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Psychology of the Mind

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  • Started 11 months ago by the editor

  1. ad-adrian
    Administrator

    Mr OWO: The mind is a very fascinating thing. The power of the mind to believe in something is amazing. Jules: What do you mean? Mr OWO: I mean the mind is so powerful that whatever it chooses to believe can determine the outcome of an event. Jules: Give me an example of this psychology of the mind Mr OWO: There was a much publicised case in the 1980s. A technician, repairing the locking mechanism of a refrigerated train car, accidently locked himself in. It was a Saturday evening and all his colleagues had gone home, so shouting for help did not work. He knew that Sunday was a day off for everyone in the repair yard and that he would remain locked in until Monday morning. This was not really a problem until he remembered that as it was a refrigerated car, he would freeze to death before Monday. He started writing his thoughts as the hours slowly passed. He wrote how cold and miserable he was. His last words, penned at around 8pm on Sunday night, were: "These are probably my last words. My hand is frozen solid. I don't think I can write anymore." They found him dead on Monday morning. This, in itself, is not a particularly remarkable story, until you examine its second half. When the police were examining the circumstances that led to his death, they were astounded to discover that the refrigeration system was actually faulty and had not been working during the weekend. The refrigerant had leaked on Saturday evening and only the fan had remained in working condition. In effect, the man could not have frozen to death as the freezing mechanism was simply not working. There was no foul play and the man's writings showed that he had not committed suicide. The belief that he would freeze to death , which the man embedded in his mind, killed him. The man had fallen victim to his own mind. Jules: Great story on the psychology of the mind. Yes sometimes I tend to perceive a certain situation as harmful and this perception or belief becomes a self-fulling prophecy. Mr OWO: The human mind recognises only opportunities and threats and oscillates between both these extremes. Any scenarios that is in between is often not regarded as a likely outcome and conveniently ignored, when in fact there are multiple possible endings to the story.
    Posted 11 months ago #

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