Banner Advertiser

Sunday, October 7, 2007

[vinnomot] Humanism and Psychology: (Comp 5): Natural or Supernatural Laws in Psychology?

 
Understanding Ourselves and Our Universe: How Psychology Can Turn the "Mysteries of Human Nature" into Useful Tools for Self Improvement and Success in Life
 
Part 5: The "Psychology-as-Biochemistry" (PaB) Theorem
(Also known as the Greatest Part of PSH100, the "Mind Blower," "the Big Kahuna," and "Looking Over the Horizon to a Brighter Tomorrow!")
 
It is highly questionable that basing human philosophy, civilization, science, and daily conduct on the assumptions that there is such a supernatural dimension to the universe, and that it influences or even controls the natural dimension…. !
The magnificent and irresistible march of real human progress throughout the ages has been marked by discoveries, inventions, and breakthroughs that essentially and specifically transfer major issues and phenomena from the supernatural to the natural dimension…. ?
Throughout the study, we've been dropping small, medium, and large hints that this study -- and, in fact, the whole serie approach to the psychological aspects of humanism -- is taking a sharp departure from the traditional field of psychology that most participants have studied in high school, college, and even graduate school for the past few hundred years. Up to this point, we've introduced the key components of SciPsy gradually, but now we think it best that we articulate this new hypothesis and theory about the true nature of psychology in one succinct part of the discussion: the shortest, but quite possibly the most profound and most challenging, lstudy of the entire course. You may have to review this section several times to absorb the magnitude of its impact and the pervasiveness of its implications. That's fine; do what you have to do to fully appreciate what we're saying here. It should be well worth it.
Throughout the natural history of our species, some people have been fortunate enough to participate in what Thomas Kuhn has fairly recently called "paradigm shifts" (in his seminal work, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions). Many others have addressed the same or similar concepts, in such great and small 20th century books as
...all of which, for at least some people, fundamentally changed the way they looked at themselves and others, and at their universe and life. Such paradigm shifts have been called many things, such as "insights," "breakthroughs," "epiphanies," and "cognitive restructurings," among others. Since the term "paradigm shift" is controversial, and since this is a psychology discussion, we'll use cognitive restructuring as the generic term for these dramatic changes in perceptions and understandings. What they all have in common is that once one understands the new hypothesis or theory or premise, one never thinks about the problem or issue the same way again.
Even if you don't fully accept the new approach right away, it poses an intellectual challenge that nags at your brain incessantly until you resolve your position, and it spurs you on to further reflection, study, and practical research until you "reach your peace" with it; i.e., usually accept or reject it. Such are the hypothesis, premise, implications, and practical applications of what we're calling the "Psychology-as-Biochemistry (PaB) Theorem," here in this study. You don't have to believe it, but you will have to study it, reflect on it, and explore its possibilities to understand the course. If you do "give it all you've got," it could very well change your entire life!
(NOTE: You should know that many psychologists have not made the PaB paradigm shift as yet, but I'm saying that I have. By that I mean that I think there is sufficient evidence to assume the new paradigm as fact, and proceed from there. I am NOT saying that all the hypotheses I'll espouse are scientifically "proven" or widely accepted at this time, but just that I am confident enough.
Most simply stated, the PaB Theorem is that all psychology is really just biology or, more specifically, brain biochemistry. This is a strictly scientific hypothesis, in that it is deducible from the best scientific theories, it is consistent with the body of scientific knowledge and the best theories and all credible evidence up to now, it is completely amenable to testing via the scientific method, it generates lots of exciting predictions for further research, and it has an enormous range of applications to improving the daily life of all humans on Earth.
The PaB Theorem also clearly implies that all human assumptions about thinking, feeling, and behavior up to recent times (and the basic assumptions and ways virtually all people think about their own psychological phenomena even today) has been essentially wrong. The primary reason that even the greatest thinkers of our species before now have been so wrong is because they relied on poor methodology to form and test their hypotheses about psychology; i.e., they've relied primarily on introspection, which has led them to take a giant mis-step right at the critical beginning of their investigations.
Because a thought or feeling seems not to be physical (like a stimulus or a response), it has been hard to fairly entertain the hypothesis that a thought or feeling is just physical. Thus, psychology has always pulled up well short of where all the best scientific evidence would inevitably lead if it were understood and given a fair, empirical chance. Of course, if the great thinkers of the past had had all the evidence we have today, they'd be leading the way for the rest of us!
And that's what we're asking you to do. Review the brief but remarkable items of solid, credible scientific evidence to follow here, and then do what all good humanists, critical thinkers, and scientific theorists should do; i.e., reflect on the reason and logic of it, read up on it, test it theoretically and practically, and try to come up with a better theory that fits all the best evidence. And - at least eventually - if you can't beat it, join it!
We're just this side -- or more excitingly, just beyond -- a huge metacognitive restructuring (changing the way we "think about thinking"), based on the following premises:
1.  Most humans have routinely conceptualized the universe as being made up of "two essential kinds of 'stuff'" -- real, physical, normal, natural material (like atoms and energy), and unreal, metaphysical, paranormal, supernatural "material" (like spirits, ghosts, Gods/Allahs, souls, mystical beings and forces, and minds). This division into two categories is called dualism ("two-ism"). But no one has ever produced any solid reasons or credible evidence whatsoever that this second "supernatural" class of phenomena actually exists! Many great thinkers and writers and philosophers have believed it does; it certainly seems as if it does (from our intra-human perspective); it seems obviously self-evident that it does (from our everyday observations of ourselves and other people); but there simply has never been any necessary reason nor any credible evidence to prove that it exists ... never, ever!
2.  The far simpler, more reasonable, better supported, yet less traveled concept of the universe is called monism ("one-ism"). Monism states that the universe and everything in it is made up of "one kind of stuff," and materialistic monism -- which is what we're using in this course -- states that that one kind of stuff is real, and physical, and follows all the natural laws. (There are, believe it or not, nonmaterialistic monists, such as some Australian aborigines -- people who think that reality is a dream, and only dreams are real -- but they are few and far between.)
3.  It is highly questionable that basing human philosophy, civilization, science, and daily conduct on the assumptions that there is such a supernatural dimension to the universe, and that it influences or even controls the natural dimension, and especially that there are a special class of people who can sense, communicate with, understand, or even influence the supernatural dimension (e.g., seers, priests, prophets, psychics, etc.), has ever produced one single benefit for humans or humanity, or led to one single discovery that has advanced human progress or civilization in the history of the world ... ever. (Obviously, I don't see sacred texts as good, even if some parts of these were tolerable, they are just matter.)
4.  Throughout human history, there have been people who -- for one reason or circumstance or another -- have dared to think that unthinkable thought; i.e., that the supernatural dimension of the universe does not exist, and never has. An enormously disproportionate number of great, brilliant, civilization-shaping ideas and hypotheses and discoveries and inventions and paradigm shifts have come from those people, whether they articulated their "a-supernaturalism" explicitly or not, right down to the present day. And the vast majority of great progress that has been contributed by supernaturalistic thinkers has been based on their a-supernatural, monistic ideas, not their supernatural ones. (The names of Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, and Jefferson come to mind here.)
5.  The magnificent and irresistible march of real human progress throughout the ages has been marked by discoveries, inventions, and breakthroughs that essentially and specifically transfer major issues and phenomena from the supernatural to the natural dimension; i.e., discovering the real nature of human health and illness, culture and civilization, geology and meteorology, electricity and electronics, matter and energy, astronomy and cosmology. In fact, all of science and technology's millions of other insights about what our universe really is and how it really works have been based on monistic assumptions, hypotheses, theories, and practices. Today, in retrospect, we can strongly, clearly see that the best aspects of modern life have been based on a-supernaturalism, and that the worst aspects of humanity have been caused or exacerbated by supernaturalism.
6.  Today we should have sufficient evidence to transfer all aspects of human psychology to the natural dimension, too. While science can no more "disprove the negative" premise that there is nothing supernatural about human psychology than it can disprove the existence of spirits or gods, there are five incontrovertible lines of reasoning and evidence available to us right now that strongly support, lead inevitably toward, and thus all but prove the PaB Theorem:
o        No psychological construct, hypothesis, theory, or treatment based on supernaturalistic (psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, analytic) thinking has ever produced reasonable evidence or efficacy to support its validity -- never, ever.
o        Only naturally based constructs, hypotheses, theories, and treatments have ever produced valid supportive evidence, efficacious treatments, and fertile avenues of new research and knowledge. Real progress in psychology has been entirely due to scientific methods and asupernatural constructs and theories.
o        Today, we can scientifically produce the very aspects of human psychology previously (and still, by some) attributed to non-empirical hypothetical constructs and supernatural origins and causes; i.e., by manipulating nothing but natural brain biochemistry, a lab psychologist or neuroscientist can produce or block or systematically modify the very types of human cognitive, emotional, and behavioral phenomena (including everything from common thoughts, memories, and feelings, to so called "altered states," "mystical experiences," or any other supposedly "mental," "psychic," or paranormal phenomena) on which the entire concept of supernaturalism rests or fails. (Similarly, by changing the psyychological enviornment of a person, a community or even a nation, through propaganda ; loudspeakers, TV channels, Internet sites, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, manipulation of textbooks and teachings in mosques, schools and madrassas, through the public speeches by mullahs and po,liticians, through religious rhetoric and songs, through social and poltical institutions etc.  it is possible to create a specific type of thinking, manipulating emotions, thoughts, memories and feelings as well as behaviours and thinking or creating mystical experience or other mental, psychic or paranormal experiences; such experience have been carried out at personal levels changing the micro-milieu or ar community and national levels by affecting ther mico as well as macro-milieu of the individuals, the community and the whole nation).
o        The seemingly deeply troublesome issue of "not being able to prove that all psychology is only biochemistry" can be effectively offset and practically neutralized by invoking the well established scientific principle called the Law of Parsimony (Occam's Razor), which states that when two or more hypotheses or theories explain phenomena equally well, the one requiring the fewest assumptions and constructs is always best. This simple and seemingly common sense principle is actually quite profound when it is applied to comparing natural versus supernatural explanations of psychological phenomena (or anything else). It effectively "breaks supernaturalism's last straw" of defense, because if natural, scientific psychology (SciPsy) can explain and predict everything that supernaturalistic theories can (and we know that it can, and much, much better) without invoking any supernatural assumptions or constructs whatsoever, then all those supernatural assumptions and constructs (such as minds, souls, spirits, gods, etc.) are rendered completely superfluous to real knowledge. (While explaining any phenomenon by saying "a God/Allah did it" is certainly apparently simpler, since it adds the additional NEC causal agent of "a god" and totally fails all tests of explanation and prediction, it fails the Law of Parsimony even worse.) In other words, although we can't prove there is no supernatural dimension, we can prove to any fair and objective evaluation that supernatural constructs, hypotheses, theories, and treatments are totally needless and useless to understand all human psychological phenomena and to treat of all forms of human psychopathology. Since we don't need it for that, what do we need it for?
There will be opportunity in the remainder of serie to explore a fraction of the basic issues and evidence explicating this totally natural, humanistic, SciPsy ("biobehavioral information processing") model of human psychology. If you just can't accept this theorem as yet, well, join the stupid majority! Meanwhile, enjoy your own exploration of this promising and exciting theorem in the remaining lessons, and also search the Internet, watch PBS Science programs and the Discovery Science channel on TV, and read everything you can find about cutting edge brain biochemistry phenomena to better understand the awesome implications of the PaB Theorem.
Some fun topics to research on your own are human genetics, artificial intelligence, neural networking, prosthetic human senses and limbs, lab replications of "altered states of consciousness" and "religious" experiences, comparative research on non-human cognition and language, BeMod and behavior therapies, and -- of course -- the newest discoveries in evolutionary and biological psychology. Armed with the information in this course thus far, you should be able to understand such research much better, so ENJOY!  
 

Don't let your dream ride pass you by. Make it a reality with Yahoo! Autos. __._,_.___

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___