I didn’t find many of this chapter’s activities interesting (or doable, for that matter), so I performed a few.

Systematizing Quotient

I answered questions such as, “Do you normally notice a song’s structure?,” to which I replied “Definitely agree.” Out of sixty questions, I scored a 45, which is above average. This proves I love details.

Empathy Quotient

This was similar to the previous test, though the questions were more focused on empathic behavior and thoughts. I scored two points higher than the average woman, which met my expectation.

Spot the Fake Smile

I watched twenty individuals smile, and was tasked with determining which smiles were genuine. Utilizing Pink’s strategy, I payed close attention to the person’s eyes; if the skin nearby was particularly wrinkly, I supposed that the smile was sincere. This tactic proved successful, for I chose correctly sixteen of the twenty times.

Is the following smile for realsies? You decide.

Finally, I thought I would share an unintentional occurrence of eavesdropping: A week ago in Woody’s, a stout black man, in some way professionally affiliated with the dining hall, walked past two female students, and turned to inappropriately (and relatively blatantly) view them from behind. A female cook subsequently shook her head and said to him, “What did I tell you about that?”

I believe I was the only student to spot this incident. His behavior is unacceptable.

After reading Dan Pink’s chapter on Empathy, I was especially intrigued by the practical application of empathy on everyday life. Empathy is important in the business world for example because it allows a person to connect with an employee or co-worker on a personal level. This personal connection yields a tighter relationship between two people. In business, as we know, personal relationships with an abundance of people can be the determinant of success.

Additionally, I found it interesting that something as simple as the incorporation of empathy into nursing has the ability to be the difference between life and death. Hacking into a person’s current emotional state and being able to fully understand the “why” behind its composition is essential to a successful nurse. However, empathy comes in handy in other areas of life as well, including being able to help out a friend during a rough time. The best advice you can give a friend often arises when you attempt to put yourself in their shoes and think “what would I do?”

As I finished up the chapter and came to the exercises, I had an easy time choosing which one to perform this time around. I picked the first exercise as I was curious as to how empathetic I was and how well I could decipher a fake smile from a real one. I performed the smile exercise first. I scored 14 out of 20 correct. Not horrible but not fantastic. I tried to pay attention to the rise in cheek bones and contraction of the eyes to indicate a real smile. It worked most of the time. Next up was the Empathy Quotient. Surprisingly, I scored the exact average for a male: 42. I expected to be a little above average, but I suppose empathy is an area that I could always improve on.

Finally, I performed the Mind in the Eyes Test. I scored a 31, plenty satisfying. It said if I scored over 30, I am “very accurate at decoding a person’s facial facial expression around their eyes.” This is a skill I am grateful to have as it will definitely come in handy throughout life. Being able to read a person’s emotions based off a facial expression allows accommodation without having to directly inquire about a person’s emotions.

In class today, we began discussing the psychology behind decision making. In high school I studied the work of Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers. They researched people’s personalities and how they effect a person’s one-on-one interactions as well as how they work in a group.  Personally, I learned a lot about my own personality and that I should be more understanding when working with groups because everyone thinks differently. I would like to encourage everyone to take the Myers-Brigg Test and research their personality type. Following the link is my reaction to my personality type.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

After taking the Myers-Brigg survey, I was confused and disturbed. According to my results I am a 56% extrovert, 25% intuitive, 1% thinker and 78% judger. The last two numbers shocked me the most. How could I be a 1% thinker? I think through everything. I had no idea how I got a 78% in judging. I always try my best to be levelheaded and not jump to conclusions about anything. Needless to say, I hated my results even though I had no real understanding of what they meant.

I was relieved as we I researched what the different words and percentages mean. The letters ENTJ started to become tangible to me as I saw how they represented my personality fairly accurately. I learned that I make decisions with my emotions more often than I think- even if I do rationalize them. This is the reason for my 1% thinker. I feel for other people and want to give them the benefit of the doubt. At the same time, I am a very rational, rule following person. I become very afflicted when put in a situation where I have to decide another’s fate because they did not follow procedure. I also learned that it is not a bad thing to be a judger.  To have a high score in judging means that I follow deadlines, like structure, I am goal orientated and I have to-do lists everywhere.

I realized that this survey did quite accurately depict my personality. I am all of these things and from time to time I do switch it up. I also realize the importance in understanding my personality type as well as the people I am working with. I like to brainstorm out loud and at a quick pace while many other people brainstorm internally and like to think about it longer. Neither way is better than the other and in order to work or lead a team I have to recognize the differences between people. Lastly, I have noticed that my results reflect what I love to do and what I want to do as a part of the career I chose. I enjoy working on a problem, figuring out the unknown and then presenting my findings to whomever I can get to listen. While I am not sure exactly what career I want, I know that I need to find something that will work well with my ENTJ personality.

Photo Rights: Kelsea Shriver

After reading the meaning section of Daniel Pink’s book I decided to perform the 20-10 exercise.

If I inherited $20 million, no strings attached, would I spend my days the same way I spend them now?

The answer to this question is yes. My father told me once that money can go away from one’s possession from one day to another. In the other hand, nobody or anything can take away a good education or the things you learn. So yes, even though I inherit this amount of money I will remain studying at Georgia Tech to become a professional Mechanical Engineer. In other words, the way I will benefit from this amount of money is that I am not going to be worried about college economically.

Also one thing I will do immediately with this amount of money is that I will give a fraction of it to my dad so that he could better his private business. I will do this because my dad’s business is suffering changes from the economic crisis today and by doing this I will be thanking my dad for all the years of extremely hard work to maintain our family to the fullest of his capabilities.

Finally, when I have had finished my education career and when I am settled with a job I will certainly give a part of the $20 million dollars to a charity in my hometown in great need.

If I knew I had at most ten years to live, would you stick with your current job?

Well right now I am starting my college career. What I want to do in my educational career is to become a mechanical engineer and then obtain master’s degree. Time wise, this will take me at least six years. So yes, I will continue studying till I have finished my educational goal. I think it is worth the time because the experience will make me become a better person and I am going to study what I have always enjoyed in my life.

I know that I will have extra time during my educational career. I will spend the extra time with my family because for me family is extremely precious and time spent with my family is of great value. Also, after the six years of education I will do as many community services around my hometown and probably in other parts of the world that are in great need because I think that in this way is how I can be as more productive to the world in only a four year period.

After performing the 20-10 exercise I have noticed that my life would not change that much in either hypothetical situation. I think that this means that the life that I am having till today has a big meaning behind it.

Sources:

Image was created by me using the Microsoft Paint editor program.