The strongest person in the world might be able to tackle any physical obstacle, but mental stress can be much more difficult. The nuance with mental stress is that different environments affect people in different ways, and in different magnitudes. Cathy Davidson’s “Project Classroom Makeover”, Susan Faludi’s “The Naked Citadel”, and Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Power of Context”, all describe scenarios with environments that are either stressful and negative, or relaxed and positive. An individual’s identity is minimally impacted in positive environments and drastically affected in negative environments.
The ability to learn is one of the most important parts of an identity; how one learns is unique to the person, and life involves constantly …show more content…
If one event could affect someone forever, that would be very dangerous. On the contrary, the tough environment at The Citadel has a negative environment, and effects people for years. Faludi explains, “This ‘system’ is a nine-month regimen of small and large indignities intended to ‘strip’ each young recruit of his original identity and remold him into the ‘Whole Man,’ a vaguely defined ideal, half Christian soldier, half Dale Carnegie junior executive” (75). Learning at The Citadel is not about real knowledge, it is about being a cog in a larger system. Before one can be a cadet at The Citadel, one has to stop caring about oneself and devote your life to the group. With all the drills, hazing, and abusive traditions these cadets have to do, they slowly start having their identities transformed. The Citadel has a stressful, negative, and damaging environment. It affects their learning because they no longer are able to think for themselves. As a part of the “whole man”, the cadets are supposed to learn only what their superiors tell them to learn. Their previous knowledge and experience does not matter, only the task at hand. Once a man or woman’s independence is taken away, it will always have a lasting effect. It …show more content…
Most people have a sense or morality that is hard to change, but when put under stress, it can get much easier to affect. Faludi explains, “Needless to say, not every cadet embraces the climate of cruelty; the nocturnal mauling’s likely frighten as many cadets as they enthrall. But the group mentality that pervades The Citadel assures that any desire on the part of a cadet to speak out about the mounting violence will usually be squelched by the threat of ostracism and shame” (81). Most of the students at the Citadel do not participate in the hazing, but their moral compass is compromised when under the immense negative pressure of The Citadel. The cadets are scared that if they speak out, they will be punished. Even if they do not commit any crimes, just by staying silent, they become complicit. Later on in life, if they see someone like Bernie Goetz on a subway doing something wrong, they might not say anything. These cadets are in an environment where they are being forced to be immoral in fear of getting punished. Not only can this lead to problems in the future, but after a while it might get easier to look away when an injustice is happening. When examined, the life of Goetz has some positive environments as well. Gladwell explains, “He worked, after graduating from college, for Westinghouse, building nuclear submarines. But that didn’t last long. He was constantly clashing
The ability to learn is one of the most important parts of an identity; how one learns is unique to the person, and life involves constantly …show more content…
If one event could affect someone forever, that would be very dangerous. On the contrary, the tough environment at The Citadel has a negative environment, and effects people for years. Faludi explains, “This ‘system’ is a nine-month regimen of small and large indignities intended to ‘strip’ each young recruit of his original identity and remold him into the ‘Whole Man,’ a vaguely defined ideal, half Christian soldier, half Dale Carnegie junior executive” (75). Learning at The Citadel is not about real knowledge, it is about being a cog in a larger system. Before one can be a cadet at The Citadel, one has to stop caring about oneself and devote your life to the group. With all the drills, hazing, and abusive traditions these cadets have to do, they slowly start having their identities transformed. The Citadel has a stressful, negative, and damaging environment. It affects their learning because they no longer are able to think for themselves. As a part of the “whole man”, the cadets are supposed to learn only what their superiors tell them to learn. Their previous knowledge and experience does not matter, only the task at hand. Once a man or woman’s independence is taken away, it will always have a lasting effect. It …show more content…
Most people have a sense or morality that is hard to change, but when put under stress, it can get much easier to affect. Faludi explains, “Needless to say, not every cadet embraces the climate of cruelty; the nocturnal mauling’s likely frighten as many cadets as they enthrall. But the group mentality that pervades The Citadel assures that any desire on the part of a cadet to speak out about the mounting violence will usually be squelched by the threat of ostracism and shame” (81). Most of the students at the Citadel do not participate in the hazing, but their moral compass is compromised when under the immense negative pressure of The Citadel. The cadets are scared that if they speak out, they will be punished. Even if they do not commit any crimes, just by staying silent, they become complicit. Later on in life, if they see someone like Bernie Goetz on a subway doing something wrong, they might not say anything. These cadets are in an environment where they are being forced to be immoral in fear of getting punished. Not only can this lead to problems in the future, but after a while it might get easier to look away when an injustice is happening. When examined, the life of Goetz has some positive environments as well. Gladwell explains, “He worked, after graduating from college, for Westinghouse, building nuclear submarines. But that didn’t last long. He was constantly clashing