Why do we always blame our family of origin for our mistakes when we grow up?
Why is it difficult for us to say “no” when our leaders put pressure on us?
When my friend is sad, why can’t I say a word of comfort?
When it comes to psychology, people always think it is mysterious and elusive, but in fact many problems in life are related to psychology. Especially in today's social background, our material needs have basically been met, and we have begun to pay attention to spiritual needs.
But it is easy to have a full appetite, but it is difficult to have a rich soul.
Master of Chinese Studies Liang Shuming once raised the famous three major problems in life: problems between people and things, problems between people and people, and problems between people and themselves. Problems between people and things refer to the relationship between human beings and nature; problems between people and people refer to the emotional communication and relationship between people; problems between people and themselves include the relationship between the inner soul and external desires. question. Liang Shuming believes that only by solving these three major problems can life achieve the greatest degree of liberation and freedom.
In fact, behind these three major problems are psychological problems: problems between people and things are basically personal ability problems; problems between people and people are basically interpersonal problems; problems between people and themselves are typical self-psychological problems.
Coincidentally, in psychological research, psychologist Edward Deci and others proposed three basic needs of people, including competence needs, relationship needs and autonomy needs. These three needs basically correspond to Liang Shuming’s three major issues: competency needs point to a person’s ability to make a living; relationship needs point to a person’s level of interpersonal communication; and autonomy needs point to a person’s pursuit of physical and mental freedom.
Confusion in life has always been a topic of psychological discussion. Since the birth of psychology, solving spiritual confusion and improving human well-being have been its important missions. Whether it is the three major problems in life mentioned by Liang Shuming, or the many troubles in life derived from them, psychologists throughout the ages have been working hard to find solutions.
Freud proposed the concept of psychoanalysis , Skinner founded behaviorism theory , Seligman analyzed learned helplessness... These psychology masters tried their best to use scientific methods Answers explain psychology. However, after learning about psychology, many people still feel that "this does not seem to be the psychology I imagined, and it does not solve my life confusion at all."
Why is it difficult to use psychology after learning it?
When talking about psychology, you must first understand the particularity of this subject.
Psychology is a subject with strong cultural differences. First of all, it is rooted in the Western individualistic culture . The logical starting point is a person's brain physiological basis, cognition, emotion, motivation, personality and other contents. For the Chinese people under the collectivist culture , psychology in people's minds starts with interpersonal interaction.
For example, when psychologists communicate with laypeople, the first question they are often asked is: "Guess what I am thinking?"
focuses on interpersonal interaction. Michael Bond, a psychologist from Hong Kong, China, where Eastern and Western cultures meet, once said: "Psychology was unfortunately created by Westerners. As a result, Western psychology has studied too many Abnormal psychology and personality behavior, if psychology were created by Chinese people under Eastern culture, then it would definitely be a basic discipline emphasizing social psychology.”
This cultural difference is also the reason why many people cannot read psychology professional books.So, can we learn psychology in a different way, so that it is not only consistent with human nature, but also meets the cultural needs of Chinese people, and is easy to learn?
Associate Professor of the School of Psychology of South China Normal University and Deputy Director of the Science Popularization Committee of the Chinese Psychological Society Chi Yukai , based on the psychological habits of Chinese readers, wrote an informative, interesting and useful popular science work on psychology "20 Lectures on Confusion in Life" .
Teaching psychology in the way that Chinese people like
Take problems as the guide and start with characters and stories
The main problem why scientific psychology has difficulty conquering the public is that it always adopts a disciplinary perspective rather than a problem perspective. Many psychologists use more rigorous and scientific definitions, starting from specific subject concepts, and then leading to huge psychological theories and propositions. Although they are very scientific, they are not practical enough. After all, not everyone who loves psychology People need to develop professional knowledge in psychology in order to grow.
Therefore, "20 Lectures on Confusion in Life" takes questions as the guide, and on the premise of ensuring professionalism and science, all contents focus on the present and real life problems. Don't break away from the public, just talk about things around us, and talk about typical problems that everyone will encounter in their lives. These questions include:
How to deal with childhood trauma?
How to grasp the key to life?
How to gain a foothold in the workplace?
How to improve individual happiness through the study of psychology?
…………
These questions are real questions, and the answers given in this book are all based on professional research. I hope readers can gain real insights and improvements.
Also, to understand and solve some of the current problems, the most convenient and practical way is to get to know some masters in this field, understand what they think, think, and do in their unique life experiences, and then This is certainly revealing when looking at life today.
"20 Confusions in Life" also mentioned many stories of psychology masters. Learning through stories and cases can be more beneficial. Through the structure of "problems-characters-theories-suggestions", readers can get to know some key figures in this discipline, and then understand their research and grasp the essence of the discipline. For many people, learning this way may be the most cost-effective path.
Get the wisdom tips of 20 psychology masters at one time
Any discipline is supported by some people, some research, and some theories. Some people even support half of it. Without Newton, classical physics would be impossible to talk about; without Mendeleev, chemical elements could not find a home at all; without Darwin, evolution theory would not be a science. Psychology also has some soul figures, whose concepts, thoughts and even life experiences influence the direction of psychology. Therefore, to learn any subject, it is necessary to first get to know some leaders in the subject. This is also an important indicator of whether you are getting started.
Jean Piaget
Therefore, in "20 Lectures on Confusion in Life", the author Chi Yukai carefully selected 20 "top" psychologists to help readers solve problems in daily life from their professional perspectives. Psychological confusion.
These 20 psychologists are also divided into two categories. One category is psychology masters in the classic sense. They are all the most influential "listed figures" in psychology voted by professionals from the American Psychological Association. Freud and Jung are familiar to Chinese people, but there are also Skinner, Watson and others who may be unfamiliar to the public.
The other category is the psychologists who currently have the “spirit of the times” (Hegel’s term).In the context of the current era, there are some "popular chickens" in the field of psychology. Their research pays close attention to current life and mostly explores the themes of people's current spiritual lives.
In addition, the author Chi Yukai will also try his best to provide solutions to some real problems in our real life based on the master's theory. not only talks about "why", but also talks about "how". For example, when talking about childhood experiences, Freud’s related ideas will be discussed, and suggestions will also be given, such as how to eliminate the adverse effects of childhood experiences; another example is when talking about Seligman’s positive psychology perspectives When doing so, we will give you suggestions on how to build a positive attitude towards yourself.
This article is excerpted from Chi Yukai's " 20 Lectures on Life Confusion", published by Zhanlu Culture/Beijing United Publishing Company . The copyright belongs to the author and this book. Please indicate the source when reprinting.
