hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're going to learn about 12 secret laws of
human nature now let's begin number one natural mimes humans are what's called a mimetic species
what that means is we like to make things that look like other things we use our incredible
imaginations to create stories characters and objects that resemble the real world just look
at our most popular stories these tales of wizards and knights actually mimic real-life characters
face similar struggles they develop meaningful relationships and they chase their dreams just
like we do except that their world comes with a twist their world has some impossible spin like
magic or dragons that grabs our attention because we as humans like to wonder how these fun ideas
could change our lives oh but that's not all the journal perspectives on psychological science
explains that humans have a desire for simulation we use fiction to temporarily immerse ourselves in
other worlds and that's why these worlds resemble our own they're familiar enough to relate to but
different enough to engage our imaginations number two rejecting the unfamiliar we like things that
stem from the real world but when it gets too weird we start pulling away that's one big reason
why humans struggle so much with abstraction it's confusing it's unrecognizable we have a hard time
connecting to it because it doesn't remind us of the real world in any way you see humans need that
familiarity in order to feel interested to project ourselves into that new environment if it's too
bizarre or abstract well most people will just stop caring or reject it completely number three
emotional volatility everyone's experienced a moment of uncontrollable emotion maybe a sad story
drove you to tears or a bitter disappointment set off your temper people are capable of
more emotions than any other living thing on the planet many animals feel happy many animals feel
sad but we feel hundreds of emotions everywhere in between that's why robert plutchik a professor at
the albert einstein School of Medicine pioneered the wheel of emotions way back in nineteen eighty
plus Weill lays out eight different emotional pathways each one captures a specific avenue of
human emotion showing how something subtle can develop into something more extreme or complex
okay let's try an example imagine someone keeps texting during a movie you're trying to watch
the movie but obviously you can't focus every two seconds their phone keeps dinging with new
messages chances are you're starting to feel a negative emotion called annoyance but what
happens if that person keeps texting you're going to get more and more annoyed right well eventually
annoyance turns into anger when you're angry you can't focus on the movie at all anymore and all
you can think about is that irritating person so your anger motivates you to take action you lean
over and ask them to stop texting that they brush you off and they keep pulling out their phone now
obviously this doesn't do anything to relieve your anger an experience like this will push
you over the edge into one of Plex emotional extremes and just like that anger transforms
into all-encompassing rage and that makes you do something you'll later regret you stand up you
yell across the theater and you ruin the movie for everyone it seemed like a good idea in the
moment but you end up feeling embarrassed after your rage goes away that's how flaring emotions
work they overwhelm us with one incredible feeling and those few moments logic and reason fade into
the background now sometimes that's good some extremes motivate us to do amazing things but
other extremes get us in trouble and send us down the wrong path emotional extremes can be both a
blessing and a curse but one thing is for sure they're a fundamental part of human nature number
four change is possible do people really change the popular answer is usually no people never
really leave their traits and bad habits behind but that's not actually true your personality
much like the structure of your brain can change over time it's a very slow process and it takes
a lot of work but new environments lessons and experiences can alter the shape of your
personality so don't give up on yourself if you're stuck in a rut or if you don't like something
about your personality change is a fundamental part of human nature so if you care enough about
something there's always room for improvement number five existing in harmony the human body
wants to feel balanced there's actually a word for this it's called homeostasis homeostasis is the
physical and chemical process of equalizing your body it's the reason why your temperature sits at
an even 98.6 degrees when you're cold your body shivers to warm you up when you're hot your body
sweats to cool you down because it always wants to find that state of equilibrium and human nature is
no different we lean toward extremes but our minds function best in moderation you can't for example
spend all day socializing or working or hitting the gym those extremes are just not good for you
you need to take care of yourself physically socially and psychologically just like your
body finds homeostasis you should always look for balance in your life number six unfair comparisons
humans like to compare themselves to other humans but when we make comparisons it's not always fair
in fact most of us compare ourselves to people we know we're better than not because we actually
want to learn something but because we want to feel better about ourselves social comparisons
are supposed to be a tool for motivation but instead we use them to boost our own egos so if
you find yourself making comparisons on social media hey don't worry you're not the only one
number seven humiliation begins in word we've all felt embarrassed before maybe you said something
stupid or tripped over your own feet after it happens your face gets red your stomach turns
and you feel like the whole room is staring at you but after a few minutes it goes away and you and
your friends can look back and laugh humiliation on the other hand is something deeper and more
powerful it sticks around long after it happens and it changes the way you interact with the world
maybe you've seen someone humiliate another person and make them feel terrible about themselves well
the truth is humiliation creates humiliation when someone goes out of their way to attack
another person it's because they feel shame toward themselves and that emotional pain makes them lash
out it's painful and it's destructive but it's how the human brain defends itself number eight
humans are empathic humans may be animals but that doesn't mean we're naturally aggressive or selfish
we're not designed to hurt or sabotage other people it's actually the opposite a study from
the Journal of social cognitive and affective neuroscience researched whether or not humans
are naturally empathetic is it in our nature to sympathise with other people or are we only
looking out for ourselves hmm turns out humans are empathetic by nature our brains are programmed
to protect other people but under one condition it has to be someone we know or care about most
people distance themselves from strangers but if it's someone we're connected to the human brain
springs into action number 9 living in circles we identify patterns in everything we build them into
our houses we see them in the trees but humans don't just find patterns we live inside them by
nature humans are cyclical which means we tend to do the same things over and over you've probably
heard the phrase history always repeats itself and it's true humans come up with the same ideas we
try the same strategies and make the same mistakes over and over again number 10 no control makes
us crazy when you don't have control over your life how does it make you feel probably confused
frustrated and a little bit frantic people like to brag about how relaxed or laid-back they are but
control is a part of human nature we want to know what's going on in our lives we want to feel like
we're in the driver's seat we because when were not it messes with our heads it motivates us to do
crazy things it makes us overthink overcompensate and overreact just to regain a little bit of
control in our lives so don't be afraid to step back and ask yourself why am I doing this do I
actually believe it or am I just looking for some sense of control number eleven the law of
possession possession comes naturally to us we own things for all kinds of reasons from companionship
to envy but one in particular stands out above the rest we want to own things because we like
to stand out we want things that are exclusive to us things that separate us from the rest of
the world it might be a shirt a phone or a random trinket sitting on your shelf but those items make
you unique and that uniqueness well it makes you special number 12 fear is universal everyone is
scared of something whether it's spiders failure or public speaking fear is a universal struggle
it's ingrained within our nature to be afraid of things in fact we have a whole section of our
nervous system dedicated to our fears but fear and avoidance are very different things that's
why some people live like they're not scared of anything even though they have fears just
like everybody else fear makes you human but it doesn't have to hold you back hey thank you
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