reading notes: week 2 anthology

I read the story of The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost. It was about an Indian who was keeping watch. He would set up his camp near the forest and it sounded like he happened to be sleeping near a burial ground. While he was there, a women came up to him and checked to make sure he was asleep. He was being very vigilante and watching her carefully to insure that she did not do anything to harm him. When she revealed a blade though he immediately jumped to his feat and scared her off.  a few nights later a different ghost approached him and promised that he would be successful at his mission if he could win a wrestling match against the ghost. After taking some smart preparations before the match, he was able to win due to that forethought. He was then successful on his mission. The story end by saying "It came out just as the ghost said. That is why people believe what ghosts say". Something about that line really stuck out to me. It really makes me think about a lot of different psychological processes. I wonder if this may be hinting at self fulfilling prophecies, or the confirmation bias, or how inclined we are towards positive correlations. He did well in his mission simply because he won and believed himself to be able to succeed. People have link events to one another, but the fact of the matter could very well be that that wrestling match had nothing at all to do with the mission's success. Regardless of what, or if, this has anything to do with any psychological processes, it made me think of them and gave me an idea. Create a story based around one or multiple psychological processes. Have a creature take advantage of the way our minds work. prey upon the things we cannot help but to do and ways in which we cannot help to think.

 

The Inner Workings of the Mind

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