a tendency to submit themselves when in the presence of a leader who is higher in the hierarchical chain.

Finally, Milgram assess why human nature has a desire to fall under the power of an authority. First, it is more beneficial for the organization to function if they have a leader in place when disaster strikes. However, people have antecedent conditions, such as family or educational institutions, that push them towards a hierarchy. Milgram denotes this state of transforming oneself from autonomy to an agent carrying out other's demands, the agentic state. Lastly, Milgram notes that there must exist some binding factors to keep one immersed in this state. The binding factors must be greater than the stress that is imposed upon an individual while in the agentic state.

In conclusion, Milgram warns readers about the potency of blind following. If a malicious leader takes over control of a hierarchy, he can instill his desires into his subordinates with little effort. This causes detrimental effects of society. Thus, Milgram unfolds a dark side to human nature and wants readers to be aware of its existence. If a person were to always hold the consequences of his actions above that of an authority, devastating tragedies can be avoided in the future.

Chapter 1: The Dilemma of Obedience:

Stanley Milgram opens up a new line of research by delving into conservative and human philosophies. He develops a shock experiment at Yale university to measure obedience. Milgram garners some ideas from Arendt's experiment of obeying authority. He notes that some binding factors to authority are politeness, a desire to keep a promise, and the awkwardness of withdraw. Also, he notes that one can ignore ethical responsibility in an intermediate act that arises from division of labor.

Chapter 2: Method of Inquiry:

Milgram describes the shock experiment further. A test subject is asked to increase volts from 15-450 in 15 volt increments to punish a learner. The subject is told that the experiment aims to measure how punishment effects learning. The learner is an actor that protests at 150 volts and refuses to answer at 300 volts. At 330, the learner makes no more noise. If the subject second guesses his actions, he looks over to the experimenter who gives the subject four prods to continue before calling off the experiment. At the end, the subject is debriefed and is told that no permanent harm will occur to the learner

Chapter 3: Expected Behavior:

People were asked to predict how many shocks they would want to receive. The vast majority of them chose to receive much less severe shocks than the actual shocks they administered. Initially, the test used 120 people that fell into the category of psychiatrist, college student, or middle-class.

Chapter 4: Closeness of the Victim:

The test was split up into four separate experiments. First, the remote variation contained no vocal protest, only a banging on the wall of the test room. Second, the voice feedback alternative included vocal protests from the learner, but was still behind a wall. Third, proximity was increased by including both audio and visual of the learner. Finally, the touch-proximity test included the fact that the subject was required to physically place the learner's hand on an electric plate before being shocked.

It was discovered that the maximum shock administered decreases as proximity increases. Some potential reasons include emphatic cues, narrowing of cognitive field, reciprocal fields, experience unity of act, incipient group formation (alliance), or acquired behavior dispositions. Upon the conclusion of the test, the experimenters then measured tension and nervousness of the subjects as they administered shocks.

Chapter 5: Individuals Confront Authority:

The first subject, Bruno Batta, participated in experiment four. He issued 450 volts of shock and issued blame to the learner. He claimed that he was just doing his job and even did not see a lesson of the experiment later. Next, a professor of old testament participated in experiment three. He stopped after 150 volts, and viewed the experiment administrator as mere technician throughout the process.

Jack Washington partook in experiment two. He went to 450 volts and justified his action by reaffirming that the experimenter possess the most blame and convinced himself that the shocks are not deadly. Lastly, Morris Braverman continuously laughs throughout the experiment. He viewed himself as helpless, but did in fact, learn a lesson the following year.

Chapter 6: Further Variations and Controls:

The experiment was then evolved into a few more differentiating experiments that range from number five to number eleven. First, new room experiment involved the learner admitting that he had a heart problem. Second, the change of personnel involved switching of the learner with dominant and submissive personalities.

Next, the closeness of authority was measured. This involved the authority figure to only call on the phone. Not only did subjects only administer 15 volts instead of the required voltage, but also, only 20% of the test subjects used 450 volts -- compared to 65% in other cases. For experiment eight, women were used as subjects. Experiment nine concentrates on the victim's limited contact. This reduced obedience to 40%. The next experiment involved changing the location from Yale to a more sketchy location. Lastly, subjects were free to choose the shock level.

Chapter 7: Individuals Confront Authority II:

First, Fred Prozi participated in experiment five. He went to 450 volts but wanted to stop. His words and actions did not coerce. Second, Karen Dontz participated in experiment 8, and detailed how nurses are able to question a doctor, but never override their authority. Next, Elinor Rosenblum proceeded to 450 volts. Although she was nervous and tense throughout the experiment, she noted that she provides kids with love and kindness. Thus, she is a nice person, but was mindlessly following orders. Gretchen Brandt was from Germany, but remained calm, rational, and disobedient. Lastly, Pasqual Gino of experiment seven, showed concerned about just doing his job and not killing the other person.

Chapter 8: Role Permutations:

The roles of the experiment were permuted between position (prescribes, receives, or administers shocks),  status (authority or ordinary person), and action (advocates or opposes shocks. The experiment continued to expand from twelve to sixteen differentiating experiments. For twelve, the learner demands to be socked in which all subjects stopped at the experimenters request. For thirteen, an ordinary man gives the orders to shock but the subjects listened to the experimenter and stopped anyways. For fourteen, the authority was the victim in which an ordinary man was commanding, but the subjects listened to the authority in the chair and stopped. For fifteen, two authorities gave contradicting orders together which caused the subjects to not administer shocks. Lastly, two authorities were used in which one was the victim. Results tended toward the prelimindary results in which a regular person was fully shocked.

Chapter 9: Group Effects:

This chapter focuses around obedience and conformity. Some major differences to note are hierarchy  imitation, explicitness, and voluntarism. Experiment seventeen was created in which two peers rebel and the subject proceeded to follow their lead by rebelling. Also, experiment eighteen revolved around a peer administering shocks in which the subject was not giving shocks anymore. The shocks continued to the usual 450 volts.

Chapter 10: Why Obedience? -- An Analysis:

First, the value of survival in a hierarchy was analyzed. Milgram brought a cybernetic viewpoint in which independent entities were brought into a hierarchical organization. He found that the organization typically suppressed individuals  Also, Milgram describes the agentic shift where a person begins to see himself as an agent, carrying out other's wishes.

Chapter 11: The Process of Obedience: Applying Analysis to the Experiment:

Milgram notes that in order to move into the agentic state, he must further look at antecedent conditions, consequences, and binding factors. For antecedent, family, institutional setting, rewards, immediate conditions are essential. Some immediate conditions include perception of authority, entry into authority system, coordination of command with function of authority, and overarching ideology. Second, some of the consequences of moving to the agentic state include tuning, redefining the meaning of the situation, loss of responsibility, self image,  and commands of the agentic state. Lastly, some binding factors potentially include sequential nature of action, situational obligations, and anxiety.

Chapter 12: Strain and Disobedience:

The chapter begins with a formula for obedience which states that the binding factor must be greater than the difference of strain and strain resolution techniques. Milgram then proceeds to break strain down further, look for buffers for strain (such as distance), and then finally analyzes resolution. Some resolution techniques include denial and subterfuges such as stressing certain words.

Chapter 13: An Alternative Theory: Is Aggression the Key?:

In this short chapter, Milgram simply points out the fact that obedience is magnitudes of orders greater than aggression in causing people to shock victims.

Chapter 14: Problems of Method:

Milgram bolsters his experiment by testing the experiment in other locations, such as Munich which garnered an 85% obedience rate. Second, he generated further study to adhere to the accusation that subjects believed they were not administering shocks. Lastly, he counters the idea that the lab environment is dissimilar to general social life.

Chapter 15: Epilogue:

In the epilogue, an account of a Vietnam soldier was given. Also, the methodologies in which the military enforces obedience is broken down. For instance, the military transitions its soldier from inside to outside. Second, the military removes other authority by practicing in remote locations. Third, the military eliminates the ego. Finally, the military finds ways to justify killing other people to accomplish their needs.

Ethnography

A potentially interesting ethnography would involve the investigating of small isolated communities. The idea would involve spending time with these groups of people in order to see how they function as a community without the aid of any large business. For instance, the target community would consist of around 100 homes with no large stores, such as Walmart, within a feasible traveling vicinity. An example community would be a small community in Northern Canada that is isolated from much modern technological accessibilities. The ethnographer would have to integrate themselves into the community in order to not only provide support, but gather insight in determine how these people rely on the skills of others to live accordingly. 

This ethnography would help people understand the lives of members of isolated communities in addition to helping communities function on a larger scale. The interdependence among the inhabitants would provide a curious insight into informal matters, similar to the Black King's business in Gang Leader for a Day. Although no official business contracts are drawn within these communities, there are a plethora of informalities that drive the way these cultures operate. In essence, the understanding gained from this ethnography would be interesting and potentially draw awareness to these communities.

Book Reading #3: Gang Leader for a Day

Gang Leader for a Day:

Overall, the book Gang Leader for a Day revolves around Sudhir, who is a graduate student at the University of Chicago. He befriends JT, a Black King gang leader, in one of the Chicago projects. JT takes Sudhir in under his arm and gives me access to many of the Black King members and operations, which include illegal drug trafficking and prostitution. However, over the course of several years, Sudhir becomes close with JT, some his senior members, and other non-gang affiliated community members of the Robert Taylor homes. Throughout the course of the book, Sudhir learns a significant amount about life in poverty as well as how a gang operates from daily activities to financing.

As Sudhir details his journey through the internal web of the Black Kings, a few striking things grabbed my attention and interest. Considering my background resembles the complete opposite of life in the projects, the book help me gain some new insight while educating me along the way as well. First, the persistence with which Sudhir portrays as he is meeting with JT for the first times is astonishing. I was amazed by his determination and fearlessness, although he may have been naive as well. Nevertheless, when Sudhir first became involved with the gang, a dual perspective occurred through Sudhir's eyes. Although he was befriending gang members, he also had to be aware of the BK's operations of dealing with rebels, such as C-Note.

As Sudhir's story progresses, he slow accustoms his self to the gang. By allowing himself to meet other gang members instead of JT, he can continue is ethnography with less biased writing. One of the underlying themes that Sudhir comes across is the idea that the BKs try to do anything within their power to keep their junior members off the street and away from causing problems. Thus, although the BKs participate in a plethora of illegal activity, it is mainly to survive. Their intentions are good deep down. For instance, they sign up their junior members for Pride, which promotes good behavior, and even force them to acquire voter registration. Therefore, we see that many wrong doings are associated with a poor life, and when it comes to survival, we are all hustlers.

Finally, as Sudhir branches outside of the gang to meet other people. For instance, he eats quite a bit with JT's mom, Ms. Mae and even networks to meet with Ms.Bailey and Autry, who run non-gang related organizations. This allows Sudhir to see even further into the difficulties residing within the projects. Both of whom consistently have to deal with the misfortunes of being in the ghetto, even they try to bring good to their community. For instance, Autry runs a club devoted to educating and watching over young children. At the same time, Autry is responsible for settling a dispute between JT and a Mayne, a rival gang leader. On the other hand, the relationship between Sudhir and Ms. Bailey takes a while for trust to form. However, Ms.Bailey forms a center piece of Sudhir's life and his writing. Ms. Bailey essentially leads the building of Robert Taylor A in accordance with the CHA, but she also has significant amounts of power, even which JT fears at times.

Ms. Bailey acts as Sudhir's contact with life in the projects away from the gang. She drastically educates Sudhir on the inner workings of Robert Taylor. One of her main messages is the fact that the women must stick together and she manages to help out women anytime they are in desperate need. The unity among women living within the projects is pervasive and ranges from sharing utilities to babysitting each other's children. Sudhir continues to learn that everyone in the projects is a hustler in some form or fashion. Even Sudhir is a hustler from accumulating knowledge for his research. This shows the hardships of the project life if people are willing not only consider what is best for themselves and not keep the well-being of others in their mind.

Chapter 1 How Does it Feel to be Black and Poor?:

The story begins from a first person perspective of Sudhir Venkatesh and his early career as a graduate student at the University of Chicago. He studies psychology within the University and resides within Hyde Park, which is a white district. Although, Sudhir is accustomed to living with whites because he was originally from south California and can speak Spanish as well. In the beginning, he learns of the Chicago segmentation problem of whites and blacks by talking with Old Time (distinguished professor), who uses the description of a city within a city.

However, Sudhir takes a journey to the Lake Park projects where he encounters the Black Kings gang, notorious for dealing crack cocaine. The gang interrogates Sudhir due to the fact that they think he is Julio, from the Mexican gang on the east side. Eventually, Sudhir meets J.T., the faction leader of the gang whom we find out was a college student at one point. Sudhir asks "how does it feel to be black and poor" as part of his questionnaire. J.T. quickly dismisses this interview and suggests that Sudhir spend time with the gang to fully understand them. Sudhir returns next week with beer as he slowly becomes better friends with the Black Kings.

Personally, I feel that Sudhir did an excellent job of introducing the essence of the book. His vivid description helped unveil how out of place Sudhir was within the projects. I felt compelled to keep reading because I was curious to know how Sudhir and the Black Kings would interact with one another. Also, this book is developing into a perfect example of ethnography in which Sudhir learns about the poor black community with first hand experience. It will be interesting to see how Sudhir continues his relations with the gang considering each comes from a completely different background.

Chapter 2 First Days on Federal Street:

 In the beginning of the chapter, we find out that JT was an athlete and enjoyed reading about history and politics  Prior to running a gang, he sold office supplies as a full time job. For instance, he asked Sudhir a business question in which one takes a discount now or reaps larger rewards at a later time. The answer was always take the immediate satisfaction. This was a key insight into the gang world. It demonstrated the flaw of poverty citizens to always accept immediate gratification and never to delay gratification. This has huge detrimental implications in terms of creating a ceiling on the accomplishments of any person who begins life in poverty.

The chapter then delves into some of the activities of the gang, from JT's perspective. First, a major crisis within the gang world is the relocation of the Black Kings (BKs) to the Robert Taylor homes. This move incurs a gang merger among JT and Curly, who operates another section of the BK faction. Later, Sudhir discovers that the BKs run their organization through a hierarchical chain consisting of Captains above JT and a Board of Directors above the Captains. Also, JT leads an ample amount of subordinates ranging from junior (high school ) to senior level members. Among them is Creepy, whom JT asks for important favors.

As Sudhir learns more about the gang, he uncovers that each building acts as a community with events such as basketball tournaments and galleries, involving barbecues. He meets JT's mom, Ms. Mae, who consistently cooks for Sudhir and treats him like family. A part of the family is Clarrise, who is a prostitute and JT's cousin. As we learn about JT's business of managing prostitution, drugs, rent, and other activites, it becomes clear that the squatters, who take shelter in the stairwells under JTs roof for a tax, must fit into the gang community. The squatters are managed by C-Note, who has been there for two decades. At the end of the chapter, JT beats up C-Note to make a point about leadership. From that inflection point, Sudhir realizes the true manner in which gangs operate.

Chapter 3 Someone to Watch Over Me:

The chapter beings with JT sending one of his senior members, Price, to beat up Brass who is a rebellious squatter. Price is head of security of the Bk faction. As Sudhir spends time with the BKs, JT explains to him the issue that the board of directors must face by worrying about issues concerning storing their money. We also learn that JTs faction is one of 200 BK gangs. This includes the BKs being a regional gang with expansion into Iowa. They even talk about the drug market as a business would.

Sudhir continues to develop relationships within the gang. He learns that Lenny Duster runs an organization called Pride that aims to dissuade gang life. The communities view of the drug life within the projects is to view it as acceptable as long as general morals are upheld such as no selling to kids. The chapter progresses into a pro-vote orientation with Shorty Lee attempting to acquire votes. Sudhir learns through his experience that the Malibu is the classic thug car.

Next, the chapter progress by delineating a fight between Kris and Michael and a customer. We find out that they pay 15% of their revenue to T-Bone, who manages accounting, to protect them from misconduct. Then, an elderly lady, named Boo-Boo, becomes angry at an Arab store owner (who sign says cigarettes, food stamps, and no loitering) for raping her child, Coco.

Sudhir then befriends Ms. Bailey, the building president of Taylor A. She introduces Sudhir to Autry, a club director at Taylor B, which is controlled by the Disciples. The Disciples are ran by their leader, Mayne. The chapter concludes with two main events. First, Sudhir misses a huge gang meeting at a midnight basketball game due to JT getting angry at Autry. Second, gang violence causes a dispute between the BKs and the Disciples. In the end, Pastor Wilkins and Ms. Bailey facilitate the agreement of JT and Mayne by allowing JT to sell in the park.

Chapter 4 Gang Leader for a Day:

The essence of this chapter revolves around Sudhir assuming control of JT's roles for an entire day. Although Sudhir accuses JT of having an easy job, Sudhir soon learns that managing the BKs is a rather cumbersome task. Although Sudhir claims the title of gang leader, in actuality, JT still manages the gang by dealing with the important issues and any violence.

The chapter begins with a dispute of cleaning up in Robert Taylor. Moochie and Kalia are two of the sales leaders that have not cleaned up in a while. We later find out that Moochie has a better sales track than Kalia and happens to be sleeping with Ms. Bailey, who is over 50 years old. Next, Sudhir must deal with the store owner Johnny who pays BKs for protection but also is dissatisfied with the amount of money that the BKs pay him for items. In the end, JT mostly handles the dispute.

Another major agenda item for Sudhir and JT involves settling the argument between Billy, a tall basketball player and sales team lead, and Otis, one of Billy's sales team members. Otis did not pay Billy some money, but claims that Billy had previously owed him money. The disagreement was settled by JT punching Otis for stealing and let the monetary issues work themselves out. The day ends with one final thing to take care of. Michael had been diluting the crack that he was selling in order to pocket extra money. JT cherishes Michael's creativity, but forces Michael to stop since it would give the BK's a bad reputation.

Chapter 5 Ms. Bailey's Neighborhood:

The overarching theme of this chapter is the correspondence between Sudhir and Ms. Bailey. Sudhir leans more about the project life through the interaction of Ms. Bailey and other women. Sudhir accompanies Ms. Bailey on her errands and sees how she trades beer and liquor for essentials of the community, such as jackets. Catrina is Ms. Baileys assistant and helps assuage her daily tasks. 

One day, Sudhir witnesses Clarisse as she enters Ms. Bailey's office. She is on drugs and uses Sudhir to provide food for her children. Ms. Bailey has a meeting with the tenants of Robert Taylor and she simply reports many of their concerns to the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) after the meeting. The next major event occurs when Taneesha, an attractive aspiring model, returns to Robert Taylor, bloodied and beaten up.   We soon find out that Bee-Bee of the Stones gang was Taneesha's manager and beat her up because she was transitioning to an authentic modeling agency. Blue and C-Note take down Bee-Bee with the aid of Sudhir's kick. Finally, it becomes clear that some animosity exists between JT and Ms. Bailey.

Chapter 6 The Hustler and the Hustled:

The focus of this chapter revolves around Sudhir and his desire to learn about the economic aspect of the gang. In order to accomplish this task, Sudhir interviews some of the local hustlers of Robert Taylor, including pimps, candy sellers, prostitutes, psychics, and tailors. During this process, Ms. Bailey points out that Sudhir is hustling as well. This implies that Sudhir is just trying to make the best of his current situation, which is analogous to the inhabitants of Robert Taylor.

During his interviews, Sudhir realizes that prostitutes are classified into affiliates with pimps and independents. 

Next, Cordella explains the history of how she used to run the parties of Robert Taylor. However, with the lack of males, the gangs easily overthrew her and her associates in the process. One theme that is pervasive throughout the chapter is the fact that women tend to help each other immensely with tasks such as cooking and childcare. Also, Sudhir unveils the reality that it is incredibly rare to own an apartment with all the luxuries. Inhabitants usually share essentials such as showers and refrigerators within certain apartments.

Although Sudhir has collected critical data, he has overstepped his boundaries with almost everyone he questioned by revealing their true income. As Sudhir tries to fit back in at Robert Taylor, he learns that Catrina was killed in a fight between her brother and her dad. In a meeting with the women, Sudhir fully understands the full nature of Ms. Bailey's power and how she hustles so much. The chapter concludes with more hardships of women and details a story of Keisha stabbing her abusive ex-boyfriend. Finally, the tenants accuse Sudhir of sleeping with their women in a minor dispute at a meeting.

Chapter 7 Black and Blue:

The chapter begins with Darryl, a "lifer", telling JT some more stories about the projects. During this talk, the MC and Stone gangs perform a drive by shooting, and hit Price in the leg. Cherise drives Price to the hospital to avoid gang association with a female escort. At the same time, we discover that JT, T-Bone, and Price are all in the process of being promoted.

Next, Sudhir meets Reggie, who used to live in the projects, but is now a cop. Reggie has been trying to improve life within Robert Taylor by utilizing his power as a cop with connections. We later find out that cops consistently raid gang parties to steal some of the wealth that gangs bring in. Sudhir then goes to a bar in Hyde Park to meet Reggie and Jerry. It turns out that Jerry is a rogue cop, and recognizes Sudhir.

Reggie then attempts to persuade Sudhir to not write anything about the cops. Jerry broke into Sudhir's car to read his notebooks to satisfy his paranoia. Currently, the Feds are initiating an investigation to begin raiding gangs. This puts a damper on the local cops wishes because they want to know which gang leaders are in power to maintain the status quo. The chapter concludes with JT inviting Sudhir to a massive BK meeting.

Chapter 8 The Stay Together Gang:

The chapter begins with Sudhir attending a huge BK party in Calumet Heights at Brian's house. Brian and Jerry are two high profile members within the BK gang. The BKs self describe themselves as a "community organization" responding to peoples needs. Next, Sudhir is jokingly introduced as the BK's Director of Communications, although the position never materializes. As Sudhir continues his relations with high ranking members of the BKs, Pootchie describes to him the difference between "jailhouse niggers" and "operators", which correlates with gang members that have a desire to eventually leave the BKs.

On day, T-Bone decides to give Sudhir his accounting notebook. This has a large impact on some of Sudhir's future economic writings. Sudhir then learns that JT is looking to set up new factions, such as one in West Pullman. However, the chapter takes a drastic turn when the CHA plans to tear down Robert Taylor and Ms. Bailey can only save a certain percentage of the inhabitants.

Another helper, Dorothy, sets up the "Stay Together Gang" which plans to keep the families closely knitted. However, the number of families in this gang drops from twelve to four. A small conflict between Dorothy and Ms. Reemes evolves to the point where they are calling the cops on each other for a power struggle. Later, Bill Clinton decides to visit the Robert Taylor homes. As Sudhir goes to Harvard for a fellowship, the BKs are falling apart. T-Bone goes to jail and JT decides to start a business in dry cleaning and a barbershop with his cousin. While Sudhir teaches at Columbia, JT offers his networking with Curtis in a Newark BK faction.

Paper Reading #9: Non-obvious Observation

"Discovering the Secret Life of the Most Forgettable Words" by James Pennebaker appeared as a very interesting book from two fronts, computer science and human psychology. In the beginning, Pennebaker lists tweets from Paris Hilton, John McCain, Oprah Winfrey, and Lady Gaga in order to demonstrate the variance in which humans communicate. He opens the book from a very high level noting that the seemingly insignificant words are typically the most important in determining the health and welfare of a particular individual. For instance, he notes that pronouns, articles, and prepositions are indeed the most revealing words, even more so than emotionally charged words. Furthermore, his research identified cognitive words, such as effect, cause, reason, and balance, as the best for healthy writing.

Subsequently, I admire Pennebaker's work in the fact that the details are most essential aspect of anything in life. The word processor on which I am typing is composed into thousands of lines of code which happen to have significant impact in the long term process. Pennebaker continues to note that there is a correlation with how one communicates and inferences that can be drawn. For example, he exclaims that when one uses more verbs, they tend to score lower grades in school or the increased usage of the pronoun 'I' in poems implies a higher likelihood of suicide. Also, he claims that people are happiest when they switch from talking about themselves to others and back to themselves. Perhaps, I would be curious for Pennebaker and his algorithm to evaluate the way in which I write.

In addition, Pennebaker's example that he uses throughout the first chapter is the emotional baggage that one carries from a traumatic experience. However, he shines light on the fact that expressing oneself through writing or communicating verbally can increase physical and mental health. He recommends that re-telling traumatic stories from a different perspective to avoid telling the same depressing story over and over. This acclaims to acknowledging the negative and celebrating the positive, implying that a moderation of negativity is ideal.

Next, Pennebaker describes how Martha Francis helped his team develop Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC, pronounced Luke). The demonstration of LIWC begins with an excerpt from Alice in Wonderland. Pennebaker than describes some of the trouble with a word counting algorithm, but then exclaims that it can garner insight into the psychological state of people by noticing how their words reflect their emotions rather than the words changing their emotion.

In the paper, "Language style matching in writing: Synchrony in essays, correspondence, and poetry" by James Pennebaker and Molly Ireland, techniques are developed to analyze the specific word structure of sentences to evaluate their emotional state. To begin, language style matching is relative use of nine function words between any two texts. The authors take note to the fact that it is the intermittent words between emotional words that carry the most impact. They also delve into the fact that people tend to mimic their counter party when communicating. For example, people will match the other person's non-verbal behavior such as posture, eye contact, and even breathing. Even the adaption of one's words occurs when two humans verbally communicate. The goal is for two diverse people to find a middle ground in which they can view the other's ideas on a common stand. In essence, people form to a coordinate structure. The authors then divest energy into the thorough analysis of their research to uphold their thesis. In conclusion, their work is extremely unique and eye opening to help people understand one another on a deeper level.


There are a plethora of non-obvious things to consider about a person. First, I would examine the height at which their camera exists to judge their height. Also, the way in which people walk or transport themselves is a huge indicator of how they carry themselves. For example, whether they are continuously looking at the ground or have their vision upright to indicate a more positive outlook on their daily activities. Not only that, but the way they interact with other people helps unveil whether they are introverted or extroverted. Furthermore, the body language that one conveys accounts for over 50% of how one communicates. This implies that the way in which one's arms swing outward can be a strong indication of their masculinity or dominance. Another solid example of non-obvious clues is the way a person opens a door to imply that they are either right or left handed. Lastly, one can give consideration to items that the subject first notices when walking into a room in order to judge that person's values and what is important to them.

Thus far, all of these examples have been relevant to how one traverses from point A to point B. To gain a better idea of non-obvious things to consider, one would examine the specific actions that a subject is performing. For example, if a subject is purchasing an item, one can learn a tremendous amount about this person by innately analyzing not only the object itself, but also the way in which the person grabbed it or paid for it. All in all, there are an abundant number of non-obvious hints to consider when trying to determine what personality fits with which face, and one must simply pay attention to the details.

The video we created dealt with our group traveling from Rudder tower to Rattler's in the Underground. There were several key points in our group video. First, we would be riding a bike from Rudder tower. This aspect of our video could help other determine more information about us in terms of how we ride the bike (turn signals or none, stopping at stop signs or not, etc.). Also, simple details such as the methodology we lock our bike with could divulge more insight into our own personalities. Second, we would be entering Rattler's and purchasing an item. This portion of the project encompasses the largest implications associated with our identities. One can evaluate the selected item from Rattler's but the other subtle gestures that we each performed reveal much more.

Then, as we proceed back to Rudder tower, a few more considerations could take place. One might question as whether the item went directly into one's pocket or if the item was used or eaten along the way. The route back to the bike is critical to determine what the person is thinking along the way back to the starting destination. As one jumps back on the bike, it becomes critical from a spectators point of view to determine how each person in our group deals with passing other people walking. In conclusion, the video task we laid forth is as simple as it comes. However, if one pays close enough attention to the seemingly insignificant portions of the ride, one can uncover the true personalities of each of our group members.