The Deep Mental Power of the Act We All Know As Persuasion!

So their you are, walking through the mall with your friends having a good time, as people do. When out of no where you get dragged off your course to Hollister and some cute, funny, kiosk guy some how managed to convince you that you needed a $230 curling iron. Now as you work your way through the mall you wonder What was that? I dont even curl my hair! Ugh, why did I buy this stupid thing?? Well my friend, you have just lost in a battle of persuation. You didn't realize that that cute kiosk guy was simply conning you into buying you something you don't need by making you believe that you actually needed it. Crazy as it sounds, this happens to each and everyone of us, everyday. And not to alarm anyone but, a lot of times, you're a persueder too!

Now Im sure all of you know what persuasion is, but how do you know if you're being persuaded? Well to know when you're being persuaded it often helps to know the usual techniques of persuasion. Such as..

• Liking: Did you know it's easier to be persuaded (or persuade) if you like some one or they like you? Persuaders will often flatter you or try and dig up ground breaking similarities to get you on their side, it's a simple method but it definately works!
• Flocking: "Everyone LOVES this type of towel, or this new car, or that brand of cereal!" People like to be part of the group, they like to go with the flow. And that gives persuaders an open playing field!
• Passion: The more you seem to care about your cause the more likely people will respond ot act in your favor. If they think you have passion it is more likely to trigger and emotional response from others. This can be easily achieved by swearing.
• Volume: If one person in a group is louder they will be seen as the voice of the whole group.
• Right Ear: It is easier to persuade someone by speaking into their right ear!
• Speed: Talking fast can be more persuasive than talking at a normal speed.
• Positivity: People or easily persuaded by positive messages or things that stimulate a positive emotional response.
• Repetition: Repetition creates an illusion of truth.

There are countless methods of persuasion, but here are just a few. People can be easily persuaded by these techniques. Thats the only purpose of this blog, to raise awareness of the mass persuation that we face everyday. Beware!

 

The 6 Things We Need

There are 6 things that we as human beings needs (aside from food, water and shelter). We are all unknowingly driven to fulfill 4 basic needs: certainty, variety, significance and a love connection. The other two needs -happiness and fulfillment- are gained through what are called the two needs of the spirit: growth and contribution. All of these needs combined are what make us human. They give us a sense of purpose and need. They are the things that we search for all our lives all the while never really knowing what we're looking for. So in this entry I will break down and briefly explain each of these needs and why we need them.

1) Certainty: The need of certainty applies to having certainty in your job, life and maybe certainty in a relationship or certainty that your significant other doesn't have one foot out the door. Natural disasters or the death of a close friend can take away the feeling of certainty. Being uncertain can harm the spirit but it is good to step out of your own personal boundaries into a realm of uncertainty. A life that relies mostly on certainty can never be truly happy because life is full of uncertainties. When we feel uncertain we often seek out things to restore our certainty, like when natural disasters occur more people seem to go to church in search of religion.

2) Variety: People like variety. We dont always want to go through the same thing everyday like clock work, we don't like to habituate behaviors or activities because then we not only don't appreciate those things they eventually become just plain boring. Which basically means that those thing don't make us feel like they used to. So, in order to maintain the spice in life we need change, new things, or just something different.

3) Significance: We like to feel important! This need can greatly effect our attitudes, it can either make us very positive or negative in spirit. This need takes work and determination because its not just how other people make us feel. We can feel more significant if we put more effort in things we enjoy. We have to give to gain and that's just how it works.

4) Love and Connection: Many people root this in their families and children as opposed to an intimate lover, Why? Because in family there is a false sense that they wont leave. Love is being able to put someone else before your self and that requires certainty in the other person. This need effects our whole world and our individual ways. Such as living arrangements, work structure and so on. Its sort of built into us, but its different for different people. Some people strive for family, others for a true love mate and some simply gain it from work or hobbies. This need leads into two other smaller needs: Growth and contribution. We all need to grow physically and mentally, its how we learn to handle certain situations and solve problems. It helps us move on from the past and push to a better future. Contribution makes us feel needed and like we have something to give for the better of the whole. This takes some work and determination but its good for your mental state and can help you feel more connected to the world around you.

My conclusion to this is that we all need these things. there is no one step how to book on to ffulfill them, we just do in our own individual ways. These things are what help us go on and live our lives to the fullest we can manage.

What is Love?

"What is love love, baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me.. no more" I'm sure that just about anyone reading this recognizes those ever so popular lyrics. So, what is my topic today? You guessed it! The psychology of love. It's mere human nature to get all googly eyed of that 'one' special person. Growing up I remember hearing all those stories about princesses and 'true' love, but does it really exist? Is it humanly possible to be made for one person? Well, I'm here to find out, I am going to go through some pretty hard core google-ing on the psychology of love. Enjoy:)

Love is a tough area for psychologists, they have created countless questionnaires to help them piece together the truth behind this prominent human emotion. Over the years studies have come to the conclusion that love (like most things) comes in different variations, such as: Jealous love, Playful love, Erotic love, Slow attached love and Practical love. All of which appear to have one similarity, intimacy.

It is believed that love is set up like a triangle, it contains three main elements that give it support, these elements are: intimacy, passion and commitment. Intimacy is defined as the closeness, caring and emotional support that is put into the relationship. Passion is more of the emotional and.. physical aspects of a relationship (if you know what I mean). While commitment is the willing-ness of the partners to decide that they are able to be together and create a lasting love. But this triangle set-up isn't perfect. It can be thrown off balance and create love that is like: non love (lacking all elements), 'liking' (mostly intimacy), infatuation (passion), empty love (only commitment) and many others, but I think you get the point. A love cant last on only one or two of these elements, it needs all three working together to give it real potential.

Of course there is some variation when it comes to who you love. I mean, you don't love your mom the same as you love your boyfriend. This is explained as; in all kinds of love there is a triangle base, but depending on the relationship the levels of each element vary slightly.

So, if you are trying to figure out where your relationship is going I hope you found this information helpful. Good luck with your love affairs, as you can see, they aren't an easy task!

The Truth to Sleep Talking

I'm pretty sure that you have all heard of someone talking in their sleep. Sleep talking, along with various other unusual sleep behaviors are known as non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) parasomnias. Other examples of these behaviors are: sleep eating, sleep walking and night terrors.

You may be wondering, what causes these things to happen? Well, to better understand this we need to take a look at the sleep cycle. When you go to sleep you first enter a light sleep, then drift into a deep sleep, after that you re-enter a lighter sleep and that may be followed by the rapid eye movement phase of sleep (when dreams are most vivid). These parts of sleep are determined by brain wave patterns.

During the transition of these sleep phases one may wake up (partially or fully). Usually you fall right back to sleep, but sometimes part of your brain stays 'awake' while the other part transitions into another sleep phase. This is when NREM's happen. People going through NREM's are unaware of what they are doing and have no recollection of what happened when they wake up.

A few things that can trigger NREM's are:

• Sleeping in a unusual location
  


• More frequent in someone who is sleep deprived
  


• Can happen when you move a child after they have fallen asleep



• Can occur when you get sick

The reason these things may cause abnormal sleep behaviors is our body is trying to protect itself but the need for sleep is more dominant and our minds get stuck in the middle phase of conscious and unconscious.

What to do when you come across a person going through one of these sleep abnormalities:

• Don't try and wake then up! This will do no good and could potentially be traumatic for the sleep walker (or talker, or eater).



• Guild them to bed safely.



• Medications can be used but are for the most part unnecessary if proper steps are taken to prevent these things from happening.
  
  

Now you know why these things happen and ways to help prevent them and handle them. I hope this was helpful.

Nail Biting

Nail biting, just a simple childhood habit right? Well, not exactly, it stems from some place deep inside our (well, their) mental condition. Nail biting or 'chronic onychophagia' is often caused by nervousness, stress or boredom. It is a method of simple stress relief and can sometimes be a mental or emotional disorder.


Facts and Statistics:

• Affects 50% of toddlers



• Affects 28%-33% of Children age 7-10



• Affects 44% of adolescents



• Affects 19%-29% of teens



• And 5% of adults
  

If you are a nail biter be sure to have good hygiene! There are loads of germs hiding under human nails. Wash hands often and keep fingernails nice and clean.

How does nail biting affect the body? Well, as I mentioned before, nails can carry lots of germs so nail biting can make you sick! It also can cause damage to the front teeth over time and excessive gnawing. Also when a person constantly has their hand in their mouth it slows down their productivity.

What to do:

Some things that may help with nail biting are: behavioral therapy, medication or bad tasting nail polish.

Behavioral therapy has been proven to help patients 'unlearn' the nail biting habit by often replacing it with a healthier, more beneficial habit.

Medication can help compliment the therapy, but may be a bit extreme for a minor nail biter.

Bad tasting nail polish is a simple solution that can help 'ween' you off of your nail biting

Overall nail biting is bad for the body and can be a nasty habit. Did you know a kiss is healthier then a handshake? Now imagine all those germs from that other person, or the keyboard you've been typing on, or that door knob you touch are under your nails.. waiting to enter you mouth via nail biting. Break the habit if you can, you wont regret it.

Why Im Here

I am Daisy Garibaldi, currently I'm taking a creative writing course. I've always wanted to get more into writing so this is a new and exciting experience for me. My topic is going to Psychology, well, more like to internal reasons to why people do the things they do. We all know that one person who can't stop clicking a pen in class, or biting their nails, or freaks out over a minor issue. I'm here to give you some info and insight on why these annoying habits are so hard for people to break. Enjoy!