Your chance to do my homework by talking about scary things

[Cashmanimal 0]

Such as skydiving!

I am writing a speech right now. It's a persuasive speech, so I have to convince my audience of something. My thesis is something along the lines of why extreme and physical activities are better for mental well-being than meditation and other such nonsense.

I might add all my info doesn't have to be absolutely true or cited, just has to be convincing.

So does anybody have any solid info? For example, I am claiming that activities such as skydiving allow the brain to cope with high-demand situations better. By conditioning the brain to this, other situations will seem less extreme, whereas someone who meditates all the time may freak out in a high-deman situation. (worded nicer, of course).

I wish I had a copy of Brian Germain's book here... if anybody has it and has some spare time, any info from that would help as well.

Thanks for any useful help... as well as whatever sarcastic remarks are sure to come as well. The TV is out so all I have had to listen to for the last 20 minutes is my roommate having sex with his girlfriend (who has a GREAT pornstar voice while gettin' it on..... bAYbee.... BAYbee....)

It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

[longtall 0]

Alex, Since we left the jungle our spirit craves the danger and excitement that civilization doesnt usually provide...........................J.........................

" 90 right, five miles then cut."---Pukin Buzzards

[popsjumper 2]

You might relate a, to them, real-world experience or two with your audience.

1. Driving a car. When you first started out, 50 mph seemed quite fast. Now 85 on the interstate seems creeping slow. Your brain gets conditioned to the speed. Race car drivers are a more extreme example where 150 is slow and 200+ is the norm.

2. Same/similar with skiing, and as you mentioned, most other extreme activities.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[happythoughts 0]

People have wondered why teenagers like scary movies.
What is the point to sitting around getting scared ?

Some psychologists view it as a cathartic experience.
A person is allowed to be frightened by the scene while viewing it from a safe venue. You can always close your eyes and it stops.

Skydiving is the reverse. You are in the situation and have to deal with it.

Here is the value. The reason that people step out of the door is that they have intellectualized the danger and the steps to handle it. They have taken training and now believe in their own ability to save themselves.

In the event of another danger situation, that self-confidence becomes a tool to evaluate it.
Plus, first time confrontation with danger can lead to "brain lock".

A clear head and the mentality to deal with the fear are the new tools.

[BIGUN 1,488]

Your audience will probably be comprised of men and women, therefore you're actually giving two speeches. One to the men and one to the women. Since it's persuasive, you'll need to appeal to the women emotionally and challenge them to assert their independence from men. Start with some basics and segue into a short video clip of female freeflyers having fun with big smiles and motivational music background. Then, you can appeal to the men's sense of manhood by challenging them with the _implication_ that women are better risk-takers than men. If you were giving the speech in my class, I would grade you based on your ability to stimulate action (which is the basis of a persuasive speech). So picture yourself building up to this crescendo of independence for the ladies, seguing into challenging the men and finishing up with a closing statement of, "So, all of those who want to go take a skydiving class with me this weekend, raise your hand!!" The more hands that go up (verbal or nonverbal commitment), the higher your grade. Hope that helps. Let us know how you do.

Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

[karenmeal 0]

Well.. this isn't about the danger aspect of it..

But- when you're exercising your major muscle groups require more blood, decreasing the amount of blood that goes to such places in your brain as the frontal lobes. Therefore, you can't really perform high level executive funtions as well when you are exercising.

A skydiving example more related to your speech might be test-taking. I have become a really good test taker since highschool, I have discovered how to get in my zone and really focus. Perhaps this is related to my learned ability to deal with high stress situations such as freefall, malfunctions or swooping? The level of focus that I have while in freefall is like meditation to me and it's the same place that I go when I'm taking tests. (I know that sounds really cheesy.)

I know that may be kind of off from the point of your speech, but in brainstorming even the off ideas help me a little bit.

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

[Cashmanimal 0]

Fantastic! I really appreciate the input everybody.

Now, not to say any contributions were better, but these are the points I worked in so far... i honestly see myself using a bit of everything everybody has said so far....

Quote

Thesis: I believe that physically demanding activities are a better form of stress release because they allow our minds to cope with high stress situations more easily, allowing for an overall better state of mental well-being.


A. Remaining slow or inactive is unhealthy for the body.
a. Remaining inactive is extremely stressful on the body. It craves homeostasis and inactivity does not allow for proper psychological balance.
b. When the body stays still, various organ tissues go into metabolic overdrive, like “flooring it” with the car in park for hours at a time (Seaword, 2006).

....................


And basically about 2 minutes worth of talking about sensory overlad, which is where I worked most of the comments here into the speech (which, don't let this be misleading, is about 3 typed pages so far... blah)

As far as showing the video and appealing to the audiences.... I really, really wish I had the time to do it. But unfortunately I don't have the time! But no doubt the "who wants to go skydiving with me?" will be my clincher. Golden.

Thanks again everybody, all greatly appreciated!

It's all fun and until someone loses an eye... then it's just a game to find the eye

[turtlespeed 226]

It all has to do with rareafied air molecules and . . .

I'm not usually into the whole 3-way thing, but you got me a little excited with that. - Skymama
BTR #1 / OTB^5 Official #2 / Hellfish #408 / VSCR #108/Tortuga/Orfun