This week, I’m excited to bring you something unique for Everyday Psych: a personal interview with one of psychology’s most esteemed and influential psychologists, Dr. Richard Nisbett. Dr. Nisbett discovered some of the most interesting findings in social psychology, conducting research on people’s ability to introspect, on what ‘intelligence’ actually is, and how people from…
It’s not really a question of who is biased, but which bias is the correct bias with which to be biased! — Jonathan Sarfati Sometimes our strongest traits can be our greatest weaknesses. Similarly, sometimes our strongest opinions can lead to our greatest misperceptions. So, what’s one of your strongest opinions? Maybe your political preference?…
You are confined only by the walls you build yourself. — Andrew Murphy In a previous post, I dispelled the belief that we only use 10% of our brains, a kind of depressing realization for some when that supposedly “untapped” 90% could have potentially granted us super powers. But, even if we ourselves can’t unlock these…
First of all, it’s a big word. According to oxforddictionaries.com, “psycho-philosophy” came about in the 1920s, with its earliest use in The Burlington Magazine. I can’t vouch for the veracity of that claim (it’s the only legitimate looking website that even had a definition for it), but I can say that I had never heard…
We never live; we are always in the expectation of living. — Voltaire Expectations are more powerful than you believe. Sure, you may be familiar with the placebo effect, where 35% of participants who expect sugar pills to be actual pain medicine feel actual relief. Or maybe you’re familiar with the effects of self-fulfilling prophecy,…
Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right. — Laurens Van der Post People often ask me: What’s your favorite theory in social psychology? But often what I think they’re really asking is what’s the most important theory? So let me tell you: naïve realism. Naïve realism asserts that humans…