Too Short Concert January 2010 Fresno

Psychologists, engineers and reality

I've spent the last nine years working surrounded by psychologists, a strange experience for an engineer like me, but that has proved very interesting and enriching. Now I'm going to leave, I think it is time to talk a little bit of psychology as a science.


I think the most interesting I've learned from them is the infinite flexibility of what we call "reality." We are generally aware of the limitations of our "sensors." Not everyone's ear a musician. Many need glasses. Internet is full of optical illusions images more or less surprising. However, once the information reaches the brain senses, we assume that is analyzed with precision and accuracy. We believe it is the perfect computer but we are looking for engineers that trust is a mistake.

good psychologists as scientists conduct experiments to examine our reasoning. They are similar to medical experiments, including ethics committees, and has the same difficulty to find out what's going on really. That makes the results even more meritorious. First experiment

(1): hypnotized a person to get on the road with raincoat on a sunny day of summer. Then, once awake, I wonder why it has. Usually try to justify themselves by recalling that summer time is variable, which in the evenings cooling or really did not feel heat. And most likely come to believe his own explanation. This example can be replaced by any other activity that can hurt us but we got successfully justify. For example, smoking, lack of exercise, overeating, or suffer from anorexia. We try to justify what we do not consider whether it is reasonable or should change.


Second experiment : We are in 1954, we choose a camp for Boy Scouts and divided the children into two groups. We create a team spirit within each one and then put them to compete among themselves. This reinforces the bonds of their own group and begin to create hostility toward the other. Soon any insignificant event will be misinterpreted and generate even more hostility may reach violent clashes. Fifty years later, can I recall a game show?. Not to mention politics in general.





Third experiment: Choose who you like best between these two:

• July is intelligent, industrious, impulsive, critical, stubborn, and envious
• Ramon is envious, stubborn, critical, impulsive, hardworking and intelligent.

Did you decide? Maybe you should know that it says exactly the same for both, only changed the order. But in general, more people prefer to July. The way of presenting the information may change completely our perception even say the same thing. This kind of tricks is that the advertisers love.


In all these cases just misinterpreting reality because of our need to justify themselves, to some preconceived ideas (us and them) or primacy effect, also called "the first impression that counts." In short, it is not easy to analyze the reality and needs to be aware of all biases and errors that we commit to do so. Our brain is not perfect.

I hope to have learned all this let me be a little better person. In any case nine years have been great and, although I think the change is better, I'll miss you all, both psychologists and no.

(1) The examples are drawn from " The social animal" by Elliot Aronson . A book very, very advisable not to think, in all, a self-help manual. (Thanks and sorry for Eduardo simplifications)