This "Social Animals" and the previously read "Human Nature Test" have some common conclusions. In fact, when choosing a book, it is purely arbitrary, I am afraid that curiosity will constantly change in each period, and in a fixed range, the content you want to understand is the same.
I find social psychology interesting because it touches on all aspects of human beings: love, hate, prejudice, aggression, altruism, social influence, conformism, egoism, and so on. Many daily imaginations think that they are individual cases, but in fact, scientists have studied and analyzed them, and these cases are just human nature.
These studies may seem lengthy or even boring, but it is actually necessary for us to understand people's mentality, to understand some phenomena that we cannot understand, or to combat some anxiety. When understanding these phenomena that surprise or confuse us as a commonality, it is very helpful to dilute misunderstandings and broaden our thinking.
The book has a lot of interesting research and perspectives. For example, it is mentioned that in the process of playing, if one member feels that he is rejected, and the other members really no longer throw the ball to him. In the brain of the rejected member, he reacts in a similar way to the physical condition caused by a human being enduring a needle-pricked electric shock or other experiment, that is, when rejected, the feeling in the heart is as painful as the body being pricked by a needle.
On the one hand, this experiment proves that people need to be recognized and friendly by the social environment. At the same time, it also proves why people are very detrimental to their health when subjected to abusive or malicious language, and this psychological and physical suffering is the same as the reaction to the brain.
It can also be inferred from this social need that people need to have a sense of belonging in social activities, and we expect stable and meaningful relationships with other people. I think this relationship can also be understood as, in addition to the surrounding environment, from classmates on campus to colleagues in the workplace, and even later in life, as well as the relationship with the partner's family, all need to belong and identify, and this harmony makes people feel relaxed and happy. This sense of belonging and identity is an innate social need of people.
Many of the research in the book is worth pondering and getting close to life. For example, the book says a primacy effect, in fact, I think it should be understood as the "preconceived" in the saying. For example, we describe a person, "Steve is a smart, hardworking, impulsive, picky, stubborn, jealous person". Or we would say "Steve a jealous, stubborn, picky, impulsive, hardworking, intelligent man". Although the adjectives are all the same, the order is different, so the impression that can be left is completely different. In the first case, what we see is "this person is very good, although there are shortcomings". In the second case, what we see is "this person has many shortcomings, although there are also advantages". The emphasis is completely different, completely affecting our subsequent judgment of this thing.
Therefore, in some instinctive cognition, we will be prone to prejudice. One way to reduce bias is to strengthen communication and eliminate the original preconceptions by familiarizing and getting to know each other. At the same time, you should also realize that there may be bias in the subconscious mind and try to be objective and rational.
This kind of "preconceived" humanity is also very instructive for us to speak, express, and speak. Since human beings inevitably use the information obtained first to judge the situation later, what words and expressions are used to open the scene directly and potentially affects the subsequent orientation.
The book also mentions cognitive dissonance, the impact of the media on people, autobiographical memory and reconstructed memory, etc.
Regarding reconstructing memories, I myself have a deep understanding. It's something I just happened to experience. At last year's family gathering, Vincent pushed his old man, Daniel, who couldn't swim, into the pool, and everyone had a lot of fun, and Emma jumped into the pool and pulled Daniel back to the shore. There were dozens of relatives and friends present at that time, and everyone did not feel any danger, it was pure entertainment.
Unexpectedly, at this year's family gathering, everyone talked about this matter, and there were many different versions. Some people say that Daniel fell into the water, shouting, Emma jumped to rescue; some people said that Daniel was pushed into the water by Vincent, and no one else saw it, fortunately Emma saw it, otherwise something big would have happened...
This "memory" error shocked me. What dozens of people witnessed together, after a year, there were different stories. So I looked for the whole video at that time and found that there was neither "shouting" nor "other people did not see". In fact, everyone is watching this matter, playing together, not a serious safety issue.
While I also understand that memories can go wrong, I can also rewrite stories according to my own interests. After opening this book today, I am relieved. It is true that human beings will reconstruct a version of the story according to their own feelings and experiences, and even implant other people's experiences into their own experiences. This probably explains why there is always an AB version of the story, and over time, the parties may be able to extend a CD version themselves. When this happens, there may not be a "who's lying question" at all, but the brain unconsciously changes the story.
The authors say, "One of the best ways to recall a book is to relate it to your personal experience and think about how he applies to you." "Deeply impressed.