PSYCHOLOGY BUSKING a la wordswords: VISIONS OF SUGARPLUMS: THE CHRISTMAS INDEPENDENCE OF IRRELEVANT ALTERNATIVES SOLUTION

Monday, December 26, 2016

VISIONS OF SUGARPLUMS: THE CHRISTMAS INDEPENDENCE OF IRRELEVANT ALTERNATIVES SOLUTION

Nestled all snug in my bed, visions of sugar plums dance in my head, and thanks to Professor Sidney Morgenbesser, in madcap and gustatory fashion, so too, does this sweet Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives axiom dance in my head:

After finishing dinner at her favorite downtown eatery, Sadie decides to order a slice of pie. The server tells her she has two choices, apple or blueberry. Sadie orders the blueberry. After a few minutes the server returns with the added information that cherry pie now, too, is available. “Hmmm … I’ll have the apple pie then, a la mode,” says Sadie.

Despite Sadie first having ordered blueberry when there were only two choices of pie, the option of having a slice of blueberry pie when the cherry pie became available, was brought forth, as a supposedly irrelevant alternative, caused Sadie to switch her decision. Sadie’s decision making fails to adhere to the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives (IIA) axiom.

WTF!

With behavior in Psychology as a response to external and internal stimuli and/or the action by which an organism adjusts to its environment, why would Sadie behave in such a manner?

All behavior is purposeful, according to American psychiatrist, William Glasser.

And oftentimes behavior is the veneer for angst and insecurity, according to Canadian economist, Travers Child.

In the case of Sadie and the apple pie, I do believe it is Sadie’s angst which causes her to behave in a seemingly irrelevant alternative action.

Déjà vu will help explain. You know déjà vu, that feeling of familiarity, that crazy sense of recollection. Perhaps Sadie is unconsciously recalling an experience.

Let us imagine that Sadie (I’m making this up) is from the rural west part of the country. Let us imagine that Sadie grew up in rodeo and orchard county heartland, a place abound with cowboys and fruit pies.

Let us imagine that Sadie had one time witnessed some cowboys at a pie-eating contest at the Berry-Cherry Pie Festival somewhere in her past, when she was around 13 years old. After attending the Berry-Cherry pie-eating contest she and her friend, Claire went over to visit Sadie’s Aunt Gladys.

Let us imagine that her Aunt Gladys had just baked a couple blueberry and cherry pies, and those pies were cooling on the window sill when Sadie and Claire arrived.

“You girls need some pie,” insisted Aunt Gladys as she set two pies, one blueberry and cherry, on the kitchen table right in front of both girls. And then began the pie-eating contest between Sadie and Claire, and ending only with the over-stuffed pie-eating Sadie vomiting right onto the kitchen table.

(I apologize to those gluttonous pie-eating cowboys who ride the rodeo in the Western heartland.)

Hmmm … Could it be that Sadie wants to subdue her memory togetherness of blueberry and cherry pie, and even removing this particular memory more so by adding a scoop of ice cream to her slice of apple pie order.

Meanwhile back at the ranch … and not dancing in esoteric fashion as the above mentioned sugarplum solution, are those marching in my CHAUCERIAN PARADE:

Alfred is from the Norman Wells in the Canadian North West Territories; Jared is from Regina, Saskatchewan. Alfred and Jared are both students at the Regina downtown Adult Campus and both are guitar-slingers ...