by Noa Davny ’24
Chaotic Side: Oh my god, I hate this paper so much. I no longer want to do it. I just want to throw my computer towards the wall.
Rational Side: You cannot do that, your laptop would be an inconvenience to replace, and it would cause you a lot of anxiety.
Chaotic Side: I do not care; this paper is causing me a lot of anxiety. If I throw my laptop at the wall, then I won’t have to do this assignment. I could do something else, most likely nighty night.
Rational Side: If you throw your computer against the wall, you would have to figure out how to fix or replace your laptop. You would not sleep.
Chaotic Side: What if I just throw it hard enough to damage it but not completely break it?
Rational Side: Do you know how hard that is?
Chaotic Side: I do not. Fine, I will not throw my laptop at the wall. What if I just smash my laptop on the ground? That would damage it but not break it. And then I could get out of writing this paper and go to nighty night.
Rational Side: If you smash your laptop on the ground, you will lose all the work you have done so far. You would not even be able to email your professor asking for an extension because your laptop broke.
Chaotic Side: I could email my professor from my phone. And I will not lose all the work I have done so far because I have saved it on my OneDrive.
Rational Side: What is a OneDrive?
Chaotic Side: The OneDrive is a magic thing that allows you to back up all of your documents. See? Smashing my laptop on the ground is not such a bad idea.
Rational Side: Ok, but you will have to explain to your friends, parents, and the technicians how you broke your computer. And your answer will be that you got extremely frustrated with an essay and smashed your computer on the ground.
Chaotic Side: Fine that is a good point. I guess I will not smash my laptop on the ground. What if I just drop out of school?
Rational Side: Over a paper, you are being irrational. You have completed essays before and experienced this frustration. This is not the end of the world.
Chaotic Side: But I really really really do not want to write this paper anymore. I could just drop out of school and do anything else.
Rational Side: There are several issues with this argument. First, you have been in school for too long to drop out. The second is that your dream job requires a college degree, so unless you want to give up on your dream, you need to go to school. And third, you have written papers before and survived.
Chaotic Side: You make good points, but I am just so tired, stressed, frustrated, and done with this paper.
Rational Side: OK, you should take a walk around the library, take a deep breath, and take a fifteen-minute break. Then after all of that, work for another hour. Afterward, go to sleep.
This is very funny, thank you Noa!