Critical Thinking: What You Should Have Been Taught About Decision-Making, Problem Solving, Cognitive Biases, Logical Fallacies and Winning Arguments by Forman Jerrell

Author:Forman, Jerrell [Forman, Jerrell]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2020-06-19T16:00:00+00:00

SECTION 1: Psychology and the Human Mind

Brain Psychology: How Humans Think

Let's start from the beginning. To understand biases and other funny aspects of the human mind, you need to understand how our minds function. Don't worry. You won't get a dose of Psychology 101 here. We'll just cover basic information to give you a better understanding.

Have you ever wondered why we do things the way we do? Even though we strive to know ourselves, the reality is this—we don’t know very much about our minds, and we know even less about how other people think. Charles Dickens once said, “A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”

Psychologists have been working hard to study the human mind so they can find out how we see the world around us and understand what drives us into action. The brain is the most complex device, and the fact that something like this exists is a miracle. While the function of a single neuron in the brain can be understood and the general function of neural networks are vaguely grasped, the workings of the brain in its entirety is a mystery. So far, we have come a long way in understanding the brain, although there is still much to be learned. While different people have different mindsets and brain structures, we have learned, through many infamous studies and experiments, a few universal truths concerning human nature. Below are ten of those truths; truths that might just change your understanding of yourself.

Everyone Can Be a Little Bit Evil

Perhaps one of the most infamous experiments in the entire history of psychology is the Stanford prison study that took place in 1971. The study looked at the way human behavior is affected or influenced by social situations; a “prison” was created in the Stanford University psychology building basement by a group of researchers, led by Philip Zimbardo. Twenty-four undergrad students were then selected. None of them had any kind of criminal record, and all were healthy, in psychological terms. The students were to act as prisoners and prison guards, and they were observed by the researchers using hidden cameras.

While the experiment was meant to last for several weeks, it had to be stopped after less than one week. The prison guards were exhibiting extremely abusive behavior, not just physical but psychological torture, too, resulting in the prisoners becoming anxious and emotionally stressed.

Phillip Zimbardo went on record as saying, “The guards escalated their aggression against the prisoners, stripping them naked, putting bags over their heads, and then finally had them engage in increasingly humiliating sexual activities. After six days, I had to end it because it was out of control—I couldn't really go to sleep at night without worrying what the guards could do to the prisoners.”

We Rarely See What's Right in Front of Us

Do you think that you know everything going on about you? You might do, but then again, it’s more likely that you don’t.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.