Hey guys, I have been procrastinating about writing a research essay for school. It is due tomorrow. Writing it is not the biggest issue for me, but I failed to complete part of the task.

Part of the task involved having a scholarly discussion with other individuals to gauge perspective, and add to our topic. I was supposed to have this discussion with my classmates- last week.... it didn't happen.

paper done

I wouldnt say the fish gave up and lost the battle. that implies it had a chance of living out of water to begin with, its more an assasination or cold murder than a fight.

I would also question the comparison of a fish grabbed and forcefully taken from water into a certain death to the indian who leaves home on some sort of journey, where his fate is not nearly so certain as the fish.

Also the salmon are not homesick, they act on biological rhythms and go off of chemical signaling, can the same be said for the indian who seems to just be experiencing cognitive dissonance?

You should watch an alan watts video on what we really want. he will describe how many just want power, which could be what the new society sees as the end goal, power. while the indian does not want power, but to just exist happily in his own environment, not to change it and control it but to be a smooth running part of it like he was back home. perhaps he feels so homesick because what he wanted was at home, while most of the society he is in wants to leave home and create their own, or have power and control by some other means.

perhaps bring up the concept of someone coming from a place with no money, cash is not king, to a place where prestige, fancy clothes, and a big bank account are what matters more.

Maybe contrast to the modern society more?

I am not sure what the precise focus of your paper is but i hope this was somewhat helpful

The essay above was one that we had to do a few weeks ago. We had to read the "Blue Winds Dancing," and then write a small paper about the theme of the story.

Our new essay, which I haven't written has to be based on a topic that could be brought up after reading that essay.

SO, you helped! you brought up cognitive dissonance, and that was something that I was considering writing about. One perspective could focus on psychological aspects of social and cultural cognitive dissonance.

I would say that chemical signals are responsible for every single action of every single moment- in the salmon and the Indian. "Homesick" is the feeling produced by chemicals being release after a certain stimuli was presented, or removed.

Happy i helped, IMO the chemical signals wouldnt be responsible for every action of every moment though, its not responsible for the stream flowing against the salmon, it is a reaction in my view, but i am curious as to whether the salmon would swim the same stream if it flowed with the salmon or if the salmon would allocate to a different stream to swim against the current?

LOL now i have to think about that for a while

A little bit of digging that I have done...4

http://onlinelibrary.wil....2000.tb00569.x/abstract

"The timing of migration and breeding are key life-history traits; they are not only adaptations of populations to their environments, but can serve to increase reproductive isolation, facilitating further divergence among populations. As part of a study of divergence of chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, populations, established in New Zealand from a common source in the early 1900s, we tested the hypotheses that the timing of migration and breeding are under genetic control and that the populations genetically differ in these traits despite phenotypic overlap in timing in the wild. Representatives of families from two populations were collected within a day or two of each other, reared in a common environment, and then released to sea from each of two different rivers, while other family representatives were retained in fresh water to maturity. The date of maturation of fish held in fresh water and the dates of return from the ocean and maturation of fish released to sea all showed significant differences between the two populations and among families within populations. The very high heritabilities and genetic correlations estimated for migration and maturation date indicated that these traits would respond rapidly to selection. Combined with the results of related studies on these chinook salmon populations, it appears that spawning time may not only evolve during the initial phases of divergence, but it may play an important role in accelerating divergence in other traits."



http://onlinelibrary.wil...serIsAuthenticated=false

Interannual variation in the timing of the return migration to fresh water of adult sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka, from 46 populations throughout the species North American range was examined in a broad analysis of how timing patterns are affected by marine and freshwater conditions. Migration timing data (measured at various points along the migration, including just prior to freshwater entry, just after freshwater entry, and near the spawning grounds) were examined for correlations with sea-surface temperatures (SST) prior to migration and to freshwater temperatures and flows during migration. Following a spring–summer period with warm SST, populations from southwestern Alaska tended to return early, Fraser River populations returned late, and populations from other regions showed no consistent patterns. Similarities between interannual timing of both nearby and distant populations indicated the presence of common or coincidental influences on timing. When riverine conditions related to timing, high flows and low temperatures were associated with late migrations, low flows and high temperatures were associated with early migrations. However, even counting stations at upriver locations showed correlations with SST. Notwithstanding some inconsistencies among the many populations examined and the indirect nature of the inferences, the results supported the hypotheses that (i) interannual variations in salmon distributions at sea reflect temperature conditions, and (ii) the date when salmon initiate homeward migration is a population-specific trait, largely unaffected by the fish's location at sea.




and lastly, from wiki - salmon run

Salmon spend their early life in rivers, and then swim out to sea where they live their adult lives and gain most of their body mass. When they have matured, they return to the rivers to spawn. Usually they return with uncanny precision to the natal river where they were born, and even to the very spawning ground of their birth. It is thought that, when they are in the ocean, they use magnetoception to locate the general position of their natal river, and once close to the river, that they use their sense of smell to home in on the river entrance and even their natal spawning ground.