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Course: Wireless Philosophy > Unit 7
Lesson 7: Folk psychologyFolk psychology
In this Wireless Philosophy video, we explore the phenomenon known as “folk psychology” – a framework or “theory” that virtually all humans use to explain and predict each other’s behaviors and mental states with a seemingly high degree of reliability. What is the nature of folk psychology, and where does it come from? Are we born with it? Do we learn it and pass it on through our cultural practices? And how plausible is it to claim, as some researchers do, that folk psychology qualifies as a truly scientific theory?
View our Neuroscience and Philosophy learning module and other videos in this series here: https://www.wi-phi.com. Created by Gaurav Vazirani.
Video transcript
In this WiPhi video we’re going to
explore the idea of folk psychology. Brian’s been nervously anticipating an
email conveying an important decision. It just popped up in his inbox. Heart racing, fingers trembling,
he clicks on the message and a few seconds later, his shoulders relax, he breaks out in a
smile, and lets out a squeal of delight. Quick: did the email contain
good news or bad news? Even though you don’t have
any idea what the news is about, you know the answer is: good news. Brian’s behavior says it all: that’s just
how someone acts when they get good news. Humans have a sophisticated
ability to explain each others’ behavior in terms of mental states: beliefs, desires,
hopes, fears, and so on. This is known as
folk psychology. Most people are adept
folk psychologists. Philosophers often describe
folk psychology as a theory. This theory includes
generalizations like, “When people feel
happy, they smile,” “When people think there’s danger
in the environment, they feel fear,” “When people want something,
they figure out how they might get it.” To say these generalizations
comprise a “theory” might seem strange. Aren’t they just facts? The question is based
on a misunderstanding. A “theory” is nothing
more than an explanation. A “fact” is just something that’s true. The best theories give true explanations
— that is, they state the facts. Physicists assume that
the facts about spacetime are captured by Einstein’s
theory of general relativity The goal of any theory, in the end,
is to point us to the facts. Other people’s minds aren’t open
to us in the way our own minds are. We can’t “see” the
causes of their behavior. Why did she just crinkle her nose? Why did
they rush to the window? Why did he laugh? Folk psychology enables us to
answer such questions easily, provided we have the
right contextual information. Theories also help us make predictions. The theory of general
relativity, for example, accurately predicted the
existence of black holes. Likewise, folk psychology enables
you to predict what people will do. Now that you know why
she crinkled her nose, you can predict what she’ll do if you
add even more pepper to the soup. Now that you know why he laughed, you can predict that he’ll
like Buster Keaton movies. And so on. Some theorists take the idea that folk
psychology is a theory quite literally, in effect treating it as the outcome
of a long scientific investigation we undertake during childhood. Alison Gopnik, an early
advocate of this approach, called it the “scientist
as big child” view. As we grow, we
observe others’ behavior, test explanations for it, and build up our folk psychological theory using the same techniques and
mental machinery adults employ to develop scientific theories. Another approach says that our brains have built-in
modules dedicated to folk psychology. According to this idea, folk psychology is encoded in more-or-less
innate structures of our brains. As long as you’ve got the
“theory of mind” module, you’re equipped with the
basic tenets of folk psychology. We may not be able to access the
contents of folk psychology directly, just like we can’t use introspection
to decipher what goes on in our brains that turns retinal stimulation
into full-fledged visual imagery. But we can reflect on our explanations
of each others’ behavior, and figure out what our folk
psychology says that way. Other theorists resist describing
folk psychology as a theory at all. A prominent alternative says our understanding of people’s behavior rests on our ability to simulate
experiences we aren’t actually having, and to imagine scenarios
that aren’t actually occurring. When you see Brian’s
reaction to the email, you consider what would have caused you
to react that way in those circumstances. You reason like this: if I were in Brian’s shoes, I’d have that reaction to an
email containing good news — so, it must have been good news! Or, instead of relying
primarily on our ability to imagine ourselves
in others’ shoes, folk psychology may be the
product of a broader set of abilities: those we draw on
when telling stories. Storytelling is an
intrinsically social practice. On this view, folk psychology is passed
down to us by our caregivers and others in ways similar to how
other cultural narratives are. Each approach may
contain a part of the truth. Our general capacity
for theoretical explanation clearly helps shape our
understanding of how people behave. It’s also plausible that
we have some automatic, built-in understanding
of human psychology. We often speculate about
other people’s mental states through simulation
and imagination. And the connection between folk psychology
and narrative practices is clear. Folk psychology enables us to
understand how other people work. But we are still a long way from
fully understanding how it works! What do you think?