Roof Top Psychology

In 1978 over 900 people died in a single event led by Rev Jim Jones.  Among the dead were over 200 children! Have you ever heard the expression "Drink the Kool Aid"? When we understand where something came from, we can have a better appreciation of what it means.  When the word "cult" is said does religion always come to mind? Surely this can't be a good thing?  Are there things happening in today's world that you yourself are drinking the kool aid? This was the most American civilian loss of life in one event in American history until September 11,2001.  Just stop to think about the impact the twin towers falling had on not just not America, but the world and this massacre has only been topped by this one event. That is staggering which seems to give credence that we should understand where the expression "Drink the Kool Aid" comes from!

Are there still marketing campaigns still today as well crafted as the Pet Rock? A Man by the name of Gary Dahl came up with the idea of the Pet Rock while sitting in a bar listening to his friends complain about their pets.  He crafted a 32 page manual for this pet rock as well the perfect pitch in why you need to buy one.  He sold the Pet Rock on the idea that it solved all the problems with other pets. No need to feed,walk,groom, pick up after it, wouldn't tear anything up and no vet bills!  What could you ask for out of a new pet? And so while he bought the rocks hi,slf for a penny, within 6 months he became a millionaire. Well played sir! Are you still buying Pet Rocks today?

    Have you ever been to a garage sale and thought "why does this person have this junk priced so high?"  We dive into that very question and understand the psychology behind what's called the endowment effect.  When we go to buy something we always want it at the cheapest possible price, on the contrary when we sell something we want the most amount for it.  Is it just greed to want more money for something than you yourself paid less for?  Let's discuss in more detail the endowment effect and how you may come to the understanding of why we hold personal items at such high value. 

     I have never heard anyone as a child say when i grow up i want to go to prison.  The study funded by the office of naval research in 1971 was designed to represent the relationship between prison guard and prisoners.  The study was to analyse if regular people put into a position of authority such as a prison guard find themselves acting out the worst of humanity.  The study followed up with the same concept as the milgram experiment done in previous years to determine the degree of which humans would go past their own moral values.  Both were performed to try to understand what went on during the nazi regime and how things got so bad? Could regular people at any time find themselves in the same position in the future?

     Is it possible to live in a world without evil? The easy response is no,but why? Is evil just lurking around every corner waiting for the next opportunity for destruction? Well, only if a human is there. What do i mean?  Is the only way that evil exists is because humans manifest it out of potential?  Why can you go out with friends for dinner and bad things not "just happen?"  What would a world be like without evil?  The suffering from evil starts off with things like white lies, then progress to the most heinous things we can imagine.  Why do we continue unlocking the doors of evil even though we know right from wrong? 

     Can you really be honest with yourself?  I'm not accusing you of not trying, we all have this same inability to be transparent with ourselves.   The mind and our consciousness are like 2 snakes twirling together in the dark.  Our mind throws out uncontrollable thoughts while our consciousness tries to decipher the message in real time.  Why is it that we can do our very best to do the right thing and still be deceived by our own thoughts leading us to much pain and suffering in the world? Don't stop trying to do the right thing, but maybe keep people in your life that you can really trust to give you an honest opinion on how your actions are being externally perceived? Furthermore when they do, don't take it personal and judgmental but as a gesture of caring and love for you.

     You probably remember the childhood story of Pinocchio.  The premise of everytime he tells a lie his nose grows!  What if this were the case for all humans?  Would this lead the human race to be more wise?  Would every word spoke be of such importance that we would all listen intently?  Would you want a grace period to change who you are before the very people in your life learn who you really are?  Can we all agree that leaders such as politicians, teachers, coach's, parents, and friends would be respected far more through the inability to lie?  What kind of world or societies would we have if we couldn't tell a lie?

    When we go into battle, whether that be war or your Sunday afternoon football game do we not prepare for that particular opponent? When someone asks you tell me something about yourself, do you list any negative qualities?  When life is going well and in your favor how hard is it to be a "good" person?  Today I challenge you to strip away the thought that your an angel and analyse the devil within.  By also studying ourselves with much meditation and thought we can prepare just like that Sunday afternoon game to become victorious!   If you understand when the devil acts out his wishes through your actions we can then devise a plan to stop him before he hurts you or someone you love!  Don't let evil prevail in those stressful moments that maximize your will power to stay in control! Let's get serious about what makes you, you!

     Did you know that you have 3 ego states?  If you have found yourself puzzled at the first question you will find yourself asking "what are they?"  Lucky for you we dive into this very question!  You can have answers to the questions like "why do i act the way i act?" Can i have a better relationship with my spouse, parents,friends or kids by understanding the ego states? Yes! Yes you can increase the quality of those relationships.  Do you feel like one or both of you are acting like kids in the middle of a marital fight? In this episode the Socratic Method is also revealed and how to best use it. By the end you can answer the question of which ego state do you act upon most in your life?

     What studies have happened at universities that would shock you to know about?  Would it surprise you to know that individuals have been asked to shock another person to death in the name of psychology? Do you think social conformity is a real thing?  Have you been influenced by design either by the news or social media to conform to "new social norms?"  Are you going to be as astonished as I was to learn that a study of rats on the premise of how influential "hope" can be would lead to them swimming for 60 hours straight!  Can we learn something from rats to better understand how children play? Take a moment to listen so you can verify just how many of these experiments you yourself partake in everyday!