Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 508: No need for rebuttal, just keep talking.

Upon hearing the round-faced boy's words, some students in the classroom looked confused.

It was as if they had collectively committed the "false consensus effect." They originally thought that this boy, in a lecture of this level, in front of so many teachers, and facing the experts on stage, would ask some insightful questions.

Most college students wouldn't dare to ask questions even if they had them.

But why is this person... talking about things more and more off-topic?

Other students, who had initially found the question uninteresting and had been playing on their phones, suddenly looked up again, their expressions showing great interest.

They seemed to have caught a whiff of fun.

Nan Zhuren, who was facing the round-faced boy, nodded after hearing what the boy said, with an expression of "I see".

Then Nan Zhuren asked, as if curious, "How did you come to this idea?"

The round-faced boy's eyes lit up, as if he had been waiting for this question. His speech became more and more fluent: "I think that only a very small number of people actually have psychological problems. Most of the others just hear similar things and then start to become suspicious, and then think that they have psychological problems, or even pretend that they have psychological problems, but in fact they have no problems."

“For example, I always hear people say how hard they studied in junior high and how hard they worked in high school. But I think my junior high was pretty easy. Maybe I worked a little harder in the second half of my senior year, but I didn’t experience any of the ‘anxiety’ or ‘depression’ that people talk about online. On the contrary, I felt that my school life was very fulfilling.”

As they talked, the round-faced boy finally focused his attention. He stopped looking around and instead raised one hand to his chest.

He seemed very absorbed in the moment.

“I think there are many people who just think that mental health issues are cool. I have spent some time observing people who say they have mental health issues, and I found that they are not the same as people with real mental health issues. I have even found that many mental health issues online are faked, because faking mental illness can make them money.”

"I've always had a question: why are there so many more mentally ill people now than before? After all, life was so much harder back then, so why weren't there so many mentally ill people? Many people say it's a problem of the times, but I think it might be a problem of the internet age, or rather, a problem of people."

The round-faced boy's eyes brightened, and his expression became excited.

Xia Tian's lips curled up. She first looked at the round-faced boy with the eyes of someone who had seen something dirty—he was clearly a young man, and although he dressed in a very old-fashioned way, he spoke with a very old-fashioned accent.

Then the little girl cast a worried look at Nan Zhuren.

Xia Tian, ​​who studied psychology, especially psychological counseling, for a period of time under various motivations, knew that what Xiao Deng, who was like Lao Deng, was saying at this moment was very offensive to professionals.

Hearing this from a psychologist is no different from praising a fitness enthusiast for having well-developed trapezius muscles, a slim figure, and thin legs, or singing "Sunshine, Rainbow, and White Horse" in front of a Black guy.

Nan Zhuren, however, remained expressionless under Xia Tian's gaze.

He nodded repeatedly with a calm expression, responding with "hmm," "okay," and "oh."

Then he controlled his voice and facial expressions using techniques that were almost based on those in "Child Psychology".

Nan Zhuren gently encouraged, "Do you have any other thoughts?"

……

Then I saw the round-faced boy's chest bulge out, making him look like a little pufferfish.

He raised his chin with a seemingly shy smile and continued:
"Also, I often chat with taxi drivers when I take a taxi, and they are all very talkative; when I order takeout, I also chat with the delivery person. I think people who work in society like this are unlikely to be anxious because they are busy making money and supporting their families, and they simply don't have time to be anxious."

“Those who get anxious are the ones who are too idle, um, and overthink things.” The round-faced boy’s tone rose slightly. “After all, ‘only by not contending can one be contended with.’”

As he spoke, the round-faced boy nodded. Xia Tian smacked her lips, the taste of Zhongdeng becoming even stronger.

His words drew the attention of almost all the students in the classroom.

The number of students listening attentively at this moment is even greater than the number that Nan Zhuren attracted at the end of the case sharing session.

The soft murmur of discussion rose and fell, but because the voices were all very restrained, it was impossible to tell what they were talking about or their emotions.

Nan Zhuren's lips curled up slightly, then he restrained himself and lowered his lips, maintaining a "gentle" angle.

"Hmm." He nodded to the round-faced boy. "Anything else?"

anything else?
The round-faced boy blinked and opened his mouth as if to say something, but what he had just eaten seemed to have drained him dry.

He then racked his brains and finally managed to squeeze out a conclusion: "Well, I'd like to discuss this issue with the teacher."

Nan Zhuren nodded: "Okay."

With an impeccable smile, he asked, "Excuse me, young man, may I ask about your major? What year are you in?"

The round-faced boy responded with a smile, "I'm a junior, and my major is..."

It's a humanities major, and I can't say for sure what the specifics are, but the teacher next to me is probably one of the instructors for that major.

This teacher couldn't laugh.

Nan Zhuren nodded to indicate that he understood, and said, "Okay, first of all, you must be a student who likes to think a lot. The topic you raised is also very broad, discussing a very macro-level social phenomenon. The appearance of this kind of question in our lecture makes the lecture seem to have a larger scope."

The round-faced boy chuckled twice, finally having a chance to scan his surroundings.

He noticed that almost everyone in the classroom was looking at him, and most of them were laughing.

So he smiled too.

Nan Zhuren also laughed: "However, the perspective from which you deconstruct this problem is itself problematic. This flawed process led you to the wrong answer, and you've been wrong ever since."

The round-faced boy was taken aback.

“When we study a macro-level social phenomenon, we cannot interpret it from a micro-level individual perspective; that would be unfair.”

Nan Zhurendao, like a lecturer, earnestly instructed: "You just mentioned that many people on the internet pretend to have mental problems and profit from it; at the same time, you also think that many people think mental problems are cool, so they pretend to have mental problems."

"It's commendable that you can observe life 'meticulously'. But to conclude from this that 'there are more people with mental health problems now than there were in the past' is a very illogical leap."

Nan Zhuren continued, “Then you say that delivery drivers and couriers aren’t anxious—aren’t they anxious? They might just not show it to you. But you’re still trying to draw conclusions about a macro issue based on their micro, personal, and one-sided expressions. That’s a bit of generalization and a biased view.”

The teacher on stage spoke with utmost gentleness.

But the round-faced boy felt a strange stinging sensation.

This is not over yet.

(End of this chapter)