The topic that was the most interesting to me in Chapter 4
was the ides of a “Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.” The book states that, “a
self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when our exaggerated or distorted expectations reinforce
actions that actually bring about the expected event” (117). This suggests that
what we think, due to distortion, can come true, due to our expectations, and
can do so at the cost of others. The book explains that humans are prone to
several inborn cognitive and perceptual errors, which are part of the way our
brain interprets the world so we may fail to notice the influence they have
over our thinking. I find it interesting that the self-fulfilling prophecy
seems to give our mind the power to think ideas over people and have the ideas become
reality. I don’t really think that this fallacy has as much control over our
mind as the book suggests. However,, the book does state that developing our
critical thinking skills will help us be more aware of this fallacy and the
error we commit; therefore, we can adjust for them when appropriate.
I also thought the part on self-fulfilling prophecies was interesting. There have been times in my life in which I was led to think a certain way about myself, perhaps that I was capable of doing something I hadn’t before, and was able to do it because of that confidence. My relationship with my best friend is a lot like that. We both talk ourselves up to each other and perhaps exaggerate about some parts of our lives but, by the next time we meet, it has almost always become the truth. At least that is the way it has worked for me. I make myself a slightly different person when I’m around him, a better version of myself, and such pretense carries over into other parts of my life.
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