X-Message-Number: 4596
From:  (David Stodolsky)
Subject: CRYONICS:Benzodiaezipine of the Masses
Date: Sun, 2 Jul 95 15:35:26 +0200 (CET DST)

In Regards to your letter <>:
> We know from
> recent psychological experiments, for instance, that compared
> with objective assessment, people with normal "healthy" mental
> outlooks consistently _overestimate_ their own abilities and
> strengths; whereas people who are depressed are far more realis-
> tic in such judgments.  Why would human nature saddle us, as a
> species, with a normal mental state which gives us an unrealistic
> view of the world?  The answer may lie in the fact that anxiety
> saps strength and ruins performance (as many an olympic athlete

It is extremely difficult, and often impossible, to know to what degree
one's actions can influence events. Therefore, an overestimate of
one's ability to do so, is an important survival trait. Even one cell
organisms seem to "think" they can influence the future (Letter in
_Science_, 1978?). 

The overestimate of abilities and strengths may relate to a slightly
different phenomenon. Most people (70%) thinks they above the average
(mean). This may relate to in-group out-group identity construction,
where the in-group is always superior.

dss


David S. Stodolsky      Euromath Center     University of Copenhagen
   Tel.: +45 38 33 03 30   Fax: +45 38 33 88 80 (C)


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