'Why The Teen Brain Is Drawn To Risk'

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Recommended: Adolescent risk taking behavior

Chris McCandless died because he was blind to see the truth behind his own limits. Into The Wild starts at a young age, Chris showed behavior that would soon be his downfall that led him into Alaska. If it was not for these actions he might be alive, telling his survival story. Some may believe that Chris went into the wilderness to find answers for himself, but the real reason is that his selfishness and determination brought him to his inevitable demise. The actions he propelled out gave him this insurmountable belief that he could survive all alone without any assistance. At an early age, the selfishness that Chris showed set himself up for failure. It all started when he was with Walt hiking at Long Peak in Colorado. At the point where Walt wanted to head back, Chris insisted to keep on going despite the condition of others. However, a good point is to say that children are hyperactive, which leads them to make irrational decisions, but keep in mind that they were at high altitude and the Walt was more fit to handle the conditions rather than an untrained eight year old, Chris. Even Walt stated that, “Chris was fearless even when he was little… He didn’t think the odds applied to him. We were always trying to pull him back from the edge.”(Krakauer) The article titled “Why the Teen Brain Is Drawn to Risk” by Maia Szalavitz demonstrates the negative impact of bad decisions. Maia proves that “Unlike teens, adults tend to …show more content…

Chris did what he wanted to do hence him traveling the United States to end his journey at Alaska. The unstoppable determination with selfishness added on top made it the determining aspect in the fall of Chris. To go into the wilderness and write in a journal in third person about his time there takes some massive resolve. It seems that “There was just no talking the guy out of it. He was determined.” stated Gallien (someone who knew

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