Setting the Conceptual Context
To consider and understand what we can do individually today dealing with the global problems we face, we must first set the stage. We need to establish some clarity of mind and understanding about the problems we face, and how as a species we got to where we find ourselves today and the problems we create. We have to establish a framework of understanding within which to consider what individually we can do.
To this end, we first need to distinguish and differentiate between symptoms, results and consequences, on the one hand, and root-causes and underlying developments, on the other hand. We also need to distinguish and differentiate between instant relief, short and medium-term answers and solutions addressing symptoms, results and consequences, and long-term development, change and transformation addressing root-causes and underlying developments.
The global problems we face today -- persisting and growing cultural, religious, racial, political, social, economic-financial, environmental, interpersonal and individual problems, difficulties and crises, competition, conflict, confrontation and violence, and associated problematic, negative, harmful and destructive results and consequences. They are only symptoms, results and consequences.
We are the causes. Human behaviour and actions are the causes. Specifically, how we understand and manage existence and development are the causes and underlying developments. More to the point, the causes are what lies behind, defines and governs human behaviour and actions, how we understand and manage human existence and development, the choices and decisions we make, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue.
In their essence, the causes are rooted in what takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence. The experiences, perceptions, sensations, feelings and emotions, thoughts, ideas and notions that enter the mind and our awareness, how we deal with, respond and adjust to them. How we make sense of them and the conditions that lie behind them, and the sense we make of them, and how to deal with them. The causes lie in the beliefs, views, values, conventions and practices we embrace and rely on, and how we acquire, develop and use them. The choices and decisions we make, and how we make them, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue, and how we define them, the behaviour, actions and practices in which we engage, and how we consider, plan, organize and manage them.
Traditionally, throughout history, in dealing with problems and difficulties the focus and concentration has always been instant relief, instant fixes, short and medium-term answers and solutions addressing symptoms, results and consequences, while failing to address the root-causes and underlying developments. Traditionally and today, we abrogate responsibility for ourselves individually, our behaviour and actions, how we understand and manage our existence and development, particularly what takes place, what we do and need to do in the mind and mental existence. In religious culture, individual responsibility is abrogated to supernatural forces, spirits and gods. In scientific culture, we abrogate responsibility for ourselves individually to nature, natural forces, processes and developments, the brain, neurological processes, our genetic makeup and natural evolution. On a daily and more general level, we abrogate individual responsibility to culture, society, government, family, parents, superiors, experts, specialists, and so on. Holding them responsible for the behaviour and actions in which we engage, the choices and decisions we make, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue.
It is this approach of dealing with problems and difficulties, which has brought to human species to where we find ourselves today, and the problems and difficulties we face globally. Addressing only symptoms, results and consequences, while failing to deal with root-causes and underlying developments, is leading to creating persisting and growing problems, difficulties and crises, competition, conflict, confrontation and violence, and associated problematic, negative, harmful and destructive results and consequences. The way we understand and manage existence and development, the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, our own mental and physical existence and development and the world around us contradicts, conflicts with and falls short of the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence. Leading to the problems – persisting and growing cultural, religious, racial, political, social, economic-financial, environmental, interpersonal and individual problems, difficulties and crises, competition, conflict, confrontation and violence, and associated problematic, negative, harmful and destructive results and consequences, we face locally and globally around the world today.
Today, because of this approach and way of understanding and managing existence and development, and dealing with problems and difficulties, failing to address the root-causes and underlying developments, we are in the process of destroying the very foundation of our existence, the natural environment. We are bringing about changes in nature and natural developments, which in the long-term will render the natural environment of the Earth uninhabitable for the human species. Exploiting natural resources beyond actual human material needs, and degrading and interfering in nature, natural forces, processes and developments beyond what is required to manage and sustain human existence and development.
(For a discussion about the specific limits, shortcomings and contradictions of how we view, understand, organize and manage existence and development, leading to the global problems we face today, you can go to http://ihcmd.org. On the right-hand side, under the heading Lecture Presentations, you find ten, one-hour lecture presentations, in both PowerPoint and PDF format. Discussing the nature and causes of the problems we face, how as a species we got to where we find ourselves today, and the direction of the answers and solutions, the direction we need to take in conceptual and mental development and growth.)
Nature And Direction Of The Answers And Solutions
To deal with the global problems we face requires more than instant relief, quick fixes, short and medium-term answers and solutions addressing symptoms, results and consequences, while waiting until a later date to address the root-causes and underlying developments. What is required is to address symptoms, results and consequences within the context of dealing with root-causes and underlying developments, dealing with both of them at the same time, simultaneously. We must address the symptoms, results and consequences within the context of changing how we understand and manage existence and development, particularly how we understand and manage the mind and mental existence, what takes place, what we do and need to do, what we must establish, develop and maintain in the mind and mental existence.
Addressing the symptoms, results and consequences must take place within and contribute to long-term development, change and transformation addressing the root-causes and underlying developments, changing how we understand and manage existence and development, and not detract from it. Short and medium-term answers and solutions addressing symptoms, results and consequences will provide the time required for the long-term development, change and transformation of addressing the root-causes and underlying developments. The long-term development, change and transformation addressing the root-causes and underlying developments, in turn, is to provide the nature and direction of dealing with the symptom, results and consequences.
What We Can Do Individually
Within this context, what we can do individually today is quite simple and straightforward. Exercise and practice daily:
· Consume less, buy less, and waste less.
· Make fewer demands, looking for causes, answers and solutions to others and the world around us. Instead, look first to yourself.
· Be more actively engaged in understanding and managing ourselves, our own life and existence, our mental and physical health and well-being, order and stability, development and growth.
· Pay closer attention, keep track of, and take responsibility for what we do, what we engage in, and how we do things.
· Pay closer attention, keep track of, and take responsibility for the beliefs, views, values and understanding we embrace and rely on, and how we acquire, develop and use them. The choices and decisions we make, and how we make them, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue, and how we define them, the behaviour, actions and practices in which we engage, and how we consider, plan, organize and manage them.
· Pay closer attention, keep track of, and take responsibility for what takes place and what we do in the mind and our mental existence. The experiences, perceptions, sensations, feelings and emotions, the thoughts, ideas and notions that enter our mind and awareness, and how we deal with them. How we deal with, respond and adjust to them, how we make sense of them and the conditions that lie behind them, and the sense we make of them and how to deal with them. The mental behaviour and actions in which we engage, and how we consider, plan, organize and manage them.
· Establish and maintain the necessary internal mental conditions, a sense of self, mental order and stability, clarity of mind and understanding, a sense of certainty, security and confidence, in everything we do and we engage in, before acting, before engaging and dealing with external conditions, with others and the world around us.
Working our way down the list, from the top to the bottoms. When we arrive at the bottom of the list, we will have made a major contribution, not only to address the symptoms, results and consequences, but to address the root-causes and underlying developments behind the global problems we face. In addition, we will have reached a level of individual development and growth to lead other, by example.
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Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
My Genome, Not My Self
In a recent article, My Genome, My Self, (The New York Times Magazine, January 11, 2009, page MM24, (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/magazine/11Genome-t.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all) Steven Pinker (professor of psychology and cognitive science at Harvard University) argues, the Personal Genome Project (PGP), the mapping of an our genome, our genetic map provides insights into both our biological and psychological make up. Our genome, Pinker writes, offers insights into questions of who we are - ancestry, vulnerabilities, character and choices. Genes are predictors not only of our medical and physical, but also of our behavioral traits. Genes define our essential nature or essence, and they contain information regarding ancestry, but also about temperament and abilities. For Pinker, the shapers of a person are "nature, nurture and brute chance," the brute chance of 'gene modification, random noise, or genetic roulette,' although "no one knows what the nongenetic causes of individuality are."
Leaving aside our physical characteristics, which indeed are defined by our genetic make up, Pinker argues, that our psychological or mental characteristics also are defined by our genes. For Pinker, we essentially are hardwired in our mental characteristics, mental faculties, behaviour and actions, how we respond and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, and changes in them. We are hardwired in our individuality and personality, in what we do in the mind and mental existence, in our mental behaviour and actions, and resulting outward or overt behaviour and actions. We are hardwired, Pinker writes, in intelligence, school and job performance, marital stability, openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, antagonism, neuroticism, personality, religiosity, political orientation, television watching or cigarette smoking. For Pinker they are defined and governed by our genome, our genetic make up. The genetic conditioning of our individuality and personality, individual behaviour, actions, how we conduct ourselves is acted out by our brain and its neurological structure.
The position and view Pinker presents in the article is a limited, antiquated, false and quite misleading view and understanding of what defines and governs who we are, our individuality and personality, our behaviour, actions, and how we conduct ourselves. It is a view and understanding that fails to understand the mind and mental existence from the inside, as the place where we consciously exist and act. It equates what takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence with the brain, its neurological structure and processes. It is a view and understanding of the mind and mental existence that does not reflect reality, as we know it, which individually we experience and of which we are aware.
Pinker ignores and fails to understand what takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence, the mental behaviour and actions in which we engage. How we respond and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, change and changing conditions. What defines our individuality, what makes us who we are, beside our physical features and make up, is how we behave and act, how we deal with, respond and adjust to the conditions, demands and challenges, change and changing conditions, in our own mental and physical development and in the world around us. To understand our individuality and personality, what makes us the individual we are, our behaviour and actions, how and why we behave and act in the way we do, we need to understand ourselves from the inside, from inside the mind and mental existence, where we consciously exist and act.
Pinker fails to distinguish and differentiate between the mind and the brain. They are two distinct and separate elements of our existence.
The mind is where we consciously exist and act. It is where we experience, become aware, and where we must consider the conditions of existence, our own mental and physical existence and the world around us, and how to deal with them. The mind is where individually we are in charge and in control, where we must actively be engaged and take responsibility for what takes place and what we do. It is where we make choices and decisions, where we define aims, goals and objectives, and where we must consider, plan, organize and manage our behaviour and actions. The mind and mental existence is where we exercise our mental faculties, mental powers and abilities.
What takes place and what we do in the mind define and govern how we view, understand, manage and conduct ourselves individually, how we connect, communicate and cooperate with each other, and how we relate and interact with the world around us. It defines and governs how we behave and act, how we deal with, respond and adjust to the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, change and changing conditions. The mind and mental existence is where problems and difficulties, errors and mistakes have their roots and beginnings, and where answers and solutions must start.
To understand ourselves individually, individual behaviour, actions and how we conduct ourselves we need to understand the mind and mental existence, what takes place, what we do, and what we need to do, what we must establish, develop and maintain in the mind and mental existence from the inside. They cannot be understood from the outside through observing outward behaviour and actions, as is the case with psychology. Neither can we understand what takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence through studying the physical-biological roots and foundation or the genetic-neurological systems and processes that lie behind the mind and mental existence, as the "sciences of the mind" - cognitive science, neuroscience, behavioral genetics and evolutionary psychology attempt to do.
The human brain is the "muscle" of our mind and mental existence, metaphorically speaking. Our muscles give us our physical faculties, the power and ability of movement to engage in physical action and activity, which we can translate into specific physical skills and practices, such as walking, tap dancing, rock climbing, playing instruments, operating machinery, doing brain surgery, etc.
The basic structure of our muscles develops naturally, but to use the potential of our muscles for physical movement we must develop them. A basic level of our physical faculty of movement can be developed without much effort. Developing fully our potential for movement, and translating it into specific physical skills and practices requires conscious and deliberate work and effort, exercise and practice. Learning how to walk is relatively easy. Learning how to tap dance, being a violin virtuoso or to use our fingers to do brain surgery requires focus and concentration, work and effort, exercise and practice.
Developing, exercising and practicing our physical faculties, powers and abilities builds muscle fiber. Without physical activity, not using our physical faculties of movement our muscles will atrophy. The muscles will shrink and we loose the physical power and ability of movement they provide.
When exercising and practicing our physical faculties we activate the respective muscle. However, it is not the muscle or its activity that defines, governs or drives the physical actions or activity in which we engage. (A situation where the muscle defines, governs and drives our physical actions is what we refer to as being spastic, having lost control of our muscles.) Exercising our physical powers and abilities, practicing given physical skills and practices is the result of choices and decisions we make, despite the fact that at times we may not pay attention or keep track of what we do or engage in. Our muscles are the physical-biological foundation of our physical faculties, powers and abilities, but they do not define or govern when, how or why, for what purpose or to what end we use them.
The brain and its neurological structure are the physical-biological foundation of our mental powers and abilities. But, as with the case of our physical faculties, our mental faculties, powers and abilities do not develop on their own. The basic neurological structure, the foundation of our mental powers and abilities develops naturally. Our mental faculties, our natural mental powers and abilities we must develop before we can use them. Again, a basic level of our mental faculties can be developed without much focus and concentration. Fully developing our mental potential requires conscious and deliberate mental work and effort, exercise and practice.
Translating our natural mental powers and abilities into specific mental skills and practices, such as mathematics, language, paying attention and keeping track of what is taking place and what we do in the mind and mental existence, establishing clarity of mind and understanding requires conscious and deliberate mental work and effort, exercise and practice. Considering issues, experiences, situations and conditions and how to deal with them at some length, in depth and detail, establishing clarity of mind and understanding, establishing mental order and stability, certainty, security and confidence are choices and decisions we make. Developing, exercising and practicing our mental powers and abilities and translating them into specific mental skills and practices leads to the further development of the neurological structure and connections in the brain. A lack of mental activity, not using our mental powers and abilities, not engaging in mental work and effort the neurological structure of the brain will atrophy and shrink, and we loose the mental faculties, powers and abilities it provides.
When we use given mental powers and abilities, practice particular mental skills and practices, engage in mental work and effort, it activates the underlying part of the neurological structure of the brain. However, this does not mean the neurological structure or the brain define or govern when, how or why, for what purpose or to what end we use our mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices. What we do in the mind, the mental behaviour and actions in which we engage are defined and governed by us. They are defined and governed by the choices and decisions we make, the aims, goals or objectives we pursue and what we try to accomplish.
Within this context, MRI and fMRI scans showing activity in particular regions of the neurological structure of the brain indicate an association with given mental activities. However, they do not explain how or why, for what purpose or to what end given mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices are used. Moreover, they do not explain the degree to which particular mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices have been developed, or how they have been developed. What we do in the mind and mental existence, the mental behaviour and actions, mental work and effort in which we engage are defined and governed by the choices and decisions we make. They are defined and governed by how we choose and decide to deal with, respond and adjust to what enters the mind and awareness, experiences, perceptions, sensations, feelings, thoughts and ideas, and the conditions that lie behind them.
Moreover, MRI or fMRI scans cannot tell us what mental faculties, mental powers and abilities we possess, how to develop and use them, or how to translate them into necessary and appropriate mental skills and practices. However, how we understand, manage and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of the mind and mental existence, how we understand and meet our mental needs depends on the level to which we develop our mental faculties and translate them into the necessary and appropriate mental skills and practices. The choices and decisions we make and how we make them, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue and how we define them, the behaviour and actions in which we engage, how we consider, plan and organize them also depend on the level to which we have developed and use our mental faculties.
MRI and fMRI scans and knowledge of the neurological structure and workings of the brain cannot tell us how to make sense of our experience, the perceptions, sensations and feelings that enter the mind and awareness, the conditions that lie behind them, or how to deal with them. They cannot tell us about our role and responsibility in the mind and mental existence that by nature are individually ours to understand and manage, or how to manage them. They cannot tell us about problems and difficulties, limits and shortcomings, errors and mistakes in what we do, what we need to do, what we must establish, develop and maintain in the mind and mental existence, or how to deal with them. This can be understood only from within the mind and mental existence. We need to understand and manage the mind and mental existence from the inside. Failing to do so, failing to understand and manage the mind, mental existence and mental development from the inside, leads to mental problems and difficulties - mental disorder and instability, doubt, confusion, uncertainty and insecurity, feelings of fear, stress, anxiety, frustration, helplessness, depression, and even suicide. Problems and difficulties that are viewed traditionally as mental illness, rooted in the neurological structure of the brain, our genetic make up, or caused by external conditions and forces.
Leaving aside our physical characteristics, which indeed are defined by our genetic make up, Pinker argues, that our psychological or mental characteristics also are defined by our genes. For Pinker, we essentially are hardwired in our mental characteristics, mental faculties, behaviour and actions, how we respond and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, and changes in them. We are hardwired in our individuality and personality, in what we do in the mind and mental existence, in our mental behaviour and actions, and resulting outward or overt behaviour and actions. We are hardwired, Pinker writes, in intelligence, school and job performance, marital stability, openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, antagonism, neuroticism, personality, religiosity, political orientation, television watching or cigarette smoking. For Pinker they are defined and governed by our genome, our genetic make up. The genetic conditioning of our individuality and personality, individual behaviour, actions, how we conduct ourselves is acted out by our brain and its neurological structure.
The position and view Pinker presents in the article is a limited, antiquated, false and quite misleading view and understanding of what defines and governs who we are, our individuality and personality, our behaviour, actions, and how we conduct ourselves. It is a view and understanding that fails to understand the mind and mental existence from the inside, as the place where we consciously exist and act. It equates what takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence with the brain, its neurological structure and processes. It is a view and understanding of the mind and mental existence that does not reflect reality, as we know it, which individually we experience and of which we are aware.
Pinker ignores and fails to understand what takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence, the mental behaviour and actions in which we engage. How we respond and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, change and changing conditions. What defines our individuality, what makes us who we are, beside our physical features and make up, is how we behave and act, how we deal with, respond and adjust to the conditions, demands and challenges, change and changing conditions, in our own mental and physical development and in the world around us. To understand our individuality and personality, what makes us the individual we are, our behaviour and actions, how and why we behave and act in the way we do, we need to understand ourselves from the inside, from inside the mind and mental existence, where we consciously exist and act.
Pinker fails to distinguish and differentiate between the mind and the brain. They are two distinct and separate elements of our existence.
The mind is where we consciously exist and act. It is where we experience, become aware, and where we must consider the conditions of existence, our own mental and physical existence and the world around us, and how to deal with them. The mind is where individually we are in charge and in control, where we must actively be engaged and take responsibility for what takes place and what we do. It is where we make choices and decisions, where we define aims, goals and objectives, and where we must consider, plan, organize and manage our behaviour and actions. The mind and mental existence is where we exercise our mental faculties, mental powers and abilities.
What takes place and what we do in the mind define and govern how we view, understand, manage and conduct ourselves individually, how we connect, communicate and cooperate with each other, and how we relate and interact with the world around us. It defines and governs how we behave and act, how we deal with, respond and adjust to the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, change and changing conditions. The mind and mental existence is where problems and difficulties, errors and mistakes have their roots and beginnings, and where answers and solutions must start.
To understand ourselves individually, individual behaviour, actions and how we conduct ourselves we need to understand the mind and mental existence, what takes place, what we do, and what we need to do, what we must establish, develop and maintain in the mind and mental existence from the inside. They cannot be understood from the outside through observing outward behaviour and actions, as is the case with psychology. Neither can we understand what takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence through studying the physical-biological roots and foundation or the genetic-neurological systems and processes that lie behind the mind and mental existence, as the "sciences of the mind" - cognitive science, neuroscience, behavioral genetics and evolutionary psychology attempt to do.
The human brain is the "muscle" of our mind and mental existence, metaphorically speaking. Our muscles give us our physical faculties, the power and ability of movement to engage in physical action and activity, which we can translate into specific physical skills and practices, such as walking, tap dancing, rock climbing, playing instruments, operating machinery, doing brain surgery, etc.
The basic structure of our muscles develops naturally, but to use the potential of our muscles for physical movement we must develop them. A basic level of our physical faculty of movement can be developed without much effort. Developing fully our potential for movement, and translating it into specific physical skills and practices requires conscious and deliberate work and effort, exercise and practice. Learning how to walk is relatively easy. Learning how to tap dance, being a violin virtuoso or to use our fingers to do brain surgery requires focus and concentration, work and effort, exercise and practice.
Developing, exercising and practicing our physical faculties, powers and abilities builds muscle fiber. Without physical activity, not using our physical faculties of movement our muscles will atrophy. The muscles will shrink and we loose the physical power and ability of movement they provide.
When exercising and practicing our physical faculties we activate the respective muscle. However, it is not the muscle or its activity that defines, governs or drives the physical actions or activity in which we engage. (A situation where the muscle defines, governs and drives our physical actions is what we refer to as being spastic, having lost control of our muscles.) Exercising our physical powers and abilities, practicing given physical skills and practices is the result of choices and decisions we make, despite the fact that at times we may not pay attention or keep track of what we do or engage in. Our muscles are the physical-biological foundation of our physical faculties, powers and abilities, but they do not define or govern when, how or why, for what purpose or to what end we use them.
The brain and its neurological structure are the physical-biological foundation of our mental powers and abilities. But, as with the case of our physical faculties, our mental faculties, powers and abilities do not develop on their own. The basic neurological structure, the foundation of our mental powers and abilities develops naturally. Our mental faculties, our natural mental powers and abilities we must develop before we can use them. Again, a basic level of our mental faculties can be developed without much focus and concentration. Fully developing our mental potential requires conscious and deliberate mental work and effort, exercise and practice.
Translating our natural mental powers and abilities into specific mental skills and practices, such as mathematics, language, paying attention and keeping track of what is taking place and what we do in the mind and mental existence, establishing clarity of mind and understanding requires conscious and deliberate mental work and effort, exercise and practice. Considering issues, experiences, situations and conditions and how to deal with them at some length, in depth and detail, establishing clarity of mind and understanding, establishing mental order and stability, certainty, security and confidence are choices and decisions we make. Developing, exercising and practicing our mental powers and abilities and translating them into specific mental skills and practices leads to the further development of the neurological structure and connections in the brain. A lack of mental activity, not using our mental powers and abilities, not engaging in mental work and effort the neurological structure of the brain will atrophy and shrink, and we loose the mental faculties, powers and abilities it provides.
When we use given mental powers and abilities, practice particular mental skills and practices, engage in mental work and effort, it activates the underlying part of the neurological structure of the brain. However, this does not mean the neurological structure or the brain define or govern when, how or why, for what purpose or to what end we use our mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices. What we do in the mind, the mental behaviour and actions in which we engage are defined and governed by us. They are defined and governed by the choices and decisions we make, the aims, goals or objectives we pursue and what we try to accomplish.
Within this context, MRI and fMRI scans showing activity in particular regions of the neurological structure of the brain indicate an association with given mental activities. However, they do not explain how or why, for what purpose or to what end given mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices are used. Moreover, they do not explain the degree to which particular mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices have been developed, or how they have been developed. What we do in the mind and mental existence, the mental behaviour and actions, mental work and effort in which we engage are defined and governed by the choices and decisions we make. They are defined and governed by how we choose and decide to deal with, respond and adjust to what enters the mind and awareness, experiences, perceptions, sensations, feelings, thoughts and ideas, and the conditions that lie behind them.
Moreover, MRI or fMRI scans cannot tell us what mental faculties, mental powers and abilities we possess, how to develop and use them, or how to translate them into necessary and appropriate mental skills and practices. However, how we understand, manage and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of the mind and mental existence, how we understand and meet our mental needs depends on the level to which we develop our mental faculties and translate them into the necessary and appropriate mental skills and practices. The choices and decisions we make and how we make them, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue and how we define them, the behaviour and actions in which we engage, how we consider, plan and organize them also depend on the level to which we have developed and use our mental faculties.
MRI and fMRI scans and knowledge of the neurological structure and workings of the brain cannot tell us how to make sense of our experience, the perceptions, sensations and feelings that enter the mind and awareness, the conditions that lie behind them, or how to deal with them. They cannot tell us about our role and responsibility in the mind and mental existence that by nature are individually ours to understand and manage, or how to manage them. They cannot tell us about problems and difficulties, limits and shortcomings, errors and mistakes in what we do, what we need to do, what we must establish, develop and maintain in the mind and mental existence, or how to deal with them. This can be understood only from within the mind and mental existence. We need to understand and manage the mind and mental existence from the inside. Failing to do so, failing to understand and manage the mind, mental existence and mental development from the inside, leads to mental problems and difficulties - mental disorder and instability, doubt, confusion, uncertainty and insecurity, feelings of fear, stress, anxiety, frustration, helplessness, depression, and even suicide. Problems and difficulties that are viewed traditionally as mental illness, rooted in the neurological structure of the brain, our genetic make up, or caused by external conditions and forces.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Advancing the Obama Challenge
Obama has issued a challenge not only to Americans, but to the whole world, to every individual around the world. He has issued a challenge of development, change and transformation dealing with the problems we face locally and globally around the world today, beyond fixing the current global financial and economic crisis, not only from the top down, but from the bottom up, beyond partisan politics and special interests. Government alone cannot solve all problems and cannot do everything for us. It is up to us individually. What is required is greater individual engagement, individual responsibility and accountability, in all walks of life, at all levels and in all sectors of society, in all areas of human activity, everywhere, with every individual.
The Institute for Human Conceptual and Mental Development (IHCMD) is launching an initiative to advance the Obama challenge. You are invited - individuals, groups and organizations from all walks of life, all levels and sectors of society and areas of human activity, from around the world - to join, participate and organize around advocating, promoting and facilitating greater individual engagement, individual responsibility and accountability. Articulate and set out - research, study and develop the fundamentals and essentials, the knowledge and understanding, the action, skills and practices, the steps, details and specifics required to move beyond fear, doubt, confusion, uncertainty and insecurity, and understand and manage existence and development in sustainable, secure and peaceful ways. Advocate, promote and facilitate the development of greater individual engagement, responsibility and accountability, in all walks of life, at all levels and in all sectors of society, in all areas of human activity, in government, business, education and training, in public and private life, in family, community and society, with every individual.
You are invited to join, participate and make a difference. Your input and participation are required. You can make a difference. To join and participate contact Dr. Axel Dorscht, at a.dorscht_at_ihcmd.org, Institute for Human Conceptual and Mental Development (IHCMD), http://www.ihcmd.org.
The Institute for Human Conceptual and Mental Development (IHCMD) is launching an initiative to advance the Obama challenge. You are invited - individuals, groups and organizations from all walks of life, all levels and sectors of society and areas of human activity, from around the world - to join, participate and organize around advocating, promoting and facilitating greater individual engagement, individual responsibility and accountability. Articulate and set out - research, study and develop the fundamentals and essentials, the knowledge and understanding, the action, skills and practices, the steps, details and specifics required to move beyond fear, doubt, confusion, uncertainty and insecurity, and understand and manage existence and development in sustainable, secure and peaceful ways. Advocate, promote and facilitate the development of greater individual engagement, responsibility and accountability, in all walks of life, at all levels and in all sectors of society, in all areas of human activity, in government, business, education and training, in public and private life, in family, community and society, with every individual.
You are invited to join, participate and make a difference. Your input and participation are required. You can make a difference. To join and participate contact Dr. Axel Dorscht, at a.dorscht_at_ihcmd.org, Institute for Human Conceptual and Mental Development (IHCMD), http://www.ihcmd.org.
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Global Financial and Economic Crisis and the Environment
The current global financial and economic crisis makes clear the need to deal with the environment, environmental problems and the looming ecological crisis at a broader, deeper and more fundamental level. Everywhere we look around the world, because of the global financial-economic crisis actions to deal with the environment and global warming are being scaled back or postponed. They are put on the backburner until after the financial-economic crisis. Now, so the argument, we cannot afford to deal with the environment. The economy and jobs must come first.
However, the environment cannot wait. Nature does not accommodate our failures, errors, mistakes and mismanagement. The current global financial and economic crisis in its essence is nothing other than the results of human actions. It is the result of mismanaging human affairs, mismanaging how we understand and manage existence and development, ourselves.
Dealing with environmental problems and the ecological crisis cannot be put on hold. They keep growing. At some point in the future they will reach a level from where it will no longer be possible to recover. The way we understand and manage human existence and development, relate and interact with nature and the natural environment is leading to changes in nature, natural processes and developments, which in the long term will render the natural environment of the Earth uninhabitable for the human species.
To continue dealing with the environment in times of crisis, when action at some level or in some sector is not possible, we need to deal with the environment at a broader, deeper and more fundamental level. We need to consider and deal with the broad range of environmental problems, such as for example, global warming, thinning of the ozone layer, pollution, deforestation, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, extinction of species, destruction of ecosystems, releasing millions of synthetic compounds into the environment, simultaneously, in an integrated way. Not deal with them separately, as traditionally is the case, as if they were the results of different causes, and waiting until individually they reach a crisis point.
We also need to deal with the environment, environmental problems and the ecological crisis at a deeper and more fundamental level, addressing the root-causes and developments that lie behind them. We must go beyond dealing only with symptoms, results and consequences. Environmental problems are only the results and consequences of deeper-rooted problems, causes and developments. We need to go beyond considering and dealing with the environment and environmental problems, the answers and solutions, only or primarily at the economic level, in scientific and technological terms.
We need to deal with environmental problems on a number of different levels and fronts. We must deal with them at all levels and in all sectors of society, in all areas of human activities simultaneously, in the same direction. We must make sure, if dealing with the environment has to be scaled back or put on the backburner at some levels, in some sectors of society or areas of human activities, as is the case with the current global financial and economic crisis, work, effort and actions dealing with the environment continue at other levels and fronts.
Within this context, the current global financial and economic crisis can be a blessing in disguise and an opportunity. It can be an opportunity to consider, understand and deal with the environment, environmental problems and the ecological crisis at a broader, deeper and more fundamental level, dealing with them beyond just the economic, scientific and technological levels. It is an opportunity to consider the full range of environmental problems in a comprehensive and integrated way. In contrast to considering and dealing with different environmental problems separately, in isolation from one another, as if they were the results and consequences of different and unrelated causes, waiting until they separately reach a crisis level.
The current financial-economic crisis is an opportunity to move beyond dealing only with symptoms, results and consequences. To consider, understand and address environmental problems at a deeper and more fundamental level where they are connected to the same causes, addressing the root-causes and underlying developments. It is an opportunity to ensure the diverse range of efforts, actions and measures dealing with the environment do not contradict, conflict with, or cancel out each other. But they take place within the context of and contribute to addressing the root-causes and underlying developments.
Different Mind Set, Framework of Understanding and Conceptual Foundation
What is required is a different mind set, a larger framework of understanding and conceptual foundation about the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, the world around us, and how to deal with them. We need to consider and understand them at a more fundamental level, in their essence, in depth and detail, in a comprehensive way, a differentiated, but integrated, connected and related way. A different mind set, a larger framework of understanding and conceptual foundation are also needed to move beyond dealing with environmental problems separately, in isolation from one another, as if they were the results of different causes. Instead, we need to deal with them in an integrated, connected and related way, and address the common causes and developments that lie behind them.
A different mind set, a larger framework of understanding and conceptual foundation are needed to move beyond ad-hoc incrementalism, managing from crisis to crisis, waiting until demands, challenges, problems and difficulties develop into crises before dealing with them, making sure the answers and solutions of today do not become the problems of tomorrow. Consider, plan and organize managing existence and development tomorrow, instead of just focusing, concentrating and being preoccupied with managing the presence and correcting the past. Dealing with change, changing conditions, demands and challenges before they develop into larger problems, difficulties and crises. Engaging in a process of continuous conceptual and mental development and growth, constantly reconsidering, updating, correcting, changing and improving how we understand and manage existence and development. In light of change and changing conditions reconsidering, updating, changing, correcting and improving the understanding, powers and abilities, skills and practices we develop, on which we rely, how we develop and use them. Whenever necessary and required reconsidering, updating, changing, correcting and improving the choices and decisions we make and how we make them, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue and how we define them, the behaviour and actions in which we engage and how we plan, organize and manage them.
A different mind set, a larger framework of understanding and conceptual foundation moreover are needed to move beyond the traditional approach of dividing and separating an integrated, connected and interacting reality, the conditions of existence and the world around us into different issues, subject matters, disciplines, fields of study, and areas of human activity, specialization and expertise. Each defined and governed by different and competing assumptions, objectives, approaches and practices. They are required to move beyond addressing only symptoms, results and consequences, and deal with the root-causes and underlying developments. Environmental problems and the ecological crisis are only symptoms, results and consequences of human actions. The causes and underlying developments are the way we understand and manage existence and development, the way we understand and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, our own mental and physical existence and development and the world around us.
Behind environmental problems and the ecological crisis, behind economic practices, science and technology and how we use them, lie human choices and decisions, aims, goals and objectives, views and understanding about the conditions of existence, the world around us, and how to deal with them. The root-causes and developments behind environmental problems and the ecological crisis are the way we view, understand and manage human existence and development. They lie in how we understand and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, the role and responsibility in our existence and development that by nature are ours to understand and manage, as distinct and different from the role of nature that lies beyond our control. How we understand and manage existence and development contradicts, conflicts with and falls short of the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence, causing persisting and growing problems and difficulties for the environment, as well as for ourselves individually, for others and the world around us, community and society. We are pushing beyond the natural parameters, the boundaries and limits of existence set by nature.
Environmental problems and the ecological crisis did not develop overnight. They have been in the making for a very long time. Only in recent times have they become obvious and visible. Only today have they reached levels of crisis, threatening our very existence and the survival of the human species. To understand the root-causes and developments that lie behind environmental problems and the looming ecological crisis we need to look further and deeper than our present way of life, beyond the life-style of modern society. We need to go beyond the self-evident and the obvious. We must look at the fundamentals of how we understand and manage existence and development.
The questions we must ask ourselves are: Why do we exploit natural resources beyond actual human material needs? Why do we degrade the natural environment and interfere in nature, natural forces, processes and developments beyond what is required to manage and sustain human existence? Why do we understand and manage existence and development in ways that cause persisting and growing environmental, as well as socio-cultural, political, economic and individual problems, difficulties and crises, conflict and confrontation? What are the limits and shortcomings of how we understand and manage human existence and development, the way we understand and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of existence and the world around us?
In the long-term, what is required is nothing less than changing the way we understand and manage human existence and development. We must understand and manage existence and development in a sustainable, secure and peaceful way, in ways that do not contradict, conflict with or fall short of the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence. We must deal with problems, difficulties, symptoms, results and consequences within the context of, and in a way to contribute to changing the way we understand and manage existence and development.
Putting the Economy, Existence and Development on Different Foundation
Dealing with the environment, environmental problems and the looming ecological crisis, as well as recurring financial and economic crises, requires putting the economy, science and technology, how we understand and manage existence and development on a different, more substantial and fundamental foundation. A foundation of understanding and managing existence and development from the inside out and from the ground up, in their essence, in depth and detail, in a comprehensive way, a differentiated, but integrated, connected and related way. Not as traditionally is the case, understanding and managing them from the top down and from the outside in, in an externalized, fragmented, generalized and dissociated way in the abstract.
We need to understand and manage existence and development from the inside, beginning with the mind and mental existence, establishing the necessary internal mental conditions before engaging and dealing with the world around us. Not, as traditionally is the case, understanding and managing existence and development, the mind and mental existence from the outside in, through understanding and managing the world around us. The mind and mental existence is where we consciously exist and act, where we experience, become aware, and where we must consider the conditions of existence and the world around us, and how to deal with them. It is where individually we are in charge and in control, where we must actively be engaged and take responsibility for what takes place and what we do. What takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence defines and governs how we understand, manage and conduct ourselves individually, how we connect, communicate and cooperate with each other, and how we relate and interact with the world around us, with nature and the natural environment. The mind and mental existence is where we make choices and decisions, where we define aims, goals and objectives, and where we must consider, plan, organize and manage our behaviour and actions. It is where problems and difficulties, limits and shortcomings, failings, errors and mistakes have their roots and beginnings, and where answers and solutions must start.
We need to meet our non-material mental needs in the mind and mental existence through individual mental work and effort. Not as is the case today, meeting them externally in physical-material and socio-cultural terms through the accumulation, possession, control and consumption of material resources, goods and values, and socio-cultural roles, positions, functions, status, power and influence. Reducing our consumption of natural resources to actual human material needs. We need to establish the necessary conditions inside the mind and mental existence through individual mental work and effort, not trying to create them externally in the world around us. Establish a sense of self, a sense of order and stability, clarity of mind and understanding, a sense of certainty, security and confidence individually in the mind and mental existence. Not trying to create the ideal external socio-cultural and physical-material conditions of an ordered, stable, secure and predictable world around us of easy material abundance, through rearranging, controlling and directing nature and the natural environment, natural forces, processes and development. Limiting our interference in nature and the degrading of the natural environment to what is actually required to manage and sustain human existence and development.
Moreover, we need to understand and manage existence and development from the ground up, at the level of the natural conditions of existence that lie behind and that are reflected in our experience, the experience of every individual human being. The natural conditions of existence that are common to all human beings and that in the first instance define and govern our existence. Not understanding and managing existence and development, as traditionally is the case, from the human-created socio-cultural level down to the level of the natural conditions of existence. Understanding and dealing with the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence from within competing and conflicting socio-cultural beliefs, views, values, conventions and practices. In the process, contradicting, conflicting with and falling short of the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence, and causing persisting and growing problems, difficulties and crises, conflict and confrontation, individual for ourselves, others and the world around, family, community, society, nature and the natural environment.
In addition, we need to understand and manage existence and development, demands and challenges, problems and difficulties, change and changing conditions in their essence, in depth and detail, in a comprehensive way, a differentiated, but integrated, connected and related way. Not, as traditionally is the case, dividing and separating an integrated, related and interacting reality into different issues, subject matters, disciplines, fields of study and areas of human activity, specialization and expertise, each defined and governed by different and competing assumptions, objectives, approaches and practices.
We must distinguish and differentiate between the natural conditions of existence that lie beyond human control, and the human-created socio-cultural and physical-material conditions that must be changed and corrected where they contradict, conflict with or fall short of the natural conditions. Instead of trying to change the natural conditions of existence, nature and the natural environment to accommodate our socio-cultural beliefs, views, values and visions about the ideal conditions of existence. We also need to distinguish and differentiate between the role of nature, which lies beyond our control, and the role and responsibility in our existence and development that by nature are individually ours to understand and manage. It is our own role and responsibility that we must manage and deal with, not the role of nature, to understand and manage our existence and development in sustainable, secure and peaceful ways.
Moreover, we need to distinguish and differentiate between the natural conditions of existence that are common to all human beings, and the specific conditions, demands and challenges we experience individually in life. It is the specific conditions, demands and challenges we must individually deal with, although we must deal with them within the context of the larger natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence. We must deal with the specific conditions, demands and challenges of existence within the larger natural conditions if we are to understand and manage existence and development in sustainable, secure and peaceful ways. To understand and manage existence and development in ways that do not contradict, conflict with or fall short of the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence, not causing persisting and growing environmental, as well as cultural, social, political and economic problems and difficulties. In order to understand and manage existence and development within the natural parameters, the boundaries and limits of existence set by nature.
Changing the way we understand and manage existence and development, understanding and managing them from the inside out and from the ground up, in their essence, in depth and detail, in a comprehensive way, requires learning, development and change at every level and in all sectors of society, in all areas of human activity, with every individual. Developing at the level of the individual the necessary conceptual foundation and mental capacity, the understanding, the mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices required to understand and manage existence and development in sustainable, secure and peaceful ways, within the natural parameters, the boundaries and limits of existence set by nature. A process that ultimately must take place and begin in early life, with education and training. In this way, in times of crisis, when actions dealing with the environment, environmental problems and the ecological crisis at one level or in one sector of society, in one area of human activity is impeded, must be slowed down or put on hold, work at other levels, in other sectors and areas of human activity will continue.
However, the environment cannot wait. Nature does not accommodate our failures, errors, mistakes and mismanagement. The current global financial and economic crisis in its essence is nothing other than the results of human actions. It is the result of mismanaging human affairs, mismanaging how we understand and manage existence and development, ourselves.
Dealing with environmental problems and the ecological crisis cannot be put on hold. They keep growing. At some point in the future they will reach a level from where it will no longer be possible to recover. The way we understand and manage human existence and development, relate and interact with nature and the natural environment is leading to changes in nature, natural processes and developments, which in the long term will render the natural environment of the Earth uninhabitable for the human species.
To continue dealing with the environment in times of crisis, when action at some level or in some sector is not possible, we need to deal with the environment at a broader, deeper and more fundamental level. We need to consider and deal with the broad range of environmental problems, such as for example, global warming, thinning of the ozone layer, pollution, deforestation, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, extinction of species, destruction of ecosystems, releasing millions of synthetic compounds into the environment, simultaneously, in an integrated way. Not deal with them separately, as traditionally is the case, as if they were the results of different causes, and waiting until individually they reach a crisis point.
We also need to deal with the environment, environmental problems and the ecological crisis at a deeper and more fundamental level, addressing the root-causes and developments that lie behind them. We must go beyond dealing only with symptoms, results and consequences. Environmental problems are only the results and consequences of deeper-rooted problems, causes and developments. We need to go beyond considering and dealing with the environment and environmental problems, the answers and solutions, only or primarily at the economic level, in scientific and technological terms.
We need to deal with environmental problems on a number of different levels and fronts. We must deal with them at all levels and in all sectors of society, in all areas of human activities simultaneously, in the same direction. We must make sure, if dealing with the environment has to be scaled back or put on the backburner at some levels, in some sectors of society or areas of human activities, as is the case with the current global financial and economic crisis, work, effort and actions dealing with the environment continue at other levels and fronts.
Within this context, the current global financial and economic crisis can be a blessing in disguise and an opportunity. It can be an opportunity to consider, understand and deal with the environment, environmental problems and the ecological crisis at a broader, deeper and more fundamental level, dealing with them beyond just the economic, scientific and technological levels. It is an opportunity to consider the full range of environmental problems in a comprehensive and integrated way. In contrast to considering and dealing with different environmental problems separately, in isolation from one another, as if they were the results and consequences of different and unrelated causes, waiting until they separately reach a crisis level.
The current financial-economic crisis is an opportunity to move beyond dealing only with symptoms, results and consequences. To consider, understand and address environmental problems at a deeper and more fundamental level where they are connected to the same causes, addressing the root-causes and underlying developments. It is an opportunity to ensure the diverse range of efforts, actions and measures dealing with the environment do not contradict, conflict with, or cancel out each other. But they take place within the context of and contribute to addressing the root-causes and underlying developments.
Different Mind Set, Framework of Understanding and Conceptual Foundation
What is required is a different mind set, a larger framework of understanding and conceptual foundation about the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, the world around us, and how to deal with them. We need to consider and understand them at a more fundamental level, in their essence, in depth and detail, in a comprehensive way, a differentiated, but integrated, connected and related way. A different mind set, a larger framework of understanding and conceptual foundation are also needed to move beyond dealing with environmental problems separately, in isolation from one another, as if they were the results of different causes. Instead, we need to deal with them in an integrated, connected and related way, and address the common causes and developments that lie behind them.
A different mind set, a larger framework of understanding and conceptual foundation are needed to move beyond ad-hoc incrementalism, managing from crisis to crisis, waiting until demands, challenges, problems and difficulties develop into crises before dealing with them, making sure the answers and solutions of today do not become the problems of tomorrow. Consider, plan and organize managing existence and development tomorrow, instead of just focusing, concentrating and being preoccupied with managing the presence and correcting the past. Dealing with change, changing conditions, demands and challenges before they develop into larger problems, difficulties and crises. Engaging in a process of continuous conceptual and mental development and growth, constantly reconsidering, updating, correcting, changing and improving how we understand and manage existence and development. In light of change and changing conditions reconsidering, updating, changing, correcting and improving the understanding, powers and abilities, skills and practices we develop, on which we rely, how we develop and use them. Whenever necessary and required reconsidering, updating, changing, correcting and improving the choices and decisions we make and how we make them, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue and how we define them, the behaviour and actions in which we engage and how we plan, organize and manage them.
A different mind set, a larger framework of understanding and conceptual foundation moreover are needed to move beyond the traditional approach of dividing and separating an integrated, connected and interacting reality, the conditions of existence and the world around us into different issues, subject matters, disciplines, fields of study, and areas of human activity, specialization and expertise. Each defined and governed by different and competing assumptions, objectives, approaches and practices. They are required to move beyond addressing only symptoms, results and consequences, and deal with the root-causes and underlying developments. Environmental problems and the ecological crisis are only symptoms, results and consequences of human actions. The causes and underlying developments are the way we understand and manage existence and development, the way we understand and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, our own mental and physical existence and development and the world around us.
Behind environmental problems and the ecological crisis, behind economic practices, science and technology and how we use them, lie human choices and decisions, aims, goals and objectives, views and understanding about the conditions of existence, the world around us, and how to deal with them. The root-causes and developments behind environmental problems and the ecological crisis are the way we view, understand and manage human existence and development. They lie in how we understand and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of existence, the role and responsibility in our existence and development that by nature are ours to understand and manage, as distinct and different from the role of nature that lies beyond our control. How we understand and manage existence and development contradicts, conflicts with and falls short of the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence, causing persisting and growing problems and difficulties for the environment, as well as for ourselves individually, for others and the world around us, community and society. We are pushing beyond the natural parameters, the boundaries and limits of existence set by nature.
Environmental problems and the ecological crisis did not develop overnight. They have been in the making for a very long time. Only in recent times have they become obvious and visible. Only today have they reached levels of crisis, threatening our very existence and the survival of the human species. To understand the root-causes and developments that lie behind environmental problems and the looming ecological crisis we need to look further and deeper than our present way of life, beyond the life-style of modern society. We need to go beyond the self-evident and the obvious. We must look at the fundamentals of how we understand and manage existence and development.
The questions we must ask ourselves are: Why do we exploit natural resources beyond actual human material needs? Why do we degrade the natural environment and interfere in nature, natural forces, processes and developments beyond what is required to manage and sustain human existence? Why do we understand and manage existence and development in ways that cause persisting and growing environmental, as well as socio-cultural, political, economic and individual problems, difficulties and crises, conflict and confrontation? What are the limits and shortcomings of how we understand and manage human existence and development, the way we understand and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of existence and the world around us?
In the long-term, what is required is nothing less than changing the way we understand and manage human existence and development. We must understand and manage existence and development in a sustainable, secure and peaceful way, in ways that do not contradict, conflict with or fall short of the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence. We must deal with problems, difficulties, symptoms, results and consequences within the context of, and in a way to contribute to changing the way we understand and manage existence and development.
Putting the Economy, Existence and Development on Different Foundation
Dealing with the environment, environmental problems and the looming ecological crisis, as well as recurring financial and economic crises, requires putting the economy, science and technology, how we understand and manage existence and development on a different, more substantial and fundamental foundation. A foundation of understanding and managing existence and development from the inside out and from the ground up, in their essence, in depth and detail, in a comprehensive way, a differentiated, but integrated, connected and related way. Not as traditionally is the case, understanding and managing them from the top down and from the outside in, in an externalized, fragmented, generalized and dissociated way in the abstract.
We need to understand and manage existence and development from the inside, beginning with the mind and mental existence, establishing the necessary internal mental conditions before engaging and dealing with the world around us. Not, as traditionally is the case, understanding and managing existence and development, the mind and mental existence from the outside in, through understanding and managing the world around us. The mind and mental existence is where we consciously exist and act, where we experience, become aware, and where we must consider the conditions of existence and the world around us, and how to deal with them. It is where individually we are in charge and in control, where we must actively be engaged and take responsibility for what takes place and what we do. What takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence defines and governs how we understand, manage and conduct ourselves individually, how we connect, communicate and cooperate with each other, and how we relate and interact with the world around us, with nature and the natural environment. The mind and mental existence is where we make choices and decisions, where we define aims, goals and objectives, and where we must consider, plan, organize and manage our behaviour and actions. It is where problems and difficulties, limits and shortcomings, failings, errors and mistakes have their roots and beginnings, and where answers and solutions must start.
We need to meet our non-material mental needs in the mind and mental existence through individual mental work and effort. Not as is the case today, meeting them externally in physical-material and socio-cultural terms through the accumulation, possession, control and consumption of material resources, goods and values, and socio-cultural roles, positions, functions, status, power and influence. Reducing our consumption of natural resources to actual human material needs. We need to establish the necessary conditions inside the mind and mental existence through individual mental work and effort, not trying to create them externally in the world around us. Establish a sense of self, a sense of order and stability, clarity of mind and understanding, a sense of certainty, security and confidence individually in the mind and mental existence. Not trying to create the ideal external socio-cultural and physical-material conditions of an ordered, stable, secure and predictable world around us of easy material abundance, through rearranging, controlling and directing nature and the natural environment, natural forces, processes and development. Limiting our interference in nature and the degrading of the natural environment to what is actually required to manage and sustain human existence and development.
Moreover, we need to understand and manage existence and development from the ground up, at the level of the natural conditions of existence that lie behind and that are reflected in our experience, the experience of every individual human being. The natural conditions of existence that are common to all human beings and that in the first instance define and govern our existence. Not understanding and managing existence and development, as traditionally is the case, from the human-created socio-cultural level down to the level of the natural conditions of existence. Understanding and dealing with the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence from within competing and conflicting socio-cultural beliefs, views, values, conventions and practices. In the process, contradicting, conflicting with and falling short of the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence, and causing persisting and growing problems, difficulties and crises, conflict and confrontation, individual for ourselves, others and the world around, family, community, society, nature and the natural environment.
In addition, we need to understand and manage existence and development, demands and challenges, problems and difficulties, change and changing conditions in their essence, in depth and detail, in a comprehensive way, a differentiated, but integrated, connected and related way. Not, as traditionally is the case, dividing and separating an integrated, related and interacting reality into different issues, subject matters, disciplines, fields of study and areas of human activity, specialization and expertise, each defined and governed by different and competing assumptions, objectives, approaches and practices.
We must distinguish and differentiate between the natural conditions of existence that lie beyond human control, and the human-created socio-cultural and physical-material conditions that must be changed and corrected where they contradict, conflict with or fall short of the natural conditions. Instead of trying to change the natural conditions of existence, nature and the natural environment to accommodate our socio-cultural beliefs, views, values and visions about the ideal conditions of existence. We also need to distinguish and differentiate between the role of nature, which lies beyond our control, and the role and responsibility in our existence and development that by nature are individually ours to understand and manage. It is our own role and responsibility that we must manage and deal with, not the role of nature, to understand and manage our existence and development in sustainable, secure and peaceful ways.
Moreover, we need to distinguish and differentiate between the natural conditions of existence that are common to all human beings, and the specific conditions, demands and challenges we experience individually in life. It is the specific conditions, demands and challenges we must individually deal with, although we must deal with them within the context of the larger natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence. We must deal with the specific conditions, demands and challenges of existence within the larger natural conditions if we are to understand and manage existence and development in sustainable, secure and peaceful ways. To understand and manage existence and development in ways that do not contradict, conflict with or fall short of the natural conditions, demands and challenges of existence, not causing persisting and growing environmental, as well as cultural, social, political and economic problems and difficulties. In order to understand and manage existence and development within the natural parameters, the boundaries and limits of existence set by nature.
Changing the way we understand and manage existence and development, understanding and managing them from the inside out and from the ground up, in their essence, in depth and detail, in a comprehensive way, requires learning, development and change at every level and in all sectors of society, in all areas of human activity, with every individual. Developing at the level of the individual the necessary conceptual foundation and mental capacity, the understanding, the mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices required to understand and manage existence and development in sustainable, secure and peaceful ways, within the natural parameters, the boundaries and limits of existence set by nature. A process that ultimately must take place and begin in early life, with education and training. In this way, in times of crisis, when actions dealing with the environment, environmental problems and the ecological crisis at one level or in one sector of society, in one area of human activity is impeded, must be slowed down or put on hold, work at other levels, in other sectors and areas of human activity will continue.
Friday, January 16, 2009
The Mind versus the Brain, and Understanding Human Behaviour and Actions
The mind and the brain are two distinct and separate elements of our existence. The mind is where we consciously exist and act. It is where we experience, become aware, and where we must consider the conditions of existence, the world around us, and how to deal with them. The mind is where we individually are in charge and in control, where we must actively be engaged and take responsibility for what takes place and what we do. It is where we make choices and decisions, where we define aims, goals and objectives, and where we must consider, plan, organize and manage our behaviour and actions. The mind and mental existence is where we exercise our mental faculties, mental powers and abilities.
What we do in the mind defines and governs how we view, understand, manage and conduct ourselves individually, how we connect, communicate and cooperate with each other, and how we relate and interact with the world around us. The mind and mental existence is where problems and difficulties, errors and mistakes have their roots and beginnings, and where answers and solutions must start.
To understand individual behaviour, action and how we conduct ourselves, we need to understand the mind and mental existence, what takes place, what we do, and what we need to do, establish, develop and maintain in the mind and mental existence from the inside. They cannot be understood from the outside through observing outward behaviour and actions, as is the case with psychology. Neither can we understand what takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence through studying the physical-biological roots and foundation or the genetic-neurological make up, systems and processes that lie behind the mind and mental existence, as the "sciences of the mind" - cognitive science, neuroscience, behavioral genetics and evolutionary psychology attempt to do.
The human brain, metaphorically speaking, is the muscle of our mind and mental existence. Our muscles give us our physical faculties, the power and ability of movement, to engage in physical action and activity, which we can translate into specific physical skills and practices, such as walking, tap dancing, rock climbing, playing instruments, operating machinery, doing brain surgery, etc.
Our muscles develop naturally, but to use the potential of our muscle for physical movement we must develop it before we can use it. A basic level of the muscle potential we can develop without much effort. Developing the full potential requires conscious and deliberate work and effort, exercise and practice. Learning how to walk is relatively easy. Learning how to tap dance or do brain surgery requires greater focus and concentration, work and effort, exercise and practice. Developing our physical powers and abilities translates into the development of the muscle fiber.
Without physical action or activity, not using a given muscle it will atrophy. The muscle will shrink and we loose the physical power and ability it provides. Exercising and practicing our physical faculties, a particular physical skill activates the respective muscle. However, it is not the muscle or its activity that defines or governs the physical action or activity in which we engage. This is what is referred to as being spastic, having lost control over our muscles. Exercising our physical powers and abilities, practicing given physical skills and practices is the result of choices and decisions we make, despite the fact that at times we do not pay attention or keep track of what we do or engage in. Our muscles are the physical-biological foundation of our physical powers and abilities, but they do not define or govern when, how and why, for what purpose or to what end we use them.
Similarly, the brain and its neurological structure are the physical-biological foundation of our mental powers and abilities, but they do not define or govern when, how and why, for what purpose or to what end we use them. The neurological foundation of our mental powers and abilities develops naturally. However, like with our natural physical faculties, we must develop our mental potential before we can use it. Again, a basic level of our mental potential is developed without much focus and concentration. To develop fully our mental potential requires conscious and deliberate mental work and effort, exercise and practice, resulting in the further development of the basic neurological structure of the brain. Translating our mental powers and abilities into specific mental skills and practices, such as mathematics, language, paying attention and keeping track of what one is doing and what is taking place around us, considering issues, experiences, situations and conditions and how to deal with them at some length, in depth and detail, establishing clarity of mind and understanding, establishing mental order and stability, certainty, security and confidence, etc., requires conscious and deliberate mental work and effort, exercise and practice. Developing our mental power and abilities and translating them into specific mental skills and practices translates into the further development of the neurological structure and connections in the brain. With a lack of mental activity and action, not using our mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices, not engaging in mental work and effort the neurological structure of the brain will atrophy, it shrinks and we loose the mental powers and abilities it provides.
When we use given mental powers and abilities, engage in particular mental skills and practices it activates the underlying part of the neurological structure of the brain. However, this does not mean the activity in the neurological structure defines or governs when, how and why, for what purpose or to what end we use our mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices. Within this context, MRI and fMRI scans can show activity in particular regions of the neurological structure in the brain and indicate an association with given mental activities. However, it cannot explain how and why, for what purpose or to what end the given mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices are used. Moreover, it cannot explain the degree to which the particular mental power and ability, mental skill and practice have been developed, or how they have been developed.
MRI or fMRI scans also cannot tell us what mental faculties, potential mental powers and abilities, we possess, how to develop and use them, how to translate them into specific mental skills and practices. However, how we understand, manage and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of the mind and mental existence, how we understand and meet our mental needs depends on the level to which we have developed our mental faculties and translated them into the necessary and appropriate mental skills and practices. The choices and decisions we make and how we make them, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue and how we define them, the outward behaviour and actions in which we engage, how we consider, plan and organize them also depend on the level to which we have developed and use our mental potential.
MRI and fMRI scans and knowledge of the neurological structure and working of the brain cannot tell us how to make sense of our experience, the perceptions, sensations and feelings that enter the mind and awareness, the conditions that lie behind them, and how to deal with them. They cannot tell us about our role and responsibility in the mind and mental existence that by nature are individually ours to understand and manage, or how to understand and manage them. They cannot tell us about problems and difficulties, limits and shortcomings, errors and mistakes in what we do and what we need to do, establish, develop and maintain in the mind and mental existence, or how to deal with them. This can only be understood from within the mind and mental existence. We need to understand and manage the mind and mental existence from the inside. Failing to do so, failing to understand and manage the mind, mental existence and mental development leads to mental problems and difficulties, mental disorder and instability, doubt, confusion, uncertainty and insecurity, feelings of fear, stress, anxiety, frustration, helplessness, depression, and even suicide.
What we do in the mind defines and governs how we view, understand, manage and conduct ourselves individually, how we connect, communicate and cooperate with each other, and how we relate and interact with the world around us. The mind and mental existence is where problems and difficulties, errors and mistakes have their roots and beginnings, and where answers and solutions must start.
To understand individual behaviour, action and how we conduct ourselves, we need to understand the mind and mental existence, what takes place, what we do, and what we need to do, establish, develop and maintain in the mind and mental existence from the inside. They cannot be understood from the outside through observing outward behaviour and actions, as is the case with psychology. Neither can we understand what takes place and what we do in the mind and mental existence through studying the physical-biological roots and foundation or the genetic-neurological make up, systems and processes that lie behind the mind and mental existence, as the "sciences of the mind" - cognitive science, neuroscience, behavioral genetics and evolutionary psychology attempt to do.
The human brain, metaphorically speaking, is the muscle of our mind and mental existence. Our muscles give us our physical faculties, the power and ability of movement, to engage in physical action and activity, which we can translate into specific physical skills and practices, such as walking, tap dancing, rock climbing, playing instruments, operating machinery, doing brain surgery, etc.
Our muscles develop naturally, but to use the potential of our muscle for physical movement we must develop it before we can use it. A basic level of the muscle potential we can develop without much effort. Developing the full potential requires conscious and deliberate work and effort, exercise and practice. Learning how to walk is relatively easy. Learning how to tap dance or do brain surgery requires greater focus and concentration, work and effort, exercise and practice. Developing our physical powers and abilities translates into the development of the muscle fiber.
Without physical action or activity, not using a given muscle it will atrophy. The muscle will shrink and we loose the physical power and ability it provides. Exercising and practicing our physical faculties, a particular physical skill activates the respective muscle. However, it is not the muscle or its activity that defines or governs the physical action or activity in which we engage. This is what is referred to as being spastic, having lost control over our muscles. Exercising our physical powers and abilities, practicing given physical skills and practices is the result of choices and decisions we make, despite the fact that at times we do not pay attention or keep track of what we do or engage in. Our muscles are the physical-biological foundation of our physical powers and abilities, but they do not define or govern when, how and why, for what purpose or to what end we use them.
Similarly, the brain and its neurological structure are the physical-biological foundation of our mental powers and abilities, but they do not define or govern when, how and why, for what purpose or to what end we use them. The neurological foundation of our mental powers and abilities develops naturally. However, like with our natural physical faculties, we must develop our mental potential before we can use it. Again, a basic level of our mental potential is developed without much focus and concentration. To develop fully our mental potential requires conscious and deliberate mental work and effort, exercise and practice, resulting in the further development of the basic neurological structure of the brain. Translating our mental powers and abilities into specific mental skills and practices, such as mathematics, language, paying attention and keeping track of what one is doing and what is taking place around us, considering issues, experiences, situations and conditions and how to deal with them at some length, in depth and detail, establishing clarity of mind and understanding, establishing mental order and stability, certainty, security and confidence, etc., requires conscious and deliberate mental work and effort, exercise and practice. Developing our mental power and abilities and translating them into specific mental skills and practices translates into the further development of the neurological structure and connections in the brain. With a lack of mental activity and action, not using our mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices, not engaging in mental work and effort the neurological structure of the brain will atrophy, it shrinks and we loose the mental powers and abilities it provides.
When we use given mental powers and abilities, engage in particular mental skills and practices it activates the underlying part of the neurological structure of the brain. However, this does not mean the activity in the neurological structure defines or governs when, how and why, for what purpose or to what end we use our mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices. Within this context, MRI and fMRI scans can show activity in particular regions of the neurological structure in the brain and indicate an association with given mental activities. However, it cannot explain how and why, for what purpose or to what end the given mental powers and abilities, mental skills and practices are used. Moreover, it cannot explain the degree to which the particular mental power and ability, mental skill and practice have been developed, or how they have been developed.
MRI or fMRI scans also cannot tell us what mental faculties, potential mental powers and abilities, we possess, how to develop and use them, how to translate them into specific mental skills and practices. However, how we understand, manage and deal with the conditions, demands and challenges of the mind and mental existence, how we understand and meet our mental needs depends on the level to which we have developed our mental faculties and translated them into the necessary and appropriate mental skills and practices. The choices and decisions we make and how we make them, the aims, goals and objectives we pursue and how we define them, the outward behaviour and actions in which we engage, how we consider, plan and organize them also depend on the level to which we have developed and use our mental potential.
MRI and fMRI scans and knowledge of the neurological structure and working of the brain cannot tell us how to make sense of our experience, the perceptions, sensations and feelings that enter the mind and awareness, the conditions that lie behind them, and how to deal with them. They cannot tell us about our role and responsibility in the mind and mental existence that by nature are individually ours to understand and manage, or how to understand and manage them. They cannot tell us about problems and difficulties, limits and shortcomings, errors and mistakes in what we do and what we need to do, establish, develop and maintain in the mind and mental existence, or how to deal with them. This can only be understood from within the mind and mental existence. We need to understand and manage the mind and mental existence from the inside. Failing to do so, failing to understand and manage the mind, mental existence and mental development leads to mental problems and difficulties, mental disorder and instability, doubt, confusion, uncertainty and insecurity, feelings of fear, stress, anxiety, frustration, helplessness, depression, and even suicide.
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