Pollock 1

Perry Devin Pollock

Mrs. Steele
English 1102
May 6
th
, 2014
Power: How it Affects the Brain
In the word there are generally two tyes o! eole" the leaders and the !ollowers. #s a
child I always saw $ysel! as $ore o! a !ollower. I %elieve this was d&e to the !act that I never
was very co$!orta%le %eing in the 'sotlight(. I !elt i! I was I was the center o! attention I wo&ld
have control over everyone that was !oc&sed on $e and that was not aealing to $e. )hat I
wished to avoid was the ower.
Power is de!ined %y Merria$*)e%ster as ossession o! control, a&thority, or in!l&ence
over others. E+a$les o! ower wo&ld incl&de a $anager at a %&siness, an owner o! a co$any,
or even as !ar as a resident o! a co&ntry. #ll o! the a!ore$entioned ositions are ositions o!
high ower. #ll o! the $en and wo$en in these ositions can have a great a$o&nt o! in!l&ence
on eoles lives. )hether their ower a!!ects an e$loyees aycheck or their ower a!!ects the
ta+es citi,ens ay, their ower is e-&ally signi!icant.
Previo&sly I did research on a $an .so$e wo&ld arg&e his h&$anity/ na$ed #dol! 0itler.
0itler was %orn and raised in #&stria where he lived a hard li!e. D&ring his late teens and early
ad&lthood he %egan to st&dy the work o! an antise$itic $an na$ed 1arl 2&eger. 3nly a!ter
these st&dies, and his service in the $ilitary, did #dol! tr&ly %egin to show his corr&t side.
D&ring this research I noticed that as #dol! gained ower, his ideals and olicies also grew
increasingly cynical. 4eca&se o! this reali,ation, I %eg&n to %elieve there was a correlation
%etween the the two" ower and corr&tion.
5ro$ this correlation I derived a -&estion6 0ow does ower a!!ect a ersons %rain7 8his
-&estion led $e to a $an na$ed Ian 0. 9o%ertson, the a&thor o! The Winner Effect. In his %ook
he disc&sses the sycho logic a!!ect o! ower on the h&$an %rain and %acks & his clai$s with
science, citing research done on the cichlid !ish o! lake 8anganyika in #!rica .9o%ertson, g.:;/.
In s&$$ary o! the chater, a $ale cichlid !ish is either classi!ied as a 8 !ish o! a <8 !ish
.9o%ertson, g.:;/. 8he 8 !ish is a do$inant, color!&l, and con!ident ani$al .9o%ertson, g.:;/.
3n the other hand the <8 !ish is ti$id, d&lly colored, and not con!ident at all .9o%ertson, g.:;/.
In the st&dy it was o%served that the <8 !ish was a%le to trans!or$ into a 8 !ish overnight si$ly
d&e to the circ&$stances aro&nd hi$ .9o%ertson, g.:4/. 5or e+a$le, i! a 8 !ish was either
killed or had a%andoned its territory, an <8 !ish had the a%ility to $ove into the area, clai$ it as
his own, and trans!or$ hi$sel! into a 8 !ish .9o%ertson, g.:4/. 8his trans!or$ation ste$$ed
!ro$ an alteration in the !ish=s %rain che$istry .9o%ertson, g.:4/. In the !ishes %rain
testosterone levels are increased when it reali,es that it has clai$ed its own territory .9o%ertson,
g.:4/. 8hese increased levels o! testosterone lead to the che$ical $essenger doa$ine %eing
Pollock 2
rod&ced which is a known to i$rove con!idence, awareness, and intelligence in all ani$als,
incl&ding h&$ans.
)hile a sing&lar st&dy does not necessarily rove anything, a real li!e e+eri$ent does
hel solidi!y its validity. 8he real li!e e+eri$ent I a$ re!erring to is one involving a very
!a$o&s %o+er" Mike 8yson. 8yson !a$o&sly !ell !ro$ the to o! the %o+ing world when he was
sentenced to si+ years in rison !or the rae o! an eighteen*year*old girl .Shi/. #ltho&gh he
did not serve his !&ll sentence and was granted arole a!ter three years. <at&rally 8yson
i$$ediately looked to ret&rn to the world o! %o+ing once he was !ree. In his !irst !ight 8yson
was $atched & with another !ighter who was signi!icantly less talented than the !or$er
cha$ion. 8his !ight lasted only eighty*nine seconds as 8yson=s oonent was %eing %r&tally
%eat and the oonent=s $anager illegally entered the ring to save his !ighter .0o!!er/. 8yson=s
ne+t !ight was si$ilar to his !irst !ight, while it did last a whole three ro&nds. 8hese !ights were
not to rove to the eole that Mike 8yson was still a%le to !ight, they were to rove to Mike
8yson that Mike 8yson co&ld still !ight. It was %eca&se o! these !ights that 8yson wo&ld
event&ally $ake his way %ack to the to. 8his is '8he )inner E!!ect( in its &rest !or$.
8hro&gh Mike 8yson=s slow cli$% %ack to %o+ing s&re$acy or the cichlid !ish=s s&dden
takeover o! territory, each individ&al gained a sense o! ower. )hether the ower is gained
s&ddenly or grad&ally, it a!!ected the individ&al %y giving the$ con!idence to e+cel in their lives.
8he st&dy o! the cichlid !ish rovided scienti!ic evidence o! activity in the %rain and the e+a$le
o! Mike 8yson showed the e!!ect the %rain reaction has on h&$ans. Each o! these were key to
Ian 9o%ertson=s e+lanation and creation o! the )inner E!!ect.
8o address $y revio&s -&estion, and the overall &rose o! this iece, o! how ower
a!!ects the %rain. Power is, and always will %e, a relevant toic o! disc&ssion d&e to its resence
in every ersons= daily li!e and I %elieve that the sense o! ower che$ically changes the $ake &
o! o&r %rain which has %oth ositive and negative e!!ects on each erson deending on $&ltile
!actors in their li!e. It is thro&gh the revio&sly disc&ssed e+a$les o! #dol! 0itler, Mike 8yson,
and the cichlid !ish, that I have co$e to this concl&sion. 8he cichlid !ish rovided the initial
roo! o! an e!!ect on the %rain, 8yson showed how this e!!ect can work to i$rove a erson=s li!e,
and 0itler gave an e+a$le o! how ower has a way o! corr&ting $inds when given too heavy
o! a dose. Power can %e loosely co$ared to dr&gs in their shared trait o! e!!ecting the %rain
ositively when given in the correct dosages and negatively e!!ecting the %rain when a%&sed.
Bibliography
Pollock 3
0o!!er, 9ichard. >?on @o%.>
Not by Mike Tyson but by Peter McNeeley's cornerman, who. Sorts Ill&strated, 2A #&g.
1BB:. )e%. B May 2014. Chtt6DDsi.co$Dva&ltDarticleD$aga,ineDM#E1006BABDinde+.ht$F.
9o%ertson, Ian 0.. >8he P&,,le o! the ?hangeling 5ish.>
The winner effect: the neuroscience of success and failure. <ew Gork6 8ho$as D&nne
4ooks, 2012. . Print.
Shi, E.. >8yson Eets 6*Gear Prison 8er$ 5or 9ae ?onviction in Indiana.>
The New York Times. 8he <ew Gork 8i$es, 26 Mar. 1BB2. )e%. B May 2014.
Chtt6DDwww.nyti$es.co$D1BB2D0;D2HDsortsDtyson*gets*6*year*rison*ter$*!or*rae*
conviction*in*indiana.ht$lF.