Well, you see, I ain’t no fancy pants with a college degree, but I sure have seen a lot in my time. And I tell ya, folks are just about the most interestin’ thing in this whole darn world. The way their minds work, the things they do… it’s just a whole big mystery, ain’t it? Some folks call it psychology. And I heard there are some good moving pictures about this psychology thing, so I’m gonna tell ya about some of them.
These movin’ pictures, they call ’em documentaries, they show ya real stuff. Not like those made-up stories on the TV. I heard some folks talking about these psychology documentaries the other day. They said there’s some good ones out there that show ya how people’s brains tick. And lord knows, I’ve seen some folks with brains that tick a little different than others!
This one, I heard it called “Project Nim.” Now, it sounds like a funny name, don’t it? It’s about a chimpanzee, that monkey they was trying to teach to talk, like a human. They said that was about something called language, how people communicate. I’m no expert but that seems like it would fit into this psychology bucket. They wanted to see if that chimp could learn to talk like us. Can you imagine? A monkey talkin’! It’s a wild world, I tell ya. It must be a pretty interestin’ documentary, that Project Nim.
Then there’s another one, this one’s a bit more serious, I reckon. It’s called “The Stanford Prison Experiment.” Sounds kinda scary, don’t it? They did this thing back in, I don’t know, ’71 or somethin’. Took a bunch of young fellas and made some of ’em prisoners and some of ’em guards. Just pretendin’, ya know. But things got out of hand. Those boys, they started actin’ like real prisoners and real guards. It’s like they forgot it was all make-believe!
They say it shows ya how people can change when they’re put in certain situations. Like how power can go to your head and make ya do things ya wouldn’t normally do. It really makes you wonder, don’t it? About how people act and why they do what they do. That’s what this whole psychology thing is about, I suppose. This documentary must be a good one to learn about psychology.
I heard there’s a whole bunch of these documentaries out there. Some about how kids grow up and learn, how their brains develop. That’s called “developmental” somethin’ or other. And there’s some about how people’s brains can get sick, just like their bodies. They call that “abnormal” psychology. Like when someone’s got the blues real bad, or they see things that ain’t there. It’s a shame, really. But it’s good that these documentaries talk about it, maybe helps people understand it better. These are some of the best documentaries for people who want to learn about psychology, I guess.
And there’s different kinds of this psychology stuff. They was talkin’ about somethin’ called “cognitive,” and “forensic,” and “industrial-organizational.” Now, I don’t know what all that means, but it sounds mighty complicated! Must be for the smart folks with all their book learnin’. But it just goes to show ya, there’s a lot more to people than meets the eye. These are all topics that those psychology documentaries could cover, I imagine.
- Project Nim – about that monkey they tried to teach to talk.
- The Stanford Prison Experiment – about them boys pretendin’ to be prisoners and guards.
- There are also documentaries about that “developmental” thing.
- Some are about “abnormal” psychology.
- There are different kinds like “cognitive,” and “forensic,” and “industrial-organizational.”
I guess these documentaries, they ain’t just for entertainin’. They can teach ya somethin’, too. They can help ya understand people a little bit better. And maybe that’s a good thing. ‘Cause the more we understand each other, the better off we’ll all be, I reckon. At least that is what I think about these best psychology documentaries.
So, if you’re lookin’ for somethin’ to watch, and you’re interested in how people’s minds work, maybe you should check out one of these psychology documentaries. You might learn somethin’, and you might even be surprised by what you see. It might be better than those silly old sitcoms, anyhow. And who knows, you might even start to see the world a little differently. You might start to see why folks do the things they do, and why they are the way they are.
It’s a big, complicated world out there, and people are the most complicated part of it. But maybe, just maybe, these documentaries can help us make a little more sense of it all. And if you ask me, that’s a pretty good reason to watch ’em. It is important to understand other people and psychology, I think. Those documentaries could help you with that.
