Doctor: Picking Up Attributes in the Hospital-Chapter 511 - 405: Be Sure to Trust Your Own Feelings!
As the saying goes, "Ninety is just halfway to a hundred." When you’ve traveled ninety miles of a hundred-mile journey, it’s only considered halfway finished, because the last ten miles are the most crucial.
"See, it’s really comfortable lying down, right? At least more comfortable than the sofa bed, isn’t it?"
Xu Hongdou saw Xu Man Ni’s reluctant but sincere expression and couldn’t help but smile slightly.
Her sister was always stubborn, but Xu Hongdou had known since she was a child that her sister truly cared for and loved her deeply.
"Sofa bed?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Man Ni looked at the sofa bed Xu Hongdou was sitting on and seemed to blush slightly, as if reminded of something.
"I heard you went to the branch hospital today. How was the treatment there?"
Xu Man Ni remembered that Zhao Heng apparently went to the branch hospital this afternoon. She knew that the branch hospital usually dealt with patients with severe mental disorders.
She didn’t expect Zhao Heng to have such a wide range of interests now. Having spent this time with Zhao Heng, Xu Man Ni didn’t really see him being overly occupied during his rest time. His daily routines were pretty much the same as a regular doctor.
Who knows how he manages to learn and master so much so quickly. Maybe it’s a natural talent?
"The treatment effect was very good. The director over there is indeed quite impressive."
Zhao Heng, sitting on the sofa, opened a bottle of cold beer, took a sip, and casually replied.
"Are you talking about Gao Qilan?"
Hearing what Zhao Heng said, Xu Man Ni furrowed her brows slightly.
"Yes, Director Gao. What’s the matter?"
Zhao Heng asked with a serious expression.
"Nothing, I just heard some rumors that when she was teaching at the university, her research project was halted, and then she quietly went to the branch hospital."
Xu Man Ni thought for a moment and said.
"You’re saying that too, so it seems true."
Hearing that Xu Man Ni said the same thing as Liu Meng, it was clear the story matched. So, it should be true that Gao Qilan’s research project was stopped while she was teaching at the university.
Zhao Heng was very curious about what kind of project Gao Qilan was engaging in that got stopped. Such incidents are quite rare domestically.
"What kind of project was Director Gao working on that got halted?"
After a pause, Zhao Heng asked, puzzled.
Of course, he couldn’t directly ask Gao Qilan this question, and Liu Meng didn’t have that detailed information.
But Xu Man Ni, with her connections at Eastern Hospital, had a very open channel for information.
Not to mention, she also had a three-person gals’ group that constantly shared gossip about the hospital staff.
"I’m not very sure. Once, I heard my uncle mention it seemed to be a behavior reinforcement experiment project based on the Skinner box."
Xu Man Ni thought seriously and said.
"Based on the Skinner box experiment? Behavior reinforcement?"
Hearing Xu Man Ni say this, Zhao Heng looked surprised. He expected that Gao Qilan’s research would be cutting-edge, but not this cutting-edge.
Known as the Skinner box experiment, it’s a famous experiment conducted in 1938 by world-renowned behavioral psychologist Skinner. He placed a mouse in a box with a lever that, when pressed, released food. Initially, every press would yield a food pellet, leading the mouse to press it habitually when hungry.
Skinner concluded that an organism’s behavior can be shaped through reward training, using incentives to alter human behavior.
Later, Skinner wondered: if the rewards were inconsistent, would it still effectively influence behavior?
He adjusted the box so that pressing the lever would randomly reward the mouse with a food pellet, to see if it would continue pressing.
The result was that the mouse pressed the lever more frequently than before.
"Behavior reinforcement? Brother-in-law, does that mean training a monkey to use tools to pick bananas or something?"
Xu Hongdou, feeling bored, heard Zhao Heng and Xu Man Ni chatting and tried to understand what Zhao Heng was saying.
"What you’re talking about is training with tools; I’m talking about behavior reinforcement."
"For example, in a romantic relationship, if one party feels that the other isn’t behaving as expected, they will increasingly want to control the relationship, desperately wanting to understand why the other party’s attitude doesn’t match up."
Zhao Heng casually gave an example.
"I get it, this uncertainty makes one party invest more effort into the relationship to try to gain control over it."
"In other words, when I can’t control something, I want to put more effort into it. Isn’t this what people call PUA brainwashing these days?"
Xu Hongdou was always very smart. Although she might seem lazy, she had a very fast understanding. Zhao Heng only had to explain a little, and she could already infer the rest.
"Behavior reinforcement is different from PUA. With PUA, as long as you’re sharp and cautious, it’s relatively easy to recognize, whereas behavior reinforcement happens gradually, like boiling a frog in warm water. By the time you notice, you’ve been changed quite deeply."
Zhao Heng shook his head and said.
"PUA is easy to recognize? Please explain, brother-in-law."
Xu Hongdou asked with great interest.
"PUA is essentially psychological bullying, or you could say it’s a form of mental control."
"Basically, the first step of PUA is to constantly undermine your self-esteem and deny your value, causing you to doubt yourself. For example, at work, if your boss constantly criticizes you no matter how hard you try, most people start to introspect and question themselves: Am I really useless? Once you start thinking that way, your self-esteem is shaken, and the first step of PUA is accomplished."
Zhao Heng explained patiently.
He was quite willing to explain this. After absorbing skills and knowledge from Gao Qilan twice, he considered himself quite an expert in psychology.
"What if I just defy the boss outright? If they make it hard for me, I make it hard for them too, and if worst comes to worst, I quit!"
Xu Hongdou stated bluntly.
"You have the confidence to do that, but for most people, it’s hard to find a job in the current climate, and they won’t give up a job easily."
Xu Man Ni chimed in, feeling a great deal of empathy.
"That’s true. So what’s the second step, brother-in-law?"
Xu Hongdou nodded and asked with more interest.
"The second step is simple: when you refuse a PUA’s suggestion, they’ll find ways to push, attack, and subject you to various cold forms of violence until you comply, making you feel guilty, doubt your actions, lose confidence, and even become depressed."
Zhao Heng explained slowly.
"That’s terrifying! How can I defend against such PUA?"
Xu Hongdou was a bit scared by what Zhao Heng said and was eager to know how to guard against such psychological bullying.
"To defend yourself, especially at work, just remember the four ’what ifs’."
Zhao Heng said.
"The four ’what ifs’?"
Xu Hongdou perked up, very interested.
Not only her, but Xu Man Ni also showed curiosity, as she had never heard such a systematic analysis of PUA before. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"If the other person makes you feel guilty as soon as they speak, then confront them."
"If the other person has you work without offering any compensation, directly confront them."
"If the other person keeps talking about dreams and values without substance, confrontation is the answer!"
"The last ’what if’ is if they start crying and complaining, tell them to leave the office and cry to their mom!"
Zhao Heng calmly shared his summarized "four what ifs."
As he finished speaking, Xu Man Ni and Xu Hongdou exchanged glances.
Although what Zhao Heng said was quite right, it surely took enduring a lot of hardships to come up with such valuable insight!
