Posted by Kalamatianos on January 4, 2004, at 20:40:18
The Aesthetic View - IntroductionI can remember when I first heard the term paradigm shift; I didn’t have any idea what a paradigm shift was. I soon came to understand it simply refers to the way you look at the world. A good example is the fact that there was a time when human beings all thought the Earth was the center of the universe. This was based on their observation of the heavenly bodies traveling across the sky on a daily basis. That was called the geo-centric paradigm. Then this guy Copernicus realized that the Earth was not the center of the universe; we were just rotating on a daily basis. He rightfully observed that in fact the Earth was rotating around the Sun and this rotation was the cause of the seasons. This shift in perspective is called the heliocentric paradigm.
I want to warn our readers right at the start here that an understanding of aesthetic view requires a paradigm shift. Modern day psychologists look at the source of mental and emotional problems as rooted in the unconscious mind. The aesthetic view offers a totally new explanation for many mental, emotional and behavioral problems and we will explain that in our book. We have found that it can be more difficult to teach the aesthetic view to educated people who have a commitment to the concept of the unconscious mind than teaching it to the less educated. The educated folks keep trying to fit what we teach into their unconscious mind paradigm and it just doesn’t fit. We aren’t asking our readers to become true believers in the aesthetic view. We just ask you to keep an open mind.
The Conscious Mind
Both of your authors are trained in the arts and science of psychotherapy. Both of us were dissatisfied with the efficiency of the psychotherapeutic methods we learned in are training and spent years looking for more effective therapies. In this search one of us (Peck) became interested in the new cognitive sciences and the study of the conscious mind. Slowly there came the realization that conscious phenomenon was an undiscovered aspect of the field of physics. If a material organ, the brain, and its electrochemical processes can generate consciousness, then conscious phenomenon must be an aspect of physics. We are not going to attempt to explain just how the brain is able to generate a conscious mind; that is beyond our ability. But we do assume, based on the undeniable fact of consciousness, that there is a conscious mind that is important to behavior.
What we have done and what we are reporting on in this book are the things we have discovered as we studied the reports of our client’s conscious thoughts and feelings. We also have done some individual introspection of the processes and content of our own conscious minds in order to make sense of what we hear from our clients. In order to help or readers to make sense of the aesthetic view, we will invite you to also do some introspection of your thoughts and emotions.
Reliability of Subjective Reports
For over a century, scientist believed that reports of subjective experiences were an unreliable source of information. They believed that unconscious mental processes pretty much determined what we humans do. Thus, psychologists have pretty much ignored the conscious mind. We would agree that the subjective reports of a few individuals of the content and processes of their conscious minds would be an unreliable source of information. What we find in studying the reports of hundreds of individuals is that certain patterns appear repeatedly. Some of these patterns appear to be universal to all human beings. We believe that the similarity of the reports of hundreds of individuals begins to point to some of the laws that govern the physics of conscious phenomenon.
The Mind/Brain Interaction
We believe that the mind/brain interaction is bilateral. That is to say, not only does the brain generate consciousness experience; things can happen on the field of consciousness that affect the chemical structure of the brain. There are certain types of thinking and emotions that change the brain. And that, of course has been the purpose of our research, just what kinds of thoughts make beneficial changes in the brain. We are looking for those kinds of thoughts that make life more enjoyable and productive in the future. This book is a report on our findings as to the specific kinds of thinking that can make permanent beneficial changes in the brain.
This is a controversial subject among cognitive scientist. One group believes that consciousness has no affect on human behavior; that is to say that we are, in effect, neuronal robots. They claim that conscious phenomenon is simply an emergent quality of the multitude of informational processing going on in the brain. This group believes that free will is an illusion. The other group that we join believes that consciousness thoughts and feeling do guide most human behavior.
In support of our contention that the mind/brain is bilateral we would point out that every thing that one learns was first perceived as a conscious experience. This can happen in two ways. One, we simply perceive something through our sensory organs. Second, we can throw multiple ideas on the scope of our conscious mind and discover relationships between them. In order to memorize a number or a fact, we hold it in our conscious mind in multiple sensory modalities. We say it, we write it, we look at it and we hear it. All of these activities allow us to recall things when we need them. The conscious mind is very involved in this process.
Education not Therapy
In order to help people eliminate uncomfortable emotions from their daily experience, we teach our clients the aesthetic thinking and the aesthetic view. We do not consider our clients to be mentally ill; we view them as immature. These bad feelings were useful in childhood but do not serve us well in adult life. In later chapters of the book we will go over the educational protocols we use to help people discover both their emotional heartiness and their intelligence. The teaching of the aesthetic view is not based in a view of the human mind as delicate or fragile. We don’t empower people, we simply help them discover and use the strength and intelligence available to them.
Scientific Base
We have attempted to keep our research scientific. Over the years we have developed a number of theories as to the workings of the human mind. From our theories we develop protocols designed to help people make desired changes in their experience and behaviors. Some of our theories have proven to be false, others are supported by the outcome of the protocols we developed. We have junked ideas that have proven to be false and built on the ones that work.
In retrospect, it is kind of amazing to realize that the notion of an unconscious mind is a construct that could never be validated or nullified by empirical evidence. Western society has built its whole mental health industry on an idea that is metaphysical in nature. Like God, the fact of an unconscious mind cannot be observed first hand. It is only inferred from observation and interpretation of observable evidence. On the other hand, the conscious phenomenon is an observable fact. The content and processes of the conscious mind can be observed.
Religious Perspective
While we have attempted to keep or study of the conscious mind on a scientific bases, both of your authors are committed Christians with a strong belief in the teachings of the Bible. We find no conflict between our faith in God and science.
In fact, we find a remarkable parallel between the picture of human nature presented in the Scripture and in our study of the conscious mind. The Bible depicts both the weakness and the strength of human nature. In our study of the conscious mind we find both the tendency of human to act foolishly and the remarkable accumulation of intelligence over the centuries. We can see the Ten Commandments are a moral code but they are more than that. The laws of God, given to us in Scripture, are a guide that leads us to a happy and productive life. A society that lives by these laws is going to prosper. When we ignore the Ten Commandments and the law of love presented by Jesus, our lives are marred by misery and failure. When we understand and live by the law of love, life becomes more beautiful and fruitful. Throughout our book we will make reference to Scriptures as they relate to our discoveries.
While the Bible gives us a moral code to live by, it is also obvious that we are free to ignore that code. However, we are not free to escape the consequences of ignoring God’s Laws. Our study of human intelligence indicates that as individuals we are free to remain immature and foolish. We are also capable of amazing wisdom. We see the human brain as a creation of God that gives us the gift of conscious experience. We also see the human brain as a material thing with limitations.
The Judeo-Christian Tradition
It is interesting to view the Judeo-Christian traditions from a cultural anthropological perspective. Prior to Moses, the Jews had an oral tradition handed down from generation to generation. The stories of the creation and beginnings of the human race was considered sacred and preserved as such. Moses learned the oral history of the Jews and he was also educated as a, member of the Egyptian ruling elite. This included the known sciences of agriculture, architecture, military arts, literature and government of the time. It was Moses who wrote down the oral tradition of the Jews. He also wrote the laws in the Book of Leviticus that became the foundation for the theocracy that ruled the Jewish nation for several centuries.
There is one thing that is unique about the Sacred Writings preserved by the Jews. This was the fact that the Sacred Writings, because they were considered to be a revelation from God, stood above the ruling elite, both religious and state. The ruling elite were not the custodians of the Writings; the Holy Scripture was a gift from God to the people. Even the non-literate members of society were expected to learn the Scriptures and live by them. In this process, the common man could interpret the Scriptures and hold the ruling elite accountable to them. In this bottoms-up social structure, the rulers were viewed as the servants of the people and accountable to the people to rule by the Sacred Writings. We must add that the ruling elite, even Christian and Jewish ruling elite did not always share this view.
We see this as causing no end of social disruption. It led Abraham to question the idea that God could reside in an icon. He left his father’s house and founded the Jewish nation. It gave Moses the authority to ask the Pharaoh to allow the Jews to leave Egypt. It gave the Prophets permission to challenge David and other kings when they were out of line. And finally it gave Jesus the freedom to challenge the teachings of the religious leaders of his day in a public forum.
While leaving behind the Leviticus Law behind, the Early Christians made the Sacred Writings available to non-Jews. Jesus also separated the Church from the state when He told the people to render unto Caesar what was Caesar’s and to God what was God’s. The bottoms-up social structure in which religious and state leaders were answerable to the interpretations of the scriptures by the common man was imbedded in those writings. And though the combination of Church and State leaders tried to take away this gift from the people, it was preserved in the Sacred Writings and made available to succeeding generations. Though they tried, the religious leaders were never able to establish an over arching hierarchy that had the sole right to interpret Christian doctrine. We see a history of rebels including Martin Luther, Charles Wesley, Calvin, the Anabaptists and the Mennonites. These men and groups walked out from under the ruling hierarchy and started movements of their own.
Finally we see the founders of our nation as challenging the right of the King of England to rule over them. As common citizens who were acquainted with the Bible, they stood on the authority given to them by God to hold the King answerable to the principles taught in the Bible. The United States of America was founded on the notion that Got had created all men as equal and leaders of a state were accountable to it citizens.
All of this messy division and rebellion is not conducive to social stability; it brings constant turmoil and change. Yet it has produced scientific advances that are miracles in themselves that have blessed our daily lives. The marketplace of ideas that emerges when the masses have the Bible available to them blocks the controlling elite from gaining control of the thinking of the masses. It has wrought Democracy, Republic forms of government and Capitalism. This all works because the minds' of the masses contain important information that is not available to the ruling elite. Though the elite may be more intelligent as individuals, they don’t have accesses to the mass of information in the minds of the common man.
What the intelligentsia refuses to do is to accept the picture of human nature presented in the Bible. The Biblical explanation is much too humble for them. When they claim that the environment determines human personality, they ignore the many instinctual responses we display in early life. This genetic wisdom is vital to the survival of helpless children. But before we can become mature adults, we must mediate some of these instinctual responses. While many of the masses may buy into the intellectual’s picture of human nature for a time, there are always some that know what they are and refuse to live by the image of weakness and stupidity.
From an objective observation of history, it is obvious that the Jews and the Christian Societies have prospered above their neighbors. They have consistently brought advances in science, technology and government to the rest of the world. We believe that the sense of freedom in bottoms-up societies frees up curiosity and the freedom to think novel ideas. Their freedom of thought contains the notion that the world was created by God: it is what it is and there is nothing sacrilegious about studying HIS creation in order to discover every aspect of it.
Through out history religious and state leaders have understood that innovation is always going to cause social disruption. Therefore, for the sake of social stability, they have tried to suppress the study of science and the discovery of technology. Though they have tried, the ruling elite in Christian nations have never been able to suppress human curiosity about the way the world is.
Where We Stand
We present this brief history of the Judo-Christian Heritage to establish the authority to say what we are saying in this Book about the human mind. We believe that the field of clinical psychology is basing its practice on erroneous ideas. We find psychologist to be greatly influenced by the writings of a number of philosophers that we can label as Secular Humanist. They label the Biblical Writings as primitive myths. Jesus believed in the common man and appealed to him. He knew if he helped the common man become better, society would become better. On the other hand the Humanist believe that society determines individual human nature and personality. Therefore the only way to improve the human condition is to change society. They believe that humans have evolved beyond behavior being determined by genetic instincts. They believe things like violence, greed, competition and hostility are all learned and taught by an evil society. In order to create a utopian society, they are attempting to change society from the top down. They have passed laws that demand that parents raise their children in certain ways. The outcome of the implementation of this new child rearing practice is increased social malaise. We hold a different view.
Given the Humanist mission to improve society in order to change the individual for the better, they believe they are authorized to condemn the thinking of others (like us) for perpetuating ideas the believe to be detrimental to the well being of others beliefs. We disagree.
We believe that violent responses or instinctual. Greed and misguided competition are also based in instinctual responses. We also believe that these instinctual responses can be mediated and eliminated. That is the story of the book. Our authority to make these statements is based in the fact of the nature of the human brain and the laws that we have discovered regarding the regulation of the conscious mind. Those laws are there for anyone who wants to take the time to ferret them out. While it is obvious that we are going against the tide of public opinion as to the source of mental problems, we take courage to do so from our faith in God.
We find ourselves dismay at the number of Christian Psychologists and Pastoral Counselors that have accept the teaching of the Humanistic Psychologists. These doctrines do not even come close to the picture of human nature depicted in the Bible.
The Humorous Perspective
When we set back and look at the concept of the unconscious mind as a scientific reality, we wonder how we personally could have accepted such a concept without some skepticism. It is surprising but we did. At this point we can see that the fact of an unconscious self or an unconscious inner self that expresses itself through emotional expression as unlikely. In the chapters that follow we sometimes find some humor in those concepts that we perceive after making a paradigm shift. It is not our intent to make fun of those who continue to hold on to such ideas. It is our desire to demonstrate a new perspective.
Limitations of the Aesthetic View
The human brain is a material thing. The information about the material development of an individual brain is imbedded in the Genetic Code. It is a miracle to see how well this works in the majority of times. However, there can be errors in the transcription of this code as it is handed down from one generation to the next. This problem can result in true mental illness. Certain mental illnesses are organic in nature and we make no claim that the teaching of the aesthetic view can remedy these problems
However, there are many mental and behavioral problems that are functional in nature. For one reason or another, the individual has not learned to use his or her brain at the maxim. The person is essentially immature in that they are using cognitive strategies that are best for children. It is only as an individual personally discovers the strength and intelligence that is their heritage that they can give up the childish fears, anger and frustration that are so much a part of childish thinking. Teaching aesthetic thinking can eliminate many of the emotional and behavioral problems that result from immature thinking strategies.
poster:Kalamatianos
thread:296491
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