fandomhigh | Logic, Reason and Critical Thinking, Class 2: Period 4, Thursday, September 10

When the students filed into class today, they might notice that each desk had a sheet of paper, face down.

"We're going to start today with a short exercise," Miss Bennet said. "There are personality assessments on each desk; I have placed them randomly around the room. Please turn over the sheet on your desk and read the assessment that you find. Once you have finished reading it, I would like for you to decide upon a number - from 1 to 5 - that evaluates how accurate that assessment is, for you, personally. Once you have done that, you may turn the paper face-down again."

She waited, patiently, as each student read the form:

You have a need for other people to like and admire you, and yet you tend to be critical of yourself. While you have some personality weaknesses you are generally able to compensate for them. You have considerable unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage. Disciplined and self-controlled on the outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure on the inside. At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision or done the right thing. You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations. You also pride yourself as an independent thinker; and do not accept others' statements without satisfactory proof. But you have found it unwise to be too frank in revealing yourself to others. At times you are extroverted, affable, and sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, and reserved. Some of your aspirations tend to be rather unrealistic.

Once it seemed like everyone was finished, she continued.

"I will not ask anyone here to share their personal number. In fact, now I must confess some trickery of my own. There is only one assessment; each desk has a copy of the same paragraph. This paragraph was composed by a psychologist named Dr. Forer, who gave these so-called personality tests to a group of his students. The average accuracy rating, on that scale of one to five, was a 4.26. In other words, most of the students thought it was personal, and specific to him or her. How is that possible?

"There are several factors that contribute. For one, the paragraph sounds specific, but a meticulous re-reading will show how vague the details are. Forer took many of his sentences from a book of horoscopes. For another, we as individuals have a tendency, when confronted with evaluations of this nature, to give more weight to the successes than to the failures. For a third, do note that a great deal of the assessment is complimentary. One can get further appealing to vanity than being brutally frank.

"Many charlatans make use of the Forer effect in order to bolster their claims of clairvoyance, of reading tea-leaves or speaking to the dead. It is useful to be wary of those who would take one's money in order to tell their victims exactly what those individuals long to hear."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I suspect that this exercise relies on the same things that motivate willful self-delusion. People want to believe they are better than they are. By explaining that the evaluation is a 'personal' one it makes them think that someone else also thinks they are better than they are. I think that part is an important aspect of the trick. If people were told that it was a random assessment, or that they all had the same one, they would be more critical."

This was all referring to other people, of course. It wasn't as if Triela herself fell for that sort of thing. She was far too realistic about how good she was, and that meant she didn't need to inflate her self-opinion.

"The flattery angle," Miss Bennet said. "Though it's important to note that there are some mild critiques, mixed in with the praise. One suspects that if it was all praise, most individuals would be a touch more suspicious."

"That's true," Triela agreed. "But they're sort of private critiques, right? About how you feel and stuff."

"I'm not certain that I follow," Miss Bennet said. "I doubt that insulting one's feelings is less of a blow than insulting one's actions."

"In my experience, people are much more concerned with what other people think of them than anything else. They are more likely to admit the possibility of flaws that no one can see."

Jono gave Triela a bit of a weird look.

//But she did say it was random, gel. "I've placed 'em randomly 'round the room." Right from the get-go. If I'd thought she'd written this up special just for me, I'd be worried she was sittin' inside my bloody head.//

Logic, Reason and Critical Thinking, Class 2: Period 4, Thursday, September 10

Re: Discussion #2: Self-Delusion Again [LOG-2]

Re: Discussion #2: Self-Delusion Again [LOG-2]

Re: Discussion #2: Self-Delusion Again [LOG-2]

Re: Discussion #2: Self-Delusion Again [LOG-2]

Re: Discussion #2: Self-Delusion Again [LOG-2]

Re: Discussion #2: Self-Delusion Again [LOG-2]