It is a worthy and necessary task, to better understand my own discomfort with "psychology." This will point towards a clarification of psychology and differentiate it from the psychology of the masses. When I can reflect and contemplate, the dynamic processes of mind, culture, development, growth, and existential meaning can be more accurately intuited.
I've given up for long enough, I've had my rest. Fervid, I can return to my determination, to apply my mind to the questions of life, which are desecrated by "psychology" and it's gross simplification of existence.
This is my frustration with psychology, as elucidated by Phaedrus:
"he could think of possible way he could tell them what they should work toward without falling back on didactic teaching. But how can you put on the blackboard the mysterious internal goal of each creative person?"
Indoctrinating children with the social norms of our society may be an adequate lifestyle for the "psychologists" with which I work, but it is neither adequate for me nor deserving of the term "psychology." Psychology is an exploration of the intimate questions of the mind, it is critical and profound. It is not rote repetition. Perhaps it is satisfying for these others, but my own needs for understanding are greater.
The most pressing question perhaps: How to elicit the best in and empower others, socially, psychologically, physiologically... Rather than judging them by perceived weaknesses.
Showing posts with label Neuroscience / Psychology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Neuroscience / Psychology. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
re: Consciousness (The Monk and the Philosopher)
Is it possible, perhaps, that the emergence of a "consciousness" that can override the emotional drives by means of ration and thought (and applying these to the more dominant, primal, and base force of emotion) is the fruit of evolutionary process? I wonder if it is perhaps an adaptive mechanism that allows the organism to more efficiently manipulate the environment as well as the self.
How does consciousness promote the evolution of the organism? Through creativity and rationality and society. It grants the organism the ability to suppress desires when those desires may inhibit the organism. Consciousness is the breeding ground for rationality. Without consciousness, there can be no evaluation nor judgement in abstracted terms of variables. Things can only be defined as good or bad given the evaluation of their immediate impact on the immediate sense of emotion.
I believe this perspective is able to reconcile a significant debate within the scientific community regarding the nature of consciousness, specifically the question of its existence as anything more than an epiphenomenon. Reductionists have claimed that consciousness cannot be more than epiphenomenon. I believe that the above argument provides substantial basis for believing not only that consciousness exists, but also that it has
How has consciousness come about? Perhaps the various neurological underpinnings which give rise to consciousness have been selected for by the evolutionary process as any other inherited trait. Perhaps consciousness lends a significant evolutionary advantage to its alternative.
Furthermore, it is important to understand the primary force of consciousness as the ability to suppress desires dictated by the emotional circuitry of the brain. The so-called "free will" has humorously been refered to as "free won't." By systematically avoiding certain desires, behaviors, and thoughts, we are capable not only of shaping the immediate situation, but of patterning ourselves neurologically. By refraining from a particular negative thought, we eliminate it's circuitry in the brain. Similarly, y refraining from a particularly negative addiction, we eliminate the reward circuity it has develop in the brain, and then replace it with a stronger capacity for determining our own actions.
These thoughts are a response to "The Monk and the Philosopher." Conceptual influences from Antonio Damasio's "Looking for Spinoza" and Jeffrey Schwartz's "Mind and the Brain."
How does consciousness promote the evolution of the organism? Through creativity and rationality and society. It grants the organism the ability to suppress desires when those desires may inhibit the organism. Consciousness is the breeding ground for rationality. Without consciousness, there can be no evaluation nor judgement in abstracted terms of variables. Things can only be defined as good or bad given the evaluation of their immediate impact on the immediate sense of emotion.
I believe this perspective is able to reconcile a significant debate within the scientific community regarding the nature of consciousness, specifically the question of its existence as anything more than an epiphenomenon. Reductionists have claimed that consciousness cannot be more than epiphenomenon. I believe that the above argument provides substantial basis for believing not only that consciousness exists, but also that it has
How has consciousness come about? Perhaps the various neurological underpinnings which give rise to consciousness have been selected for by the evolutionary process as any other inherited trait. Perhaps consciousness lends a significant evolutionary advantage to its alternative.
Furthermore, it is important to understand the primary force of consciousness as the ability to suppress desires dictated by the emotional circuitry of the brain. The so-called "free will" has humorously been refered to as "free won't." By systematically avoiding certain desires, behaviors, and thoughts, we are capable not only of shaping the immediate situation, but of patterning ourselves neurologically. By refraining from a particular negative thought, we eliminate it's circuitry in the brain. Similarly, y refraining from a particularly negative addiction, we eliminate the reward circuity it has develop in the brain, and then replace it with a stronger capacity for determining our own actions.
These thoughts are a response to "The Monk and the Philosopher." Conceptual influences from Antonio Damasio's "Looking for Spinoza" and Jeffrey Schwartz's "Mind and the Brain."
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Neurological Empathy
What neurological correlates exist with the experience of a true empathic connection? I can think of no functional or pragmatic manner to test this, but I would not be averse to believe that
Perhaps there is a physio-neurological correlate that may affect the expression of genes and the probability of certain predispositions to induce psychopathologies, in the truly empathic relationship. Perhaps this correlate is related to the brain's acknowledgment of the genuine existence of another.
I have found a good deal of research on the neurology of being empathic, but little on the actual experience of being currently engaged in the feeling of having somebody to empathize with you.
Is this related to neural circuits that serve to represent others as actual extensions of the physical/neurological self?
What is the function of circuits that identify the individual with other sentient (and non-sentient) beings?
Perhaps there is a physio-neurological correlate that may affect the expression of genes and the probability of certain predispositions to induce psychopathologies, in the truly empathic relationship. Perhaps this correlate is related to the brain's acknowledgment of the genuine existence of another.
I have found a good deal of research on the neurology of being empathic, but little on the actual experience of being currently engaged in the feeling of having somebody to empathize with you.
Is this related to neural circuits that serve to represent others as actual extensions of the physical/neurological self?
What is the function of circuits that identify the individual with other sentient (and non-sentient) beings?
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Mental Health Counseling
"It is as though he listened,
And such listening as his enfolds us in a silence
In which at last we begin to hear
What we are meant to be"
Carl Rogers translates Sun Tzu to describe the ideal therapist.
"I cannot live my life in abstractions. So real relationships with persons, hands dirtied in the soil, observing the budding of a flower, or viewing the sunset, are necessary to my life."
Carl Rogers on why abstract thought is only half the process.
"He who imposes himself has the small manifest might; he who does not impose himself has the great secret might."
Carl Rogers translates Lao Tzu, again to describe the methodology of the great therapist.
My classes have stimulated and invigorated my mind. I love this.
I have recently begun to try and grasp the theories of behaviorism and psychopathology. At one point, I would have disagreed with the tenets put forth by both of these. Behaviorism I have actually begun to reconcile with my own beliefs more recently. But psychopathology, the idea of diagnosing mental illnesses has rubbed me the wrong way for quite a while.
I am trying to elucidate a conceptualization I have recently come upon. An author of a textbook mentions that sanity and insanity are like night and day. We can clearly differentiate one from the other, but as we approach that buffer zone, distinctions become hazy. I feel that there is great significance in that region. This is so directly analogous to transitioning from particle-electron behavior to wave-electron behavior. Probabilities show up anywhere, but they still follow a statistical pattern.
Furthermore, I think we can apply this spectrum, at the center of which lies our hazy event horizon, to conceptualize cultural/universally human characteristics. We lie directly at the center, where we draw from both, but are still consistently both and neither...
Words are failing me. I need to come back to this.
And such listening as his enfolds us in a silence
In which at last we begin to hear
What we are meant to be"
Carl Rogers translates Sun Tzu to describe the ideal therapist.
"I cannot live my life in abstractions. So real relationships with persons, hands dirtied in the soil, observing the budding of a flower, or viewing the sunset, are necessary to my life."
Carl Rogers on why abstract thought is only half the process.
"He who imposes himself has the small manifest might; he who does not impose himself has the great secret might."
Carl Rogers translates Lao Tzu, again to describe the methodology of the great therapist.
My classes have stimulated and invigorated my mind. I love this.
I have recently begun to try and grasp the theories of behaviorism and psychopathology. At one point, I would have disagreed with the tenets put forth by both of these. Behaviorism I have actually begun to reconcile with my own beliefs more recently. But psychopathology, the idea of diagnosing mental illnesses has rubbed me the wrong way for quite a while.
I am trying to elucidate a conceptualization I have recently come upon. An author of a textbook mentions that sanity and insanity are like night and day. We can clearly differentiate one from the other, but as we approach that buffer zone, distinctions become hazy. I feel that there is great significance in that region. This is so directly analogous to transitioning from particle-electron behavior to wave-electron behavior. Probabilities show up anywhere, but they still follow a statistical pattern.
Furthermore, I think we can apply this spectrum, at the center of which lies our hazy event horizon, to conceptualize cultural/universally human characteristics. We lie directly at the center, where we draw from both, but are still consistently both and neither...
Words are failing me. I need to come back to this.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Volition = the Application of Attention/Awareness
"Scientists questioning reductive materialism believe that consciousness will turn out to be governed by natural law... As Chalmers says, 'There is no a priori principle that says that all natural laws will be physical laws; to deny materialism is not to deny naturalism.'"
"Learning and memory are based on the strengthening of synapses that occurs when pre- and postsynaptic neurons are simultaneously active...
Electrically stimulating cortical cells to fire simultaneously strengthened their synaptic connections...
Hebbian plasticity begins with the release from presynaptic neurons of the neurotransmitter glutamate. The glutamate binds to two kinds of receptors on the postsynaptic neuron. One receptor notes that its own neuron, the postsynaptic onem is active; the other notes which preynaptic neurons are simultaneously active. The postsynaptic neuron therefore detects the simultaneous occurrence of presynaptic and postsynaptic activity. "
"Actual physical practice produced changes in each volunteer's motor cortex, as expected. But so did mere mental rehearsal, and to the same degree as that brought about by physical practice. Motor circuits become active during pure mental imagery. Like actrual, physical movements, imaged movements trigger synaptic change at the cortical level. Merely thinking about moving produced brain chanes comparable to those triggered by actually moving."
"Because the observer's only freedom is the choice of which question to pose (Shall I look up at the sky?), it is here that the mind of the observer has a chance to affect the dynamics of the brain."
"Volitional processes are associated with increases in energy use in the frontal lobes... Does activity in the frontal lobes cause volition, or does volition trigger activity in the frontal lobes?" (Sean says: Activity in the frontal lobes IS volition)
"The pattern of electrical activity in the cerebral cortex shifts just before you consciously initiate a movement... between 0.4 and 4 seconds before the initiation of a voluntary movement, there appears a slow, electriclaly negative brain wave terms the Bereitschafpotential, or 'readiness potential'... But not all readiness potentials were followed by movements. 'The brain was evidently beginning the volitional process in this voluntary act well before the activation of the muscle that produced the movement.'"
-The Mind & The Brain
Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D.,
and Sharon Begley
"Learning and memory are based on the strengthening of synapses that occurs when pre- and postsynaptic neurons are simultaneously active...
Electrically stimulating cortical cells to fire simultaneously strengthened their synaptic connections...
Hebbian plasticity begins with the release from presynaptic neurons of the neurotransmitter glutamate. The glutamate binds to two kinds of receptors on the postsynaptic neuron. One receptor notes that its own neuron, the postsynaptic onem is active; the other notes which preynaptic neurons are simultaneously active. The postsynaptic neuron therefore detects the simultaneous occurrence of presynaptic and postsynaptic activity. "
"Actual physical practice produced changes in each volunteer's motor cortex, as expected. But so did mere mental rehearsal, and to the same degree as that brought about by physical practice. Motor circuits become active during pure mental imagery. Like actrual, physical movements, imaged movements trigger synaptic change at the cortical level. Merely thinking about moving produced brain chanes comparable to those triggered by actually moving."
"Because the observer's only freedom is the choice of which question to pose (Shall I look up at the sky?), it is here that the mind of the observer has a chance to affect the dynamics of the brain."
"Volitional processes are associated with increases in energy use in the frontal lobes... Does activity in the frontal lobes cause volition, or does volition trigger activity in the frontal lobes?" (Sean says: Activity in the frontal lobes IS volition)
"The pattern of electrical activity in the cerebral cortex shifts just before you consciously initiate a movement... between 0.4 and 4 seconds before the initiation of a voluntary movement, there appears a slow, electriclaly negative brain wave terms the Bereitschafpotential, or 'readiness potential'... But not all readiness potentials were followed by movements. 'The brain was evidently beginning the volitional process in this voluntary act well before the activation of the muscle that produced the movement.'"
-The Mind & The Brain
Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D.,
and Sharon Begley
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Dualism vs. Material Reductionism
The debate between dualism and material reductionism is inherently flawed by one single misconception: that consciousness is a single process, irreducibly defined by a single state. This is not so: consciousness of the human is composed of many elements.
Just because consciousness is reducible does not imply that its elemental building blocks are illusory, material, or epiphenomenal.
The problem lies in using a single word to describe a fluctuating and experientially different concept: all persons' cognitive experiences are different and unique.
More measurable components are memory, language, reflection, will (angular gyrus anyone?), empathy, etc. The interplay of these components gives rise to a usually seamless experience. But when input from one (ie touch) contradicts another (ie memory), the illusion is broken and the sentient being is momentarily introduced to reality.
This is not to suggest that consciousness is of a different materia than the neural connections - but as a flame is not reducible to the components of the wick, neither is the mind reducible to the sodium ion channels, adenosine triphosphate, and action potentials that give rise to it.
Just because consciousness is reducible does not imply that its elemental building blocks are illusory, material, or epiphenomenal.
The problem lies in using a single word to describe a fluctuating and experientially different concept: all persons' cognitive experiences are different and unique.
More measurable components are memory, language, reflection, will (angular gyrus anyone?), empathy, etc. The interplay of these components gives rise to a usually seamless experience. But when input from one (ie touch) contradicts another (ie memory), the illusion is broken and the sentient being is momentarily introduced to reality.
This is not to suggest that consciousness is of a different materia than the neural connections - but as a flame is not reducible to the components of the wick, neither is the mind reducible to the sodium ion channels, adenosine triphosphate, and action potentials that give rise to it.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Human Composition Along Multiple Dimensions
This was the written part of my application for Boston College. It was rather spontaneous, with very little editing, so it is a bit lacking in coherence, and the transitions are often rather jumpy.
Interpreting the Human Composition Across Several Dimensions
The many fields of science are currently being drawn to a common middle-ground, a place where they converge, interact, and even find themselves defined by each other. This nexus is commonly treated as a holistic view, and is becoming increasingly popular in this era. Physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, statistics - these sciences are inherently related. It has become unavoidable to me to apply this paradigm to psychology and interpret the human psyche in terms of multiple interacting dimensions. It has become my belief that there is no way a human being can experience fulfillment without developing and progressing across these dimensions. And because of the unique relationship between these different dimensions, a lack of growth in one will hinder and obstruct progress in all the others. The purpose of exploring these dimensions is to improve the current state of psychology, which is incomplete.
The longer we spend observing aspects of human psychology, the more numerous the dimensions appear to be. Dimensions sometimes appear to be made up of even more basic and distinguishable dimensions. And as we spend even longer in contemplation and observation, we find that the distinctions between dimensions blur, that characteristics that belong to one inevitably belong to others. But if we find such characteristics, we can treat them as major and direct connections that link the dimensions, creating an impressive latice-like structure. Blurry distinctions imply solid connections.
Several dimensions are more immediately apparent: social, physical/physiological, intellectual, and existential. This is not to suggest that there are only 4 such dimensions. Surely, more can be intuited, and even more surely will different cultures have different expectations and interpretations of the dimensions that constitute human psychology. In this model, deconstruction and reconstruction are necessary; this is how progress is made. And always, there will be a factor that has not been included. We will never cease to split either the material or psychological worlds into smaller and smaller basic atomic elements. This will always leave us with unknowns.
The social dimension is our relationship with other human beings. It is essential to our progress, both externally and internally. The human is a naturally social animal, and is most efficient when s/he is in relation to other humans. Without social relationships, a person can never explore his/her potential to contribute to the world. Neither can a person explore the most intricate and defining characteristics of him/herself without delving into these social relationships. A complete psychology should help a person contribute to society. A human being cannot find fulfillment without contributing to his/her community; volunteer community work is absolutely essential for a person to be fulfilled.
The physical dimension is a neglected aspect within psychology. The human being is meant to be active. Our bodies demand more than passive sedentary lifestyles from us. Psychology must learn to emphasize the importance of physical activity. An inactive body will be unable to deal with the metabolites of stress. Our bodies are a gift, and we have forgotten to appreciate this gift.
A third dimension deals with our approach towards intellectual challenges. Dementia is becoming an ever-increasing problem in our culture. Our expectation of life is to work until a certain age, and retire from both social and intellectual work. Intellectual challenges have been proven to ward off dementia. It is important that we learn to emphasize the maintenance of intellectual pursuits: reading, mathematics, and games that place an intellectual demand.
Existentialism as a psychological dimension is not a philosophy; rather, it is the pursuit of meaning within our existence. Therapy should be capable of helping a person find a purpose in their life, and of finding a meaning to their struggles. A person should be given the opportunity to discover a feeling of purpose – not as an idea or thought, but as a simple feeling. This can be as simple as experiencing the sensation of presence.
The connections between these 4 basic dimensions are immediate and undeniable. Our social relations have an impact upon our feelings of purpose and satisfaction. Physical activity has been proven to develop and create neural connections. Intellectual challenges encourage us to work in groups. There is no mastery of any dimension; that is not the purpose of dissecting our psychology. Instead, there should be always a path of seeking and progress. It is not because a person is not capable of playing a sport that s/he should abandon (and be abandoned from) pursuing physical progress; they will find a different sort of satisfaction from discovering the potential of their individual bodies.
The need to redefine and assess the human across several over-lapping and interacting dimensions is most likely a product of our new way of accessing and sifting through information: the internet. This new approach is apparent in the different sciences – for example, the structural equation modeling of statistics, and the way in which information is organized within scientific disciplines. We no longer absorb information in a linear manner, but recognize major and minor connections that treat each bit of information as a node, and draw all these nodes together. Some of these connections are direct, some indirect, but like the extremely advanced neural pathways that make up our brains, they bring everything together.
Interpreting the Human Composition Across Several Dimensions
The many fields of science are currently being drawn to a common middle-ground, a place where they converge, interact, and even find themselves defined by each other. This nexus is commonly treated as a holistic view, and is becoming increasingly popular in this era. Physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, statistics - these sciences are inherently related. It has become unavoidable to me to apply this paradigm to psychology and interpret the human psyche in terms of multiple interacting dimensions. It has become my belief that there is no way a human being can experience fulfillment without developing and progressing across these dimensions. And because of the unique relationship between these different dimensions, a lack of growth in one will hinder and obstruct progress in all the others. The purpose of exploring these dimensions is to improve the current state of psychology, which is incomplete.
The longer we spend observing aspects of human psychology, the more numerous the dimensions appear to be. Dimensions sometimes appear to be made up of even more basic and distinguishable dimensions. And as we spend even longer in contemplation and observation, we find that the distinctions between dimensions blur, that characteristics that belong to one inevitably belong to others. But if we find such characteristics, we can treat them as major and direct connections that link the dimensions, creating an impressive latice-like structure. Blurry distinctions imply solid connections.
Several dimensions are more immediately apparent: social, physical/physiological, intellectual, and existential. This is not to suggest that there are only 4 such dimensions. Surely, more can be intuited, and even more surely will different cultures have different expectations and interpretations of the dimensions that constitute human psychology. In this model, deconstruction and reconstruction are necessary; this is how progress is made. And always, there will be a factor that has not been included. We will never cease to split either the material or psychological worlds into smaller and smaller basic atomic elements. This will always leave us with unknowns.
The social dimension is our relationship with other human beings. It is essential to our progress, both externally and internally. The human is a naturally social animal, and is most efficient when s/he is in relation to other humans. Without social relationships, a person can never explore his/her potential to contribute to the world. Neither can a person explore the most intricate and defining characteristics of him/herself without delving into these social relationships. A complete psychology should help a person contribute to society. A human being cannot find fulfillment without contributing to his/her community; volunteer community work is absolutely essential for a person to be fulfilled.
The physical dimension is a neglected aspect within psychology. The human being is meant to be active. Our bodies demand more than passive sedentary lifestyles from us. Psychology must learn to emphasize the importance of physical activity. An inactive body will be unable to deal with the metabolites of stress. Our bodies are a gift, and we have forgotten to appreciate this gift.
A third dimension deals with our approach towards intellectual challenges. Dementia is becoming an ever-increasing problem in our culture. Our expectation of life is to work until a certain age, and retire from both social and intellectual work. Intellectual challenges have been proven to ward off dementia. It is important that we learn to emphasize the maintenance of intellectual pursuits: reading, mathematics, and games that place an intellectual demand.
Existentialism as a psychological dimension is not a philosophy; rather, it is the pursuit of meaning within our existence. Therapy should be capable of helping a person find a purpose in their life, and of finding a meaning to their struggles. A person should be given the opportunity to discover a feeling of purpose – not as an idea or thought, but as a simple feeling. This can be as simple as experiencing the sensation of presence.
The connections between these 4 basic dimensions are immediate and undeniable. Our social relations have an impact upon our feelings of purpose and satisfaction. Physical activity has been proven to develop and create neural connections. Intellectual challenges encourage us to work in groups. There is no mastery of any dimension; that is not the purpose of dissecting our psychology. Instead, there should be always a path of seeking and progress. It is not because a person is not capable of playing a sport that s/he should abandon (and be abandoned from) pursuing physical progress; they will find a different sort of satisfaction from discovering the potential of their individual bodies.
The need to redefine and assess the human across several over-lapping and interacting dimensions is most likely a product of our new way of accessing and sifting through information: the internet. This new approach is apparent in the different sciences – for example, the structural equation modeling of statistics, and the way in which information is organized within scientific disciplines. We no longer absorb information in a linear manner, but recognize major and minor connections that treat each bit of information as a node, and draw all these nodes together. Some of these connections are direct, some indirect, but like the extremely advanced neural pathways that make up our brains, they bring everything together.
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