Dr. Gary Bell's Absurd Psychology

Although memories seem to be a solid, straightforward sum of who people are, strong evidence suggests that memories are actually quite complex, subject to change, and often unreliable. Memories can be reconstructed as people age and also as their worldview changes. They can falsely recall childhood events, and through effective suggestion, can even create new false memories. They can be tricked into remembering events that never happened, or change the details of things that really did happen. Tune in and learn how false memories and manipulation operates in our lives!

You may have a pretty good idea about what it is you’re attracted to: hair color, eye color, height, smell… Smell? Believe it or not, your subconscious has quite the strong opinion when it comes to finding others attractive. From the depths of the human brain, here are 10 fascinating facts about the psychology of attraction. Tune in and learn how attraction operates!

Stupidity is in all of us. However, the degrees of stupid varies. . We are influenced by various cognitive biases that we are not aware of. The music we are listening to influences our opinion of the wine we drink, the weight of the spoon influences how creamy we find the yoghurt and our moral assessment of strangers depends on what movie we have just watched. Tune in for a wild ride examine stupid and it can run parts of our lives!

Bipolar disorders, or manic-depressive illness, is a group of disorders characterized by the presence of pronounced high-energy phases known as manic episodes. Typically, unusual shifts in mood and energy manifest in increased activity levels and impair ability to function. The impairment created by bipolar disorder can be severe and can result in damaged relationships, poor job or school performance, and even suicide. Tune in a learn about this complex disorder!

The emotional bond that typically forms between infant and caregiver is the means by which the helpless infant gets primary needs met. It then becomes an engine of subsequent social, emotional, and cognitive development. The attachment experience can have an influence on the ability to form additional stable relationships. We will explore all that makes attachment and how what we emotionally attach to shapes who we are. Tune in and learn how attachment works!

Self-entitlement is when an individual perceives themselves as deserving of unearned privileges. These are the people who believe life owes them something; a reward, a measure of success, a particular standard of livinA sense of entitlement brings with it an uncompromising attitude. There is a lack of understanding of others’ needs and of certain social situations, accompanied by an expectation that you should be far more interested in their life than they are in yours. Narcissism is at the very heart of this trait; the over-exaggerated sense of self-importance accompanied by fantasies of power, beauty and brilliance. Compromises, that require one to meet others halfway, don’t exist in the world of the entitled. Everyone else is either competition – threatening their own success – or irrelevant. Tune in and learn about this every growing destructive trait and how to stop it!

For some people, persistent sexual desires, thoughts, and behavior can become problematic. Such individuals may become preoccupied with sexual fantasies and urges, and a subset will act on these impulses while feeling that they have no control over their actions repeatedly sending explicit texts and images, for example, or attempting to fondle others without consent. This pattern of behavior is often referred to as hypersexuality or sex addiction. There is wide debate over whether the problem stems from a lack of impulse control, a greater than average sex drive, some combination of the two, or a moral code that proscribes sexual activity. With no clear definition of sex addiction, or agreement on its validity as a diagnosis, it is impossible to say how many people are affected, but some literature reviews have estimated the prevalence as between 3 and 6 percent of adults. Tune in and learn more about this unofficial diagnosis

We are all despicable in various forms of despicableness. If we all could come to grips with that, than we understand that what makes us despicable are often triggered as coping or defense mechanisms that display our personal insecurities. The highest ranking mechanism is dishonesty, followed by cruelty, self centeredness, attention seeking, violent, mean and so much more. Tune in and learn about what emotion scars make us flawed and desperately fragile humans!

Truth tends to lead to successful action. In that much, truth has instrumental value. But truth also has intrinsic value. Given the choice between a life of limitless pleasure as a brain in a vat and a genuine human life along with all its pain and suffering, most people opt for the latter. We will explore the depths of truth and the value it brings to our lives. As hard as its is, the truth will set you free from the emotional turmoil of living in lies and secrets. Tune in and learn!

ESP has been defined as ‘anomalous processes of information or energy transfer, processes such as telepathy… that are currently unexplained in terms of known physical or biological mechanisms.' Magical thinking is defined as believing that one event happens as a result of another without a plausible link of causation. For example: I got up on the left side of the bed today therefore it will rain. The problem with this definition, however, is that exactly what constitutes a plausible link of causation can be difficult to pin down.. On the other hand, rejecting the use of any and all criteria with which to judge cause and effect leaves us vulnerable to believing that anything can cause anything—or even worse, that an effect can occur without a cause at all. Tune in and get a psychological perspective on these powerful influencers!