Personal Journal 2 Observation is a major problem. One cannot monitor peoples minds, only their behavior.

questions, which manipulate your answers. This is done though language. Another example is using the word ‘national service’ instead of ‘compulsory conscription’. National service sounds much more positive, and acceptable, though they are the same thing. Another issue that arises with observation is in hypothetical situations. If you asked someone what they would do if they saw a woman getting attacked, they might say that they would go out and save her, or call the police. But when in the actual situation, people often freeze up and just become bystanders.  People have trouble guessing their future actions accurately. The ‘observer effect’ is another difficulty with observation. In the natural world, rocks and plants do not change their behavior when being watched, but humans do. The question is, how do we prevent the observer effect? Some methods are habituation, and hidden cameras. An example of this is the show ‘Big Brother’. The question associated with this is what are the ethical implications of hidden cameras? Where should cameras be, or not be? When predicting behavior, people’s emotions can affect their actions. If someone thinks they will do positively, then they will. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It is proven that if someone is given a label as ‘stupid’, then they will do worst than they could have done. Another method of observation is that of laws. Examples of these laws are: Economics: “If price goes up, people buy less; If supply goes down price goes up; etc”Psychology: ‘“Bystander effect” ‘the more people present at an accident the less likely that any person will help’ Problems with making laws are that it is nearly impossible to make predictions in human sciences. How could we have predicted the Global Financial Crisis? What will the population be in 50 years?         The complexities of life make it difficult to establish rules, as some situations are unique. Looking at human relationships, are they predictable? They are caused by pheromones, cultures, similarities, and yet we know how they are definitely unpredictable.