INTRODUCTION The most frequent question I am asked as a psychology professor is about how to analyze the behavior of another person. The student explains how they are interested in creeping inside the consciousness of their older brother or ex-partner or best friend in order to see clearly the how and the why of that person’s behavior. Privately, I wonder if my students have a secret and possibly dark plan to manipulate their friends and loved ones. In the past, I have always refused to answer the how-to-analyze others question. But I would not refuse to answer with the grace and compassion of a parent who is refusing to treat their child to a second ice cream cone. I would refuse to answer like a bully who wanted to show off. I would give a long explanation about how terrible it is that some people , by whom I meant the student asking the question, liked to think of others in as inhumane and calculating a way as to try to analyze or manipulate them. But I’m all done ...
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