Valued Opinions
Overview
In this powerpoint presentation, we will be
examining:
~ a psychic experience and it’s results
~ the value of other people’s opinions
~ are the opinions of others even right?
At the end of this powerpoint, a conclusion will
be established about why we care what other
people think, and if those thoughts are even
correct.
My Questions
Why do other people’s opinions affect our
decision-making process? Why do we care so
much about what other people think? And most
importantly, can one psychic visit make one
completely change the way they go about life?
Introduction
An opinion is defined as a view, a judgement or
appraisal formed in the mind about a particular
matter.
Why did I choose this
topic?
The questions stated in the previous slide are
questions that cross my mind almost daily. I have
found myself listening more to what other people
think about my physique, who I’m into at school,
how I act about a situation, etc. Lately, I have
been sitting here thinking, are they right? Why do
I care what people think? How come it influences
my decisions?
What do you think?
I was curious if these thoughts crossed others’
minds too, so I decided to interview four subjects
and ask them about three different, likely
scenarios where other people’s opinions might
have an affect on their decision.
Scenario #1
You are out at a party and everyone is drinking beer. You don’t necessarily like beer, and
you feel out of the loop because you’re the only one not drinking it. The people at the party
make comments to you about it. Do their opinions matter to you? Would you change what
you are drinking?
Danielle said yes
Kelli said yes
Kristin said no
Danielle, Kelli and Hanna all agreed during their interview
that they don’t want to feel out of place and judged by
their friends at the party.
Hanna said yes
Kristin said she likes herself the way she is and
wouldn’t change for anyone.
Scenario #2
You really want to go to school to major in art & music. Both of your parents went to law
school. Your parents want you to follow in their footsteps and believe that if you choose any
other path, your future would not be as fulfilling as it could be. This is something you have
had to hear for many years. It is now time to apply for college, do you follow in their
footsteps or follow your dreams and upset your parents?
Kelli, Hanna, Danielle and Kristin all agreed that is important to follow
your dreams. They also agreed that your parents will always support
you decisions and love you in the end and would really want what is
best.
Scenario #3
Have you ever decided to go on a diet? When does that thought usually cross your
mind? After you read an article about losing weight, or “get that beach body ready!” and
seeing picture of fit people? Why do you think we value the opinion most people have
that being skinny is better? Are they right?
Kristin believes that diets aren’t real and that they are only temporary and
in her eyes do not work, therefore, other people’s opinions about diets does
not influence her decision.
Kelli, Hanna and Danielle all agree that they go on a diet when summer is
near. They said that after reading articles in Seventeen magazine and
seeing clothes at the stores and the skinny models they use for ads makes
them rethink their body and decide that the opinion most have of being
skinny is for the better is correct.
Reasons Why
There are multiple reasons why people care
about what others think of them. These reasons
include:
~ we don’t want to disappoint someone
~ we want to fit in
~ we have the mind set that being different is
seen in a negative way
~ we want to be accepted, validated and loved
http://imagocenterdc.com/blog/2013/02/23/why-do-we-care-what-people-think
What do these results
prove?
The results from the previous scenarios prove that we are most likely to
let other people’s opinions influence our choices in life. That we value
other people’s opinions higher than our own.
At first glance, philosophers believe that the decision making process is
based on rational and emotional thoughts. After looking into the book
How We Decide, authored by Jonah Lehrer, it showed me that that is not
the exact way the mind works. Our decisions, depending on the situation,
are a combination of reason and what we feel. “The soul was seen as
conflicted, torn between reason and emotion” (Lehrer, 10).
The Next Step
What if the opinions people have about us are
true? What if we listen to them and our life
changes for the better? But does someone really
know that much about us in order for that to
happen? After thinking about this, I decided to go
visit a psychic. I wanted to see if anything she
told (if it was indeed real, as they say) changed
how I spent the next few weeks of my life.
My Thought Process
I have to admit, I was pretty nervous to go see a psychic. For a while, I didn’t
believe in psychics and thought they were all fake. As Shaffer says in his article
about psychics, regarding two in particular, Dewey and Sky, most psychics
extract information from the subject, and how to feed it back to them as new
information.
My sister and her friend went to this same woman and a lot of what she said
about them, what happened in their past, and even an incident that happened
after they visited that ended up coming true, made me not want to go. After a
while, I grew a pair and decided to go.
As stated in the article, many people go to clients looking for answers. I didn’t go
looking for any answers, just for the fun of what the psychic was going to tell me.
I went to The Enchanted Path located in Coventry and had my reading done by
Penny.
My Visit
I was lucky enough to get a full recording of my visit with the psychic. In my
presentation I have included audio clips of my visit. Hopefully they work!
In the beginning, a lot of what she told me was about my personality and how I
react to situations and how I am as a person. She was right about a lot of what
she said, but I think that was more of a scientific assumption, based on
astrological reasonings than what she actually “knew”. At this point I was still
doubtful to what she said was real.
It wasn’t until she started talking about things from my past that made me think
this could be more real than I thought. She brought up situations about my ex
and asked about certain objects he gave me while we were dating. The whole
time I was thinking, how did she know?!
My Reaction #1
Some of the situations she told me about were
personal, dealing with a family situation, but the
psychic told me it would have a positive ending.
That changed the way I have made decisions over
the past few weeks. What she said put my mind at
ease and as a result I haven’t let anything get to
me. Although she may not be correct about the
situation, I like to think that she is because I am less
stressed.
My Reaction #2
Penny, the psychic, asked me question at the beginning that blew my
mind. Thinking about it now, though, this really could apply to anyone.
She asked me “Where are you working that you hate?” I was working at
Dunkin’ Donuts, 4 a.m shifts every Saturday morning, as well as other
shifts throughout the week. She told me I needed to get out of there, I
would be better off. I decided to listen to her, even though my own opinion
was that I should suck it up because I needed the money, but I have been
better off since then and have been able to concentrate on my school
work more, which is very important.
My Reaction #3
For some reason, the psychic talked a lot about
relationships to me. One thing she said in particular
is that I won’t be getting serious with anyone
anytime soon and that I’ll go on a lot of dates. I
have met a lot of people lately, but in the back of my
head have been telling myself that none of them will
end up serious because of what she told me. I’m
not sure if she is right but her opinion has definitely
influenced my decisions.
Right or wrong?
Personal Thoughts
Is it right to value other people’s opinions higher than our own? In the
society we live in today, maybe many people think yes; we all have a
yearning to be accepted and well liked, and to guide ourselves towards
the “right” thing. But is it actually right? My personal opinion is no. We are
all born as an individual with our own personal thoughts and opinions and
that is what makes a person different. Alyssa Siegel, author of a column
out of Psychology Today magazine states it perfectly: “To be alive is to let
yourself be present; to feel your feelings, to discover and embrace
whatever you are, and to share it with others along the way.”
We look to others for an answer to the correct way to do things, even to
psychics. “We look everywhere, absolutely everywhere, but not inside
ourselves” (Siegel, 1).
Stop and Think
My personal thoughts on the decision-making process is to
stop and think before letting someone else’s opinions influence
the decision you are about to make. Will listening to another
person’s opinion make you happier? It could go either way, but
personally, as cliché as it sounds, listen to your heart.
Be- YOU - tiful
We are all born as beautiful individuals, we all have
that one person who is going to love us for us,
therefore don’t be afraid to value your own opinion’s
higher than everyone else’s. Your own opinion’s
matter most. If you want to continue drinking your
drink instead of switching to beer, do so! If you want
to attend college for art & music instead of following
in your parents’ footsteps because it makes you
happier, do so!
Get Strong Bro!
Here is a closing thoughts video posted by
GetStrongBro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyIKj6R3axE
Final Thoughts!
I know it’s all easier said than done, but after
researching this topic and experiencing a psychic
visit, my final thoughts about it all are:
~ take risks
~ live without fear
~ put your own opinions first
~ do what will make you happiest, even if others
may have judgement about it
Psychic Visit
I couldn’t cut the clip so I included the whole visit.
It’s over an hour long, please don’t feel
pressured to listen to the whole thing! The
beginning in itself is pretty interesting. Enjoy!
P.S - the little girl she is talking to is her
granddaughter
Sources
http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/opinion
http://imagocenterdc.com/blog/2013/02/23/whydo-we-care-what-people-think
http://www.psychologytomorrowmagazine.com/le
arning-to-think-for-ourselves/
http://www.youtube.com