Psychology is a science that explores human psychological phenomena and behavioral laws. It involves human cognition, emotion, motivation, personality, society, development and other aspects. Studying psychology can help us better understand ourselves and others, and improve the quality and efficiency of life and work. However, studying psychology may also make us doubt and confuse some things that we originally took for granted, and even subvert our three views (world view, outlook on life, and values). This is because psychology reveals some truths hidden under the surface, allowing us to see the complexity and diversity of human psychology, as well as the uncertainty and plasticity of human behavior. In this article, we will introduce you to some psychological theories and experiments that may “destroy the three views”, as well as their enlightenment and significance to us. I hope you can keep an open and critical mind while reading, and do not easily accept or reject any point of view, but try to understand and analyze them from multiple angles.
##1. Do you really have free will? Free will means that human beings can decide their own behavior according to their own wishes and choices without being restricted or affected by external factors. Most people believe that they have free will and believe that their actions are based on their own subjective consciousness and judgment. However, psychologist Libet conducted a famous experiment in 1983 in which he asked subjects to press a button at a random moment and recorded the time they made their decision. At the same time, he also used electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor the subjects’ brain activity. Liebert found that about 500 milliseconds before the subjects pressed the button, a readiness potential appeared in their brains, which meant that their brains were already preparing to perform this action. However, the time when the subjects reported their decision was about 350 milliseconds later than the time when the preparation potential appeared. This experiment shows that before we realize that we are going to do something, our brains have already made a decision and started activating the corresponding neural mechanisms. In other words, our behavior is not controlled by our conscious mind, but driven by our subconscious mind. So, do we really have free will? This experiment has triggered a lot of controversy and doubts. Some people think it denies the existence of free will, some people think it cannot prove anything, and some people think it just illustrates the complex relationship between free will and the subconscious. Regardless, this experiment makes us rethink our understanding and belief in free will. ##2. Do you really know what you want? Human beings are creatures with purpose and motivation. We are always pursuing things that we think are valuable and meaningful, such as money, reputation, love, happiness, etc. We also often think we know what we want and what will make us satisfied and happy. However, psychologist Wilson published a book “Strangers to Ourselves” in 2002, in which he pointed out that human beings’ understanding of themselves is actually very limited and inaccurate. They often overestimate their own rationality and self-knowledge, while ignoring their own irrationality and ignorance. Wilson believes that human psychology can be divided into two systems: one is the conscious system, which is responsible for processing external information and forming logical thinking and language expression; the other is the adaptive unconscious system, which is responsible for processing Internal information that forms intuitive feelings and emotional responses. These two systems are not always consistent and coordinated, and sometimes they even conflict and interfere with each other. For example, when we face an important choice, we may use the self-awareness system to analyze and evaluate, but the final decision may be affected by the self-adaptive system. Moreover, self-adaptive systems are often secretive and uncontrollable, making it difficult for us to directly observe and understand them. Therefore, Wilson suggests that we should not rely too much on our own introspection and intuition, but instead obtain more feedback and evidence from the outside, such as observing our own behavior, asking others for their opinions, and referring to scientific research. Only in this way can we understand ourselves more objectively and accurately, and what we really want. ##3. Can you really control your emotions? Emotions are an integral part of human life and can affect our cognition, judgment, decision-making, behavior and other aspects. We often hope to control our emotions, keep ourselves in a positive, happy, and calm state, and avoid negative, sad, and angry emotions. However, psychologist Gross proposed an emotion regulation process model in 1998. He believed that emotion regulation is not an easy task. It involves multiple stages and strategies, each of which Each stage and strategy has its pros, cons, and risks. Gross divided emotion regulation into five stages: situation selection, situation modification, attentional deployment, cognitive change, and response modulation. Each stage corresponds to some specific strategies, such as avoidance, change, transfer, reappraisal, suppression, etc. Gross pointed out that different emotion regulation strategies will have different effects on emotions. Some strategies may be effective in reducing or increasing certain emotions, and some strategies may cause emotions to rebound or transform into other emotions. Moreover, emotion regulation strategies will also have some long-term consequences on our physical and mental health and social relationships, such as affecting our self-esteem, self-control, interpersonal communication, etc. Therefore, Gross suggested that we should not blindly use any emotion regulation strategy, but choose appropriate and effective emotion regulation strategies based on our own goals, situations, and resources. He also reminds us that emotional regulation is not a one-way process, but a two-way interaction. We can not only affect our behavior by regulating our emotions, but we can also affect our emotions by regulating our behavior. . ##4. Can you really trust your own memory? Memory is the foundation and important component of human cognition. It helps us store, retrieve and use past information to construct our identity and history. We often believe that our memories are reliable and accurate, and that we have clear and complete memories of certain important or special events. However, the psychologist Loftus began a series of studies on memory malleability in the 1970s. She found that human memory is not fixed and unchanging, but can be modified and remade. constructed. Through some experiments, she proved that external information (such as hints, misleads, social pressure, etc.) can affect people’s memory of past events, and can even cause people to produce some non-existent or completely wrong memories. Loftus believes that human memory does not simply copy and play back past information, but undergoes some processing and integration every time it is retrieved and used. Doing so helps us adapt to the current environment and needs, but it may also lead to some biases and errors about the past. Therefore, Loftus advises us not to rely too much on our own memories, but to seek other sources (such as evidence, witnesses, records, etc.) to verify and supplement our memories. She also pointed out the important significance and applications of memory plasticity in law, education, medical and other fields. ##5. Can you really understand others? Humans are social animals and we are always communicating and interacting with others. We often believe that we can understand other people’s thoughts, feelings, motivations and other mental states, and we also believe that others can understand our mental states. This ability is called theory of mind. However, psychologist Nickerson proposed a concept in 1999: perspective-taking difficulty. He believes that humans often encounter difficulties and obstacles when trying to understand others or let others understand themselves. This is because human beings are often affected by the following biases: - Egocentric bias: refers to the tendency of human beings to use their own mental state as the benchmark and ignore the different or opposite mental states of others. - Confidence bias: refers to the tendency of humans to overly believe in the correctness and universality of their own mental states, and to underestimate the possibility or rationality of other people’s mental states. - Curse of knowledge: refers to the tendency of humans to forget that they possess some knowledge or information that others do not know or understand, resulting in their inability to effectively convey or interpret this knowledge or information. Nicholson believes that difficulty in switching psychological perspectives will lead to some communication and cooperation problems and conflicts, such as misunderstandings, ambiguities, disputes, indifference, etc. He suggested that when we communicate and interact with others, we should try to put ourselves in their shoes and consider the psychological state and background of others, as well as our own limitations and prejudices. He also proposed some specific methods and techniques, such as asking questions, listening, feedback, examples, metaphors, etc. ##Conclusion Learning psychology may make us doubt and confuse some things that we originally took for granted, and even subvert our three views. But this does not mean that learning psychology is a bad thing. On the contrary, it allows us to see the truth about ourselves and the world, improve our cognitive level and ability, and enhance our critical thinking and creativity. Of course, psychology is not a perfect and absolute science. It also has its own limitations and shortcomings. When we study psychology, we must maintain a humble and open attitude, and do not blindly accept or reject any opinions, but use evidence and logic to support and evaluate them. We should also pay attention to distinguishing the different branches and schools of psychology, as well as the similarities, differences, and connections between them. > Free Online Psychological Test > > Brain Fatigue Health Self-Assessment > > Test address:
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