Nicholas Zilhaver

Professor Smith

ENGL 101 29

12/09/16

An Insight Into The Cooperativity of Text For Greater Advancement

Psychology is a field of study and advancement that has captivated individuals for as long as written records have been maintained. One of the most recent studies to be understood by modern psychologists is the condition known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Of recent texts, Tim O’Brian’s The Things They Carried most strongly depicts the plight of those afflicted. In the text, young Lieutenant Jimmy Cross struggles to cope with mental survival and is forced to endure the horrors of PTSD. From this story, one can learn a great deal about the real world implications of PTSD. Only when cross examined with another text, David Foster Wallace’s This is Water, can one derive a greater meaning from each work. Wallace’s text illustrates a human condition that he describes as “The Natural Default Setting”. Wallace lays the ground work for describing the concept, however when cross examined with O’Brian’s work on PTSD, the abstract concept Wallace describes begins to shift from a philosophical quirk, to a physical condition of the mind. Therefore, O’Brian’s work takes a greater importance, as it becomes the vessel by which the natural default setting becomes a measurable condition of the mind within the field of psychology. The two texts work in tandem to deliver a greater understanding of human thought, and the establishment of a new mental condition.

In order to establish Wallace’s natural default setting as a physical condition, one must gain greater understanding of the platform by which its applied. In The Things They Carried, Lieutenant Cross endures horrible trauma when one of his soldiers is killed by enemy combatants (330). O’Brian continues the story by illustrating the change in Cross’ personality and priorities as a result of the incident. Initially, Cross kept an obsession he had with a girl back home as a means of “mental survival” along with a number of physical manifestations of this obsession. Upon the death of one of his men, Ted Lavender, Cross eliminates this means survival in favor of maintaining his unit’s combat readiness. 

One could argue that Cross’ reprioritization was desire to preserve the lives of his men, however research would argue otherwise. In a study published in 2004, a Vietnam war veteran was asked to recall a firefight in which he endured significant mental trauma. An original account was given shortly after the firefight in 1968. The two accounts were contrasted. In the account of 1968, the veteran mentions that he had lost his combat knife. This was omitted in the 2004 recollection. Fred Allison, the researcher conducting the study, believes this omission to be a result of the trauma. He states that in the 1968 account, the veteran was suffering severely from post-traumatic stress. One of the symptoms of PTSD is being in a permanent state of awareness and survival. Therefore, a combat tool such as a knife would be extremely important to the self-preservation of the soldier. In 2004, when the traumatic stress had healed, this item would be of little to no importance (Allison). A 2003 study further supports this symptom, stating that survival and self-preservation was a common symptom of PTSD. (Kaiman). 

The self-preservation mentality present in PTSD afflicted combat veterans is very similar to some of the conditions outlined by David Foster Wallace in This is Water. Foster mentions that humans are naturally ingrained with a natural default setting where our own needs and desires take precedence over those of others, which have to be communicated to us through some medium (XII). When Cross Decides to change the way he manages his troops so as to minimalize casualties, the argument is made that he did this not necessarily to preserve his men, but to ensure his own survival within the conflict. At a basic level then, the trauma endured by combat veterans can be related to Wallace’s concept of the Natural Default Setting. Furthermore, in the context of Wallace’s concept, PTSD is a shift from overcoming the natural default setting, to once again being dictated by it. 

A second similarity between the natural default setting and O’Brian’s interpretation of PTSD is worship of survival. Wallace states that part of the natural default setting is worship of certain items or values such as money or intelligence. Wallace goes on to explain that when these ideas are worshiped, they are harnessed in such a way that they create enormous prosperity for the individual who worships them, but due to the nature of this worship, the individual will never feel satisfied. For example, Wallace states that if someone were to worship money, they would never feel contempt with how much they have earned and will continue to strive to earn more (XIV). The same method is deployed by PTSD afflicted individuals. As mentioned earlier, PTSD creates a self-preservation mentality, or worship of survival. As a result, individuals afflicted with PTSD have enhanced survival senses and an increased awareness of threats and dangers. This constant feeling of threat does not subside for some time. For example, when a veteran returns home from a combat zone, they typically display signs of hyperawareness synonymous with PTSD (Kaiman). Much in the same way the banker who worships money will never feel satisfied with his wealth, the afflicted veteran will never feel satisfied with his safety. 

Not just anything can be classified as a mental condition. In a recent article, Dr. Eric Maisel establishes a clinical definition of mental illness. He states that, “A mental disorder is a syndrome characterized by clinically significant disturbance in an individual's cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important activities” (Maisel). One could make the argument that the natural default setting is in of itself a mental condition. Wallace makes the point that when one is under its influence they perceive the world differently. Specifically, other people and their needs are but mere annoyances. This then aligns with Maisel’s definition, in that impacts an individual’s emotion regulation and causes distress in social and or occupational fields. So while the natural default setting can in of itself be argued to be a mental condition, it is further supported by O’Brian’s text . Only in its application through an already defined clinical condition such as PTSD as a precedent, can the natural default setting be inarguably defined as a mental condition or illness. 

Previously, the natural default setting was little more than abstract philosophy. However, when applied to the conventions of the real world, and in establishing certain conditions and triggers for its implementation, Wallace’s natural default setting becomes more than abstract philosophy. This concept now becomes part of the science of psychology. The concept becomes a condition of the mind, because it’s symptoms and triggers become measureable and tangible through the application of post-traumatic stress by O’Brian’s interpretation. In conclusion then, the cooperation and similarities between O’Brian’s interpretation of post-traumatic stress disorder, and Wallace’s natural default setting establish the natural default setting as a psychological condition or illness. 

Works Cited

Allison, Fred H. “Remembering a Vietnam War Firefight: Changing Perspectives over Time.” Oral History Review, vol. 31, no. 2, 2004, pp. 69–83. doi:10.1525/ohr.2004.31.2.69. 

Kaiman, Charles. “PTSD in the World War II Combat Veteran.” AJN, American Journal of Nursing, vol. 103, no. 11, 2003, pp. 32–41. doi:10.1097/00000446-200311000-00023. 

Maisel, Eric. “The New Definition of a Mental Disorder.” Psychology Today, Psychology Today, 23 July 2013, www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rethinking-psychology/201307/the-new-definition-mental-disorder. 