Author Topic: What makes people the way they are?  (Read 8777 times)

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Offline Ian

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What makes people the way they are?
« on: January 18, 2015, 09:30:14 am »
Topic for all issues regarding the way people behave and the reason behind that behaviour.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Ian

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #1 on: January 18, 2015, 09:38:34 am »
Nature or Nurture?

Are children born nice?

    It is one of the most debated concepts in psychology, whether altruism is a result of nature or nurture.

    Now, a pair of Stanford psychologists has conducted a new series of experiments that show altruism has environmental triggers, and is not something we are simply born with
.

    A very simple reciprocal activity elicited high degrees of altruism in 1- and 2-year-old children, whereas friendly but non-reciprocal activity yielded little subsequent altruism. In a second study, reciprocity with one adult led 1- and 2-year-olds to provide help to a new person.

    These results question the current dominant claim that social experiences cannot account for early occurring altruistic behaviour.

    A third study, with pre-school-age children, showed that subtle reciprocal cues remain potent elicitors of altruism, whereas a fourth study with pre-schoolers showed that even a brief reciprocal experience fostered children’s expectation of altruism from others.

    Collectively, the studies suggest that simple reciprocal interactions are a potent trigger of altruism for young children, and that these interactions lead children to believe that their relationships are characterized by mutual care and commitment.


From the Register
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.


Offline Mr Tunnock

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #2 on: January 18, 2015, 10:00:05 am »
I often wonder why some people are so confrontational and never appear inclined to change their habits even though it must be pretty obvious to them that their behaviour is not all liked or admired.

Offline Yorkie

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2015, 11:48:17 am »
I often wonder why some people are so confrontational and never appear inclined to change their habits even though it must be pretty obvious to them that their behaviour is not all liked or admired.

With most things in life there are two dominating factors control most happenings.  These can take the form of CAUSE and EFFECT or ACTION and REACTION, so one has to consider how each is triggered.  Rather than criticise the Reaction, one should mabe consider the Cause of the Action or Reaction.   Each is interlinked with the other and as we are all human we occasionally err on the unacceptable or wrong side.
But, of course, on the Forum we cannot read the body language, tone of voice or facial expression so the message can be read in a different way to that which the writer intended.  The use of Smileys, unfortunately, does not always assist.
 ZXZ
P.s. Forgot to mention that, I totally agree with you!
Wise men have something to say.
Fools have to say something.
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Offline Fester

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2015, 02:09:46 pm »
A very intriguing and complex subject,  one that is impossible to generalise.

You might be the nicest, most gentle person in the world.... until faced with hunger, or lack of resource of some kind, as was the case in pre-Nazi Germany.    Or a family member might be injured in some way, in these cases people can become capable of all kind of horrific acts.
In Serbia / Bosnia  etc, people lived alongside each other in peace, until nationalism and religious intolerance raised their ugly heads.

We are motivated by greed, vengeance, hunger, also hormonal imbalances and much, much more..... we are very complex mechanisms.

The emotion of 'regret' means that I myself wish I hadn't acted in a certain way on many occasions in my life.   Surely we all think that way somethimes?
When I analyse the reasons for each instance, things such as immaturity, fear, jealousy. alcohol, .... they all come into play.

But, going back to Ian's original premise, am I naturally like that?   or did 'cause and effect' as Yorkie says, lead to me to act like that?   




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Offline Ian

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2015, 03:27:19 pm »
William Golding, in his seminal Lord of the Flies, had some interesting observations along those lines:

Quote
"“Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill! You knew, didn’t you? I’m part of you? Close, close, close! I’m the reason why it’s no go? Why things are what they are?”
― "

The Stanford psychologists seem to be saying that how we behave as adults is down to the upbringing we had.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Ian

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2015, 08:53:27 am »
The University of Cardiff has discovered that many people's grasp on reality is perhaps less secure than one might imagine. Surprisingly large numbers of people also hold beliefs that a psychiatrist would class as delusional. In 2011, psychologist Peter Halligan at Cardiff University assessed how common such beliefs were in the UK.

He found that more than 90 per cent of people held at least one, to some extent. They included the belief that a celebrity is secretly in love with you, that you are not in control of some of your actions, and that people say or do things that contain special messages for you.

"The Prevalence of Delusion-Like Beliefs Relative to Sociocultural Beliefs in the General Population
Pechey R. · Halligan P.
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK

   

Background: Delusions are defined as false beliefs different from those that almost everyone else believes. The aim was to develop a new measure (the Cardiff Beliefs Questionnaire, CBQ) to establish the range and prevalence of delusion-like beliefs (DLB) and compare these to other types of beliefs in the general population. Sampling and Methods: A total of 1,000 participants completed the CBQ, which uniquely assesses a broader range of currently held beliefs [delusion-like (bizarre and non-bizarre), paranormal and religious and general political/social beliefs) using this large stratified sample. Results: Strong belief in 1 or more DLB was reported by 39% of the participants (91% reporting ‘weak’, ‘moderate’ or ‘strong’ belief in at least 1 DLB). Moreover, 25% endorsed at least 1 bizarre DLB (76% one or more at any strength). Endorsements of DLB were strongly correlated with paranormal and religious beliefs but not general political/social beliefs. Conclusions: Both bizarre and non-bizarre DLB are frequently found in the general population, lending support to the psychosis continuum account and need to revise key clinical criteria used to diagnose delusions. The good psychometric properties demonstrated by the CBQ indicate that this measure is a useful tool to investigate the wider continuum of beliefs held in the general population.

© 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel"

Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Fester

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2015, 11:24:01 pm »
After much careful thought, I have concluded that many famous celebrities are indeed in love with me.

Moreover, the amount and intensity of this phenomena, is directly related to the amount of alcohol I consume.

In fact, there is substantial evidence to support my belief that, once drunk, EVERYONE loves me.
In addition to this, I find that in a drunken state, everyone thinks I'm funny, charming, and I in turn, think I am the hardest man in the world.
There is much truth in what you say Ian.

Fester...
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Offline DaveR

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2015, 09:18:18 am »
I in turn, think I am the hardest man in the world.
I can vouch for this being true. The incident with the man on the roof of the Fat Cat springs to mind...  :laugh:

Offline Ian

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #9 on: July 05, 2015, 04:58:14 pm »
Trick-cyclists in America have come out with research which could explain why the debate on climate change continues to rumble on, even though there is a solid consensus on the facts of the matter.

Essentially, according to the researchers, people tend to live in "echo chambers" as far as climate matters go, seeking out information and advisers who agree with what they already believe. Thus, they may persist in deluded views regardless of what others think.

"Individuals who get their information from the same sources with the same perspective may be under the impression that theirs is the dominant perspective, regardless of what the science says," explains Professor Dana Fisher, the corresponding author who led the research.

The prof is of course correct: people will continue to believe marginal bloggers on climate matters, even when their "information" is debunked by proper climate scientists: here's a case from last year in which various dubious lunatic-fringe blogs - "DeSmogBlog"*, "Climate Central" etc - were found to be peddling misinformation on hurricanes in defiance of qualified climatologists. And yet many people continue to believe what these bloggers say.

On a larger scale it's been repeatedly established in recent surveys that most people don't agree with the idea that climate change is mainly caused by human activities. The United States Senate recently declined to endorse this position, also. And it's well known that nations around the world have consistently failed to sign up to any binding agreement on significant cuts to carbon emissions, no matter what position they may espouse on climate change.

So it's pretty clear that the "dominant perspective" here is the sceptical one: the belief that climate change certainly occurs, but it's not been proven to be primarily driven by carbon emissions - and in any case that the theorised consequences of carbon-driven change have not been shown to be such as to require urgent and economically painful action.

And yet many people, living inside their misguided "echo chamber", keep on insisting that the science is settled in the alarmist direction and the case for economic pain is made - or alternatively, that no pain is involved in emissions cuts, quite the reverse (though in that case it seems odd that people haven't just cut emissions on their own). These people obdurately persist in their denial of the consensus position.

“We find that the occurrences of echo chambers are indeed statistically significant, meaning our model provides a potential explanation for why climate change denial persists in spite of the consensus,” says Dr Lorien Jasny, a computational social scientist at the US National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC).

Jasny, Fisher and their colleagues have laid out their research in full, in a paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

The two social scientists acknowledge that, of course, the echo chamber problem exists on both sides of the debate and it is important for those holding majority beliefs to realise that there is some chance - tiny as it may be - that the alarmist position may be correct, or more plausibly may have elements of correctness in it.

"Our research underscores how important it is for people on both sides [our emphasis] of the climate debate to be careful about where they get their information. If their sources are limited to those that repeat and amplify a single perspective, they can't be certain about the reliability or objectivity of their information," Jasny says. ®
Bootnotes

*DeSmogBlog is especially unscrupulous. It is funded by convicted criminal John Lefebvre and other individuals linked to the site have been noted to employ legally dubious tactics.

We have not used the word "boffin" in this article as the researchers involved - sociologists, and as such from the soft-studies sector - do not qualify for that noble appellation.


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/05/28/climate_change_echo_chambers/
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Fester

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #10 on: July 05, 2015, 07:20:19 pm »
I wonder if there is an element of people being either too SELFISH, or even too FRIGHTENED to accept the truth?
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Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #11 on: July 05, 2015, 07:35:34 pm »
I still believe that it was a convenient way for governments to tax people excessively!  It will not prevent me driving my 4 litre Jag around though! To balance it though we recently had a 4 Kwatt solar panel system installed, seems to make financial sense, time will tell!
A pigeon is for life not just Christmas

Offline Fester

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #12 on: July 05, 2015, 08:00:33 pm »
When I take a look at the destruction of the rain forests, when I see the view from space of the vast swathes of light emanating from areas of vast population,  and when I look at the fact that we are turning formally beautiful valleys into disgusting, stinking land-fill sites.... I find it hard to believe that anyone doesn't accept that we are making an HORRENDOUS MESS of this planet.
Fester...
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Offline Ian

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #13 on: July 06, 2015, 08:29:30 am »
Very true, F. Our grandchildren will inherit a mess, to be sure.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: What makes people the way they are?
« Reply #14 on: July 06, 2015, 08:38:39 am »
Far too many people on the planet, massive over breeding without the resources to sustain them! That is the main problem.
A pigeon is for life not just Christmas