All people are the same?

[Santtu]

Why is this a popular idea? I was discussing the recent school massacre with my co-worker, with her claiming everyone would like to get violent after being treated a certain way. I claimed otherwise and gave an example, with her refuting the idea - I'd just get violent some time later. Someone wouldn't feel violent at all? He would just be repressing his violent traits.

I tried to hint about different psychological behaviors, with someone getting depressed and the other person getting anxious over the same incident. She didn't listen to me long tho.

It's not an isolated incident. Why do people maintain the idea that one internal psychology fits all? It really doesn't. It doesn't mean that everyone's just an individual and there's no unifying factors, either.

I think this line of thinking might result from inadequate exposure to conflicting emotions. If someone always resolves their problems by eating blueberry pie, then hurrah, your problems are always resolved by eating blueberry pie, and that's the way things are.

[Members Only]

Internal psychology is a combination of nature and nurture. Sometimes, you get the wrong combination of nature mixed with nurture, which leads to an incident such as a school massacre.

Different combinations are going to produce different results. Not everybody has the same potential. There are so many variables involved internally, it would be ridiculous to assume one persons behavior, would automatically equal enough persons behavior, in a set of similar circumstances.

[Lymitra]

It depends. If you make a situation unique and specific enough, there would be no common responses at all. And if you do the opposite and generalize enough, then in some cases the one-size-fits-all psychology can actually be correct.

As for why people believe this, why wouldn't they? It's difficult to see outside of one's own prespective, and it takes an extraordinary person to overcome this bias.

[Jack Flak]

I do believe the vast majority of people could be driven to psychosis. Thankfully, few are.

[Members Only]

I do believe the vast majority of people could be driven to psychosis. Thankfully, few are.

I also believe this. People just have different thresholds.

[Kora]

Everybody's got his own break-point, and usually is about the same for everyone. It's just that some people have it in different levels.

[evan]

There are definitely psychological principals that hold across all humans. They're manifested quite differently, though, based on differing genetics and nurture.

Kind of a simple answer, but what more can you say?

[Little Linguist]

Why is this a popular idea? I was discussing the recent school massacre with my co-worker, with her claiming everyone would like to get violent after being treated a certain way. I claimed otherwise and gave an example, with her refuting the idea - I'd just get violent some time later. Someone wouldn't feel violent at all? He would just be repressing his violent traits.

I tried to hint about different psychological behaviors, with someone getting depressed and the other person getting anxious over the same incident. She didn't listen to me long tho.

It's not an isolated incident. Why do people maintain the idea that one internal psychology fits all? It really doesn't. It doesn't mean that everyone's just an individual and there's no unifying factors, either.

I think this line of thinking might result from inadequate exposure to conflicting emotions. If someone always resolves their problems by eating blueberry pie, then hurrah, your problems are always resolved by eating blueberry pie, and that's the way things are.

Eh, no idea. We are not all the same, not by a long shot, and it's a good thing too. I mean, shit, imagine if everyone were like *me*. :shock: We'd have no accountants, mathematicians or scientists. We'd have no janitors or housecleaners or office ladies. We'd have no psychologists or analysts. Eh, not to mention the fact that we'd have a bunch of crazy, emotionally intense folks running around that plan their lives for ten years but just can't seem to lift their plans off the ground. Eh, who needs a earth filled with people like that? You can only stand so many of us at once.

I mean, I'm cool beans, but only in small amounts (that's why I'm so short, hehehhe). :cool:

[burkeus]

Yes, as in "wherever you go there you are."

[Grayscale]

at some point, all matter is the same, so all people are the same in a limited number of ways, and past that--considering we have over 6.5 billion instances--branch out in almost every direction based on the variables.

[GZA]

I think that people liek to believe they are unique, but really they arn't at all. We are all people, we are all subject to human emotion and experience. There was a presentation at my school today from a guy who did charity work in Tanzania in eastern africa, and he said that the people in Tanzania were exactly like the people in Canada, and even at my high school (he used to go to my high school like ten years ago). That just about sums it up right there. Maybe they have different clothes, maybe they have a different accent or music style, and maybe they place more importance on community then materialistic wealth or whatever, but they are the same in any really important respect. As much as people, including myself soemtimes, don't seem to like to admit they may not be unique, they arn't, and the more I think about it the more I think that is pretty awesome...

[edcoaching]

We all have breaking points, true, but within the same crisis situation--be it divorce, illness, job loss, terrorism-- types are stressed by different factors. A few examples we found in interviews.

ENFPs crack when all options seem closed
INFJs crack when they realize they can't do it themselves
ESTPs crack when the present moment is nightmarish and they can't perceive it changing
ENFJs crack when a relationship is shattered

So perhaps all of us are capable of going postal, but the trigger will be different...