A stream of consiousness... (probably bext avoided ;-)
Human psychology is a fascinating thing. It never fails to interest and suprise me, and curious traits turn up in the unlikliest places.
I'm particularly thinking of transference. I find this really interesting: the mind substituing something in place of some unresolved issue. Take me, for a trivial example: I find all sorts of little jobs to do in place of big, difficult ones. I've also done things like picking on some minor problem in a girl and using that as the reason for not pursuing her (thus saving me having to make an effort, and the potential for failure or hurt).
The really amazing thing is the lengths to which it's possible to go. Extreme transference can cause all sorts of other extreme reactions. If the transferred belief is strong enough, it can be used as the justification for "high effect" decisions which may have serious ramifications (like me ignoring perfectly decent girls). With my counselling hat on, one's challenge is to break down the initial assertion and thus the decisions based on it tumble down. Of course, having no qualifications whatsoever means I don't really know how to recognise transferrence (in myself or other people), nor do I know how to approach the problem or actually do anything with it.
Something else I find fascinating is the effect of one's upbringing. Everyone's parents have their own particular foibals which obviously influence the way you were brought up.Of course, some of this "rubs off", leaving you with a modified and probably diluted version of their issues.
This sort of thing is again often subtle and complex. What may have been really obvious in one's parents is far more subtle in yourself. Again, using myself as an example, I'm sometimes victim to some very dubious attitude choices (mostly in relation to gender roles and relations). I'm aware of the original problem, but no matter how much I try to avoid repeating it, I keep doing it. Again there's a way to tackle this sort of thing, but I don't properly know how.
I'm sure these two facets of psychology are in everyone, and possibly not even that dissimilarly to myself in manifestation. Still, I always enjoy learning about them, and so understanding myself (and other people) in a new way. It sort of makes me want to learn the craft properly so I can fill in the gaps in my knowledge and skills.