Psychologyspeaking topic
The Barnum effect: why do horoscopes feel like they were written just for us? Why do we read vague, flattering statements as personal truths?
— Bertram Forer, Barnum/Forer effect
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- The more often you see a person, the more you like them, even if they never do anything special. Familiarity alone manufactures affection. So does liking really belong to the person, or to the comfort of 'familiar and harmless'?
- Modern dating in an ocean of options: the apps serve up endless choice, yet people commit to no one, because the next possibility is always one swipe away. Does infinite choice make attachment impossible?
- Realistic conflict theory: how does hostility arise when two groups compete for a scarce resource, and how can a shared goal melt that hostility away?
- A person who wrongs someone often ends up hating their victim even more; it's the perpetrator who nurses the grudge, not the victim. To quiet the conscience, they have to decide 'he deserved it anyway'. Why does the harm we do make the victim look guiltier in our eyes?
- Do someone a small favor and you start liking them; logic would predict the reverse. The brain talks itself into 'I helped this person, so I must like them'. Do our feelings drive our actions, or do our actions invent our feelings?