Responses 1-3

Response 1: Graphology 

    Graphology is the use of handwriting to determine the personality and character of a person. I can not say that I have heard of graphology before this lecture but it is something I find very interesting but it doesn’t make much sense to me. To judge someone by their handwriting may not give a person accurate information on their character and personality, it can simply be a coincidence. Like the example in the video, If a company is trying to hire someone and they see “bad traits” in their handwriting, so they automatically don’t hire them. How do they not know if what they found was not accurate? Or someone’s handwriting may differ depending on what they are doing or how much time they have to write something down. If you are making a quick note of something your handwriting may be sloppy but if you are writing an essay to hand in to your teacher it may be written more neatly. As mentioned on the last slide graphology is one of the third least effective predictors when compared to other methods. 

Response 2: UFO abductions 

    UFO abductions have been something that had been debated greatly for years. Do we believe these people or are they making stories up? In the first video with Travis Walten he describes his experience of being abducted one night after working with some co-workers. He describes the encounter in detail but I don’t find it to be true and they could have easily been false recollection or just some men looking to be on the news. Like the lecture said, we recall events in a way that makes sense. These stories seem far fetched and are always super general and similar. 

Response 3: Mass delusions & hysteria 

    Mass delusions and hysteria can cause quite the commotion in the world. For example, the fictional radio show about the martian landing caused fear among the listeners but not a widespread panic. We can relate these mass delusions and panic to today with the coronavirus pandemic. Though it is under better control now, when it was first announced that we may be put on quarantine people rushed to the stores and cleared out shelves and shelves of grocery stores. This shows that any kind of announcement can cause paranoid people to do things that are not necessary. Also, the salem witch trials is a great example of mass paranoia. Like mentioned in the lecture, people's paranoia went so far as to killing two dogs because they were believed to have powers. Most often it is found that there is no need for mass panic and if everyone remains calm it will be fine.