To be or not to be...objective

To be or not to be objective. That is the question. Should we, as human beings, try to be objective when studying our own behavior? This question is considered normative, and it doesn't address the positive side of things. We must first look into whether or not we already study human behavior objectively before we can look at question of whether or not we should. Is it even possible to be completely objective when studying human behavior? By definition, being objective means not being influenced by personal feelings or opinions when considering facts. As human beings, however, we inherently assign emotional value to things. As David Brooks explains in his TED talk, we cannot make decisions without our emotions. If we are looking at human behavior in certain tribal groups, for example, we are bound to associate certain events with certain emotions and report certain peculiarities with our own biases. When doing the 'alien lens' activity, I personally found it impossible to look at everyday activities objectively without having my brain working everything out subconsciously. I do not think we study (or even can, for that matter) human behavior completely objectively.

Take the concept of confirmation bias, for instance. If we go into any study or research with previous knowledge or hypotheses, there is a tendency for us to be biased in collecting data. According to the concept, we tend to try to confirm our previous knowledge or hypotheses, which is a sure path to inaccurate data and research. This confirmation bias could theoretically be avoided if scientists study human behavior without any preconceived notions or expectations. Once again though, is this really possible? I say it is not, especially in something like human behavior, which is so personalized already. If it was something related to the natural sciences, for example, it is possible that there would be no confirmation bias since we might not know anything about the subject. However, every scientist (and human, in fact) is familiar with human behavior and has underlying expectations and biases about it.

Some people, though, would insist that the study of human behavior can be objective, as long as we don't try to analyze things. Consider the 'alien lens' activity again. Believers of objectivity say that it is relatively easy to block out emotions and past knowledge and to look at mundane activities through an outside observer's lens. The problems only start to appear when we try to analyze or explain these peculiarities (as participants, for example). When looking at it this way, it is easy to see the problem with thinking that the study of human behavior can be objective. Although the observation of human behavior can technically be objective, the analysis and reporting of it cannot.

For the sake of discussion though, let's accept the fact that human behavior can indeed be studied objectively. Now we can look at whether or not we should actually do so. In order to weigh the value of objectivity, we must look at how it benefits us or detracts from what we get out of human behavior research. A lot of people I know would say that objectivity (such as from an outside observer) provides a perspective into human behavior that allows us to understand the underlying assumptions and purposes of what we do. Objectivity gives us accurate quantitative and qualitative data, they say. After all, that's what research is all about, isn't it? Yes, objective research will give us information about and insight into the things humans do. This could mean observing the peculiar behavior of children at birthday parties in Chuck-E-Cheese, or even seeing how people react to walking out of the house naked. However, it raises an interesting question. This research may be accurate, but is it really relevant to us as humans? Our personal opinions and emotions are an integral part of interaction with others, and this greatly affects our behavior. Although objective studies could provide accurate, scientific data, it might not be useful to us as a race because of the lack of applicability. We don't care about how walking around naked in public makes people move away and wrinkle their face in disgust and awe. We care about the psychological effect on people and how it changes their behavior, which is directly related to how they feel in those situations.

I don't think we do or even should study human behavior objectively. It is simply not possible for us to be absolutely objective in this pursuit. Furthermore, even if we were hypothetically able to be objective, it would never fulfill our needs in terms of giving us relevant data that can be applied to human betterment.