#basic psychology

[er-cryptid]

The fear of dead things is called necrophobia.

[phillipgarciasblog]

Basic Psychology Topics: Understanding the Fundamentals of Human Behavior

Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. It covers a vast array of topics, from the basic workings of the brain to the complex interactions between individuals and society. Understanding basic psychology topics is crucial for anyone interested in human behavior, whether in personal or professional settings.

In this article, we will explore some of the fundamental concepts and topics in psychology.

Nature vs. Nurture

One of the oldest debates in psychology is the nature vs. nurture debate. Nature refers to the genetic factors that influence our behavior, while nurture refers to the environmental factors. Both nature and nurture play a significant role in shaping human behavior. Understanding the interplay between these factors can help us gain insights into why individuals behave the way they do.

Perception

Perception is the process by which we organize and interpret sensory information from our environment. Perception plays a crucial role in how we navigate the world around us. It influences our decisions, behavior, and emotions. Understanding the basics of perception can help us understand how individuals interpret and respond to the world.

Learning and Conditioning

Learning and conditioning refer to the ways in which individuals acquire new knowledge and behaviors. Learning is a complex process that involves changes in behavior based on experience. Conditioning is a type of learning in which an individual learns to associate a specific behavior with a particular outcome. Understanding the principles of learning and conditioning can help us design effective learning strategies for ourselves and others.

Memory

Memory is the ability to encode, store, and retrieve information over time. Memory plays a crucial role in our daily lives, from recalling important information to remembering personal experiences. Understanding the basic principles of memory can help us improve our memory retention and recall abilities.

Emotion

Emotions are complex psychological states that involve a range of physiological and cognitive processes. Emotions play a crucial role in our decision-making, behavior, and social interactions. Understanding the basics of emotion can help us regulate our emotions and improve our relationships with others.

Motivation

Motivation refers to the internal and external factors that drive behavior. Motivation can come from a variety of sources, including biological, social, and psychological factors. Understanding the basics of motivation can help us set and achieve personal and professional goals.

Social Psychology

Social psychology is the study of how individuals interact with each other in social situations. It covers topics such as social influence, group dynamics, and interpersonal relationships. Understanding the basics of social psychology can help us navigate social situations more effectively and build better relationships with others.

Personality

Personality refers to the unique set of characteristics and traits that define an individual's behavior and thoughts. Personality plays a significant role in shaping our behavior and interactions with others. Understanding the basics of personality can help us improve our self-awareness and build better relationships with others.

Abnormal Psychology

Abnormal psychology is the study of mental health disorders and abnormal behavior. It covers topics such as anxiety, depression, and personality disorders. Understanding the basics of abnormal psychology can help us identify and treat mental health issues in ourselves and others.

In conclusion, understanding the basics of psychology is crucial for anyone interested in human behavior. The topics outlined above cover a wide range of concepts and principles that can help us better understand ourselves and others. By studying these topics, we can improve our self-awareness, social interactions, and decision-making abilities. Whether in personal or professional settings, a basic understanding of psychology can be an invaluable asset.

[kiserspeaks]

The Importance of Proper Hydration for Elite Athletes: Beyond the Myths and Marketing

In the realm of high-performance athletics, the significance of proper hydration cannot be overstated. From optimizing physical performance to enhancing mental health, staying adequately hydrated is crucial for elite athletes. This blog post delves into the latest research on hydration, debunks common myths perpetuated by commercial sports drinks, and highlights the potential detriments of energy drink consumption.

Understanding Hydration and Its Impact on Performance

1. Physiological Basis of Hydration: Hydration is essential for maintaining homeostasis, regulating body temperature, and facilitating biochemical reactions. During intense physical activity, athletes lose significant amounts of fluids and electrolytes through sweat. This loss needs to be replenished to prevent dehydration, which can impair performance, increase the risk of heat-related illnesses, and delay recovery.

2. Hydration and Physical Performance: Research indicates that even mild dehydration (a body mass loss of 1-2%) can negatively impact endurance, strength, and power. Dehydration leads to reduced blood volume, decreased skin blood flow, and diminished sweat rate, all of which impair the body's ability to cool itself. This can result in early fatigue and reduced exercise capacity.

3. Hydration and Mental Health: Emerging studies highlight the link between hydration and cognitive function. Proper hydration is associated with improved mood, concentration, and overall mental well-being. Dehydration, on the other hand, can lead to increased feelings of anxiety, tension, and fatigue. For elite athletes, maintaining optimal hydration is not only about physical performance but also about mental resilience.

Debunking Myths: Gatorade, Powerade, and the Role of Sports Drinks

Commercial sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade have long been marketed as essential for athletes. However, their effectiveness and necessity are often overstated.

1. Composition and Effectiveness: While these drinks contain electrolytes (sodium, potassium) and carbohydrates, their high sugar content can be problematic. Research suggests that for most athletes, especially those not engaging in prolonged, intense exercise, water and balanced meals are sufficient for hydration and electrolyte replenishment.

2. Marketing vs. Reality: The marketing of sports drinks often targets young athletes and their parents, creating a misconception that these products are necessary for all athletic activities. In reality, for events lasting less than an hour, water is generally adequate. For longer activities, a homemade solution of water, a pinch of salt, and a bit of juice can be just as effective without the added sugars and artificial ingredients.

The Dangers of Energy Drinks

Energy drinks, often laden with caffeine and other stimulants, are popular among some athletes for their perceived energy-boosting effects. However, they pose significant risks.

1. Caffeine and Dehydration: High levels of caffeine can act as a diuretic, increasing urine production and potentially leading to dehydration. For athletes, this can be particularly detrimental, exacerbating fluid loss during exercise.

2. Health Risks: Beyond dehydration, energy drinks have been linked to cardiovascular issues, sleep disturbances, and increased anxiety. The combination of high caffeine and sugar content can also lead to energy crashes, adversely affecting both performance and recovery.

Practical Hydration Strategies for Elite Athletes

1. Individualized Hydration Plans: Athletes should develop personalized hydration strategies based on their sweat rates, the intensity and duration of their training, and environmental conditions. This often involves pre-hydrating, consuming fluids at regular intervals during exercise, and rehydrating post-exercise.

2. Monitoring Hydration Status: Regular monitoring of hydration status can help prevent dehydration. Simple methods include tracking body weight changes pre- and post-exercise, assessing urine color, and paying attention to thirst cues.

3. Emphasizing Whole Foods: Encouraging a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can aid in maintaining hydration. Many fruits and vegetables have high water content and also provide essential vitamins and minerals.

Conclusion

For elite athletes, proper hydration is a cornerstone of both physical performance and mental health. By understanding the physiological needs, debunking marketing myths, and avoiding harmful substances like energy drinks, athletes can optimize their hydration strategies. Coaches and parents play a crucial role in educating young athletes about these practices, ensuring they stay hydrated, healthy, and ready to perform at their best.

By staying informed and making educated choices, athletes can harness the full benefits of proper hydration, paving the way for peak performance and overall well-being.

[lucabyte]

siffrin starts the game with oddly empty pockets for a rogue who has a habit of stashing away every little trinket that isn't nailed down

and a hardy pocketwatch is an indispensable tool for oceanic navigation

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

A phone call between brothers (takes place AFTER this incident and Fiddleford's phone call)

Sorry if this is OOC!

[starry-bi-sky]

this just in: danny fenton is just as much of a mask as Brucie Wayne? - another danyal al ghul au

Turns out, being placed in a civilian family who have no knowledge of your background is actually detrimental to the health and development of a child assassin due to lack of proper support! Surrounded by strangers in a foreign city, Danyal Al Ghul does as assassins do best. He hides. Espionage is one of many teachings one learns in the League, and it only takes half a day for Danyal to construct a new persona to hide behind: Daniel Fenton.

By the time dinner rolls around, Danyal al Ghul is safely and securely tucked behind the face of Danny Fenton; brand new adoptive child of the Fenton family who came from overseas. A shy, quiet little boy with a thick accent and curly hair, with brown skin and blue eyes, and an avid interest in the stars. The best fictions are always cobbled together in a little bit of truth, it's some of the only truth he ever lets through. He apologizes in a meek voice for his behavior early, he didn't mean to be rude, and he watches the three of them eat it up with coos.

Lies roll like silk against his lips, he struggles to meet their eyes and offers them his weakest, shyest smile. It's too easy. It's easy to go from there.

Danny Fenton, adoptive son, shy and awkward and unconfident but friendly. Who struggles in his classes and isn't the brightest, but tries his hardest. He makes bad jokes and has a quick tongue and a sarcastic mouth. He wants to be an astronaut. He's got the best aim in school, and is a terrifying dodgeball player. He's one of the least athletic kids in his grade.

It's like playing two truths and a lie, but there's only one truth, and the rest are lies. It's easy to pretend when he knows it's insincere.

Danyal Al Ghul, grandson to the Demon Head. Deadly, trained assassin. Has spilled blood, has had blood spilt from. Environmentalist, animal activist. He loves the stars. He owns a calligraphy set. A sharp tongue, an even sharper blade. He's clever, quick-witted, he would be top of his grade if he tried harder. He purposely doesn't.

He misses his family. He misses his mother, and he misses his brother. Mother visits a few times a year, so few times that he can count it on both hands. He cherishes every visit, as brief as they are. It helps remind him who he is.

Sam and Tucker are Danny's best friends. They've never met Danyal, but Danyal's met them.

It becomes routine to become Danny Fenton. As familiar and as easy as pulling on a shirt in the morning. Danyal wakes up and is always first to the bathroom in the mornings; stares at himself in the mirror until he can finally see Danny staring back at him. At night, he locks his door and sheds the mask.

Dying throws a wrench in his mask; splits a crack straight through the porcelain. He's able to smooth it over with sandpaper and liquid gold, but it's a little hard keeping his ghost form under wraps. It instinctively wants to shift to show his true self. Danyal can't have that, he's spent four years as Danny Fenton, he'll spend another four as him as well. Even if the feeling of the hazmat suit in his ghost form feels restrictive, like a too-small shirt suctioned to his skin that needs to be peeled off.

He'll live. Er-- well, you know what he means. It's frustrating however, trying to keep his Danny Fenton mask up even as Phantom - fighting in the air is something he needs to get used to, and the sudden propping of powers throws him off. But he is nothing if not adaptive, and he hates that he needs to slow his own skills down in order to keep pretenses up in front of Sam and Tucker.

The first time Danyal summons a sword when he's alone, is one of the few times Danyal gets to grin instead of Danny. He's fighting Skulker, and from an invisible hilt he draws a katana from thin air. It startles them both. Skulker takes a step back at the smile that spreads across his face.

They're both silent as Danyal examines his new sword.

"Do you know what people like me do to people like you, poacher?" Danyal finally asks him, the accent he began to hide a few months in slipping through. He drops all pretense, dragging the flat end of the blade slow and appreciatively against his palm. It's a good make, and when he cuts it through the air, it slices through like butter. He looks up at Skulker with a smile; "are you ready to find out?"

When Sam and Tucker ask about why Skulker seems so skittish around Danny now, Danny shrugs at them and says with a playful smile; "I don't know, I guess I kicked his butt too hard after our last fight." and he watches as Sam rolls her eyes exasperatedly, and Tucker snickers with his own joke.

By the time he reunites with Damian before their 15th birthday, Danyal is buried beneath so many layers of Danny Fenton that his brother will need a shovel to dig him out. He's not sure what he'll find.

[arrimorr]

My ocs, Sir and Ser, aka the eldritch malevolent policemen 😔

[bixels]

Hey, discussion question:

Is Rose Quartz a war criminal? I see that term bandied around so much for her that it feels like a given that she's a war criminal, but I'm wracking my brain and I can't... actually recall any real war crimes that she committed.

I'm talking objective war crimes, by the way, not war crimes by Homeworld's (the fascist government's) standards. It's literally legal for the Diamonds to shatter (split a person's soul into shards of ceaseless torture) their citizens, I don't value their definition of morality, lol.

[rosesfornoelle]

Kabru so funny because as it has been said before by fans he would do well in any other genre but he's stuck in a comedy cooking show and he's trying to read a guy who basically likes an open book but written in a made-up code language no one understands beside his sister

[reindeerswillsavethisworld]

rotating a “danny gets stuck in a time loop except he doesn’t remember shit and it’s up to sam and tucker to keep his stupid ass alive while they’re slowly loosing their grip on reality” fic idea in my mind like a rotisserie chicken

[ratwizz]

Literally me if my vintage doctors bag contained a sentient human hand in it and we became best friends

[er-cryptid]

Maniphobia is the fear of going insane.

[anghraine]

I'm trying to redirect my political thoughts from my fandom escape blog again, but I found something interesting enough that I thought I'd talk a little about it.

Occasionally I choose suffering (looking at the more granular 2024 exit poll breakdowns rather than the summaries that I mostly don't trust much at this point). Anyway, I did find something intriguing, if not particularly surprising, in the CNN exit polls, which were done in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin with a sample size of 22,914 voters.

(I mention the specific states forming the sample because this pretty notably excludes any blue states while including some reliably Republican ones.)

Anyway, most exit polls including CNN's let respondents identify their place on the US political spectrum: conservative, moderate, or liberal (reminder that "liberal" in US usage can be a pejorative for "less leftist than me" but also a shorthand for "radical leftist" but also for "anyone who doesn't seek a cishet white Christian ethnostate", but also can be a more neutral synonym for progressives and/or leftists and is often used that way, as here). So you can look at the election results for each of these ideological factions and what share of the overall sample size they represent.

The interesting thing: this "liberal" category accounted for very similar proportions to 2020 of the overall vote in the sample (24% in 2020, 23% in 2024—a difference well within the margin of error of exit polling). There is no need to explain liberals/leftists staying home in 2024: at least in terms of proportions of the overall electorate, they didn't. Just under 1/4 of voters in 2024 were liberals or leftists, just as in 2020.

Okay, if the most leftwards faction of the US political spectrum actually formed a similar proportion of the electorate, then who did they vote for?

Harris. In CNN's own exit polls from 2020, 89% of this faction voted for Biden, and (surprisingly!) a full 10% voted for Trump. God knows what motivated that 10% Trump share after four years of his hellscape of an administration at the height of COVID, but in any case, that support cratered in 2024. 91% of this group voted for Harris and only 4% for Trump. It's an estimate, but it looks like these very peculiar Trump voters had enough of him in 2024 and around half either voted third party this time or for Harris.

So which faction is Trump's victory coming from? Further consolidation of the far right?

In part, yes! 90% of conservatives voted for Trump in 2024, vs 85% in 2020—likely, some conservatives who voted third party or even for Biden in 2020 came "home" this year. However, conservative turnout was actually a little down in 2024, proportionally speaking: conservatives dropped from 38% of the sample in 2020 to 34% in 2024.

But there's one more major faction in all this: "moderates" or centrists. To be clear, we're talking about the US version of centrism, given that this is a US organization polling US voters about US politicians, not "Bernie would be center-right in Denmark" or whatever. This moderate faction jumped from 38% of the overall sample in 2020 to 42% in 2024, and they swung hard towards Trump, though Harris still won a plurality of them. In 2020, 64% of moderates voted for Biden vs 34% for Trump. In 2024, 57% of them voted for Harris vs 40% for Trump—that is, the Democratic lead among centrists dropped precipitously from +30 to +17.

Tl;dr—ideologically speaking, this data suggests that Trump owes his victory to gains among both right-wing and centrist voters rather than some faction of would-be leftists or progressives apathetically staying home or voting third-party or otherwise deserting Democrats (because they're insufficiently radical or for any other reason).

Oh, and if you're curious as to how this compares to CNN's 2016 exit polls, I also checked those! Harris's 84-point lead among the most leftwards faction is a significant improvement from HRC's 74-point lead in 2016. Trump also got 10% of that group in 2016, as in 2020, so it's this campaign—not Hillary's or Biden's—that managed to eat into whatever the hell is going on with that group.

Harris's +17 with moderates is actually a slight improvement on Hillary's +12 in 2016. Biden's jump to a +30 lead among centrists in 2020 represented either a backlash against Trump from centrists, or Biden's own rapport with that group, or some mysterious issue some of those voters had with both HRC and Harris (I wonder what it could be!!), or some combination thereof. Regardless, there are a lot of actual ideologically centrist voters in the USA and not just would-be leftists who haven't heard the good news of Marx yet. And Trump has an iron grip on the right wing at this point: he beat Hillary with conservatives by +65 in 2016, then beat Biden with an even larger margin of +71, then leapt to a 81-point lead over Harris with right-wing voters this year.

[writeitinsharpie]

ever think about the great sect madams of the generation before?

about madam yu, the violet spider, one of few in her generation to earn a title (even her husband was only ever sect leader. even wen ruohan was never regarded by a title other than sect leader wen). about yu ziyuan, about what she was like before years of jealousy and envy twisted her to only her most bitter parts? about the girl who was the third daughter of a sect leader, and then the wife of another, and yet all of her immense martial power meant nothing to the society around her.

about madam jin, known only by her title and never given a name or a natal sect, who was still somehow the closest friend to yu ziyuan. the mother of the sect heir and yet a wife who can do nothing but stand by as her husband dishonors their marriage over and over again.

about madam lan, the murderess locked up for her crimes, never seeing a trial and dying alone, only allowed to see her children once a month. who was she before she was the wife of the lan sect leader? was there a reason she killed the lan elder? did she want that marriage to qingheng-jun? did she even want the children she was kept from?

about the madams nie and wen, who only exist by implication, by the knowledge that their children exist and therefore so must they. about how so little is even implied about them?

[vaguely-concerned]

lmao ok Concept: the reason everyone on the team seem to realize that ingellvar rook and lucanis have finally reached third base -- i.e. Meaningful Cake Conversations (romantic and erotic not to say marital connotations) -- even though they don't really act all that obviously differently afterwards is that the monument by the caretaker's shop suddenly and inexplicably changes to the 'Love in Life and Death' statue and can't be changed away from it. and ingellvar's ears go faintly pink every time they walk past it.

(for reference:

it's the fade bitch it's shaped by subconscious impulses and longings you can't hide from your own deepest dreams and desires here!!!! now all of thedas will know you're a simp)

[pangur-and-grim]

ALSO BOOK NEWS!!!

the revisions have been approved by my agent 😤 so we'll be querying publishers in september (which probably means a lot of waiting and hoping and getting rejected, but I'm still excited to be one step closer to sharing my old man wizard yaoi with the world)