He Who Influences the Thought of His Times Influences The Times That Follow

"He who influences the thought of his times influences the times that follow" - Elbert Hubbard 

Election times are near, and it got me thinking. How do we really choose who to vote for? Can we effectively look at policies objectively? Candidates use psychological tactics in attempt to influence voters' thoughts, and often times, voters fall for it. 


One way to get more support is to make the opponent look bad. This is possible by using push polls. When surveys are given out, a hypothetical question is phrased in a way that fabricates negative information about one candidate. Push polls can heavily influence push polls. To find out more information or see some examples, visit The Yale Scientific Magazine.


There are other factors that influence voters too. Unfortunately, some are a bit shallow. Psychology Today claims that some voters choose the candidate based on physical appearance. When people for one country given a pictures of two candidates from another and told to choose one to be the leader, people often chose the candidate that was winning, even though they knew nothing about the two candidates. It turns out everyone is a little more superficial than they would like to admit. 

People, especially in America, also vote for a specific candidate solely because of their party affiliation. Americans live in the world of Democrats vs. Republicans. Deep down, a die hard democrat might want to vote for a republican candidate one year, but can't because they feel obligated to stick with their party.


American's are privileged to have the opportunity to vote. Not only should every American make the effort to vote, but they should vote honestly as well. People should spend a little effort learning about the policies and trying to decide which candidate to vote for based on that instead of party lines. As good as that sounds, it isn't likely to happen


The truth is, no matter how much we may want to believe it, we are influenced by many things. Campaigns, surveys, physical appearances, parties and many other things can change the way we vote. If people could vote objectively, many elections would have turned out differently.

To Say "I Love You" One Must Know First How to Say "I"

“To say "I love you" one must know first how to say the "I".” -Ayn Rand

Could you be a bully?

How do we define “bullying”? According to Merriam-Webster, bullying means “to treat abusively” or “to affect by means of force or coercion”. Does that mean bullying has to be physical? Can it be verbal as well? And what about cyber-bullying? The Centers for Disease Control and Protection qualifies bullying as anything including direct attacks such as hitting, name calling or teasing, as well as indirect attacks, such as spreading rumors. Is it possible that we could be bullying someone and not even know it? Someone you know may seem like a stable, moral person, but if they have ever spread a rumor about someone else, they helped make that person feel rejected and humiliated, even if they didn’t start the rumor. Sometimes harmless joking goes a little too far. Think about it, how often does the joke become a serious matter? If it happens often, it might be time to re-evaluate your thought process.

The act of bullying dates at least back to the 1800s, when Sigmund Freud wrote his famous paper, The Neuro-psychoses of Defense. Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of the defense mechanism is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “a mental process initiated unconsciously to avoid experiencing conflict of anxiety”. There are seven major defense mechanisms used by psychoanalysts today.

Repression

React Formation

Projection 

Regression

Sublimation

Denial

Rationalization

(To find out more about defense mechanisms or see where I got some of my information, visit Defense Mechanisms)

The defense mechanism most prevalent to bullying is projection. Projection in this sense basically means that the bully takes his or her feelings of anger or insecurity and subconsciously transforms them so they recognize the feeling as if it came from someone else. For example, if Billy really doesn’t like someone, he may project his feelings onto him or her, and he will actually think that person doesn’t like him (Projection). The so-called bully may not even be aware that they are experiencing feelings of hatred, low self-esteem, jealousy or resentment.

This is what makes bullying so dangerous. The people picking on others may not be aware of the harm they are causing. Even if they are aware of the situation, they probably don’t know why they treat others poorly. Something needs to be done to make bullies aware of what they are doing and why they are doing it. The psychological effects on children that have been picked on or abused by peers are tremendous. This is not a problem only seen in the United States. Victims of bullying are suffering in Asia, Latin America, Europe and America. Bullying exists all over the world. Efforts have been made in every country to start anti-bullying programs, but will this be enough?

Bullying and harassment will be a part of every country, city and town in the world, no matter how effective anti-bullying programs may be. It’s in our best interest to spread the word and help people understand why kids get picked on by their peers.  

Challenge yourself to recognize the signs. They could be coming from you, your classmates, siblings or friends. Awareness is the first step to helping bullies around the world come to peace with their emotions. It would be difficult to learn to love others if they can't love themselves. 

Below are links to a few articles and videos about programs created around the world in response to bullying.

In the UK

In the US

In Latin America

In Japan

In Europe

Wonder is the Beginning of Wisdom

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom”- Socrates

Have you ever wondered why we do the things we do?

What makes us different from each other? 

What makes us the same?

  

I often find myself asking these questions, but I usually can't come up with an answer. This is why I want to dedicate the next year to answering questions like these as they come along. Rest assured, I won't be making up my own answers to all of these complicated questions. My information will come primarily from psychological studies, psychology class or English class.

The ideas and opinions that link us together as humans are the same things that make each individual unique. All parents guide their children in some way or another, but something drives them to have different parenting styles. Teachers also have different teaching styles. All marketing agencies use strategies to attract customers, but each product is advertised differently. All government candidates want more votes, but they don’t go about the campaigning process in the same way. I want to know what accounts for these differences. I want to know why we behave the way we do.

A better understanding of the human race can be found with the help of research studies and class materials. This journey will also help me find out more about myself. What better way is there to discover new things about myself than to first discover new things about the human race?

My name is Molly and I am on a journey to find out what makes humans tick.