52 Lessons on the Psychology of Human Nature

Inspired by the Instagram Live conversation between Rob Henderson and Matthew Kobach.

Basics of Psychology

  • All of psychology is rooted in evolutionary theory

  • Evolutionary psychology is the study of using the theory of evolution to explain human behavior

  • Social psychology is the study of how others influence our behaviors

Psychology and Technology

  • Apps and phones are intentionally designed to make us addicted

  • The design is always based on bright colors

  • Humans equate bright colors with food or some type of resource that our body relies on

  • When we receive a notification, we know something will happen, but we don't know what

  • BF Skinner suggests that intermittent rewards are more reinforcing than predictable rewards (eg. notifications)

What We Can Do To Prevent Addiction?

  • Use the greyscale method on our phone

  • Shut off notifications

  • Use our willpower to fight it

Why Are Humans Designed Like This?

  • Evolution doesn't give us happiness for no reason

  • There is a reason we enjoy calorie-dense food like donuts

  • Eating food like that increases our survival chances because calorie-dense foods were scarce (think hunting and gathering)

Social Brain Hypothesis

  • Humans are smart because we are social

  • We need other humans to survive

  • The people who are best at social interactions typically rise to the top

Self Domestication Hypothesis

  • There are 3 types of personalities: selfish, altruistic, and a mixture of the two

  • If someone tries to disrupt the group, we eliminate them to prevent disharmony

  • We self-selected based on social skills

The Psychology Behind Social Media

  • Social media is used to connect with friends

  • More importantly, it's used as an extension of our social identity

  • For example, Instagram is purely driven by photos and our "appearance"

  • Follower count and likes are a form of prestige

  • It's unclear if social media is detrimental to our health

  • If you are prone to compare yourself to others, it is

Social Comparison Theory

  • We have a tendency to compare ourselves with others especially on social media where we compare ourselves with people who are better for us.

  • For example, why can't I look like that Instagram model?

  • What would you buy if others didn't see you?

  • Everything you do is based on other people's impressions

  • We, as a culture, have a fear of criticism

Local Ladder Effect

  • People have a tendency to compare themselves to people in their own circles

  • The more successful you are within your own group, the happier you are

Museums and Nostalgia

  • Museums are Instagram posts of the past

  • People believe people in the past used to be smarter than us today

  • This concept is called Golden Age Syndrome - the idea that the best of times were in the past

What Makes Tweets Go Viral?

  • Tweets using moral and emotional words are more likely to go viral

  • The presence of this type of language increased virality by 20%

Why Does This Happen?

  • We, as a society, have an increase in outrage culture

  • Outrage culture is the concept of holding people accountable for actions perceived as offensive

  • Physical and moral disgust leads to social anxiety

  • Social anxiety leads to rating moral transgressions more harshly

  • We feel pressure to engage and be outraged to stay loyal to our "tribe"

Loyalty to a Tribe

  • Tribalism is part of human nature

  • Third-party punishment - it doesn't affect me, but I say it's wrong

  • I want to see people be punished for their "perceived" bad actions

Harmless Torture

  • Sam Harris and Paul Bloom coined this as harmless torture

  • One small shock doesn't hurt, but a collection of small shocks hurts a lot

  • There is a lot of pain when people band together

Virtue Signaling is Becoming Virtual Stoning

  • People rally around moral ambiguity

  • A seemingly harmless tweet can turn into a lashing if momentum turns a certain way

  • Many people post something ambiguous to see how they react

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