“If there is any instrument you must fall in love with and fetishize, it is the human brain—the most miraculous, awe-inspiring, information-processing tool devised in the known universe, with a complexity we can’t even begin to fathom, and with dimensional powers that far outstrip any piece of technology in sophistication and usefulness.”
– Robert Greene
This site is about how the mind works. It contains information that will enable you to understand the very mechanics by which your mind operates. Like it or not- your mind is essentially an invisible machine that works according to its own rules.
Humans have come a long way, from mastering technology to exploring outer space- there’s no dearth of achievements we’ve made. But closer home, how much do we really know about our own minds?
As it turns out, for most people: not much. Way too many people are clueless about the workings of their own minds, let alone of those around them. This is the cause of great ignorance, suffering, and conflict in the world.
PsychMechanics is targeted at readers who desire intriguing, valuable, and useful information about the human mind in a simple, easy-to-understand language. The information is presented less like a tedious college lecture and more like an informal, one-on-one conversation.
Efforts have been made to present the information in a logical manner that is easy to relate to real-life situations.
Moreover, this site is committed to providing you with information that you can ‘work with’ in your day-to-day life. PsychMechanics is the combination of ‘psyche’ meaning ‘mind, soul’ and ‘mechanics’ meaning ‘machine, tool’. That’s exactly what the author of this site strives to provide you: A tool that you can use to understand and tweak human behavior.
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Some of our articles have also been cited in peer-reviewed research articles, theses, and books. Here are a couple of examples:
What some readers have to say
I am so impressed with your writing style. It’s very informative yet, is an easy read. There are no distracting phrases; it’s clear and to the point. I simply loved reading it.
The articles really answered some of my pressing questions.
About the author
I’m Hanan Parvez, from the beautiful Kashmir valley in the Himalayas of South Asia. I studied engineering as my undergraduate major and have two master’s degrees—one in Psychology and another in Marketing.
As an engineer interested in the workings of the mind, I can’t help but think of the mind as a machine, an instrument, a tool. When people buy their machines and gadgets, they may not know how to use them initially. But, over time, they learn from their mistakes and might even end up becoming experts.
The human mind is somewhat similar. We’re born with this machine between our ears, having no clue about how it operates. Over time, we more or less get a handle on it, but most of us aren’t able to master it because it’s undoubtedly the most complex machine there is. PsychMechanics is like an instruction manual that will help you to understand the nuts and bolts of your mind.
What sparked my interest in human behavior
When I was in school, I read a chapter in my English class taken from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer where Tom convinces his friend to whitewash a fence even though he was initially unwilling to do so.
I was fascinated by how people could be convinced to do things they may not want to do. It planted in me the idea that the human mind could be tampered and tweaked with to achieve desired outcomes. I wanted to learn more.
Another spark was this ‘Body language’ book I found in my dad’s cupboard. I had a habit of going through my dad’s cupboard, searching for books to read. This book blew my mind, and I even showed it to my friends at school to see what they thought of it.
When I finished school, like many others, I was lost and didn’t know what I wanted to do in life. Doctor and Engineer seemed like the only two career options kids had in our locality. I was mildly interested in Engineering so I opted to go for it.
In my first year of Engineering, I decided this wasn’t what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing. I was a good student and breezed through my engineering course, but I knew it wasn’t something that made me feel alive, you know.
I started re-evaluating my life and trying to figure out what really made me tick. I came across this website that said if you want to turn your interest into a passion, invest in it. It basically said if you like X, then study more about X.
I knew I liked psychology but I was hesitant to take it as a career option because its job market didn’t look that promising. Still doesn’t, as many would attest. So I decided to stay in engineering and pursue psychology as a hobby.
During that time, I learned amazing things about human psychology and felt like I should publish them somewhere. This could help me in two ways: First, you learn things better when you write them down and explain them to others. Second, it had the potential to become a good revenue source. Two birds with one stone!
Lo and behold, PsychMechanics was born in August 2014. I was in my final year of Engineering at the time.
I come from a conflict-ridden zone between India and Pakistan. Political turmoil, protests, strikes, and communication lockdowns are common where I hail from. By communication lockdown, I mean no internet services for days and sometimes even months. Try imagining that!
This was the biggest challenge for me, and I knew I had to overcome this obstacle if I wanted to go anywhere with my blogging career.
In 2016, two years into blogging, and still trying to wrap my head around what I was doing, the situation worsened in our area. Luckily, a friend convinced me to apply for an MBA outside the state. I knew that Marketing was 90% psychology, so I thought I’d enjoy studying it, and I did.
Remember, I still couldn’t apply directly to Psychology because it isn’t considered a viable career option. And I didn’t have much to show for blogging-wise either.
I left the valley and headed for New Delhi to pursue an MBA and continued working on my blog, with no disruptions in internet services. Soon after, there was a month-long internet shutdown in our valley.
I finished my MBA in 2018 and got placed in this company as an Academic Writer in Marketing. I like learning and writing, so I figured I’d only grow in this kind of environment.
I learned a lot in the first two months, but after that, I realized the company cared more about output than providing a learning environment- output at the cost of lost learning opportunities and employee well-being.
Around that time, this blog was beginning to take off. I had to make a tough decision. I could stay at the company and make good money at the cost of my freedom and well-being with little time for the blog or I could quit the job and give more time to the blog. I quit the job. I just couldn’t stand the idea of spending years of my life being miserable.
When I quit the job, I finally took up an MA in Psychology while also working as a freelance Academic Writer for the company I’d quit. Working as a freelancer is so much better than a regular job. You have more time and freedom to pursue other interests.
Update 1: I bagged a research fellowship in Psychology and will soon be applying to PhD programs.
I’m a strong believer in making learning fun and easy. It makes knowledge accessible to people who don’t necessarily want to plow through 500-paged tomes. Degrees, diplomas, titles, and experiences don’t mean anything if you can’t stimulate the minds of your students.
The study of the human mind has become the biggest fascination of my life, and this site is a collection of the best I know explained in the best way I’ve deemed possible.
It’s like a torch that you can use to shed light on the darkest corners of the human mind. I sincerely hope it becomes your go-to place when it comes to understanding matters of the mind. That’s the vision that I have for this blog.
Update 2: I decided not to go with the PhD after reading some horror stories of PhD scholars on Quora.
Qualifications
- Bachelors in Engineering, University of Kashmir
- MBA (Marketing), Jamia University, New Delhi
- MA (Psychology), IGNOU
Other interests
- Playing the piano, violin, and electric guitar
- Listening to music
- Watching psychological thrillers
- Playing sports and games (all kinds)
- Fitness