Psych 101: The science of human behavior is not as soft as its detractors would have you believe…
Because the experiments of the behavioral sciences repeatably demonstrate that most human beings…
- are easily distracted by events outside themselves.
- are readily hypnotized by the superficial and conspicuous.
- respond quite predictably to all manner of rewards and punishments.
- tend to over-value immediate pleasures and disregard future consequences.
- are quick to overgeneralize based on very limited experience.
- readily jump to self-serving conclusions.
- are inclined to accept the first easy answer–even if it’s the wrong answer.
- are swift to accept the data that validates their preconceptions and swift to ignore, reject, or deny the data that doesn’t.
- easily stereotype others based on their most visible characteristics.
- readily stigmatize and scapegoat the innocent and defenseless in order to justify their own shortcomings.
- greatly underestimate the ways and degrees to which the presence of others affects their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
- tend to mimic the behaviors of the herd that engulfs them.
- look first to others, not to themselves, for cues about right and wrong.
- easily relinquish the responsibility to act when others are present.
- tend to behave themselves only when they think they are being watched.
- are more apt to base their self-worth on what others think of them, not what they think of themselves.
- over-estimate their own competence and under-estimate the competence of others.
- attribute their accomplishments to hard work and virtue and the accomplishments of others to good fortune.
- judge themselves by their best intentions while judging others by the worst they have done.
- are quick to blame their mistakes and failures on bad luck or injustice while blaming the mistakes and failures of others on their dysfunctional characters.
- over-estimate the role they play in their successes and under-estimate the role they play in their failures.
- are more inclined to do something immoral or stupid than to disobey “authority”.
- and are more inclined to do something immoral or stupid than to risk becoming unpopular.
And so our material and moral progress depends on the very few among us educated enough to understand the above, honest enough and humble enough to admit that none of us are immune to these biases, yet crazy enough to say it we no longer want to be that way–that we no long want to be the victims of a primitive brain that’s evolved to oppose our self-actualization.
Learn more (Fundamentals of Psychology)
- Classical Conditioning
- Operant Conditioning
- The Milgram Experiment
- Indoctrination
- Brainwashing
- Peer Pressure
- Conformity
- Obedience
- Dunning-Kruger Effect
- Self-Serving Bias
- Stereotyping
- Scapegoating
Discover more from Frank J. Peter
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And we haven’t even begun to talk about the narcissists and psychopaths.
Well, my friend, my first inclination was to send in my resignation from the human race. Then I realized I would be doing exactly what most others would do, because they would also be in denial of possessing the listed qualities. Your last sentence to Wayne says it all. We are creatures designed for a different time and place. The only thing we can do is to work on ourselves. Unfortunately, some of the mirrors reflect a picture of Dorian Gray.
Thank you for sharing your always thoughtful commentary, Gerald.
The problem, of course, is even worse than this. For we are talking about “NORMAL” psychology here. As a student and practitioner in the field, I know you know that the “ABNORNAL” psych is another subject of its own with many tough, if not impossible, nuts to crack (not trying to be funny).
Anyway, per you comment, I have enough work to do to overcome the many vulnerabilities imposed by my own nature (and nurture, too)… enough work for a hundred lifetimes.
Thanks for being here and for being a voice of reason, decency, and personal responsibility.
Thanks for honestly chiming in, Wayne.
I hope that nobody reads this as a cynical concession of defeat and loss of hope, but as the recognition that we ALL still have lots of growing up to do. No small feat as doing so is in opposition to so many of our base drives and instincts. Of course, such maturity requires us ALL to recognize our many foibles, biases, and predilections so that we might rise above them.
All the best and Happy travels!