space.discussion.Managing+Impulsivity.

Managing Impulsivity.

Controlling your urges and impulses to stray from the given task, all to create a balence between the benefits of individualistic exploration and a success with the original goal and/or safety.

May 28th 2010

The chemistry room, decorated with a plethora of chemicals and magical formulas, is quite an easy place to become distracted in. The vibrant purples, frothing greens, and glowing yellows call out your name-- hey you, take a chance, experiment with me! It is during these instances that it becomes crucial to exercise judgment, or put more simply, a control of your impulsivity. This was exemplified in particular, during a class experiment where we were examining an array of chemicals and their respective colors. Hypothesizing which ions gave each substance its particular hue, we spent half the period observing glass vials and the colorful contents. I have always had a fascination with chemicals that I found "pretty" or interesting in some way, especially those that were a more surprising color. So when I came across a bottle of potassium permanganate, its deep purple color entranced me instantly. In my mind, the chemical looked almost like a thick grape juice-- it almost looked tasty.

Now of course, I would never lose my sense enough to actually taste or eat a sample of a chemical in the lab, let alone a particuarly unknown one. That could hardly be classified as impulsivity, but more as suicide. However, my senses suddenly very much encouraged me to pour a bit of the contents onto my hand. Reflecting now, this seems absolutely absurd. However, this is a perfect example of why managing impulsivity is so key-- because for many of us, something may seem vaguely feasible and acceptable in the moment, whereas later we will find it ridiculous. Looking back, I'm glad I didn't pour any mysterious chemicals onto my hand.

We not only have to prevent ourselves from making obviously senseless decisions, but also more subtly dangerous decisions. These are perhaps the instances that require the greatest amount of practice and wisdom. For example, we once designed our own experiment in class to test the potential energy of varying substances. As our experiment involved the use of fire, our procedures had to be thought out carefuly. However, in my rush to reach the conclusion of the experiment (this too is an impulse, an unthought out plan to finish a task, though a different form of impulse that most kids get from just wanting to "see something cool"), I created an experiment that resulted in a near disastrous incineration of my materials. Had I slowed down and "managed my impulsivity" to finish quickly, this issue would have never surfaced.

This lends itself to a bigger discussion-- where exactly do we draw the line between managing impulsivity and taking responsible risks? The two balence eachother out, ensuring that while we do not hurt ourselves in following our own whims, we also do not shy away from interesting and safe learning experiences. Perhaps if I had more time, an alternative that embraced this could have been pouring the contents into a beaker and examining them in this much more safe way. In all aspects of life, not just those pertaining to chemistry, this blend of curiosity and awareness is important. Perhaps another example would be when conducting an experiment, and wanting to mix the chemicals at the end (a tradition of the girls group in my class)-- this would be a responsible risk, but we manage our impulsivity by first checking to make sure this would be safe. Outside of the classroom, this concept sees even more examples.

I feel a temptation to attempt new things, safe or unsafe, all the time. In light of this, managing impulsivity is one of those skills that I am more aware of, but still could use practice with. I have certainly had moments where I did not manage impulsivity properly, and ended up facing the consequences later. While I feel that I am growing in my ability to differentiate between a safe and unsafe impulse, the impulses regardlessly still remain. This, I feel, will remedy itself after years of experient and wisdom. Untill then, I'll just hope I don't give in to any sudden urges to dump strange chemicals upon myself.



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