Chapter 76: Shut up first!

According to Zhang Gaoyuan's lesson plan, he intended to make everyone guess. After all the students in the class had spoken about the smell they detected, he laughed three times and said, "You all guessed wrong. This is just ordinary tap water I filled in the bathroom. The reason you guessed wrong is because my psychological suggestion led you into a thinking trap. Psychology is so magical, so interesting, and it influences our lives at every moment. Now, everyone open your textbooks, and let's enter the wonderful world of psychology."

If this content were expanded, it would be the content of his first 40-minute class, and it wouldn't even be padded.

Those two hateful guys, they didn't cooperate at all. They didn't fall for it and even revealed the truth, leaving him, the teacher, at a loss for how to continue.

Is there such a thing as bullying?

Hearing Zhang Gaoyuan's words, the students immediately realized they had all been deceived, and Tang Chong and Jiao Nanxin were right.

"The class leader is so amazing. How did you figure it out, Class Leader?" The boys admired Tang Chong's thinking ability even more.

"Go, Nanxin. You are our pride." The girls naturally supported their female representative, Jiao Nanxin. If only Tang Chong had figured it out and all the girls had been wrong, it would have been embarrassing for all of them. Jiao Nanxin had won honor for them.

"Wow, I thought it was foot odor." Hua Ming sniffed all around and said, "Is it my shoes?"

Zhang Gaoyuan tapped the lectern with a duster and said, "Not bad. What these two students said is correct. Subtle suggestions can unconsciously deprive us of our judgment and influence our thinking. In psychology, this phenomenon, where people's minds and behaviors are influenced through words, actions, expressions, or special symbols, leading them to accept the suggester's views or act according to the suggestion, is called the 'suggestion effect.'"

He looked at Tang Chong and asked, "What's your name?"

"Tang Chong."

"He is our class leader."

"Jiao Dean's student."

Before Tang Chong could answer, his classmates had already given a detailed introduction.

"Oh, so you are a new student of Dean Jiao this year?" Zhang Gaoyuan smiled. "No wonder you're so impressive."

"The teacher is too kind," Tang Chong said modestly.

"Right. Tang Chong, can you tell us how you knew the bottle contained purified water?"

"By negation." Tang Chong said. "After hearing your introduction, my first reaction was the same as the other students, to smell the air. However, I found that there were no new odors in the air."

"Wait." Zhang Gaoyuan interrupted Tang Chong. "There are so many smells in the air. Can you distinguish all of them?"

"Yes." Tang Chong nodded with a smile. The classroom was so clean; how many odors could there be in the air? If they had lived in prison for a while, they would know what complex odors were like.

"How is that possible? How did you do it?" Zhang Gaoyuan was clearly more interested in this question.

"Because I have smelled a lot." Tang Chong said with a smile.

"Smelled a lot?" Zhang Gaoyuan nodded, clearly misunderstanding Tang Chong's words. "Indeed. We breathe air every day, but few people pay close attention. No wonder you became Dean Jiao's student. Your keen observational skills are not something ordinary people can match. I am far inferior. Alright, I digressed. Please continue."

"I think, even if the smell of air freshener is very faint, it cannot be completely absent. Otherwise, there would be no point in having us smell it. However, I did not detect any odor, which made me suspicious. Then I thought, this is a psychology class, not a physics or chemistry class. What is the significance of having us smell something?"

"..." Zhang Gaoyuan fell silent again.

Is this guy too extraordinary?

After asking the question, he immediately urged the students to answer, giving them no time to think. Their first reaction was to find the smell, not to consider the question of whether this was a psychology class or a physics or chemistry class.

In other words, he had extremely strong thinking abilities, unaffected by any external factors.

He turned to Jiao Nanxin and asked, "This female student, how did you know the answer?"

"Because I read a lot of psychology books and knew that the teacher wanted to use the psychological suggestion effect to attract the students' attention at the beginning of the class." Jiao Nanxin said with a smile. "Since that's the case, the answer wouldn't be correct. So, I guessed it was purified water."

"Alright." Zhang Gaoyuan said helplessly. "I originally planned to use this incident to explain the wonders of psychology in our lives. Given the performance of these two students, I think I don't need to say much more. You have already seen a good example."

"This was supposed to be the content of my first class." He looked at his watch and said, "It's only been ten minutes. For the remaining thirty minutes, let's study a classic psychology case."

He walked to the computer control panel and turned on the projector in the classroom.

Then he searched through the computer and opened a video file.

The projector showed a restaurant, where four men entered and sat at a table.

The first, a fat man, said to the waiter, "Give me a plate of stir-fried beef noodles."

"Give me a bowl of beef noodles," the second man said.

"I'll have a bowl of beef noodles too," the third man said.

"You all are having beef noodles, so I'll have beef noodles too," the fourth man said.

Then the waiter asked the first fat man, "Sir, do you want stir-fried beef noodles or beef noodles?"

The fat man looked hesitant, and the scene froze.

Zhang Gaoyuan walked back to the lectern and said, "I mentioned earlier that psychology is the process of studying and analyzing a person's sensations, perceptions, memory, thinking, and emotions. Now that you've seen this video, who can tell me what the first fat man will ultimately order? Will he give up the stir-fried beef noodles he initially ordered and change to beef noodles like the others?"

"Yes, because he sees his companions all ordering beef noodles, he will follow them."

"No, since he ordered stir-fried beef noodles first, it proves he likes it. Why would he change his preference based on others' tastes?"

"Yes, I think he is hesitating. Hesitation means he is considering whether to change."

Everyone expressed their views, and the atmosphere in the classroom was very lively.

"Tang Chong, what do you think?" Zhang Gaoyuan asked proactively.

"I think he will change," Tang Chong said with a smile. "He walks with a light step and looks around when entering the restaurant, indicating he is not very determined. With three friends choosing the same dish, he begins to doubt his choice, leading to his hesitation. For someone with weak willpower, hesitation means giving up."

"What about you, this female student?" Zhang Gaoyuan called on Jiao Nanxin again, as her performance had truly amazed him.

"I think he won't change," Jiao Nanxin said firmly. She was sitting in front of Tang Chong and didn't turn to look at him. "Some say he walks with a light step, but I think it's because he is overweight and walks unsteadily. Some say he looks around when entering the restaurant, indicating weak willpower, but I think it's because he has a roving eye, looking for beautiful women. Isn't that a common trait of lecherous men?"

Clap, clap, clap.

Many students applauded, cheering for Jiao Nanxin's viewpoint.

Tang Chong smiled bitterly.

He knew this woman was at it again.

What do you mean "some say" and "some say"? It's all me, isn't it? There's only one Tang Chong in the world, and I don't have multiple personalities.

Zhang Gaoyuan also laughed and said, "Continue."

"He is a fat man, a flirtatious fat man. His obesity shows he likes to eat, making him a foodie. Foodies have a devout attitude towards food, so he won't change his preference based on others' opinions. Moreover, whether fat or not, flirts like to show their uniqueness to attract women's attention. Therefore, I think he won't change his choice."

"If he won't change his choice, why did he hesitate at the last moment?" Tang Chong smiled. "His eyes are wandering, his fingers are consciously opening and closing, and he looks very distressed, proving that beef noodles are very attractive to him."

"If he likes beef noodles, he would have ordered it first. Since he didn't, it means beef noodles are not his top choice. A foodie, why would he change his choice based on others' preferences?"

"Perhaps he is doubting his own choice. People have a tendency to follow the crowd. If we go to a restaurant and originally want to order scrambled eggs with tomatoes, but see everyone ordering beef on a hot plate, wouldn't we also think about trying it?"

"If you've been craving scrambled eggs with tomatoes for three months, would you easily change your mind? If you've saved for ten years to buy an Audi, and someone suggests a BMW, would you immediately change your mind?"

"Yes," Tang Chong said. "If I don't know much about cars and have enough money."

"I wouldn't. I worked hard for that Audi. It's not just a means of transportation; it has more significant meaning to me."

"Students..." Zhang Gaoyuan tried to interrupt their debate. They were getting more intense, and the topic had shifted from beef noodles to Audis and BMWs, which left him quite helpless.

Jiao Nanxin, who was in the heat of the debate with Tang Chong, was not willing to give up. She waved her hand and said, "Shut up first."

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