social psychology

"I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?" --Philip Zimbardo

What dictates human behavior? Everything we do is motivated by something... some past experience, association, influence. Why do we do the things we do? Our social environments play such an extreme influential role... just check out the Milgram Experiment or Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment, its fucking scary.

Last year I did a social psychology elective. It was absolutely the most mind-blowing subject I think I've ever taken. It wasn't difficult... it's the things we all already kinda know, but just to be able to become aware of and make sense of these things was an incredible experience. It had such an impact on me I was seriously considering switching Fine Art Photography for a career in Social Psychology. I obviously didn't. I don't need to. The course I am in is perfect for me. I can ultimately study anything I want, and create something out of it! I love it. It's satisfying, but not easy. Either way, its something I will always study. I might even crash a few of the lectures again as a refresher. And there's a couple of other interesting online psych classes available at RMIT, so I might have a look at them too.

Psychology of Social Life (BESC1072) with the wonderfully entertaining Dr. Mervin Jackson
Psychology of Cyberspace (CTXT1379) with Dr. Andrea Chester
Happiness and positive Psychology (BESC1479) with Dr. Marc Cohen



I've been thinking a lot about community. It's going to play a big role in my work, now, and probably forever. Social environments. We are social beings. So it's kind of inevitable. I study what I want to know. Essentially, people are what I want to know.


10 Brilliant Psychological studies