A Deep Dive of More Than 10,000 Chinese Characters into Not by Chance | Feifan 02

What This Episode Covers

Not by Chance is the autobiography of social psychologist Elliot Aronson. It deftly weaves together three strands: the life story of an outstanding scientist and his struggle to grow, social psychology’s profound insights into human nature, and the history of psychology’s development in the 20th century.

Aronson was one of the greatest psychologists of the 20th century. Over the course of his life, he made dozens of important scientific discoveries that overturned conventional wisdom and made people stop and think. The findings from his research in The Social Animal are now included in psychology textbooks of all kinds.

We may assume that anyone who achieves great things in science must be some kind of genius, someone far beyond ordinary people. But Aronson’s story isn’t like that. In him, we can see many of the struggles that ordinary people face. As a child, he was plain-looking, shy, and timid, and people called him a “stupid kid.” Compared with his older brother, the young Aronson was once deeply insecure. His family was part of a minority ethnic community living in the United States, so from an early age he faced discrimination and hardship. His relationship with his parents was also once very tense, giving him an intense sense of insecurity. He experienced poverty from childhood: he had no money to repair holes in the soles of his shoes, had to wear his brother’s hand-me-downs, and when he went to college, he couldn’t afford a dorm room and could only sleep in his car…

And yet, with a hand this bad, Aronson somehow played it into an astonishing result, reaching the highest levels of achievement in psychology.

Aronson himself saw this autobiography as a book about change. In sincere prose, he recorded how he changed his fate over the course of his life. I believe it will inspire anyone who longs to change, as well as anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the core ideas of social psychology.

What You Will Hear

• The life story of a giant of social psychology, showing you that change is possible
• Social psychology’s profound insights into human nature, giving you the strength to change yourself
• The history of psychology’s development in the 20th century, helping you understand psychology with both breadth and depth

Quote of the Episode

Never complain about the cards you’ve been dealt. Anyone would win if they were dealt a royal flush. The fun of poker lies in figuring out how to play the cards in your hand as well as possible. Play them right, and even a terrible hand can win.

Aronson was someone who consistently and firmly applied the scientific spirit to both his work and his life. Say only as much as the evidence supports. Having an idea doesn’t make you truly impressive; an idea backed by evidence does.

When your environment changes dramatically—especially when the relationships you once had are no longer there—many people actually feel as if a heavy burden has been lifted. They become brave enough to remake themselves according to what they hope for in their hearts. The Chinese saying “A tree dies when moved, but a person comes alive when moved” is sometimes really describing this kind of situation.

If two inconsistent cognitions arise in a person’s mind, they will feel “dissonance,” as though the two views don’t fit together. This feeling is deeply uncomfortable. To reduce it, people will do their best to change one of the cognitions in their minds, or change both, until the two conflicting cognitions become consistent and harmonious again.

About the Author

Elliot Aronson　One of the most distinguished social psychologists of our time and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In the 120-year history of the American Psychological Association, the only psychologist to have received all three of its major awards: for distinguished research, distinguished teaching, and distinguished writing.