Upgoer 5!
This kept popping up on my f-list, so: some personality theory in the 1000 most common words in the English language. (Not counting theorist's names, which may be cheating, but whatever.)
Mischel's idea about how thinking and the world make people who they are says that people are the way they are not just because of the way they are inside, but that they change themselves as an answer to the situations they find themselves in. So a person may not always be the same way their whole life or even the whole day, but they will probably be the same in the same situation.
Like, a guy might be scared around other people, but talk a lot at home. So he's not just the way he is because he is or because the situation is the way it is, but because of both, and because of how both join together. It's obvious that the idea that we can understand people by how they act is part of what gave Mischel his idea. BF Skinner said that all the things people do, they do because of the world around them. Rather than saying that people are just the way they are, Mischel also says that the world around people causes them to do things, and that the things a person does change when the situation changes because the situation is changing.
But Mischel doesn't say that the way people are or the way people act is only because of the world around them. Even though people act in different ways in different situations, they do it in ways that can be expected before they do it. Like, that guy I talked about before isn't scared around other people just because other people scare everyone. Lots of people aren't scared by other people. He's able to be scared and being around other people brings that out in him.
This idea is more like Pinker's and Wilson's ideas. They think that all people are the way they are just because they are, and because of the ways humans changed over a very long time. Pinker says that we should think of human minds - all human minds - as things that notice other things, like situations, or the world around them, think through it, and then put out thoughts, things like anger and hope and fear, answers, and other things.
Mischel's idea that people change in expected ways can be seen as kind of the same thing. The guy's mind understands other people as a thing that makes him scared, so he feels scared and remembers to feel scared the next time he's around people. But Pinker's idea of the human mind as a group of different parts that each are ready to deal with different things doesn't explain what understands the things that the parts put out. Like, the part that understands how things look says that the round white thing in the sky isn't bigger than my head, but I know it is much bigger. The idea that our minds are computers doesn't explain who "I" is.
The idea that thinking and stuff around us make us who we are explains not just that we act in different ways at different times, but the way we have a sense of always being the same person, having a "self." Since it doesn't explain everything as us being computers, just some things, the idea doesn't have to be all one thing or the other. Wilson, though, says that humans act the way we do because of the things passed down from the people who lived a long time before us. Like, being nice and being mean let those people live long enough to have children, which meant that people kept being nice and mean.
Mischel does think that the things we get from our parents and their parents and so on are important (that one guy that's always been scared around other people is that way because of things his parents gave him), but he doesn't think it's as important as Wilson does. Being scared of other people might have let someone live long enough to have children at some point, but the guy's way of being scared happens in a different way that probably doesn't help him have children and may not be like other people who are scared of other people, which means the situation and the world plays a part in how it works.
So Mischel's idea isn't just about how people act or what's in our blood, but puts them together while thinking about the idea of our minds as computers, too, which explains the stuff that the how-people-act and what's-in-our-blood ideas can't.
(You know, I feel like bits of my brain are frying right now, but I also think this would be an extremely useful exercise for a whole lot of academics. Judith Butler in Up-Goer-5-ese would be the best assignment ever.)
Mischel's idea about how thinking and the world make people who they are says that people are the way they are not just because of the way they are inside, but that they change themselves as an answer to the situations they find themselves in. So a person may not always be the same way their whole life or even the whole day, but they will probably be the same in the same situation.
Like, a guy might be scared around other people, but talk a lot at home. So he's not just the way he is because he is or because the situation is the way it is, but because of both, and because of how both join together. It's obvious that the idea that we can understand people by how they act is part of what gave Mischel his idea. BF Skinner said that all the things people do, they do because of the world around them. Rather than saying that people are just the way they are, Mischel also says that the world around people causes them to do things, and that the things a person does change when the situation changes because the situation is changing.
But Mischel doesn't say that the way people are or the way people act is only because of the world around them. Even though people act in different ways in different situations, they do it in ways that can be expected before they do it. Like, that guy I talked about before isn't scared around other people just because other people scare everyone. Lots of people aren't scared by other people. He's able to be scared and being around other people brings that out in him.
This idea is more like Pinker's and Wilson's ideas. They think that all people are the way they are just because they are, and because of the ways humans changed over a very long time. Pinker says that we should think of human minds - all human minds - as things that notice other things, like situations, or the world around them, think through it, and then put out thoughts, things like anger and hope and fear, answers, and other things.
Mischel's idea that people change in expected ways can be seen as kind of the same thing. The guy's mind understands other people as a thing that makes him scared, so he feels scared and remembers to feel scared the next time he's around people. But Pinker's idea of the human mind as a group of different parts that each are ready to deal with different things doesn't explain what understands the things that the parts put out. Like, the part that understands how things look says that the round white thing in the sky isn't bigger than my head, but I know it is much bigger. The idea that our minds are computers doesn't explain who "I" is.
The idea that thinking and stuff around us make us who we are explains not just that we act in different ways at different times, but the way we have a sense of always being the same person, having a "self." Since it doesn't explain everything as us being computers, just some things, the idea doesn't have to be all one thing or the other. Wilson, though, says that humans act the way we do because of the things passed down from the people who lived a long time before us. Like, being nice and being mean let those people live long enough to have children, which meant that people kept being nice and mean.
Mischel does think that the things we get from our parents and their parents and so on are important (that one guy that's always been scared around other people is that way because of things his parents gave him), but he doesn't think it's as important as Wilson does. Being scared of other people might have let someone live long enough to have children at some point, but the guy's way of being scared happens in a different way that probably doesn't help him have children and may not be like other people who are scared of other people, which means the situation and the world plays a part in how it works.
So Mischel's idea isn't just about how people act or what's in our blood, but puts them together while thinking about the idea of our minds as computers, too, which explains the stuff that the how-people-act and what's-in-our-blood ideas can't.
(You know, I feel like bits of my brain are frying right now, but I also think this would be an extremely useful exercise for a whole lot of academics. Judith Butler in Up-Goer-5-ese would be the best assignment ever.)