Pavlov’s Diarist

I spent the summer of 1973 at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, intensively studying psychology from a behaviorist perspective. It was an NSF program for high school students. I didn’t get the spot I wanted, studying physics at the Colorado School of Mines, then WMU offered me this spot. While I suspect I’d have preferred physics and Colorado, this made me a better-rounded person. I would probably have never studied psych otherwise. What I learned that summer has colored my worldview. It came to mind because of my current sleep pattern. My goal is to go to sleep at midnight and wake up at eight. While I get into bed not long after midnight I don’t immediately close my eyes and sleep. Instead, I take out my phone and go through a nightly routine. First I go through everything on Google Discover, then I check out Instagram, then it’s on to Google photos to tag photos, then snapchat. Then a quick check of the New York Times. The worst is when I move on to Wikipedia. This can keep me up until 2 AM. That wouldn’t be so bad if I slept until my alarm goes off at 8 AM. What happens instead is that I wake up sometime between six and seven. I don’t go immediately back to sleep; I check to see if the WFUV Question of the Day has been posted on the QotD group. If not I post it. Then I suggest a few songs, whatever comes to me. I also go to the bathroom. That keeps me up for a while, but I know I need more sleep, so I close my eyes and try again. I fall asleep then wake up at 8 AM. I turn off the alarm, but I often don’t fully awake. I close my eyes and drift into and out of sleep. It’s the hypnopompic state that I find very pleasurable. I can stay that way for hours, even though I don’t want to. It takes a major effort to get out of bed. In the words of Willow Rosenberg, I’m addicted like an addict. This is where my psych training comes in. I get rewarded for waking up early by posting the QotD. I enjoy doing that. Then I get rewarded for not waking up by the pleasures of the hypnopompic state. The technical term is not reward but positive reinforcement. It is what is behind addiction. You can get the reinforcement from cocaine or from hypnopompic dreams. They are both effective. That process is called operant conditioning. When I go to sleep and play on the computer it’s respondent or Pavlovian conditioning. Pavlov’s dogs salivated when they heard a bell, I play on my phone when I get into bed and turn the light out.

Last night was the second Tuesday of the month and therefore John Platt’s On Your Radar. John’s guests were The Early Risers, Mike and Aleksi Glick, and Josie Bello. The Glicks live in NYC and Josie out on Long Island. I don’t know either of them. Putnam and Ashley, the Early Risers are transplanted Mainiacs now in Vermont. They were joined by the earliest riser, their three-month-old daughter. I told them that they should bring her next time they play the Budgiedome. Felix was at the Budgiedome as baby, Ana should continue in that tradition.

My roommate spent the day out hunting Christmas Trees. She bagged one! She got home late in the evening and we set it up on the stand. I am Jewish and didn’t grow up doing it. I find it exciting. It’s right in front of me standing straight and proud. I gave it a smack to simulate a cat jumping on it. It remained erect. The difference between work and play is subtle. Putting up a tree should be a chore, but it’s not, it’s play.

Let’s see if I can get myself outside today. I have to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy. I have a free drink coming to me from Dunkin’ Donuts. It’s not that close to the pharmacy but it will give me an excuse to take a walk. The problem is it will be dark by the time I go unless I do it right after posting this. That should be a signal that I should do that. I won’t, but I should.