Individuality, behaviour and people in general have always fascinated me. That’s the reason i’ve often thought of taking psychology as a subject somtime in the future, i might not be able to take it as a major now but i might take it later on for a master’s degree. Who knows? but meanwhile there is alot of research and information available on the internet at my disposal. but again why psychology?
I have this philophy, which is still pretty young, that i should explore the world as much as i can by experiencing differernt situations, travelling to different places and throwing my self in various experiences and use this process to find myself and re-enforce my belief. However I feel such a journey is incomplete unless I don’t bring myself to learn about people living in this world, how they think, how they are effected by different situations, different environments and how we are all truly unique. This is one reason I like biographies so much because this gives me a chance to learn about one complex yet beautiful individual, look at his experiences, and feel his emotions, in the process satisfying my hunger to explore.
This was all my personal view, but nevertheless the potential of psychology as a subject is very much underestimated in our society, what psychologist can do for a society and it’s people is staggering. A few examples are as follows,
Criminal psychology is defined in wikipedia as Criminal psychology is the study of the wills, thoughts, intentions and reactions of criminals. It is related to the field of criminal anthropology. The study goes deeply into what makes someone commit crime, but also the reactions after the crime, on the run or in court. Now just imagine the scope, especially in these trying times for our country, we can turn to psychologists with this speciality and understand the mind of a terrorist giving us the oppurtunity to identify it, manipulate it, predict it’s next act and also prevent other people in developing a terrorist’s thinking.
Furthermore, child psychology as in about.com focuses on the mind and behavior of children from prenatal development through adolescence. Child psychology deals not only with how children grow physically, but with their mental, emotional and social development as well. Child psychologist are a priceless asset in an education sector of a country, using their knowledge to teach parents and teachers on how to teach, discipline and nurture for a child in the most efficient way possible.
Lastly another interesting branch of psychology is social psychology, which again according to wikipedia is the study of how humans think about each other and how they relate to each other. Social psychologists study such topics as the influence of others on an individual’s behavior (e.g. conformity, persuasion), and the formation of beliefs, attitudes, and stereotypes about other people. This can no doubt allow more understanding and tolerance within a society.
This was a very short entry that was an attempt to share my fascination with the subject and there might be more to come if god wills but for now i end this entry by asking everyone to embrace this knowledge and try to dwell in it once in a while, so that we can all benefit one way or another by this wonderfull and intriguing subject.
Psychology is truly a a fascinating subject. But I must say it’s takes a lot of patience and intellect if you want to pursue a career in that field. However, I don’t have any doubt that you might someday reach this goal because I know you are capable of even more. All the very best Sam! You gave a good introduction to Psychology and I hope to see more coming!