I recently read an online article that purported the ability to "hack" one's mind. I went into the article very skeptically. The author tried to claim that with simple mind tricks, a person could "...change just about anything about... [themselves]". At first I assumed the article was merely popular psychology and wouldn't contain any true science, but much of what was discussed was at least at its core based upon real psychological science.
What I have to say about this article is that they make some extraordinary claims with the science. The only real "techniques" that the article discussed for changing your mind was through simple tricks like word association and emotion mimicking. In discussion we talked somewhat about both of these little psychology mind tricks, so I know some of the science behind them, and I just find it hard to believe that they could be extrapolated to the extent that this article states.
It's a classic popular psychology article. What surprised me was the links to two legitimate sources, both academic articles on the Yale website. Along with that it linked to two less legitimate sources, Wikipedia articles. Together these sources by no means substantiated their claims, and I feel as though the author included them mostly as a way to gain credibility.
In the end I feel as though the article is not completely without merit, but like most other self-help articles its entertainment value is worth more than its educational value.
Leave a comment