Bryan's WRIT 340 Blog

  Day by Day Our mission is to highlight local efforts to better the community and move towards those goals, one small step at a time. Would you donate 49 cents a day to feed a starving child in Africa?  Chances are, you would say yes. Researchers find that people are more likely to donate towards causes when the question is framed in a “pennies a day” format. Humans rely on a system called “mental accounting” to categorize the different transactions in their lives. This form of thinking has many effects including: People are more likely to spend money given to them if it is labeled as a “bonus” rather than a “rebate” People overspend when using credit cards because the money used does not have an instant effect People tend to gamble more after a win rather than a loss, even if the outcome will remain the same In the “pennies a day” example, because the cost is marginal enough to be ignored, people don’t label it as an expense. Day by Day takes this mindset and transforms it i...

  In my opinion, making the world a better place can be done either in small or large steps. Even if people aren’t able to directly work for social organizations, I still feel like charity or volunteer work can be good enough to make a difference. The onus of changing the world seems to always fall on the younger generation, but I wonder why should the responsibility get put on us. Especially with increasing wealth disparity and rising inflation rates, this amount of pressure on us seems unreasonable. But, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make an effort to do better. Instead of focusing on the younger generation, everyone has to step up in order for meaningful change to happen.  Helping the world can be as simple as reducing food waste or picking up trash you see on the streets. Oftentimes, large programs calling for drastic changes shut more people out than invite people in. Small steps can be more inclusive, even if they aren’t the most effective. I know that there is urgency ...

Have you ever tasted something and had flashbacks to specific memories? A lot of people experience this, from a soup that brings you back to your mom’s cooking to a pasta dish that triggers memories of food poisoning. Research shows that taste is directly linked to both positive and negative experiences, which helped our distant ancestors determine what foods were fundamental to their survival. Even though these memories are usually associated with food, in my case, the different flavors of chapstick take me back to various points in my life. I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with chapstick. When I was younger, I had really dry lips, so naturally, I bought some Chapstick-brand chapstick. That was my biggest mistake. Instead of making my lips better, the chapstick caused my lips to dry out even more. After this, there was a period of 3-5 years where I tried random types of chapstick to see which one worked for me. Finally, in my junior year of high school, I ended up with Burt’s ...