Conformity : How do we rate ourselves??

Like lemmings we follow the leader....

Right from childhood onwards, we are primed to follow. Why, it make survival easier. Picture this : you are a stone age man trying to get your tribe out of the way of a sabre tooth tiger, would you have someone arguing with you at that time? This primal instinct to follow anyone who shouts with authority remains with us.

Recently we had a very interesting lecture where we were made aware that we all are not immune to blindly following authority. Do most people who go around subjugating the minority and running roughshod over others' rights pause to think what they are doing?

Our neighbouring country has gone through some interesting political turmoil, Sami Vellu has gone public stating that 'in hindsight mindlessly destroying Hindu temples was a bad idea and that cost the party seats.' Straits Times Tuesday 15th April.

How do we fight it, with humour. There are some youtube videos that you might enjoy.

Your comments appreciated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQkMtd0wWOc

Click on the Youtube below and enjoy the funny song. Do you know why did the China man become the Ali-Baba man? Because of the rule of Bumiputra in Malaysia, some Chinese businessmen partner his Malay friends and appoint them as directors of the company in order to be qualified for business contracts. Damn good !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQkMtd0wWOc

Congnitive Dissonance at JCUS**High fees vs satisfaction explored

Cognitive Dissonance : Festinger's contribution to Social Psychology.

There are many of us who are in tertiary education for various reasons. JCUS has three different schools offering courses and ofcourse they do not come cheap. Many of us have hefty student loans and some of the mature students are on no-pay leave or have given up their jobs to persue their degrees. According to Festinger, if we pay a higher the price for something, and feel it is not worthwhile we will feel a strong dissonance. We will strongly support our decision and claim that our effort was worth it.

Now for the second part of the theory. Some of us have willingly undergone the pain and the effort to study, other lucky ones have had their fees paid for by their parents or employers. Not too many of us at psychology but others at the business school and IT have left their countries and families and spend a lot more interms of effort and money. If one were to run an advertising campaign for JCUS, which group of student is most likely to be a positive proponent of the school?

1. The group that is comprisied students whose fees have been paid for by their parents/ employers.
2. Local students who pay for their own fees and have had some form of tertiary education.
3. Overseas students who end up shelling the maximum amount which is living expenses in a foreign land and higher school fees.

I would take group number 1 as my advertising group. Why....going through an accelerated course is not easy. If you want to justify the pain, you are more likely to say that you finished the course because you liked it.

Or would it be group number three which is reflected in the JCU website....http://www.jcu.edu.sg/

Your comments would be appreciated.

Hindsight Bias

My better half was in splits when he saw the title of this weeks blog. After 18 years of living with someone gifted with hindsight bias, he feels that he should be the one qualified to write on the topic.

The house mortgage, the car, even the holiday souvenirs that we buy have the been dissected with the expertise of hindsight bias. I found my twin soul in my best friend who was here on a visit from Sydney. YES birds of a feather flock together!

The recent article on the subprime crisis in the US has all the pundits declaring that this is what they were waiting for. Yes they knew it all along that the Bush government would mess things up in Iraq and that there would be all this problem.

Let us see if Obama wins?

Closer home, there are many Singaporeans who have cashed in on the recent en-bloc sales. Now the ones who were so hasty in signing up are regretting and there are newspaper reports on rising rents and how the expat population will give Singapore a miss if this continues. Now where were these pundits when the en-bloc fever was on in full swing??

15 year old raped murdered. Who's to blame??

A file photo of the British girl Scarlett Keeling who was allegedly drugged, raped and murdered in Goa. (PTI).

The Indian Press has laid the blame on the mother of Scarlett Keeling who left her minor daughter in the care of a tour guide. The battered and bruised body of the 15 year old was found washed up on one of Goa's beaches.

We recently had a tutorial where we were supposed to pass judgements on a hypothetical situation.

Here is a real one. A 15 year old from Britain, one of several children, comes down to Goa one of India's famous coastal states. Some parts of Goa were made famous by the 'hippie culture' and easy drugs.

Mother left the girl in Goa and travelled to the next state. The girls wasfound dead, police declared it to be a case of drowning. Another autopsy was done and numerous bruises were found.

Who is to blame .

1. The single mother on welfare who apparently 'condoned' her daughter's promiscuous lifestyle.

2. The notoriously corrupt police force that covered up the case.

3. Media which blames 'Lawless India' or 'Degenerate Western values' depending on the country of origin.http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/two-charged-with-teen-murder-in-goa/2008/03/14/1205126148599.html

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Fionas_claim_of_good_life_back_home_a_lie/articleshow/2863507.cms

4. 15 year old Scarlett who hated the tour guide but apparently slept with him in exchange of food and shelter....

5. The numerous men who used and abused a young girl who was hooked on to drugs.

The final verdict by the Indian police, it does not matter if the girl consented to sex, it is still considered 'statutory rape' of a minor by law and 3 men have been arrested. But they still maintain she died of an overdose and drowning.

Well whoever is to blame, a young life was laid waste. Do we learn from this ...Stay away from beaches at night, be a responsible mother, don't do drugs........

Cricket : India Vs Australia

Andrew Symonds

Harbajan Singh

Selective Information Processing.

The recent matches have led to a flury of media coverage. The Indian media reporting a bias and Aussies accusing the Indian side of

'racism'. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i9OQ6MJBTDkBkNWbstcQRjX52bEg. Andrew Symonds from the Australia team.

For more on the controversial cricketer Harbajan Singh view : http://www.groundreport.com/Health_and_Science/Harbajan-Singh-is-likely-to-be-suspended-for-ten-I

There are also reports about Aussie teams hostility by ex Kiwi Captain: http://www.cricket365.com/story/0,18305,6575_3542067,00.html

There are always two side to a story. And in this story, it is not clear if Aussies were being Bully Boys or the Indian side badly behaved.

Hostile Media phenomenon comes to play here. We will read what we want to read, rest we dismiss as Racism, Bias, Jealousy...etc etc.