Extra Credit Post: Solitary (TV Show)

I recently discovered the television show "Solitude" on Hulu.  I enjoy watching Survivor, so Hulu recommended this program.  I began watching the show last night and have continued to keep the first season playing today while I was working on my business plan.  I enjoy psychological experiments and this one really took it to an extreme.  Basically, it is a reality show where nine players are put into individual pods and the only communication they have with the outside world is a computer "host" that interrogates them and instructs them on tasks and challenges they must perform.  They are all put through experiments that test their physical and psychological strength, and the first to give up and press a red button is eliminated from the game.  This seemed morbid to watch at first, but obviously once I was an episode deep, I was hooked.  It is very interesting to see how people react to solitary confinement, and what revelations they come to about themselves and their lives when put into a situation where they are alone with their thoughts and emotions.  One of the contestants was recently divorced and consistently talks about the failure of his relationship, relating it to failure in the challenges repeatedly.  Another contestant came to some interesting revelations about her parents and an abusive relationship.  Although this doesn't relate entirely to entrepreneurship, I think that those who are in touch with their inner-self and have endured enough pain to see the things that are harbored inside that cause them to act certain ways and react to others in ways have a huge advantage over others when it comes to business.  Being in a company with other people, especially a small company, you must interact with others on a very intimate level on a daily basis.  This can cause problems, as was seen in the documentary Start-Up.com that we watched previously.  On the flip-side of that, people who are analytical and in touch with their emotions are often much better at communicating and extinguishing tense situations in a business situation.  Being professional during times of conflict is important, but it is also important to have empathy and self-examination to be a fair and trusted employee/employer.