Okay, let me tell you what happened. It wasn’t like someone broke in, you know? But looking back, yeah, psychology definitely stole something from me. My time. My nice, easy evenings.
Used to be, after work, I’d crash. Maybe fire up the console, play some games. Or binge-watch some dumb show, didn’t matter. Just turn the brain off, right? Weekends were for projects, maybe some woodworking, getting outside. Simple stuff.
How it Started
Then one evening, I was just scrolling, bored. Saw some article, probably clickbait, about why people do stupid things. Clicked it. It mentioned some fancy term, cognitive bias or something. Didn’t really get it, but it was kinda interesting. Made me think, “Huh, yeah, people ARE weird.”
So, I searched that term. Found a few more explanations, watched a short video. Suddenly, an hour was gone. Just like that. No big deal, I thought. Went back to my usual routine the next day.
But it planted a seed, I guess. A week later, saw another piece about how easily people are persuaded. That one got me thinking about work, about ads, everything. Started looking for more. Found myself actively searching this stuff out instead of just stumbling on it.
Down the Rabbit Hole
Next thing I know, I’m buying a book. Not some heavy textbook, just one of those popular ones you see everywhere. Read it cover to cover in like, two days. It was fascinating! All these little mental tricks our brains play.
Then came the real shift.
- One book led to another. Suddenly I had a stack.
- Started listening to podcasts about it during my commute.
- Found myself analyzing conversations I had during the day. Why did they say that? What bias was showing?
My gaming console started gathering dust. The TV stayed off most nights. Instead, I was reading about heuristics, social proof, loss aversion – all these concepts that explained bits of everyday life. It felt like getting a secret decoder ring for people.
Weekends changed too. Less time tinkering in the garage, more time reading articles or discussing these ideas online (well, mostly lurking and reading discussions).
So, What Was Stolen?
It wasn’t dramatic. Psychology didn’t hold me up at gunpoint. It just sort of… crept in. It quietly replaced the old ways I used to relax. It stole that easy, brain-off downtime. Now, even when I’m trying to chill, my mind is often buzzing, connecting dots, analyzing things through this new lens.
Is it bad? I don’t know. It’s definitely interesting. I feel like I understand things a bit better sometimes. But man, sometimes I miss just playing a mindless game for three hours straight without thinking about the underlying psychological manipulation tactics used by the developers. Psychology totally stole that simple pleasure.
