1, #65 - The base unit of psychology is a story.
On experimental history — Estimated Read Time: 58 seconds.
What is psychology? Adam Mastroianni says most people misunderstand it, so he offers this description:
Psychology is experimental history.
History is the attempt to tell true stories about humans. Historians hope to answer big questions by picking the right subjects and researching them carefully: What caused World War I? How did humans invent penicillin? Was Suleiman the Magnificent really all that magnificent?
Psychology is also the attempt to tell true stories about humans. We hope to answer big questions by picking the right subjects and researching them carefully, but instead of waiting for stories to happen, we create them. We construct situations, place humans inside them, and record what happens.
I love this perspective, and the general notion that stories are the natural mechanism to explore and understand humanity:
The base unit of mass is the kilogram, the base unit of length is the meter, and the base unit of history is the story. (That’s why “history” is just “story” with a little greeting tacked on the front). The base unit of psychology is also the story.
Plus, he points out that psychologists would be wise to follow the rules of storytelling, in choosing what to study. Namely, (a) focus on people, not abstractions, and (b) focus on things that make us feel something.
Here’s to more good studies, and more good stories!
Insight from: and his post, Psychology is experimental history. Like this idea? Well, he named his whole newsletter after it: . I found it through ’s comment on last week’s 1 (thanks, Josh!) and I’m completely hooked.