Hunger motivation and survivor island, which island would you choose?

The discussion board prompt:

      “In a reality television show gone awry, you are given a choice to live on one of two separate islands with very different eating requirements. You will live on the island for 2-5 years, depending on the ratings and whether your fellow islanders vote you off (no one leaves for 2 years). On the first island you can eat as much as you would like, however, the only thing available is a brown gruel the consistency of thick gritty paste. It tastes very bland, like plain rice. There are no other edible plants or animals available. On the second island there are lots of varieties of food with a range of flavors and textures, however, you will never be able to feel full on this food. In other words, you will never be able to get enough of the food to satisfy your hunger, and thus will remain hungry the whole time you are living on the island.”

In your response tell us, which island would you choose to live on for the length of the show? What types of factors did you consider in making this decision? List the factors and then describe them as primarily emotional factors, rational decision-making, past experiences with hunger or food, etc.

Example individual virtual-discussion responses:

      “JUST SAY NO – To the brown gruel! I would definitely have to choose the island with a variety of foods. I could not stand to eat the same thing for two years – no matter how bad the hunger pains got! When I was a kid, I ate PBJ sandwiches for a full summer and to this day I get sick of the smell of peanut butter. The factor I considered most in making my decision is emotionally – I mean how would I feel if all the food was the same. I think I need variety so I don’t get depressed. I guess my past experiences with PBJ also affected my decision. Also, I think I could deal with the hunger pains – maybe drink lots of water or meditate or something.”

      “Gruel, here I come! Be hungry for two years!!! Are you crazy? I think that as a basic motivation, the need to satisfy your hunger drive would drive you totally crazy. Have you ever skipped breakfast before class?  Your head hurts and you can’t even focus and everyone hears your stomach. The physical discomfort of it all would lead me to eat the brown gruel. I think I am using rational decision-making, cause I think it would be bad for my body to be that hungry for that long. Plus, how could I win those immunity challenges with starvation and weakness?”

 In-class discussion:

For this discussion forum, I created groups of the different islanders – Brown Gruel Groups and Variety Groups. After discussion of their individual responses, the groups debated with the other islanders as to their rationale. In the discussion a number of hunger-related factors were brought up by the class, including, physiological aspects of satiation, the link between mood and eating, and social aspects of hunger motivation. As an interesting side note, we also found that close to half of the students had gone through a period of eating the same food item for a prolonged period of time during childhood (My favorite: Red Jello for breakfast for two years!).