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Asked by anon-340947 on 7 Nov 2022.
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Sameer Alladin answered on 7 Nov 2022:
I risk being quite biased here (given that Psychology is my field). I do think Psychology is incredibly important for people to study because it gives one a better understanding of just how complex people and situations are – which, I think, is quite important for developing holistic thinking. It’s also quite important for developing a more compassionate worldview. I think any field that encourages one to think in a more integrative way about the way the world works is a good thing – and psychology certainly does that by encouraging you to consider biological, social, and individual psychological factors and how they all interact.
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Jamie Murray answered on 8 Nov 2022:
Hi Freddie,
I would say that Psychology is going to play a very crucial role in the future. For example, breakthroughs in our understanding of how brain processes support cognition will lead to the development of more sophisticated Brain-Computer-Interface (BCI) technologies. BCI technologies allow for computers and our brains to interact in a meaningful way to perform tasks. This has huge implications – from remote control of vehicles, to increasing mobility and function among paralysed patients. In addition, Social and Cognitive Psychology will also play an increasingly important role in our understanding people’s behaviour in online environments. For example, through the development of more sophisticated behavioural techniques for preventing the spread of disinformation on social media platforms. Understanding people’s behaviour in online environments is so important that the BPS now have a dedicated group of people to look exactly at this problem. Finally, in my own field of cognitive neuroscience, the development of new mobile neuroimaging technologies is allowing us to betterunderstand how the brain functions when people interact in the real world rather than sitting in front of a computer in a laboratory. These new neuroimaging techniques are going to be crucial for solving real world problems – such as how to better support people with dementia navigate around new locations, how to enhance attention among elite athletes allowing them to get into the ‘zone’, and desiging safer driverless cars (to same just a few real world applications).
I hope this helps show the different ways that Psychology will be crucial for future generations.
Jamie
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Fiona Ling answered on 8 Nov 2022:
Personally, one of the benefits of studying psychology is that I’ve become more empathetic about people’s mental health issues, as I understand what might be the causes of the issues, and the causes may not be controlled by the person (e.g. changes in the chemicals in the brain, the people around the person). If everyone can be more empathetic towards each other, the world could be made an even better place to live. Also, nowadays, an increasing no. of people suffer from mental health issues, but resources to support have always been insufficient. With more young people going into careers that support mental health services, it can give more hope to people who need the support.
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Mhairi Bowe answered on 10 Nov 2022:
I think it is absolutely essential to understand how we respond to our environments and each other, how we interact with each other, and how we can come together to create positive social change in relation to issues such as climate activism, collective actions, peace-building and social harmony, challenging inequality and overcoming loneliness and marginalisation. Psychology can speak to all of these issues.
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Liz Halstead answered on 23 Nov 2022:
I think that mental health and well-being has never been more important. I am teaching medical students on sleep and well-being tomorrow, and it is important now to consider mental health and well-being in all aspects of health. Therefore, I think as long as we are sleeping and thinking, we will always need psychologists.
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