Heron Jones Somnambulism

Everyone ultimately has one common desire; to achieve happiness. In Kohn’s essay, “How Not to Get Into College: The Preoccupation with Preparation” and in Heron Jones poem, “Somnambulist” they discuss that individuals are not achieving happiness because they rely on extrinsic motivators to produce intrinsic happiness. Kohn and Jones argue that people use extrinsic motivators to provide intrinsic happiness for themselves without knowing the toll they are carrying; instead people should tend to follow their dreams and focus on intrinsic motivators to provide intrinsic happiness. As a result, individuals are either unaware or unsure of their intrinsic goals and feel that their goals will be unaccomplished
In society, one’s intrinsic ambitions
are less prioritized then extrinsic rewards. Jones and Kohn both point out how people are distracted by their surroundings and striving towards extrinsic rewards instead of intrinsic. For instance, Kohn describes in his work that the education system being flawed as the student’s success are based on tests and grades and not the learning experience which helps towards the future. Kohn explains in his essay that he “was blaming the victims rather than looking at the systemic factors that turned [the students] into grade grubbers: pressure from teachers and parents, broader social forces, and the existence of grades themselves” (Kohn, para 5). Jones also claims that “working hard be it mentally or physically, / Exhausting our skills but /Not to worry ‘cause every two weeks we get a cut / Of governments regulated and filtered income” (15). In school, it is clearly shown that the students particularly strive towards extrinsic rewards, such as tests, GPA, and SAT scores. This is also shown in the workplace as the workers are working recklessly for the money and not realizing the toll put onto them. In Kohn’s essay and Jones’s poem, they show the stress the students and workers go through for those extrinsic rewards; in “Somnambulist” the extrinsic motivator is money. Jones describes the workers in “Somnambulist” as slaves and those who are not following their dreams and only looking for their paychecks.
Striving towards those extrinsic rewards can effect that individual in many ways and puts a great toll on them.
Since the parents put pressure on their children to achieve high grades and scores, those result extrinsic goals. Also the teachers emphasize the post-secondary preparation which causes the students to even more pressured. This all results in the students losing interest in the learning and only focusing on the good grades as they set the post-secondary acceptance as their main goal. In relation to Jones’s poem, the workers are in pursue of money. They usually do jobs that are high in income and to impress others. But most of the time, the workers will dislike their job but will keep it just for the money. They waste their energy, physically and mentally, for something they do not love. In both works, the workers/ students are unclear of the effectiveness when striving for extrinsic rewards. Kohn have noticed that the students “have been desperately unhappy, filled with anxiety and self-doubt. Some of them may have had eating disorders, substance abuse problems, even suicidal thoughts. They might have gone to therapy except they had no spare time” (Kohn, para 7). As for Jones’s poem, he discusses that the employees are “Refusing to take holidays or go home to [the employee’s] spouse” (Jones, 54). In both examples, it shows the effects of striving towards those extrinsic rewards like grades and money. These insignificant achievements begin to add burden on the
workers and the students. In Kohn’s essay he explains that the students are losing themselves while they go for the good grades and in Jones’s poem he shows the workers be working during the holidays rather then spending time with their family. Both students and adults are persuaded easily by their surroundings to follow extrinsic rewards without knowing the effect of it.
As striving towards extrinsic rewards is the problem discussed in both works and how the students/workers are distracted in finding their true intrinsic rewards which can actually result in intrinsic happiness. Kohn explains in his essay that the educational system is the reason to why the students are fixated on the thoughts of getting good grades and moving forward to post-secondary. Kohn suggests that “students may even be better prepared for college as a result of an education that isn’t defined by tests, grades, competition, and the like” (Kohn, para 27). As a result of extrinsic rewards, the students feel happy for their achievement, but it is temporary and cannot lead that student anywhere else. Also in Jones’s poem he explains that the employees “gotta have an idea to mold and shape or else be that nightmare walking” (Jones, 67). In both examples, Kohn and Jones give a suggestion to the reader or those who living like the students or workers. The solution explained in Kohn’s essay is how the educational system should be adjusted to allow students to be focused on their learning and no to be fixated on the thought of getting into post-secondary. While on the other hand, Jones give advice to the workers as he said that they should be following their dreams or be stuck as a nightmare walking.
Through out life, people are brought to believe that these factors, such as grades, are the key to success.
This leads those individuals to believe that it is more important to pursue extrinsic rewards and become incomplete by neglected their intrinsic goals and desires. If the students were set with a different mind set when going to school, they can realize the importance of intrinsic rewards and how it can result in intrinsic happiness. Kohn also explains that the “Schools don’t have to give out awards or otherwise create artificial scarcity” (Kohn, para 25). And in “Somnambulist” Jones discusses that the workers “Don’t have to quit [their] job or find a new career / Wonder how many truly find their job fulfilling / And of not, what hobbies or activities fill the void that they’re in?” (Jones, 64-66). Kohn gives a suggestion to the education system in a way to help the students from striving towards those extrinsic rewards such as getting good grades. He is also referring to the awards like honor roll or highest grade award because that too can cause the students in only focusing on getting good grades. While in Jones’s poem, he provides the workers with advice on how to live life and to do things that they will actually
enjoy.
In conclusion, Heron Jones and Alfie Kohn each show how those who are in search for extrinsic desire, they begin to lose perception of their intrinsic happiness. Jones and Kohn also point out that their surroundings or society play an important role on extrinsic goals and rewards. With this, it can cause those individuals to be unaware of their goals and they being to incomplete or unfulfilled. The only way to allow the individuals to see their intrinsic goals and strive towards that is if they remove those extrinsic rewards and let them see a new life in a different perspective.