1. Background and Motivation

In today’s high-pressure educational environments, where K-12 schooling often emphasises performance over personal growth, where degrees and positional goods have become markers of social mobility and lead public to chase for social move as if it’s the destiny of long-lasting happiness, and where exam-focused systems streamline students toward credentials and job readiness, many professionals find themselves navigating rigid career expectations and early plateaus. In regions such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Mainland China and beyond, concerns about burnout, mid-career stagnation, and the erosion of intrinsic motivation are becoming increasingly common (McKinsey, 2023). Against this backdrop, Liberal Arts education offers a refreshing alternative - an invitation to rediscover critical thinking, human insight, and the joy of learning for its own sake, to live better - a guide to others, a leader, a teammate, a loved one, a parent.

In an era of globalisation plateauing or even reversing in deglobalisation, slowing economic growth has led to accelerated social evolution. In tier one cities in China (e.g. Shanghai), cafés often reveal this scene: a young person flipping through Intro to Python with one hand, scrolling through grad school guides with the other, all while doom-scrolling algorithm-curated social feeds. These dopamine-triggering short videos mislead or addict, creating a state of anxious, fast-food knowledge consumption. Algorithms show you what you want to see. Besides the benefits of satisfying instant feast in the brain, it has the side-effect of creating an Information Cocoons (Piao, J., 2023). Compared to the early internet days, fewer people are now interested in systematic learning and have lost the ability to think critically.

In this turbulent tide, eight of us working professionals, led by Ppchen Chen, embarked on a Liberal Arts learning experiment, like building a mental watchtower in an overwhelming flood of information. Within this framework, we selected David Myers’ Social Psychology (11th edition) as the first textbook of our shared learning circle.

Psychology has a long history - once considered a branch of philosophy, until 1879 when German physiologist Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology lab at Leipzig University, marking the beginning of modern psychology. Yet, when placed against humanity’s 5-7 million years of existence, psychology is still an infant, rapidly growing but nascent. Social psychology, barely a century old, is in its early stages but has shown impressive results. After over ten sessions, we experienced a true intellectual feast. In post-session surveys, nearly everyone said the study programme positively influenced their thinking and behaviour. While human behaviour often defies prediction and logic, Social Psychology attempts to explain some of it scientifically, which is already a major step forward. As we concluded, “Logic has its limits, but mastering logic remains extremely valuable.”

2. Members and Recruitment

Recruitment was led by lead reader Ppchen via his public WeChat post “Liberal Arts Learning (in Chinese)” on 明道如费. He sought 6–8 participants for a shared study circle. By November 2024, eight students had joined.

Participants were selected for their social experience and ability to commit to weekly 1.5-hour (often stretching to 2 hours) deep discussions. We came from operations, product, tech management, and data engineering; some were MBA students, others were in early-stage startups. Our lead reader has a personal knowledge system spanning scientific management, entrepreneurship, and fintech.

The lead reader is both initiator and guide, familiar with the material. Having studied Social Psychology multiple times, the lead reader Ppchen brought interdisciplinary insight. Throughout the sessions, he guided us to critically engage with the textbook and related research, applying it to real life and work.

Still, the ultimate goal was collective learning and the intellectual collisions that arise from diverse experiences. We often reminded each other to give equal space to others to share.

3. Learning Setting: A “Stage” for Live Performance

Sociologist Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical theory likens social interaction to acting on a stage. We play roles, the setting is the stage, and behaviour is the “script.” Inspired by this, our Social Psychology learning group created a virtual stage to bring this metaphor to life.

  1. The Stage: The setting and environment. Different life and work contexts are like different stages, such as meeting rooms, living rooms, restaurants, all with their own “props” and rules shaping our behaviour. At work, we show professionalism; at parties, we’re casual; at home, we’re patient and caring. Switching between “onstage” and “backstage” personas can feel jarring, like seeing your strict boss at a bathhouse.
    Our “stage” was built on Tencent Meeting with a unique rule: everyone must keep the camera and mic on. This made gestures, expressions, and breathing part of the learning environment, enhancing interaction and eliminating the “click to unmute” barrier, turning discussions from turn-based to real-time.

  2. The Script: Our roles and social expectations. Social roles, such as employee, leader, parent, and friend, come with implied scripts: ways of speaking, behaving, and expressing emotions. These aren’t formally written, but internalised over time through culture and interaction. The 11th edition of Social Psychology became our core “script,” which we interpreted together on our shared stage.
    We discovered minor differences even within the same printed edition, which were further complicated by the translation from English. In such cases, we referred back to the original English version for accuracy.
    On this stage, everyone was both teacher and student. With mutual respect and shared curiosity, we each brought our life experiences to the table, seeking to learn rather than argue. We each played a role under mutual expectations.

As night fell each Wednesday, nine glowing faces appeared on screen, accompanied by cameras and microphones. Through more than ten online sessions, we explored the richness of Social Psychology like old friends around a fire. Most of us were mid-career professionals, “post-achievement” (by a narrow, ordinary social definition), deeply entrenched in our industries or pursuing MBAs. Ppchen, both mentor and peer, born in the ’70s, who witnessed both the phenomenal China’s Reform and opening-up and the booming Chinese Internet era, has led us through this journey of liberal learning with diverse life experiences, alongside others’ too.

From late autumn to early spring, over three months, we turned textbook theories into keys for understanding life. At first, we adjusted our webcams nervously; later, real life flowed freely through the screen - person A gesturing wildly while explaining cognitive dissonance; person B slapping his thigh at group polarisation: “That was our meeting last week!” Even dogs or kids interrupting became part of our collective memory. In every pixel and every expression, our thoughts took on warmth. Seeing each other made us closer. When someone discussed conformity, we saw the spark in their eyes. When someone frowned, others jumped in with relatable examples.

4. Before-Class Prep, In-Class Dialogue: Bridging Theory and Life

Before each session, we did “theory translation” homework — turning abstract concepts into personal stories. One classmate applied self-handicapping theory to reflect on losing patience with their child when they were in a bad mood. Many shared how learning social psychology helped reduce negative judgments and embrace human differences more mindfully.

5. Disagreements and Resolution

We had passionate debates. For example, one focused on this passage:

It is commonly believed that brainstorming works best when participants are told “don’t criticize.” In fact, encouraging debate can actually stimulate ideas and enhance creativity even after the session (Nemeth & others, 2004).

Most students intuitively thought the message was “delay critique until the end.” In hindsight, this was a classic case of belief perseverance (see wiki on “Belief Perseverance”. The beauty of scientific material is that every claim is backed by evidence. We reviewed the original paper and confirmed: allowing critique during brainstorming leads to significantly more and better ideas. See original paper and ChatGPT summary.

These findings are like deep tree roots - the result of scientific weeding, pruning, and weaving in history by collective intelligence. Myers synthesised decades of research into this 604-page textbook, written and revised with input from hundreds of scholars. And we, a group of like-minded learners, explored this work as part of our Liberal Arts journey.

This group study not only provided an academic adventure, but also helped us see ourselves, understand others, and embrace differences:

6. Post-study Reflections: Learning Embedded in Daily Life

Even after the programme, we hoped to preserve this warm and open atmosphere, respecting diversity while grounding theories in daily life. In Ppchen’s post-study survey, students shared how social psychology reshaped their view of the world: recognizing the “self-serving bias” (see article), boosting teammates’ “self-efficacy” (see wiki), spotting “anchoring effects” in meetings, observing “learned helplessness” in groups (see hbr), noticing the “central vs peripheral route” in persuasion, and identifying “foot-in-the-door” tactics in life.

The fruits of learning have overflowed beyond our screens into our lives. Through deep pre-reading and lively discussions, knowledge moved from page to practice, becoming part of our work, families, and personal growth. As person R said, “Life is short and bitter. We must fiercely guard our sense of agency and gently protect others’ as well.” That’s both the insight from this journey and the strength we carry forward. May more people perform this play, with grace, integrity, and mutual uplift.

Of course, we are human. A theoretical foundation doesn’t guarantee action. This led to a deeper thought from the group: from “Unity of knowledge and action,” to “If one knows but doesn’t act, it’s as if they don’t know,” to this final reflection:

“Perhaps, we should worry less about attitudes—ours or others’. We should care more about the beliefs we’ve chosen carefully. Once knowledge becomes a belief we hold dearly, alignment between knowing and doing becomes natural.”

The bit over the Internet from the participants’ mic doesn’t just transmit sound. It carries tremors of thought. These resonances bridge the space and time. May this extraordinary intellectual feast be staged again and again, for those who need it, and for those who love it. Ultimately, wish it increases the chance of realising one’s happiness, defined by oneself, not by others. Being and living, answering the ancient question many of us would ask one day, now or later, is uneasy: “What is my goal in life?” “What am I striving for?” “What is my purpose?”. Carl Rogers’s short but complex response to it in the book On Becoming a Person, ch. 8 is, quoting Lao Tzu from thousands years ago, “the way to do is to be” - I am not there yet, and I can write about it another time.