The Psychology of Greats by Hiba

The Psychology of Greats by Hiba - August 2018 Scholarship Essay

Let’s say that you have suddenly become curious about world history, or civics, or religion, or mental health. To satiate your curiosity, you will probably turn to any of the thousands of resources teeming with information at your disposal (tools on the Web, at the library, on the faculty at your local high school…) for a quick, impartial review of the information you are looking for.

You would likely not think to turn to a podcast for your information-acquiring needs at all, because the distinct magic of the podcast comes in the execution of the content rather than the content alone. We go to podcasts for their creative process of information-sharing, the novel ideas they advance, the inspired thinking that they promote. A podcast shouldn’t be a passive operation, not for the host, not for the listener. My own educational podcast would certainly be an active operation.

If I were to host my own educational podcast, it would likely be on a rich topic of thought; Perhaps, “The Psychology of the Greats”. In it, I would lay out a brief history on the lives of various influential peoples (your great world leaders, creative innovators, out-of-the-box thinkers, all around paradigm- smashers) and from there, I would venture to devise a “psychological equation” on what it was, or is, about that person, that made them truly Great.

In each segment of my podcast, we would walk through the life and times of the person, stopping perhaps to discuss their families, or their politics, their religious perspectives (or other existential beliefs), the trials, conflicts, or quandaries of their youth, their education, the pursuits of their careers as well as their hearts. Then, we would analyze their adult personalities and their contributions to humanity at large from here, drawing psychological casualties where we could.

In this, we would effectively psychoanalyze the character type of the Expert, the Genius, the Leader, and report a psychological equation for Greatness; And perhaps, through this mental adventure, we could find the tools to enhance our own minds and crack open the lid to our potential for greatness.