The Psychology of...

If there is one thing that Ayn Rand and Che Guevara would ever agree on is that we consume too much in relation to how much we produce. I doubt that there are many of us that could accurately estimate how much media we truly consume. We could track our internet, television, and radio use to the minute but still not even scratch the surface of how much and what exactly we have consumed in a day. We can do our best to limit, manage, and filter what comes through our eyes and ears but it is inevitable that we are going to partake in information and art that was made and delivered by somebody else. So as I lay my case against consumerism I have to concede that we are all consumers and anything that we eventually do produce needs the consumers' support. I think that if and when consumers truly unite we would hold the power to make the ultimate difference in our world but uniting the consumer to do anything beyond spending their hard earned money on cheaply made clothes and food is ap

Our brains are constantly looking for short-cuts in order to increase efficiency. In our infancy we actually have more neural pathways than we do as adults. The process of maturing actually involves a pruning of sorts where pathways that are used are strengthened and those that are not are discarded. A less is more kind of approach. Another curious example of how we look for ways to lessen the load on our poor brains is by something that Daniel Wegner called 'transactive memory' which he describes as a "shared system for encoding, storing, and retrieving information". The gist is that we outsource certain cerebral tasks to people with whom we have some kind of close relationship. Let's look at a work example first. I don't know how to change my default printer but I know who can. I don't have every severe allergy of the children in my building memorized but I know who does. There are certain pieces of information that do not need to take up my valuable

Much of the study of education and psychology revolves around learning. How we obtain and encode, and then retrieve and implement information is vital to both fields. In my studies in both areas, one of the theories that had stuck out to me the most was Bandura's social learning theory which is essentially the idea of  'monkey see-monkey do'.  People learn by observing and imitating others ie. my daughter cleans up her mess because she sees me clean up my mess . Classical conditioning is another example of a learning theory that illustrates that learning is associative and often automatic or subconscious ie. my daughter associates cleaning up her mess with getting a treat so she cleans up her mess . I'll mention one more learning theory and then we can move on from here I promise. Cognitivism is the idea that humans are more rational. That there is more to our behaviour than just copying others or being programmed by rewards. The idea is that our brains are more like c

In the world of fight promotion there are some cardinal rules to make sure people tune in, because to be clear, getting people to watch is the ultimate goal, even above winning. Eyeballs on screens and butts in seats pay the bills. One of these fight-selling rules involves building the credibility of your opponent. If you paint the picture that you are leagues ahead of your foe then you run into  a few undesirable outcomes. First, intrigue is drawn from the unknown that comes from a "neck and neck" contest. Fans pay money to see competitive action. If you are perceived as the superior fighter you risk losing eyeballs due to the predictability of the upcoming bout. Second, once you do lock horns with your nemesis and defeat them, you do not look much stronger. If you spend hours in interviews talking about how weak or unskilled your opponent is then of course you beat them! Who wouldn't? Your win seems less impressive and your stock isn't raised. Third, what if you los

7.5 billion people in the world and somehow we find ways to be consistently lonely. How is it that we can interact with dozens, maybe even hundreds of people in a given day and yet when our heads hit the pillow we can feel so invisible, insignificant, and alone. No matter how much we value individuality and no matter how much we wish to reject the norm we are all hardwired to crave and seek belonging; some kind of trait or experience that links us with the rest of humanity; in other words, normalcy. Our error lies in our concept of what is normal. The picture we paint in our minds of what is normal for humanity is often skewed because of our inherent biases. I know what happens between my ears but there is no way that anyone else is experiencing what I am. Everyone else seems to have it together when you are at your most anxious. You feel certain that you have thoughts about others that are meaner, sillier, or more sexual than any "normal person" would ever have. You mu