Human Behaviour - Abhishek Chakraborty

The Perks of Being Vulnerable

Contrary to its literal meaning, vulnerability is not a weakness. As we shall learn, vulnerability is actually about confronting our deepest fears so that we can be honest with ourselves and, by extension, others.

The Selfish Reason Behind Our Helpful Nature

We have an inbuilt habit to help those in need. While it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that human beings are good in spirit and hence they help out, it wouldn’t be as much interesting to understand why we really help others (as a species) and how it actually benefits us (as an individual).

The Politics of Victimhood

The instinct to think like a herd has been prevalent in human beings since prehistoric times. Even a smalltime politician knows that if they can tap into this sentiment, they would become massively popular within the group.

Strong Opinions Weakly Held

This is a great principle to move forward despite uncertainty. But the problem arises when bad agents in a group abuse it and turn strong opinions weakly held into strong opinions assumed to be true until you prove otherwise.

Bullshitting: How to Handle, Bypass, and Ignore this Art and its Practitioners

Some people are prone to running their mouth, saying things without an iota of concern about its truth or falsehood because their goal isn’t really to communicate information. Their whole point is just to have something to say.

Psycho-Logic: Why too Much Logic Deters Magic

Human beings aren’t machines that follow a simple logic. The same thinking used for designing a car cannot be used for designing a society. We are a complex system where the rules change according to context. And we follow a much more evolved form of logic called psycho-logic.

Purposeful Listening: The Art of Listening More than What’s Said

All of us want to be heard, but nobody wants to listen. Really listen. That’s why spouses fight, friendships fall apart, and employees leave companies. But if you wish to be a good partner, a good friend, a good manager, learning how to listen with purpose is indispensable.

Societal Mass: Why Harmful Things Stay On

Despite being absolved of all responsibility, absinthe was outlawed and remains unobtainable in many liquor stores, whereas lead, known to be poisonous for over 2000 years is still being readily used. Why?