Theory of Mind

Understanding another person’s thoughts and emotions is an important trait to acquire as we age. It makes a person more likable and pleasant to be around. It can help in so many aspects of life, such as building and maintaining relationships or even getting a job. This characteristic is vital for the profession many of us are choosing. Working in healthcare requires constant interaction with the public. Interacting with all different walks of life and being able to understand and build relationships with those people is a necessary skill. An article by Psychology Today discusses research that associates leadership and psychopathic personalities. A psychopath is someone who lacks empathy and is very egocentric, but they are extremely skilled at reading people and understanding a person’s perspective.  This type of person is often seen in leadership roles and higher management in companies according to the article. Having both an ability to understand someone and sympathize with them may put a person at a disadvantage for higher end leadership positions when competing with someone with the same ability but lacks compassion for others.  

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-the-manager/201304/the-disturbing-link-between-psychopathy-and-leadership

Empathy

Having both empathy and understanding is vital in many ways and there are multiple social benefits to having the ability to see things from different perspectives. Children eventually develop this sense of empathy and compassion as a way to function normally in society.  The “theory of mind” is defined as the ability to attribute mental states. When children reach this stage, they can comprehend things like others’ emotions. They can comprehend that there are things that can go unseen by others, unheard by others, and unknown by others. They then obtain the ability to process falsities and learn that they can lie or lead others to believe something different. Recognizing human emotions and being able to understand them is critical to develop healthy relationships. For adults, empathy and understanding are even more crucial in our everyday lives. Being able to read others’ emotions and feelings and just being sentient is an incredibly useful skill in any field. There are so many different kinds of people and cultures in this world that have all different thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and perspectives. The risks of not having the skills of reading emotions can also put one’s ability to connect with people at risk as well. 

It's a Good Thing

     The ability to understand the perspectives, values, beliefs, and mindsets of other people is a very important part of being an adult. People encounter so many different ways of life throughout a lifetime and it would be easy to miss the opportunities they present if they are incapable of understanding differences. Having an open mind gives people the chance to learn and grow as a citizen, an employee, and a person. It also allows them to create with relationships with all kinds of people, only benefitting themselves.

     Whether people choose not to or are incapable of respecting the fact that people have perspectives can cause them to receive a lot of negative backlash, especially in this day in age. People think they are close-minded, rude, and it may negatively affect their relationships with other people. It hints that they are not willing to see through the eyes of their peers, coworkers, and family as well as making it seem as if they aren’t not willing to work on themselves. An open-mind is one of the best things a person can have.

Theory of Mind

Being able to understand the "theory of mind" is necessary to function in all social interactions. The "theory of mind" is being able to understand that others have unique, independent thoughts. Most young children are not able to understand this concept. These children are not able to understand that other people don't know information that they know.  For example, if the child breaks a rule without the knowledge of their parents, they don't understand their parents wouldn't know about it. Understanding the "theory of mind" is extremely important. It allows people to understand that other people have their own beliefs, thoughts, and perspectives. This directly relates to empathy, which is understanding the feelings and thoughts of another person by imaging their perspective, or placing yourself in their shoes. Empathy is one of the most important skills required to have positive social interactions. Without empathy or the understanding of unique thought, an individual would not be able to have a normal social life. They would most likely have very poor social skills and not be able to emotionally connect with anyone.

The Theory of Mind

Understanding that other people have their own mind, feelings, perceptions, and beliefs may be one of the most important skills a person can possess. It is impossible to live in today's society and never interact with other people. Often the people who are the most successful socially are those with the most understanding of other people's feelings and beliefs. Understanding why someone lies to you or harms you is a lot easier when you can see the situation from their perspective. You may even find that the issues you have with other people stem from a lack of understanding from one side, the other, or both. Alternatively, I would argue that it is important to understand other people's thoughts, ideas and beliefs to protect yourself. Just because you a trustworthy person does not make everyone trustworthy. You risk other people exploiting you if you blindly assume that everyone is the same and thinks the same way as you.

Put yourself in others shoes

As an adult, having the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes is very important.  Understanding other perspectives or attitudes of others toward something can help you not only understand the reason they take that specific stand, but have good conversation about a given topic. Their perspective might bring forward new ideas or a better way at tackling a given issue. That doesn’t mean, however, that you have to be so empathetic that you lose your own beliefs and perspectives. In most cases, solutions to problems are a collaborative effort.  At the end, you may agree to disagree on a certain topic, but understanding where they are coming from helps and can  diffuse difficult situations.  Just be open to others perspectives-you might learn a thing or two.   

Week of March 25th

As adults, I think that it is very important to have the ability to understand others thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and perspectives. There are multiple advantages to having this ability to understand others. One example would be, if a person were to put them-self in another person's perspective or view of things, they might fully understand thats person's views. Along with this, being able to understand another person's views might allow them to broaden their views and improve them. If adults don't try to allow their views to broaden, I think that it could make them very selfish. I also think that if adults don't have this ability to understand others, they could have a harder time making connections with people.

Empathy

In order to be successful in modern-day society, it is critical that an individual has acquired the skills of empathy. Empathy is the ability to place oneself in another’s shoes to comprehend what that person might be feeling or attempting to overcome personal conflict. Benefits of having compassion make individuals more likable to others; give a little, get a little. An individual is more likely to adapt to change successfully. Never acquiring this ability as an adult would impact a person socially as others perceive them as self-absorbed, selfish, narcissistic, and/or having a mental health problem. Lacking empathy is often a stereotype symptom of psychopathic/sociopathic disorders. Overall, I feel that having such skills is essential for adults to have learned from childhood/adolescence.   

Tolerance, Acceptance, and Compassion

Learning that our minds are separate and individual cross culturally and within our own communities is imperative to developing healthy relationships. Healthy relationships that allow for tolerance and compassion can only create growth and benefit humanity. Once theory of mind is understood. Theory of mind opens the doors of acceptance and tolerance. By using deliberate inclusive action that assists those without knowledge or with experience of negligible thoughts/actions, etc. seems, in my opinion, to be a forerunner to harmony. We have had and continue to have unjustifiable hate, anger, and deception. All of which lead to larger issues such as war and genocide. Much of what we have been learning is being implemented in various ways in schools but I think we could take it further and introduce these concepts more directly to our youth and parents. Empathy training is a cool thing and will benefit the entire human race for future generations. Based on the responses from the class, it seems like it already is!

Week of March 25th

It is important for children to have understanding of others’ feelings and thoughts, but it is also immensely important for adults to have the same understanding of others.  Why is it important for adults to have an understanding for others’ thoughts, beliefs, perspectives, and attitudes?  We, as humans, have different view-points on everything in this world, no matter the subject or focus.  Adults need to understand others’ view-points and realize that not everyone has the same views as you, and you need to accept others’ input on things. Benefits of having these skills might be that you are able to understand and learn more from others if you are open to hearing their view-points and their side of something.  A risk of not having this quality as an adult may possibly cause you to have problems with others, especially if you aren’t open to hearing their side of the argument or their beliefs and attitudes towards something.

Week of March 25th Post

As an adult, it is very important to be able to understand others thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and perspectives.  In everyday life, we are reading peoples thoughts all the time.  Knowing what another person is thinking helps oneself makes sense of another persons behavior.  Although, it is easy to misread what a person is thinking.  This is where conflicts happen due to just a simple misunderstanding.  "Mind-reading" (understanding a persons thoughts) is a key social skill.  Being able to except other people's beliefs is huge as an adult.  In the job field, adults are constantly working with other adults and telling each other what they think would work best in whatever work field they are in.  In able to work well with each other, one another will need to except their beliefs even when they may or may not believe the same thing.  If adults didn't understand each others beliefs, heads would always clash and everyday life would be negetive. It is key to be able to cooperate well and efficiently in the work field and everyday life.  The same goes for attitudes and perspectives.  Having good social skills requires to have good understandings of other peoples thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and perspectives.

Week 11

When becoming a parent, you think that everything you do your child may not watch and take it in, or even care a lot of the time because they really don't know what is going on. Well, in the first experiment, when the mom is interacting and playing with the child, she is happy and loves it. When the mom stops and doesn't respond to her, the child gets frustrated and starts to cry. that shows how much your interaction with your child can change their moods and how happy it can make them. in the second video, the baby always is looking to the parent when they are unsure of what to do. the parent could give the wrong facial expression and the kid will go tumbling down, or they can give the right one and not get hurt. I think that the purpose of the videos is to show how important interaction is with your child and to know that they look at you for an answer when they don't know what is right or wrong and it doesn't have to be words, it can be actions or just face expressions as shown in the videos.

Prompt for the week of March 25th

In class we are talking a lot about having a "theory of mind." A child's ability to take the perspectives of others, discern when folks don't know things, or even the concept of telling a lie, all depend on knowing that others have their own unique thoughts. But what about adults? How important is it to understand others' thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and perspectives? Are there benefits for having these skills? What are there risks for not having them? What do you think?

Monkey see, monkey do

Infants have a keen social grasp on their interactions with parents and caregivers. They can detect emotion through facial features and learn to trust or mistrust based on their caregivers smallest facial expression. 

Your child is learning to express bias based on simple facial expressions or lack there of. Be aware of your own reactions to certain situations and/or people. Your child will be aware and it will determine how they respond in the future.