Joya A Gilchrist

November 10, 2014

UWRT 1103
Extended Inquiry

Many people feel the need to wonder past the limits of safety in pursuit of an exciting
experience. The history of evolution has the answers I seek as to why we partake in such risky
behavior. Men tend to take more risks than women. "Especially with recreational risks and
financial risks, you'll find this," said Andreas Wilke, an evolutionary psychologist at Clarkson
University and an expert on risk-taking and decision-making. Sex is great example. Women will
behave more responsibly and make conventional decisions. Men carry the burden of impressing
women through displays of boldness and strength. Of course, women take risks too. Risk-taking
can lead to extraordinary success or extraordinary failure, making this an important aspect of the
human condition.
What makes a person take high risks and do dangerous, even life-threatening things?
Some people love speed and the thrill of racing; other people are into extreme sports such as ice
climbing, and bungee jumping. At a given time in a person's life, depending on relationship
status, the risk tendency is inherent and
unshakable. Christopher McCandless, from Into the
Wild, is intense, passionate, driven and ambitious,
but not satisfied with the opportunities or challenges
society presents to him. He felt betrayed by the lies
of his mother and father. He hated the effects money

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had on the people around him. Chris saw a chance to prove to himself and society that he was
made of more than superficial things. The thrill of pure accomplishment, man against only nature
and himself, allowed him to feel that he truly knew what he is capable of, that he didnt need to
rely on others, or on society, to survive.
People can take risks because they need to fill a void. Something in their life has
damaged them to a point of emptiness. I have experienced this myself. As I sit here and write this
paper, Im mourning the loss of yet another two of my friends that lost their life in a car accident
November 17, 2014. Theres just this void in me from so much loss. My brothers best friends
loss their life in a car accident July 9, 2012, and two of my close friends loss their lives from a
car wreck as well August 23, 2014. All of this death in my life has taken its toll on me
emotionally, physically, spiritually, and mentally. Sometimes when I drive I just go way over the

speed limit with the thought of crashing in the back of my

head. My heart beats so fast and I start to sweat. It just takes away the pain, even if only for a
moment. The feeling of being in control of what happens is a sort of victory and comfort. Risktaking is essential to the type of person who feels the need to prove something or lash out at the
world
Do human beings, supposedly the most advanced creatures on the planet, have a death
wish? We were made to survive and reproduce if you look back on our evolution. What makes

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people want to risk that? Dopamine is the neurotransmitter linked to the pleasure centers in our
brains that. It is the same receptor released when we do drugs like cocaine, acting as basically a
shot of good feeling in our brain. That means that when we take risks, the feeling we get is akin
to the high described by drug-users. This accounts for the addictive feeling of risk-taking.
If youre not taking risks, why are you living? Our brains, as teenagers, are wired to take
risks. Risks, good or bad, help us to become who we are. They help shape us for the rest of our
lives here on earth. If I hadnt taken the risks I have then I wouldnt have received so many of
the scholarships I did not think I was capable of receiving. We are extra sensitive to the way we
feel when something happens to us that is better than expected. This explains why we take risks
that seem so unworthy to adultslike driving too fast or experimenting with drugs. A new
theory has arisen, prediction error. If we anticipate a steamy and delicious sip of expresso but
end up tasting week old stale coffee, which is a negative prediction error. If we expect nothing
from our parents for our birthday but we receive a hefty sum of cash, then that is a positive error.
Prediction errors give way to answers on why teenagers do what they do.
The social rewards of staying out past curfew outweigh the possibility of getting trouble
for a teenager. The physical pleasure of getting drunk may outweigh the obvious dangers of
underage drinking, and then next days hangover. We
are drawn to the uncertainty of the world. Our
willingness to partake in uncertain activities is driven
by the potential rewards that might result from that
uncertainty. For us, rewards loom so much bigger than
the potential negatives.

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Taking risks do not always have bad outcomes; they help us to learn and grow. Learning
always involves a degree of risk or challenge. To learn something new you need to challenge
yourself to do something you haven't done before and risk failing a few times while you learn.
But each time you master a skill you gain confidence in your ability to learn new things. Some
people take risks because they want to learn and do lots of new things - these usually are healthy
risks. Other people take risks because the danger gives them a feeling of excitement and they
don't think too much about the possible consequences - often times, these are unhealthy risks.
They are usually the things that move us forward and
the things that can really make a difference in our lives. Risks,
no matter how big or small, are the things that make a random
afternoon the afternoon that changed our lives. So, go on, give
in to that dopamine rush every once in a whileit could be
the best worst decision youve ever made.

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Works Cited

Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. New York: Anchor, 1997. Print.
In April of 1992 a young man from a financially stable family tramped his way to Alaska
and into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless.
He had given $25,000 in savings to charity from his parents, abandoned his car and most of his
possessions, burned all the money in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months
later, his body was discovered by moose hunters.
I felt as though Chris was a little too extreme in his remedy to society. Isolation is really
not a virtue. There are so many other ways to go about changing the way things are around you.
He had only a little clue as to how to survive in the wild, which wasnt even really the wild!
Come on. There was a station a few miles from the magic bus. Although he did end up coming
to his senses even if it was at the brink of death. I can say, from experience, true happiness can
only be reached with love and the ones who you love.
Jon Krakauer is a credible source because he did extensive research on the matters of
Christopher McCandless. His family was very forthcoming with information to help Jon create
Chris story.

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Bell, Nancy J. Adolescent Risk Taking. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications, 1993. Print.
Adolescent Risk Taking is all about similarities between something as simple as bungee
jumping and criminal activities. Does adolescent risk-taking behavior explain our actions, like
unprotected sex? Are there positive aspects to adolescent risk-taking? The book covers topics
such as theories of risky choice, effects of the rational choice theory in predicting heightened risk
taking during youth, sociobiological factors in risk taking, and intervention programs for socially
and self-destructive behaviors.
This book helped a little, but not as much as I thought it would when I saw the title.
Nancy and Robert explain why we take risks as teens. Some familial event or tragedy will
change you in some way. It could be for the better or for the worse. Sometimes I feel like I
changed for the better, and then other times when Im in my darkest moods I feel like I changed
for the absolute worst. When my mom cheated on my dad with my aunts husband our
relationship crashed and burned. That changed my whole perception of her. Now, I regretfully
do things to her that would make her angry or hurt her, just so she could feel the way she made
me feel.
"This volume brings together a multidisciplinary group of scholars who examine
adolescent risk taking from a multiple of perspectives with direct implications for promoting
healthy adolescent lifestyles. This book will be a valuable resource for a broad spectrum of
individuals concerned with the health of adolescents, including behavioral and medical
researchers, psychological and sociological theorists, clinicians, as well as policy analysts." -Ralph J. DiClemente, Ph.D., University of Alabama

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Plunka, Gene A. The Rites of Passage of Jean Genet: The Art and Aesthetics of Risk Taking.
Rutherford: Fairleigh Dickinson UP; 1992. Print.
Jean Genet's plays and prose exhibits the transition from game playing to the formation
of one's identity through risk-taking, which develops from solitude. Metamorphosis is a key
factor in this book. Genet has rejected society, much like Christopher McCandless. He forms this
group of scape goats who have no power in society. They escape their reality by living in a
sense of illusion. They paly games, theyre extremely narcissistic, and they partake in many
political charades.
This book was not particularly helpful to my subject. The book did help with describing
some rites of passage like moving from one social position to the next over the course of ones
life.
Gene Plunka is a credible source because he received his Ph.D. in comparative literature
from the University of Maryland. He has published eight books and forty five articles on modern
drama and technical writing. He has done an extensive study on Jean Genet.

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Wolchover, Natalie. "Why Do People Take Risks?" LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 30 Aug.
2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. <http://www.livescience.com/33471-people-take-risks.html>.
Many people feel the urge to venture past the limits of safety in pursuit of a rewarding
experience. Some people are lucky to make it back alive: Sometimes risky desires can be deadly,
as exemplified by the frequency of fatal sky-diving and mountain-climbing accidents. Indeed,
excessive risk-taking significantly lowers one's life expectancy. So why has the urge evolved?
And what explains the differences in what each of us is willing to wager. As with most aspects of
our behavior, the answer is buried deep in our evolutionary past. This article talks about why
people are willing to take risks.
This article was extremely helpful with my subject. The article had a man, Nick Sednew,
who tells them of his risks. Nick was working as a trumpet player on a cruise ship two years ago
when it steered into a powerful storm between Antarctica and the tip of South America. The
forces of nature were stronger than he expected. As the wind pushed against him, Sednew started
running to get back inside, but the deck was slick with rain. He fell. He broke his nose and cut
his lip and there was blood everywhere. Clinging to the railings to prevent being blown
overboard, he struggled back to the door. He felt the desire to venture past the limits of safety in
pursuit of a rewarding experience, like all people who take risks.
This site is credible because Purch is a rapidly growing, constantly evolving digital
content and services company that helps millions of people. Their team is made up of twenty
four highly qualified professionals who run the site.

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"Kids Helpline." Kids Helpline. 1 Oct. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.kidshelp.com.au/kids/information/hot-topics/taking-risks.php>.
Taking a risk is doing something when the outcome is not certain. This might be doing
something like talking in front of the class, or trying out a new game or sport. Growing up is all
about taking risks - even right from the beginning of our lives. Babies take risks - would any of
us have learned how to walk if we hadn't taken the risk of falling over many times while we tried
to get it right? This website is all about taking risks as a teenager and even a kid.
This site was very helpful. It answered a lot of the questions I was searching for answers
from. It answered my questions on risk assessment. While taking risks is an important part of
growing and learning, it is vital to stop and think before you take a risk, and weigh up the
consequences. While there are lots of things to learn from taking a risk and misjudging the
consequences, there are some risks that are simply not worth taking.
This site is a credible source. It is a site for kids and there is a help line. Kids Helpline is
a counselling service for Australian children and young people aged between 5 and 25 years.