Being

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General

Undergoing integration! WIP. An incomplete observation on being, perspective, attention, experience, feeling, thought and reflection, relation and memory, sentiment, value, love, life, creation and frames, destruction and inaction, action about action, trauma and relaxation, shortcuts to manage or not give a fuck, reasons, translations or not, bridges, passions and peace, pieces folding, unfolding and enfolding, an ordered organic ontology of links and analogies.

Some stuff has potential and/or help, some doesn't. These are references and not all suggestions. Thoughts and feelings can matter, can not matter or can be made non-reactive. Naturally, about what, etc. you whatever gets easier through practising forms so as to figure out exactly * we might possibly be exactly right to change and care for, inside and out. What may be/come, don't keep your face too close to the page. Don't burn out, feed fire but look for the resonance and radiance. Fabricated fast n a splattered dance of words, radical and traditional stories. I'm weary of using disorder, though it can be quicker to seek existing analogies and patterns so to somehow later avoid hurt and trauma. Observation can affect valence, value and motivation.

Everything and nothing within balanced relations of perception, word maps to be ironed in and out dimensionally or burnt as a p[i][e][a]ce offering, the o[u]t[h]er/[h/s]e[a]l[f][th] thing. Attending to possible peace and laughter. Something[-something] you/do live!

Anyway, I like to create and play with words, doing laconic lean and outline agile, getting the groundwork done then rearrange and expand.

Here are some things that I have found some help in investigating. You can contribute if you wish via the About page. See also Meta. Ta for reading. <3

On Being and all: To explore; review existing content, merge and refactor, thread sections properly, merge the third or so biggest sections plus with Action, Health, Organisation, etc., then probably split out once it can work.


DEAR PEOPLE OF THE FUTURE: Here's what we've figured out so far ...

Physiology

merging in again from Biology to connect the bodybrain. once finished this section will dissapear.

See also Action, Food, Drink





Microbiome

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microbiome - is "the ecological community of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microorganisms that literally share our body spaaaaaace." Joshua Lederberg coined the term, arguing the importance of microorganisms inhabiting the human body in health and disease. Many scientific articles distinguish "microbiome" and "microbiota" to describe either the collective genomes of the microorganisms that reside in an environmental niche or the microorganisms themselves, respectively. However by the original definitions these terms are largely synonymous.

The human body contains over 10 times more microbial cells than human cells, although the entire microbiome only weighs about 200 grams (7.1 oz), with some weight estimates ranging as high as 3 pounds (approximately 48 ounces or 1,400 grams). Some regard it as a "newly discovered organ" since its existence was not generally recognized until the late 1990s and it is understood to have potentially overwhelming impact on human health. Modern techniques for sequencing DNA have enabled researchers to find the majority of these microbes, since the majority of them cannot be cultured in a lab using current techniques. The human microbiome may have a role in auto-immune diseases like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and perhaps some cancers. A poor mix of microbes in the gut may also aggravate common obesity. Since some of the microbes in our body can modify the production of neurotransmitters known to be found in the brain, we may also find some relief for schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder and other neuro-chemical imbalances.

The microbes being discussed are generally non-pathogenic (they do not cause disease unless they grow abnormally); they exist in harmony and symbiotically with their hosts.

Researchers have learned that much of the population of microbes found in the human body are not bacteria but belong to a very old biological domain of single-celled organisms called archaea.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_microbiome - the aggregate of microorganisms, a microbiome that resides on the surface and in deep layers of skin (including in mammary glands), in the saliva and oral mucosa, in the conjunctiva, and in the gastrointestinal tracts. They include bacteria, fungi, and archaea. One study indicated they outnumber human cells 10 to 1. Some of these organisms perform tasks that are useful for the human host. However, the majority have been too poorly researched for us to understand the role they play, however communities of microflora have been shown to change their behavior in diseased individuals. Those that are expected to be present, and that under normal circumstances do not cause disease, but instead participate in maintaining health, are deemed members of the normal flora.

Though widely known as "microflora", this is, in technical terms, a misnomer, since the word root "flora" pertains to plants, and biota refers to the total collection of organisms in a particular ecosystem. Recently, the more appropriate term "microbiota" is applied, though its use has not eclipsed the entrenched use and recognition of "flora" with regard to bacteria and other microorganisms. Both terms are being used in different literature. Studies in 2009 questioned whether the decline in biota (including microfauna) as a result of human intervention might impede human health.

Most of the microbes associated with humans appear to be not harmful at all, but rather assist in maintaining processes necessary for a healthy body. A surprising finding was that at specific sites on the body, a different set of microbes may perform the same function for different people. For example, on the tongues of two people, two entirely different sets of organisms will break down sugars in the same way. This suggests that medical science may be forced to abandon the "one only" microbe model of infectious disease, and rather pay attention to functions of groups of microbes that have somehow gone awry




Gut



Skin

"Human sweat becomes more enticing to A.gambiae after it is incubated with skin bacteria for a few days. Even on their own, the bacteria can produce airborne chemicals that attract mosquitoes. ... People with lots of Staphylococcus or Variovorax were more attractive, while those rich in Pseudomonas, Leptotrichia, Delftia and Actinobacteria were not."

Neuroscience

Areas


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurology - a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. To be specific, neurology deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the central and peripheral nervous system; or, the equivalent meaning, the autonomic nervous systems and the somatic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue, such as muscle.



Resources

  • Neuroscience Information Framework is a dynamic inventory of Web-based neuroscience resources: data, materials, and tools accessible via any computer connected to the Internet. An initiative of the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, NIF advances neuroscience research by enabling discovery and access to public research data and tools worldwide through an open source, networked environment.


Researchers injected the viruses into the brainstem of living mice. Each virus infects one cell, so that each neuron receives a unique barcode. Two days later, the researchers dissected the mouse brains. Under a microscope, 995 neurons glowed green, suggesting they had picked up a barcode.

The researchers then dissected the brain into five distinct brain regions and divided these regions into ultra-thin slices. They extracted RNA from each slice and performed automated high-throughput sequencing to determine which barcodes were present. They plotted the progression of individual barcodes through the slices to see where each cell’s axon ended up.

Their findings reveal that neurons in the locus coeruleus area of the brainstem, which is active in the stress response, extend to parts of the cerebral cortex, the brain’s outer layer. These neurons also connect to the olfactory bulb, a region involved in smell. The researchers did not find axons bridging the brainstem and the striatum, which governs motivation and movement.

Nervous system

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nervous_system - the part of an animal's body that coordinates its voluntary and involuntary actions and transmits signals between different parts of its body. Nervous tissue first arose in wormlike organisms about 550 to 600 million years ago. In most animal species it consists of two main parts, the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The CNS contains the brain and spinal cord. The PNS consists mainly of nerves, which are enclosed bundles of the long fibers or axons, that connect the CNS to every other part of the body. The PNS includes motor neurons, mediating voluntary movement; the autonomic nervous system, comprising the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulate involuntary functions, and the enteric nervous system, which functions to control the gastrointestinal system.

At the cellular level, the nervous system is defined by the presence of a special type of cell, called the neuron, also known as a "nerve cell". Neurons have special structures that allow them to send signals rapidly and precisely to other cells. They send these signals in the form of electrochemical waves traveling along thin fibers called axons, which cause chemicals called neurotransmitters to be released at junctions called synapses. A cell that receives a synaptic signal from a neuron may be excited, inhibited, or otherwise modulated. The connections between neurons can form neural circuits and also neural networks that generate an organism's perception of the world and determine its behavior. Along with neurons, the nervous system contains other specialized cells called glial cells (or simply glia), which provide structural and metabolic support.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nervous_tissue - the main component of the two parts of the nervous system; the brain and spinal cord of the central nervous system (CNS), and the branching peripheral nerves of the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which regulates and controls bodily functions and activity. It is composed of neurons, or nerve cells, which receive and transmit impulses, and neuroglia, also known as glial cells or more commonly as just glia (from the Greek, meaning glue), which assist the propagation of the nerve impulse as well as providing nutrients to the neuron.

Nervous tissue is made up of different types of nerve cells, all of which have an axon, the long stem-like part of the cell that sends action potential signals to the next cell.

Functions of the nervous system are sensory input, integration, control of muscles and glands, homeostasis, and mental activity.

Neurons

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuron - an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information through electrical and chemical signals. These signals between neurons occur via synapses, specialized connections with other cells. Neurons can connect to each other to form neural networks.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progenitor_cell - a biological cell that, like a stem cell, has a tendency to differentiate into a specific type of cell, but is already more specific than a stem cell and is pushed to differentiate into its "target" cell.








  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synaptic_potential - refers to the difference in voltage between the inside and outside of a postsynaptic neuron. In other words, they are the “incoming” signal of a neuron. Synaptic potential comes in two forms: excitatory and inhibitory. Excitatory post-synaptic potentials (EPSP’s) depolarize the membrane and move it closer to the threshold for an action potential. Inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSP’s) hyperpolarize the membrane and move it farther away from the threshold.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postsynaptic_potential - changes in the membrane potential of the postsynaptic terminal of a chemical synapse. Postsynaptic potentials are graded potentials, and should not be confused with action potentials although their function is to initiate or inhibit action potentials.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve_fiber - a threadlike extension of a nerve cell and consists of an axon and myelin sheath (if present) in the nervous system. There are nerve fibers in the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system. A nerve fiber may be myelinated and/or unmyelinated. In the central nervous system (CNS), myelin is produced by oligodendroglia cells. Schwann cells form myelin in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Schwann cells can also make a thin covering for an axon which does not consist of myelin (in the PNS). A peripheral nerve fiber consists of an axon, myelin sheath, Schwann cells and its endoneurium. There are no endoneurium and Schwann cells in the central nervous system.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleus_(neuroanatomy) - a brain structure consisting of a relatively compact cluster of neurons. It is one of the two most common forms of nerve cell organization, the other being layered structures such as the cerebral cortex or cerebellar cortex. In anatomical sections, a nucleus shows up as a region of gray matter, often bordered by white matter. The vertebrate brain contains hundreds of distinguishable nuclei, varying widely in shape and size. A nucleus may itself have a complex internal structure, with multiple types of neurons arranged in clumps (subnuclei) or layers.

The term "nucleus" is in some cases used rather loosely, to mean simply an identifiably distinct group of neurons, even if they are spread over an extended area. Some of the major anatomical components of the brain are organized as clusters of interconnected nuclei. Notable among these are the thalamus and hypothalamus, each of which contains several dozen distinguishable substructures. The medulla and pons also contain numerous small nuclei with a wide variety of sensory, motor, and regulatory functions. In the peripheral nervous system, a cluster of neurons is referred to instead as a ganglion.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_neuron - nerve cells that transmit sensory information (sight, sound, feeling, etc.). They are activated by sensory input, and send projections to other elements of the nervous system, ultimately conveying sensory information to the brain or spinal cord. In complex organisms, when stimulation of a peripheral sensory neuron (a first-order sensory neuron) receptor exceeds a set level of intensity, an electrical impulse travels down the nerve fiber to the central nervous system, where it may activate a motor neuron or another sensory neuron (a second- or third-order neuron), or both. In less complex organisms, such as the hydra, sensory neurons transmit data to motor neurons or ganglia. Different types of receptor respond to different kinds of stimulus.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipolar_neuron - a type of neuron which has two extensions. Bipolar cells are specialized sensory neurons for the transmission of special senses. As such, they are part of the sensory pathways for smell, sight, taste, hearing and vestibular functions.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amacrine_cell - interneurons in the retina, inhibitory neurons, projecting their dendritic arbors to the inner plexiform layer (IPL), there interacting with retinal ganglion cells and/or bipolar cells.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramidal_cell - a type of neuron found in areas of the brain including the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus, and the amygdala. Pyramidal neurons are the primary excitation units of the mammalian prefrontal cortex and the corticospinal tract. Pyramidal neurons were first discovered and studied by Santiago Ramón y Cajal. Since then, studies on pyramidal neurons have focused on topics ranging from neuroplasticity to cognition.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_cell - a type of pyramidal neuron within the hippocampus that becomes active when the animal enters a particular place in the environment; this place is known as the place field. A given place cell will have only one, or a few, place fields in a typical small laboratory environment, but more in a larger region. There is no apparent topography to the pattern of place fields, unlike other brain areas such as visual cortex - neighboring place cells are as likely to have distant fields as neighboring ones. In a different environment, typically about half the place cells will still have place fields, but these will be in new places unrelated to their former locations.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandmother_cell - a hypothetical neuron that represents a complex but specific concept or object. It activates when a person "sees, hears, or otherwise sensibly discriminates" a specific entity, such as his or her grandmother.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efference_copy - internal copy of an outflowing (efferent), movement-producing signal generated by the motor system. It can be collated with the (reafferent) sensory input that results from the agent's movement, enabling a comparison of actual movement with desired movement, and a shielding of perception from particular self-induced effects on the sensory input to achieve perceptual stability.


Neuroglia

Vision

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiles–Crawford_effect - effect of the first kind is the phenomenon where light entering the eye near the edge of the pupil produces a lower photoreceptor response compared to light of equal intensity entering near the center of the pupil; of the second kind is the phenomenon where the observed color of monochromatic light entering the eye near the edge of the pupil is different compared to that for the same wavelength light entering near the center of the pupil, regardless of the overall intensities of the two lights.


Plasticity

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synaptic_plasticity - specialized junctions through which neurons signal to each other and to non-neuronal cells such as those in muscles or glands. Chemical synapses allow neurons to form circuits within the central nervous system. They are crucial to the biological computations that underlie perception and thought. They allow the nervous system to connect to and control other systems of the body. At a chemical synapse, one neuron releases neurotransmitter molecules into a small spaaaaaace (the synaptic cleft) that is adjacent to another neuron.
  • Many Older Brains Have Plasticity, but in a Different Place [11]
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synaptic_vesicle - store various neurotransmitters that are released at the synapse. The release is regulated by a voltage-dependent calcium channel. Vesicles are essential for propagating nerve impulses between neurons and are constantly recreated by the cell. The area in the axon that holds groups of vesicles is an axon terminal or "bouton". Up to 130 vesicles can be released per bouton over a ten-minute period of stimulation at 0.2 Hz. In the human brain region V1 synaptic vesicles have an average diameter of 39.5 nanometers with a standard deviation of 5.1 nanometers.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebbian_theory - a theory in neuroscience that proposes an explanation for the adaptation of neurons in the brain during the learning process. It describes a basic mechanism for synaptic plasticity, where an increase in synaptic efficacy arises from the presynaptic cell's repeated and persistent stimulation of the postsynaptic cell. Introduced by Donald Hebb in his 1949 book The Organization of Behavior, the theory is also called Hebb's rule, Hebb's postulate, and cell assembly theory.


Connectome

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectogram - graphical representations of connectomics, the field of study dedicated to mapping and interpreting all of the white matter fiber connections in the human brain. These circular graphs based on Diffusion MRI data utilize graph theory to demonstrate the white matter connections and cortical characteristics for single structures, single subjects, or populations.


  • YouTube: Lecture 8: What is the Connectome? - The "connectome" is a term, coined in the past decade, that has been used to describe more than one phenomenon in neuroscience. Dr. R Clay Reid explains the basics of structural connections at the micro-, meso- and macroscopic scales. This full-length, undergraduate-level lecture is the eighth of a 12-part series entitled Coding & Vision 101, produced by the Allen Institute for Brain Science as an educational resource for the community.


Brainwaves

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_wave - a high amplitude brain wave with a frequency of oscillation between 0–4 hertz, usually associated with the deep stage 3 of NREM sleep, also known as slow-wave sleep (SWS), and aid in characterizing the depth of sleep.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theta_rhythm - The "hippocampal theta rhythm" is a strong oscillation that can be observed in the hippocampus and other brain structures in numerous species of mammals including rodents, rabbits, dogs, cats, bats, and marsupials. "Cortical theta rhythms" are low-frequency components of scalp EEG, usually recorded from humans.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_wave - in the frequency range of 7.5-12.5 Hz arising from synchronous and coherent (in phase or constructive) electrical activity of thalamic pacemaker cells in humans. predominantly originate from the occipital lobe during wakeful relaxation with closed eyes. Alpha waves are reduced with open eyes, drowsiness and sleep. Historically, they were thought to represent the activity of the visual cortex in an idle state. More recent papers have argued that they inhibit areas of the cortex not in use, or alternatively that they play an active role in network coordination and communication. Occipital alpha waves during periods of eyes closed are the strongest EEG brain signals.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_wave - repeat at a frequency of 7.5–12.5 (and primarily 9–11) Hz, and are most prominent when the body is physically at rest.[1] Unlike the alpha wave, which occurs at a similar frequency over the resting visual cortex at the back of the scalp, the mu wave is found over the motor cortex, in a band approximately from ear to ear. A person suppresses mu wave patterns when he or she performs a motor action or, with practice, when he or she visualizes performing a motor action. This suppression is called desynchronization of the wave because EEG wave forms are caused by large numbers of neurons firing in synchrony. The mu wave is even suppressed when one observes another person performing a motor action.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensorimotor_rhythm - For most individuals, the frequency of the SMR is in the range of 13 to 15 Hz. The meaning of SMR is not fully understood. Phenomenologically, a person is producing a stronger SMR amplitude when the corresponding sensory-motor areas are idle, e.g. during states of immobility. SMR typically decrease in amplitude when the corresponding sensory or motor areas are activated, e.g. during motor tasks and even during motor imagery.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_wave - beta rhythm, is the term used to designate the frequency range of human brain activity between 12.5 and 30 Hz (12.5 to 30 transitions or cycles per second). Beta waves are split into three sections: Low Beta Waves (12.5–16 Hz, "Beta 1 power"); Beta Waves (16.5–20 Hz, "Beta 2 power"); and High Beta Waves (20.5–28 Hz, "Beta 3 power"). Beta states are the states associated with normal waking consciousness.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_wave - a pattern of neural oscillation in humans with a frequency between 25 and 100 Hz, though 40 Hz is typical. According to a popular theory, gamma waves may be implicated in creating the unity of conscious perception (the binding problem). However, there is no agreement on the theory




Event-related potential

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event-related_potential - the measured brain response that is the direct result of a specific sensory, cognitive, or motor event. More formally, it is any stereotyped electrophysiological response to a stimulus. The study of the brain in this way provides a noninvasive means of evaluating brain functioning in patients with cognitive diseases. ERPs are measured by means of electroencephalography (EEG). The magnetoencephalography (MEG) equivalent of ERP is the ERF, or event-related field.[2]


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P50_(neuroscience) - an event related potential occurring approximately 50 ms after the presentation of a stimulus, usually an auditory click.[1] The P50 response is used to measure sensory gating, or the reduced neurophysiological response to redundant stimuli.

Research has found an abnormal P50 suppression in people with schizophrenia, making it an example of a biological marker for the disorder. Besides schizophrenia, abnormal P50 suppression has been found in patients with traumatic brain injury, recreational drug use, and post-traumatic stress disorder

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P200 - or P2 component, is so named because it is a positive going electrical potential that peaks at about 200 milliseconds (varying between about 150 and 275 ms) after the onset of some external stimulus . The distribution of this component in the brain, as measured by electrodes placed across the scalp, is located around the centro-frontal and the parieto-occipital region. It is generally found to be maximal around the vertex (frontal region) of the scalp, however there have been some topographical differences noted in ERP studies of the P2 in different experimental conditions. Research on the visual P2 is at an early stage compared to other more established ERP components and there is much that we still do not know about it. In general, the P2 may be a part of cognitive matching system that compares sensory inputs with stored memory.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P3a - a component of time-locked (EEG) signals known as event-related potentials (ERP). The P3a is a positive-going scalp-recorded brain potential that has a maximum amplitude over frontal/central electrode sites with a peak latency falling in the range of 250–280 ms. The P3a has been associated with brain activity related to the engagement of attention (especially orienting and involuntary shifts to changes in the environment) and the processing of novelty.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P3b - a positive-going amplitude (usually relative to a reference behind the ear or the average of two such references) peaking at around 300 ms, though the peak will vary in latency (delay between stimulus and response) from 250–500 ms or later depending upon the task. Amplitudes are typically highest on the scalp over parietal brain areas. The P3b has been a prominent tool used to study cognitive processes for several decades. More specifically, this ERP component has played a key role in cognitive psychology research on information processing. Generally speaking, improbable events will elicit a P3b, and the less probable the event, the larger the P3b. However, in order to elicit a P3b, the improbable event must be related to the task at hand in some way (for example, the improbable event could be an infrequent target letter in a stream of letters, to which a subject might respond with a button press). The P3b can also be used to measure how demanding a task is on cognitive workload.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P600_(neuroscience) - syntactic positive shift (SPS), thought to be elicited by hearing or reading grammatical errors and other syntactic anomalies. Therefore, it is a common topic of study in neurolinguistic experiments investigating sentence processing in the human brain. The P600 can be elicited in both visual (reading) and auditory (listening) experiments,[1] and is characterized as a positive-going deflection with an onset around 500 milliseconds after the stimulus that elicits it; it often reaches its peak around 600 milliseconds after presentation of the stimulus (hence its name), and lasts several hundred milliseconds.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bereitschaftspotential - or BP (from German, "readiness potential"), also called the pre-motor potential or readiness potential (RP), is a measure of activity in the motor cortex and supplementary motor area of the brain leading up to voluntary muscle movement. The BP is a manifestation of cortical contribution to the pre-motor planning of volitional movement. It was first recorded and reported in 1964 by Hans Helmut Kornhuber and Lüder Deecke at the University of Freiburg in Germany. In 1965 the full publication appeared after many control experiments.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N2pc - an ERP component linked to selective attention. The N2pc appears over visual cortex contralateral to the location in space to which subjects are attending; if subjects pay attention to the left side of the visual field, the N2pc appears in the right hemisphere of the brain, and vice versa. This characteristic makes it a useful tool for directly measuring the general direction of a person's attention (either left or right) with fine-grained temporal resolution.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N200_(neuroscience) - a negative-going wave that peaks 200-350ms post-stimulus and is found primarily over anterior scalp sites. Past research focused on the N200 as a mismatch detector, but it has also been found to reflect executive cognitive control functions, and has recently been used in the study of language


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralized_readiness_potential - thought to reflect the preparation of motor activity on a certain side of the body; in other words, it is a spike in the electrical activity of the brain that happens when a person gets ready to move one arm, leg, or foot. It is a special form of bereitschaftspotential (a general pre-motor potential). LRPs are recorded using electroencephalography (EEG) and have numerous applications in cognitive neuroscience.

Neurotransmission

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromodulation - the physiological process by which a given neuron uses one or more neurotransmitters to regulate diverse populations of neurons. This is in contrast to classical synaptic transmission, in which one presynaptic neuron directly influences a single postsynaptic partner. Neuromodulators secreted by a small group of neurons diffuse through large areas of the nervous system, affecting multiple neurons. Major neuromodulators in the central nervous system include dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, histamine, and norepinephrine.



Neurotransmitters can be classified as one of four different types, shown below with examples:

  • Amino acids: glutamate, aspartate, glysine, GABA.
  • Monoamines: dopamine, serotonin, histamine, noradrenaline.
  • Peptides: substance p, odioid peptides.
  • Others: acetylcholine, adenosine, nitric oxide.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroendocrinology - the study of the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system, including the biological features of the cells involved, and how they communicate. The nervous and endocrine systems often act together in a process called neuroendocrine integration, to regulate the physiological processes of the human body. Neuroendocrinology arose from the recognition that the brain, especially the hypothalamus, controls secretion of pituitary gland hormones, and has subsequently expanded to investigate numerous interconnections of the endocrine and nervous systems. The neuroendocrine system is the mechanism by which the hypothalamus maintains homeostasis, regulating reproduction, metabolism, eating and drinking behaviour, energy utilization, osmolarity and blood pressure.







Precursors


Amino acids
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamic_acid - one of the 20-23 proteinogenic amino acids, and its codons are GAA and GAG. It is a non-essential amino acid. The carboxylate anions and salts of glutamic acid are known as glutamates. In neuroscience, glutamate is an important neurotransmitter that plays the principal role in neural activation. Glutamate is the most abundant excitatory neurotransmitter in the vertebrate nervous system. At chemical synapses, glutamate is stored in vesicles. Nerve impulses trigger release of glutamate from the pre-synaptic cell. Glutamate acts on ionotropic and metabotropic (G-protein coupled) receptors. In the opposing post-synaptic cell, glutamate receptors, such as the NMDA receptor or the AMPA receptor, bind glutamate and are activated. Because of its role in synaptic plasticity, glutamate is involved in cognitive functions like learning and memory in the brain. The form of plasticity known as long-term potentiation takes place at glutamatergic synapses in the hippocampus, neocortex, and other parts of the brain. Glutamate works not only as a point-to-point transmitter but also through spill-over synaptic crosstalk between synapses in which summation of glutamate released from a neighboring synapse creates extrasynaptic signaling/volume transmission. In addition, glutamate plays important roles in the regulation of growth cones and synaptogenesis during brain development as originally described by Mark Mattson.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamate_receptor - are synaptic receptors located primarily on the membranes of neuronal cells. Glutamate (the conjugate base of glutamic acid) is abundant in the human body, but particularly in the nervous system and especially prominent in the human brain where it is the body's most prominent neurotransmitter, the brain's main excitatory neurotransmitter, and also the precursor for GABA, the brain's main inhibitory neurotransmitter.[1] Glutamate receptors are responsible for the glutamate-mediated postsynaptic excitation of neural cells, and are important for neural communication, memory formation, learning, and regulation.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-Aminobutyric_acid - or GABA /ˈɡæbə/) is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system. It plays the principal role in reducing neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system. In humans, GABA is also directly responsible for the regulation of muscle tone. Although in chemical terms it is an amino acid, GABA is rarely referred to as such in the scientific or medical communities, because the term "amino acid," used without a qualifier, by convention refers to the alpha amino acids, which GABA is not, nor is it considered to be incorporated into proteins.



Monoamine
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamine_releasing_agent - or simply monoamine releaser, is a drug that induces the release of a monoamine neurotransmitter from the presynaptic neuron into the synapse, leading to an increase in the extracellular concentrations of the neurotransmitter. Many drugs induce their effects in the body and/or brain via the release of monoamine neurotransmitters, namely the amphetamines and related compounds.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesicular_monoamine_transporter - a transport protein integrated into the membrane of synaptic vesicles of presynaptic neurons. It acts to transport monoamine neurotransmitters – such as dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, epinephrine, and histamine – into the vesicles, which release the neurotransmitters into synapses as chemical messages to postsynaptic neurons. VMATs utilize a proton gradient generated by V-ATPases in vesicle membranes to power monoamine import.

Pharmaceutical drugs that target VMATs have possible applications for many conditions, leading to a plethora of biological research. These applications include drug addiction, psychiatric disorders, Parkinson's disease, and other neurological disorders. Many drugs that target VMAT act as inhibitors and alter the kinetics of the protein. Much research regarding the effects of altered VMATs on biological systems is still ongoing.


Catechol is a chemical, but a catechol may also be used as the name of a substituent, where it represents a 1,2-dihydroxybenzene group. Catecholamines are derived from the amino acid tyrosine. Catecholamines are water-soluble and are 50%-bound to plasma proteins in circulation. Included among catecholamines are: epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and dopamine; all of which are produced from phenylalanine and tyrosine. Release of the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine from the adrenal medulla of the adrenal glands is part of the fight-or-flight response.

Tyrosine is created from phenylalanine by hydroxylation by the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase. Tyrosine is also ingested directly from dietary protein. Catecholamine-secreting cells use several reactions to convert tyrosine serially to L-DOPA and then to dopamine. Depending on the cell type, dopamine may be further converted to norepinephrine or even further converted to epinephrine. Various stimulant drugs are catecholamine analogues.




The researchers took readings of the ultra-quick dopamine pulses as conscious patients played an investment game. They expected to see dopamine responses in direct relation to expected rewards and actual outcomes. They didn’t. “We analyzed the dataset of about a thousand pulses of dopamine, and it was flat,” said Montague, who is also a professor of physics in Virginia Tech’s College of Science and director of the Computational Psychiatry Unit of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. “The signals did not distinguish between a positive reaction and a negative one.”

The scientists used fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to measure the pulses of dopamine in the patients’ brains. This electrochemical technique allows for near-continuous measurements of chemical activity in the brain. In this case, it was used to measure the dopamine signaling 10 times each second, for several minutes, while patients made financially risky decisions.

We found that dopamine tracks two factors – what happened and what could have happened,” Montague said. “Our dopamine neurons appear to track whether something could have been better or worse, and this information is encoded by the rapid changes in dopamine release. “Dopamine encodes what are called reward-prediction errors – the ongoing difference between reward expectations and the actual rewards experienced,” Montague said. “From just dopamine signals, we can see when a person expects a reward and whether the person receives the reward. But in our most recent study, we found this earlier model of reward-prediction error to be incomplete. Rather, dopamine pulses appear to combine information about what might have happened with information about what actually happened. This is an entirely new way of viewing the role of dopamine signaling in the human brain.” [15]



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serotonin - a monoamine neurotransmitter. Biochemically derived from tryptophan, approximately 90% of the human body's total serotonin is located in the enterochromaffin cells in the GI tract, where it is used to regulate intestinal movements. The remainder is synthesized in serotonergic neurons of the CNS, where it has various functions. These include the regulation of mood, appetite, and sleep. Serotonin also has some cognitive functions, including memory and learning. Modulation of serotonin at synapses is thought to be a major action of several classes of pharmacological antidepressants.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epinephrine - a hormone and a neurotransmitter. Epinephrine and norepinephrine are two separate but related hormones secreted by the medulla of the adrenal glands. They are also produced at the ends of sympathetic nerve fibres, where they serve as chemical mediators for conveying the nerve impulses to effector organs. The investigation of the pharmacology of epinephrine made a major contribution to the understanding of the autonomic system and the function of the sympathetic system.

Epinephrine remains a useful medicine for several emergency indications. This is despite its non-specific action on adrenoceptors and the subsequent development of multiple selective medicines that target subtypes of the adrenoceptors. The word adrenaline is used in common parlance to denote increased activation of the sympathetic system associated with the energy and excitement of the fight-or-flight response. The influence of adrenaline is mainly limited to a metabolic effect and bronchodilation effect on organs devoid of direct sympathetic innervation.

In chemical terms, epinephrine is one of a group of monoamines called the catecholamines. It is produced in some neurons of the central nervous system, and in the chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla from the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine.

Epinephrine is synthesized in the medulla of the adrenal gland in an enzymatic pathway that converts the amino acid tyrosine into a series of intermediates and, ultimately, epinephrine. Tyrosine is first oxidized to L-DOPA, which is subsequently decarboxylated to give dopamine. Oxidation gives norepinephrine. The final step in epinephrine biosynthesis is the methylation of the primary amine of noradrenaline. This reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT) which utilizes S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) as the methyl donor. While PNMT is found primarily in the cytosol of the endocrine cells of the adrenal medulla (also known as chromaffin cells), it has been detected at low levels in both the heart and brain.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norepinephrine - Norepinephrine (INN) (abbreviated norepi or NE), also called noradrenaline (BAN) (abbreviated NA, NAd, or norad), or 4,5-β-trihydroxy phenethylamine is a catecholamine with multiple roles including those as a hormone and a neurotransmitter.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylenedioxypyrovalerone - a psychoactive recreational drug with stimulant properties which acts as a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI). It was first developed in the 1960s by a team at Boehringer Ingelheim. MDPV remained an obscure stimulant until around 2004 when it was reportedly sold as a designer drug. Products labeled as bath salts containing MDPV were previously sold as recreational drugs in gas stations and convenience stores in the United States, similar to the marketing for Spice and K2 as incense.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3-Fluoroamphetamine - a stimulant drug from the amphetamine family which acts as a monoamine releaser with similar potency to methamphetamine but more selectivity for dopamine and noradrenaline release over serotonin.
Endocannabinoids



Neuropeptide

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuropeptide - small protein-like molecules (peptides) used by neurons to communicate with each other. They are neuronal signaling molecules that influence the activity of the brain in specific ways. Different neuropeptides are involved in a wide range of brain functions, including analgesia, reward, food intake, metabolism, reproduction, social behaviors, learning and memory.

Neuropeptides are related to peptide hormones, and in some cases peptides that function in the periphery as hormones also have neuronal functions as neuropeptides. The distinction between neuropeptide and peptide hormone has to do with the cell types that release and respond to the molecule; neuropeptides are secreted from neuronal cells (primarily neurons but also glia for some peptides) and signal to neighboring cells (primarily neurons). In contrast, peptide hormones are secreted from neuroendocrine cells and travel through the blood to distant tissues where they evoke a response.



Neurotrophin

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotrophin - a family of proteins that induce the survival, development, and function of neurons. They belong to a class of growth factors, secreted proteins that are capable of signaling particular cells to survive, differentiate, or grow. Growth factors such as neurotrophins that promote the survival of neurons are known as neurotrophic factors. Neurotrophic factors are secreted by target tissue and act by preventing the associated neuron from initiating programmed cell death - thus allowing the neurons to survive. Neurotrophins also induce differentiation of progenitor cells, to form neurons. Although the vast majority of neurons in the mammalian brain are formed prenatally, parts of the adult brain (for example, the hippocampus) retain the ability to grow new neurons from neural stem cells, a process known as neurogenesis. Neurotrophins are chemicals that help to stimulate and control neurogenesis.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve_growth_factor - a neuropeptide primarily involved in the regulation of growth, maintenance, proliferation, and survival of certain target neurons. It is perhaps the prototypical growth factor, in that it is one of the first to be described. Since it was first isolated by Nobel Laureate Rita Levi-Montalcini in 1956, numerous biological processes involving NGF have been identified, two of them being the survival of pancreatic beta cells and the regulation of the immune system.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-derived_neurotrophic_factor - also known as BDNF, is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the BDNF gene. BDNF is a member of the neurotrophin family of growth factors, which are related to the canonical Nerve Growth Factor. Neurotrophic factors are found in the brain and the periphery.



Other
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetylcholine - an organic chemical that functions in the brain and body of many types of people and animals as a neurotransmitter—a chemical released by nerve cells to send signals to other cells. Its name derives from its chemical structure: it is an ester of acetic acid and choline. Parts in the body that use or are affected by acetylcholine are referred to as cholinergic.

Acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter used at the neuromuscular junction—in other words, it is the chemical that motor neurons of the nervous system release in order to activate muscles. This property means that drugs that affect cholinergic systems can have very dangerous effects ranging from paralysis to convulsions. Acetylcholine is also used as a neurotransmitter in the autonomic nervous system, both as an internal transmitter for the sympathetic nervous system and as the final product released by the parasympathetic nervous system.

Inside the brain acetylcholine functions as a neuromodulator—a chemical that alters the way other brain structures process information rather than a chemical used to transmit information from point to point. The brain contains a number of cholinergic areas, each with distinct functions. They play an important role in arousal, attention, and motivation. The addictive qualities of nicotine derive from its effects on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain.


In cardiac tissue acetylcholine neurotransmission has an inhibitory effect, which lowers heart rate. However, acetylcholine also behaves as an excitatory neurotransmitter at neuromuscular junctions in skeletal muscle.



Heart



Hormones



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peptide_hormone - hormones whose molecules are peptides or proteins, respectively. The latter have longer amino acid chain lengths than the former. These hormones have an effect on the endocrine system of animals, including humans. All hormones can be classified as either amino acid–based hormones (amine, peptide, or protein) or steroid hormones. The former are water-soluble and act on the surface of target cells via second messengers; the latter, being lipid-soluble, move through the plasma membranes of target cells (both cytoplasmic and nuclear) to act within their nuclei.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurohormone - any hormone produced and released by neuroendocrine cells (also called neurosecretory cells) into the blood. By definition of being hormones, they are secreted into the circulation for systemic effect, but they can also have a role of neurotransmitter or other roles such as autocrine (self) or paracrine (local) messenger.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurosecretion - the storage, synthesis and release of hormones from neurons. These neurohormones, produced by neurosecretory cells, are normally secreted from nerve cells in the brain that then circulate into the blood. These neurohormones are similar to nonneural endocrine cells and glands in that they also regulate both endocrine and nonendocrine cells. Neurosecretion cells also release their product farther than normal neurons, which only secrete short distances, into the extracellular space some distance from the target cell.


Steroid hormones

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steroid_hormone - a steroid that acts as a hormone. Steroid hormones can be grouped into five groups by the receptors to which they bind: glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, androgens, estrogens, and progestogens. Vitamin D derivatives are a sixth closely related hormone system with homologous receptors. They have some of the characteristics of true steroids as receptor ligands.

Steroid hormones help control metabolism, inflammation, immune functions, salt and water balance, development of sexual characteristics, and the ability to withstand illness and injury. The term steroid describes both hormones produced by the body and artificially produced medications that duplicate the action for the naturally occurring steroids.

The natural steroid hormones are generally synthesized from cholesterol in the gonads and adrenal glands. These forms of hormones are lipids. They can pass through the cell membrane as they are fat-soluble, and then bind to steroid hormone receptors (which may be nuclear or cytosolic depending on the steroid hormone) to bring about changes within the cell. Steroid hormones are generally carried in the blood, bound to specific carrier proteins such as sex hormone-binding globulin or corticosteroid-binding globulin. Further conversions and catabolism occurs in the liver, in other "peripheral" tissues, and in the target tissues.


Corticosteroid
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corticosteroid - a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex of vertebrates, as well as the synthetic analogues of these hormones. Two main classes of corticosteroids, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, are involved in a wide range of physiologic processes, including stress response, immune response, and regulation of inflammation, carbohydrate metabolism, protein catabolism, blood electrolyte levels, and behavior. Some common natural hormones are corticosterone and aldosterone.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineralocorticoid - a class of corticosteroids, which are a class of steroid hormones. Mineralocorticoids are corticosteroids that influence salt and water balances (electrolyte balance and fluid balance). The primary mineralocorticoid is aldosterone, notable for an aldehyde group at the 18 position.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldosterone - a steroid hormone, "the main mineralocorticoid hormone",:50 produced by the outer section (zona glomerulosa) of the adrenal cortex in the adrenal gland. It plays a central role in the regulation of the plasma sodium (Na+), the extracellular potassium (K+) and arterial blood pressure. It does so mainly by acting on the distal tubules and collecting ducts of the nephron, increasing reabsorption and excretion of ions out of and into the tubular fluids of the kidney, to cause the conservation of sodium, secretion of potassium, and thereby indirectly influencing water retention or loss, and influencing blood pressure and blood volume. When dysregulated, aldosterone is pathogenic and contributes to the development and progression of cardiovascular and renal disease. Aldosterone has exactly the opposite function of the atrial natriuretic hormone secreted by the heart.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucocorticoid - a class of corticosteroids, which are a class of steroid hormones. Glucocorticoids are corticosteroids that bind to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), that is present in almost every vertebrate animal cell. The name glucocorticoid (glucose + cortex + steroid) is composed from its role in regulation of glucose metabolism, synthesis in the adrenal cortex, and its steroidal structure (see structure to the right). A less common synonym is glucocorticosteroid.

GCs are part of the feedback mechanism in the immune system which reduces certain aspects of immune function, such as reduction of inflammation. They are therefore used in medicine to treat diseases caused by an overactive immune system, such as allergies, asthma, autoimmune diseases, and sepsis. GCs have many diverse (pleiotropic) effects, including potentially harmful side effects, and as a result are rarely sold over the counter. They also interfere with some of the abnormal mechanisms in cancer cells, so they are used in high doses to treat cancer. This includes: inhibitory effects on lymphocyte proliferation as in the treatment of lymphomas and leukemias; and the mitigation of side effects of anticancer drugs.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol - steroid hormone, in the glucocorticoid class of hormones. When used as a medication, it is known as hydrocortisone. It is produced in humans by the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex within the adrenal gland. It is released in response to stress and low blood-glucose concentration. It functions to increase blood sugar through gluconeogenesis, to suppress the immune system, and to aid in the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrates. It also decreases bone formation.

Sex hormone

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_steroid - also known as gonadal steroids, are steroid hormones that interact with vertebrate androgen or estrogen receptors.[1] Their effects are mediated by slow genomic mechanisms through nuclear receptors as well as by fast nongenomic mechanisms through membrane-associated receptors and signaling cascades. The term sex hormone is nearly always synonymous with sex steroid. The non-steroid hormones luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and gonadotropin-releasing hormone are usually not regarded as sex hormones, although they play major sex-related roles.


to srot

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurohypophysial_hormone - a family of structurally and functionally related peptide hormones. Their main representatives are oxytocin and vasopressin. They are named for being secreted by the neurohypophysis, i.e. the posterior pituitary gland (hypophysis refers to the pituitary gland), itself a neuronal projection from the hypothalamus.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_system - refers to the collection of glands of an organism that secrete hormones directly into the circulatory system to be carried towards distant target organs. The major endocrine glands include the pineal gland, pituitary gland, pancreas, ovaries, testes, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, hypothalamus, gastrointestinal tract and adrenal glands. The endocrine system is in contrast to the exocrine system, which secretes its hormones to the outside of the body using ducts. The endocrine system is an information signal system like the nervous system, yet its effects and mechanism are classifiably different. The endocrine system's effects are slow to initiate, and prolonged in their response, lasting from a few hours up to weeks. The nervous system sends information very quickly, and responses are generally short lived. In vertebrates, the hypothalamus is the neural control center for all endocrine systems. The field of study dealing with the endocrine system and its disorders is endocrinology, a branch of internal medicine.[1] Special features of endocrine glands are, in general, their ductless nature, their vascularity, and commonly the presence of intracellular vacuoles or granules that store their hormones. In contrast, exocrine glands, such as salivary glands, sweat glands, and glands within the gastrointestinal tract, tend to be much less vascular and have ducts or a hollow lumen.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membrane_steroid_receptor - also called extranuclear steroid receptors, are a class of receptors that bind and are activated by endogenous steroids and mediate rapid, non-genomic signaling via modulation of intracellular signaling cascades.They are another means besides classical nuclear steroid hormone receptors by which steroids mediate their biological effects.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exocrine_gland - produce and secrete substances onto an epithelial surface by way of a duct. Examples of exocrine glands include sweat, salivary, mammary, ceruminous, lacrimal, sebaceous, and mucous. Exocrine glands are one of two types of glands in the human body, the other being endocrine glands, which secrete their products directly into the bloodstream. The liver and pancreas are both exocrine and endocrine glands; they are exocrine glands because they secrete products—bile and pancreatic juice—into the gastrointestinal tract through a series of ducts, and endocrine because they secrete other substances directly into the bloodstream.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromorphology - the study of nervous system form, shape, and structure. The study involves looking at a particular part of the nervous system from a molecular and cellular level and connecting it to a physiological and anatomical point of view. The field also explores the communications and interactions within and between each specialized section of the nervous system.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytoarchitecture - also known as cytoarchitectonics, is the study of the cellular composition of the body's tissues under the microscope. Applied particularly to the study of the central nervous system, cytoarchitectonics is one of the ways to parse the brain, by obtaining sections of the brain and staining them with chemical agents that reveal how neurons are "stacked" into layers.







  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receptive_field - The receptive field of an individual sensory neuron is the particular part of the body surface in which a stimulus will trigger the firing of that neuron. This surface can be a hair in the cochlea or a piece of skin, retina, tongue or other part of an animal's body. Additionally, it can be the spaaaaaace surrounding an animal, such as an area of auditory spaaaaaace that is fixed in a reference system based on the ears but that moves with the animal as it moves (the spaaaaaace inside the ears), or in a fixed location in spaaaaaace that is largely independent of the animal's location (place cells). Receptive fields have been identified for neurons of the auditory system, the somatosensory system, and the visual system.

The concept of receptive fields can be extended further up to the neural system; if many sensory receptors all form synapses with a single cell further up, they collectively form the receptive field of that cell. For example, the receptive field of a ganglion cell in the retina of the eye is composed of input from all of the photoreceptors which synapse with it, and a group of ganglion cells in turn forms the receptive field for a cell in the brain. This process is called convergence.

Central nervous system

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_matter - a major component of the central nervous system, consisting of neuronal cell bodies, neuropil (dendrites and myelinated as well as unmyelinated axons), glial cells (astroglia and oligodendrocytes) and capillaries.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_matter - consists mostly of glial cells and myelinated axons that transmit signals from one region of the cerebrum to another and between the cerebrum and lower brain centers. White matter, long thought to be passive tissue, actively affects how the brain learns and functions. While grey matter is primarily associated with processing and cognition, white matter modulates the distribution of action potentials, acting as a relay and coordinating communication between different brain regions.

Brain

biiig mess currently


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striatum - also known as the neostriatum or striate nucleus, is a subcortical part of the forebrain. It receives input from the cerebral cortex and is the primary input to the basal ganglia system. Functionally, the striatum helps coordinate motivation with body movement. It facilitates and balances motivation with both higher-level and lower-level functions, such as inhibiting one's behavior in a complex social interaction and fine-motor functions of inhibiting small voluntary movement.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_ganglia - The basal ganglia (or basal nuclei) comprises multiple subcortical nuclei, of varied origin, in the brains of vertebrates, which are situated at the base of the forebrain. Basal ganglia are strongly interconnected with the cerebral cortex, thalamus, and brainstem, as well as several other brain areas. The basal ganglia is associated with a variety of functions including: control of voluntary motor movements, procedural learning, routine behaviors or "habits" such as bruxism, eye movements, cognition and emotion. Currently popular theories implicate the basal ganglia primarily in action selection; that is, it helps determine the decision of which of several possible behaviors to execute at any given time. In more specific terms, the basal ganglia's primary function is likely to control and regulate activities of the motor and premotor cortical areas so that voluntary movements can be performed smoothly









  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferior_temporal_gyrus - This region is one of the higher levels of the ventral stream (V5) of visual processing, associated with the representation of complex object features, such as global shape. It may also be involved in face perception, and in the recognition of numbers.
    • object schemata, figure/ground, numerosity





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsolateral_prefrontal_cortex - an area in the prefrontal cortex of the brain of humans and primates. It is one of the most recently evolved parts of the human brain, that undergoes an extremely prolonged period of maturation that lasts until adulthood. DLPFC is not an anatomical structure, but rather a functional one.

DLPFC is connected to the orbitofrontal cortex, and to a variety of brain areas, which include the thalamus, parts of the basal ganglia (specifically, the dorsal caudate nucleus), the hippocampus, and primary and secondary association areas of neocortex, including posterior temporal, parietal, and occipital areas. Also, DLPFC is the end point for the dorsal pathway (stream) that tells the brain how to interact with the stimuli. On the other hand, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (located more inferior/ventral to DLPFC) is the end point of the ventral pathway (stream) that brings information about the stimuli’s characteristics.

An important function of the DLPFC is the executive functions, such as working memory, cognitive flexibility, planning, inhibition, and abstract reasoning. However, DLPFC is not exclusively responsible for the executive functions. All complex mental activity requires the additional cortical and subcortical circuits with which the DLPFC is connected. The DLPFC is also the highest cortical area that is involved in motor planning, organization and regulation.

  • attentional selection
  • scanning of schemata
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventromedial_prefrontal_cortex - vmPFC) is a part of the prefrontal cortex in the mammalian brain. The ventral medial prefrontal is located in the frontal lobe at the bottom of the cerebral hemispheres and is implicated in the processing of risk and fear. It also plays a role in the inhibition of emotional responses, and in the process of decision making.

Can override stress response in




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalamus - situated between the cerebral cortex and the midbrain, relaying of sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex, and the regulation of consciousness, sleep, and alertness.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal_axis - a complex set of direct influences and feedback interactions among three endocrine glands: the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland (a pea-shaped structure located below the hypothalamus), and the adrenal (also called "suprarenal") glands (small, conical organs on top of the kidneys). The interactions among these organs constitute the HPA axis, a major part of the neuroendocrine system that controls reactions to stress and regulates many body processes, including digestion, the immune system, mood and emotions, sexuality and energy storage and expenditure. It is the common mechanism for interactions among glands, hormones, and parts of the midbrain that mediate the general adaptation syndrome (GAS). While steroids are produced only by vertebrates, the physiological role of the HPA axis and corticosteroids in stress response is so fundamental that analogous systems can be found in invertebrates and monocellular organisms as well.
Cerebral cortex



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insular_cortex - often called insula, insulary cortex or insular lobe, is a portion of the cerebral cortex folded deep within the lateral sulcus (the fissure separating the temporal lobe from the parietal and frontal lobes). The insulae are believed to be involved in consciousness and play a role in diverse functions usually linked to emotion or the regulation of the body's homeostasis. These functions include perception, motor control, self-awareness, cognitive functioning, and interpersonal experience. In relation to these, it is involved in psychopathology. The insular cortex is divided into two parts: the larger anterior insula and the smaller posterior insula in which more than a dozen field areas have been identified. The cortical area overlying the insula toward the lateral surface of the brain is the operculum (meaning lid). The opercula are formed from parts of the enclosing frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neocortex - The neocortex is the most developed of the cerebral tissues. The neocortex consists of the grey matter, or neuronal cell bodies and unmyelinated fibers, surrounding the deeper white matter (myelinated axons) in the cerebrum. There are two types of cortex in the neocortex, the proisocortex and the true isocortex. The pro-isocortex is a transitional area between the true isocortex, and the periallocortex (part of the allocortex). It is found in the cingulate cortex (part of the limbic system), in Brodmann's areas 24, 25, 30 and 32, the insula and the parahippocampal gyrus.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anterior_cingulate_cortex - he frontal part of the cingulate cortex that resembles a "collar" surrounding the frontal part of the corpus callosum. It consists of Brodmann areas 24, 32, and 33. It appears to play a role in a wide variety of autonomic functions, such as regulating blood pressure and heart rate. It is also involved in rational cognitive functions, such as reward anticipation, decision-making, empathy, impulse control, and emotion.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralimbic_cortex - an area of three-layered cortex that includes the following regions: the piriform cortex, entorhinal cortex, the parahippocampal cortex on the medial surface of the temporal lobe, and the cingulate cortex just above the corpus callosum. The paralimbic cortex lies close to, and is directly connected with, the structures of the limbic system.[1](The prefix para meaning beside or adjacent to). The paralimbic cortex, also referred to as the mesocortex, or juxtallocortex, is interposed between the neocortex and the allocortex.The paralimbic cortex provides a gradual transition from primary limbic regions, including the septal region, substantia innominata, and the amyglada nuclei, to higher neocortical regions.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortical_column - also called hypercolumn, macrocolumn or sometimes cortical module, is a group of neurons in the cortex of the brain that can be successively penetrated by a probe inserted perpendicularly to the cortical surface, and which have nearly identical receptive fields. Neurons within a minicolumn encode similar features, whereas a hypercolumn "denotes a unit containing a full set of values for any given set of receptive field parameters". A cortical module is defined as either synonymous with a hypercolumn (Mountcastle) or as a tissue block of multiple overlapping hypercolumns.

It is still unclear what precisely is meant by the term, and it does not correspond to any single structure within the cortex. It has been impossible to find a canonical microcircuit that corresponds to the cortical column, and no genetic mechanism has been deciphered that designates how to construct a column. However, the columnar organization hypothesis is currently the most widely adopted to explain the cortical processing of information

Limbic system
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbic_system - a complex set of brain structures located on both sides of the thalamus, right under the cerebrum. It is not a separate system but a collection of structures from the telencephalon, diencephalon, and mesencephalon. It includes the olfactory bulbs, hippocampus, amygdala, anterior thalamic nuclei, fornix, columns of fornix, mammillary body, septum pellucidum, habenular commissure, cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, limbic cortex, and limbic midbrain areas.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Limbic_system - the collective name for structures in the human brain involved in emotion, motivation, and emotional association with memory. The limbic system operates by influencing the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorsal_raphe_nucleus - located on the midline of the brainstem and is part of the raphe nucleus, consisting of the rostral and caudal subdivisions. An increased number of cells in the lateral aspects of the dorsal raphe is characteristic of humans and other primates. The dorsal raphe is the largest serotonergic nucleus and provides a substantial proportion of the serotonin innervation to the forebrain. The dorsal raphe nucleus is rich in pre-synaptic serotonin 5-HT1A autoreceptors, and it's believed that the action of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in this region is responsible for the latency of their antidepressant effect.

Starts fight-or-flight response if not overridden by the vmPFC




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_gland - also known as suprarenal glands, are endocrine glands that produce a variety of hormones including adrenaline and the steroids aldosterone and cortisol. They are found above the kidneys. Each gland has an outer cortex which produces steroid hormones and an inner medulla. The adrenal cortex itself is divided into three zones: zona glomerulosa, the zona fasciculata and the zona reticularis. The adrenal cortex produces three main types of steroid hormones: mineralocorticoids, glucocorticoids, and androgens.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_medulla - art of the adrenal gland. It is located at the center of the gland, being surrounded by the adrenal cortex. It is the innermost part of the adrenal gland, consisting of cells that secrete epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline), and a small amount of dopamine in response to stimulation by sympathetic preganglionic neurons.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrenal_cortex - Situated along the perimeter of the adrenal gland, the adrenal cortex mediates the stress response through the production of mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids, such as aldosterone and cortisol, respectively. It is also a secondary site of androgen synthesis. Recent data suggest that adrenocortical cells under pathological as well as under physiological conditions show neuroendocrine properties; within the normal adrenal, this neuroendocrine differentiation seems to be restricted to cells of the zona glomerulosa and might be important for an autocrine regulation of adrenocortical function.
Endocrine system
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_system - refers to the collection of glands of an organism that secrete hormones directly into the circulatory system to be carried toward a distant target organ. The major endocrine glands include the pineal gland, pituitary gland, pancreas, ovaries, testes, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, hypothalamus, gastrointestinal tract and adrenal glands. The endocrine system is in contrast to the exocrine system, which secretes its hormones using ducts. Examples of exocrine glands include the sweat glands, salivary glands, mammary glands, and liver. The endocrine system is an information signal system like the nervous system, yet its effects and mechanism are classifiably different. The endocrine system's effects are slow to initiate, and prolonged in their response, lasting from a few hours up to weeks. The nervous system sends information very quickly, and responses are generally short lived. In vertebrates, the hypothalamus is the neural control center for all endocrine systems. The field of study dealing with the endocrine system and its disorders is endocrinology, a branch of internal medicine.


Exocrine system
to sort


Metencephalon
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metencephalon - composed of the pons and the cerebellum; contains a portion of the fourth ventricle; and the trigeminal nerve (CN V), abducens nerve (CN VI), facial nerve (CN VII), and a portion of the vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebellum - (Latin for "little brain") is a region of the brain that plays an important role in motor control. It may also be involved in some cognitive functions such as attention and language, and in regulating fear and pleasure responses; its movement-related functions are the most solidly established. The cerebellum does not initiate movement, but it contributes to coordination, precision, and accurate timing. It receives input from sensory systems of the spinal cord and from other parts of the brain, and integrates these inputs to fine tune motor activity. Cerebellar damage does not cause paralysis, but instead produces disorders in fine movement, equilibrium, posture, and motor learning.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_nerve - or cranial nerve zero, found very close to (and often confused for a branch of) the olfactory nerve, the terminal nerve is not connected to the olfactory bulb, where smells are analyzed. This fact suggests that the nerve is either vestigial or may be related to the sensing of pheromones. This hypothesis is further supported by the fact that the terminal nerve projects to the medial and lateral septal nuclei and the preoptic areas, all of which are involved in regulating sexual behavior in mammals.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfactory_nerve - typically considered the first cranial nerve, or simply CN I. It contains the afferent nerve fibers of the olfactory receptor neurons, transmitting nerve impulses about odors to the central nervous system, where they are perceived by the sense of smell (olfaction). Derived from the embryonic nasal placode, the olfactory nerve is somewhat unique among cranial nerves because it is capable of some regeneration if damaged. The olfactory nerve is sensory in nature and originates on the olfactory mucosa in the upper part of the nasal cavity. From the olfactory mucosa, the nerve (actually many small nerve fascicles) travels up through the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone to reach the surface of the brain. Here the fascicles enter the olfactory bulb and synapse there; from the bulbs (one on each side) the olfactory information is transmitted into the brain via the olfactory tract.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optic_nerve - also known as cranial nerve II, is a paired nerve that transmits visual information from the retina to the brain. The optic nerve is derived from optic stalks during the seventh week of development and is composed of retinal ganglion cell axons and glial cells. In humans, the optic nerve extends from the optic disc to the optic chiasm and continues as the optic tract to the lateral geniculate nucleus, pretectal nuclei, and superior colliculus. The optic nerve is the second of twelve paired cranial nerves and is technically part of the central nervous system, rather than the peripheral nervous system because it is derived from an out-pouching of the diencephalon (optic stalks) during embryonic development. As a consequence, the fibers of the optic nerve are covered with myelin produced by oligodendrocytes, rather than Schwann cells of the peripheral nervous system, and are encased within the meninges. Peripheral neuropathies like Guillain–Barré syndrome do not affect the optic nerve. However, most typically the optic nerve is grouped with the other eleven cranial nerves and considered to be part of the peripheral nervous system.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculomotor_nerve - the third cranial nerve. It enters the orbit via the superior orbital fissure and innervates muscles that enable most movements of the eye and that raise the eyelid. The nerve also contains fibers that innervate the muscles that enable pupillary constriction and accommodation (ability to focus on near objects as in reading). The oculomotor nerve is derived from the basal plate of the embryonic midbrain. Cranial nerves IV and VI also participate in control of eye movement.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trochlear_nerve - also called the fourth cranial nerve or cranial nerve IV, is a motor nerve (a somatic efferent nerve) that innervates only a single muscle: the superior oblique muscle of the eye, which operates through the pulley-like trochlea. The trochlear nerve is unique among the cranial nerves in several respects: It is the smallest nerve in terms of the number of axons it contains; It has the greatest intracranial length; It is the only cranial nerve that exits from the dorsal (rear) aspect of the brainstem; It innervates a muscle, Superior Oblique muscle, on the opposite side (contralateral) from its origin. Homologous trochlear nerves are found in all jawed vertebrates. The unique features of the trochlear nerve, including its dorsal exit from the brainstem and its contralateral innervation, are seen in the primitive brains of sharks. The human trochlear nerve is derived from the basal plate of the embryonic midbrain.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigeminal_nerve - the fifth cranial nerve, or simply CN V) is a nerve responsible for sensation in the face and motor functions such as biting and chewing. The largest of the cranial nerves, its name ("trigeminal" = tri-, or three and -geminus, or twin; thrice-twinned) derives from the fact that each trigeminal nerve (one on each side of the pons) has three major branches: the ophthalmic nerve (V1), the maxillary nerve (V2), and the mandibular nerve (V3). The ophthalmic and maxillary nerves are purely sensory, and the mandibular nerve has sensory (or "cutaneous") and motor functions. Sensory information from the face and body is processed by parallel pathways in the central nervous system. The motor division of the trigeminal nerve derives from the basal plate of the embryonic pons, and the sensory division originates in the cranial neural crest.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abducens_nerve - abducent nerve (the sixth cranial nerve, also called the sixth nerve or simply CNVI) is a somatic efferent nerve that, in humans, controls the movement of a single muscle, the lateral rectus muscle of the eye.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_nerve - the seventh cranial nerve, or simply cranial nerve VII. It emerges from the brainstem between the pons and the medulla, controls the muscles of facial expression, and functions in the conveyance of taste sensations from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue and oral cavity. It also supplies preganglionic parasympathetic fibers to several head and neck ganglia.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossopharyngeal_nerve - the ninth cranial nerve (CN IX), is a mixed nerve that carries afferent sensory and efferent motor information. It exits the brainstem out from the sides of the upper medulla, just rostral (closer to the nose) to the vagus nerve. The motor division of the glossopharyngeal nerve is derived from the basal plate of the embryonic medulla oblongata, while the sensory division originates from the cranial neural crest.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagus_nerve - the tenth cranial nerve or CN X, and interfaces with parasympathetic control of the heart, lungs and digestive tract. The vagus nerves are paired; however, they are normally referred to in the singular. It is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system in the human body.




Sensory
  • V2 - stable image
  • V3 - colour, motion
  • V4 - simple geometry
  • V5 - object motion
  • V6 - ego motion



Spinal chord

Peripheral nervous system

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_nervous_system - the part of the nervous system that consists of the nerves and ganglia outside of the brain and spinal cord. The main function of the PNS is to connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the limbs and organs, essentially serving as a communication relay going back and forth between the brain and spinal cord with the rest of the body. Unlike the CNS, the PNS is not protected by the bone of spine and skull, or by the blood–brain barrier, which leaves it exposed to toxins and mechanical injuries. The peripheral nervous system is mainly divided into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. In the somatic nervous system, the cranial nerves are part of the PNS with the exception of cranial nerve II, the optic nerve, along with the retina. The second cranial nerve is not a true peripheral nerve but a tract of the diencephalon. Cranial nerve ganglia originate in the CNS. However, the remaining ten cranial nerve axons extend beyond the brain and are therefore considered part of the PNS. The Autonomic nervous system is an involuntary control of smooth muscle. The connection between CNS and organs allows the system to be in two different functional states: sympathetic and parasympathetic.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganglion - a nerve cell cluster or a group of nerve cell bodies located in the peripheral nervous system. Cells found in a ganglion are called ganglion cells, though this term is also sometimes used to refer specifically to retinal ganglion cells.

Somatic nervous system

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_nervous_system - associated with the voluntary control of body movements via skeletal muscles, consists of efferent nerves responsible for stimulating muscle contraction, including all the non-sensory neurons connected with skeletal muscles and skin.

Autonomic nervous system

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomic_nervous_system - visceral nervous system or involuntary nervous system, acts as a control system that functions largely below the level of consciousness to control visceral functions, including heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, salivation, perspiration, pupillary dilation, micturition (urination), sexual arousal, breathing and swallowing. Most autonomous functions are involuntary but they can often work in conjunction with the somatic nervous system which provides voluntary control.
Sympathetic
Parasympathetic
Enteric
Social

Medulla

CNs V, VII, IX, X, XI

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Default Mode Network

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Default_mode_network - (DMN) is a network of brain regions that are active when the individual is not focused on the outside world and the brain is at wakeful rest. Also called the default network, default state network, or task-negative network, the DMS is characterized by coherent neuronal oscillations at a rate lower than 0.1 Hz (one every ten seconds). During goal-oriented activity, the DMN is deactivated and another network, the task-positive network (TPN) is activated. The DMN may correspond to task-independent introspection, or self-referential thought, while the TPN corresponds to action, and thus perhaps the DMN and TPN may be "considered elements of a single default network with anti-correlated components".




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  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenology - the study of periodic plant and animal life cycle events and how these are influenced by seasonal and interannual variations in climate, as well as habitat factors (such as elevation).


Being

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Being - an extremely broad concept encompassing objective and subjective features of reality and existence. Anything that partakes in being is also called a "being", though often this use is limited to entities that have subjectivity (as in the expression "human being"). So broad a notion has inevitably been elusive and controversial in the history of philosophy, beginning in western philosophy with attempts among the pre-Socratics to deploy it intelligibly.

As an example of efforts in recent times, Heidegger (who himself drew on ancient Greek sources) adopted German terms like Dasein to articulate the topic. Several modern approaches build on such continental European exemplars as Heidegger, and apply metaphysical results to the understanding of human psychology and the human condition generally (notably in the Existentialist tradition).

By contrast, in mainstream Analytical philosophy the topic is more confined to abstract investigation, in the work of such influential theorists as W. V. O. Quine, to name one of many. One most fundamental question that continues to exercise philosophers is put by William James: "How comes the world to be here at all instead of the nonentity which might be imagined in its place? ... from nothing to being there is no logical bridge."

See also Health, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Science, Living, Making, etc.

Consciousness

See also Biology, Science

General

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness - the quality or state of awareness, or, of being aware of an external object or something within oneself. It has been defined as: sentience, awareness, subjectivity, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind. Despite the difficulty in definition, many philosophers believe that there is a broadly shared underlying intuition about what consciousness is. As Max Velmans and Susan Schneider wrote in The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness: "Anything that we are aware of at a given moment forms part of our consciousness, making conscious experience at once the most familiar and most mysterious aspect of our lives."

At one time consciousness was viewed with skepticism by many scientists, but in recent years it has become a significant topic of research in psychology, neuropsychology, and neuroscience. The primary focus is on understanding what it means biologically and psychologically for information to be present in consciousness—that is, on determining the neural and psychological correlates of consciousness. The majority of experimental studies assess consciousness by asking human subjects for a verbal report of their experiences (e.g., "tell me if you notice anything when I do this"). Issues of interest include phenomena such as subliminal perception, blindsight, denial of impairment, and altered states of consciousness produced by drugs and alcohol, or spiritual or meditative techniques.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentience - the ability to feel, perceive, or to experience subjectivity. Eighteenth-century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think (reason) from the ability to feel (sentience). In modern Western philosophy, sentience is the ability to experience sensations (known in philosophy of mind as "qualia"). In Eastern philosophy, sentience is a metaphysical quality of all things that requires respect and care. The concept is central to the philosophy of animal rights, because sentience is necessary for the ability to suffer, and thus is held to confer certain rights.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_consciousness - a term the American biologist Gerald Edelman coined to describe the ability, found in humans and some animals, to integrate observed events with memory to create an awareness of the present and immediate past of the world around them. This form of consciousness is also sometimes called "sensory consciousness". Put another way, primary consciousness is the presence of various subjective sensory contents of consciousness such as sensations, perceptions, and mental images. For example, primary consciousness includes a person's experience of the blueness of the ocean, a bird's song, and the feeling of pain. Thus, primary consciousness refers to being mentally aware of things in the world in the present without any sense of past and future; it is composed of mental images bound to a time around the measurable present.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awareness - level of consciousness where sense data can be confirmed by an observer without necessarily implying understanding, the state or quality of being aware of something. in biological psychology, awareness is defined as a human's or an animal's perception and cognitive reaction to a condition or event.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapience - often defined as wisdom, or the ability of an organism or entity to act with appropriate judgement, a mental faculty which is a component of intelligence or alternatively may be considered an additional faculty, apart from intelligence, with its own properties. Robert Sternberg has segregated the capacity for judgement from the general qualifiers for intelligence, which is closer to cognizant aptitude than to wisdom. Displaying sound judgement in a complex, dynamic environment is a hallmark of wisdom.

The word sapience is derived from the Latin sapientia, meaning "wisdom." Related to this word is the Latin verb sapere, meaning "to taste, to be wise, to know"; the present participle of sapere forms part of Homo sapiens, the Latin binomial nomenclature created by Carl Linnaeus to describe the human species. Linnaeus had originally given humans the species name of diurnus, meaning man of the day. But he later decided that the dominating feature of humans was wisdom, hence application of the name sapiens. His chosen biological name was intended to emphasize man's uniqueness and separation from the rest of the animal kingdom.

In fantasy fiction and science fiction, sapience often describes an essential property that bestows "personhood" onto a non-human. It indicates that a computer, alien, mythical creature or other similar will be treated as a being with capabilities and desires as any human character, often eligible to full civil rights. The words "sentience," "self-awareness," and "consciousness" are used in similar ways in science fiction.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_problem_of_consciousness - the problem of explaining how and why we have qualia or phenomenal experiences — how sensations acquire characteristics, such as colours and tastes. David Chalmers, who introduced the term "hard problem" of consciousness, contrasts this with the "easy problems" of explaining the ability to discriminate, integrate information, report mental states, focus attention, etc. "it is the only major question in the sciences that we don't even know how to ask."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_problem - binding problem is a term used at the interface between neuroscience, cognitive science and philosophy of mind that has multiple meanings. Firstly, there is the segregation problem: a practical computational problem of how brains segregate elements in complex patterns of sensory input so that they are allocated to discrete "objects". In other words, when looking at a blue square and a yellow circle, what neural mechanisms ensure that the square is perceived as blue and the circle as yellow, and not vice versa? The segregation problem is sometimes called BP1. Secondly, there is the combination problem: the problem of how objects, background and abstract or emotional features are combined into a single experience. The combination problem is sometimes called BP2. However, the difference between these two problems is not always clear. Moreover, the historical literature is often ambiguous as to whether it is addressing the segregation or the combination problem.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compatibilism - or soft determinism, the belief that free will and determinism are compatible ideas, and that it is possible to believe both without being logically inconsistent. Compatibilists believe freedom can be present or absent in situations for reasons that have nothing to do with metaphysics.








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  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchestrated_objective_reduction - a hypothesis that consciousness in the brain originates from processes inside neurons, rather than from connections between neurons as in the conventional view. The mechanism is held to be a quantum physics process called objective reduction which is orchestrated by molecular structures called microtubules. The hypothesis, which was put forward in the early 1990s by theoretical physicist Roger Penrose and anaesthesiologist and psychologist Stuart Hameroff, has so far been rejected by the majority of cognitive scientists.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergentism - the belief in emergence, particularly as it involves consciousness and the philosophy of mind, and as it contrasts (or not) with reductionism. A property of a system is said to be emergent if it is in some sense more than the "sum" of the properties of the system's parts. An emergent property is said to be dependent on some more basic properties (and their relationships and configuration), so that it can have no separate existence. However, a degree of independence is also asserted of emergent properties, so that they are not identical to, or reducible to, or predictable from, or deducible from their bases. The different ways in which the independence requirement can be satisfied lead to variant types of emergence.




"awareness is a rough sketch of attention"






  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_architecture - in computer science is a blueprint for software agents and intelligent control systems, depicting the arrangement of components. The architectures implemented by intelligent agents are referred to as cognitive architectures
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_architecture - a blueprint for intelligent agents. It proposes (artificial) computational processes that act like certain cognitive systems, most often, like a person, or acts intelligent under some definition. Cognitive architectures form a subset of general agent architectures. The term 'architecture' implies an approach that attempts to model not only behavior, but also structural properties of the modelled system.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Workspace_Theory - a simple cognitive architecture that has been developed to account qualitatively for a large set of matched pairs of conscious and unconscious processes. It was proposed by Bernard Baars (1988, 1997, 2002). Brain interpretations and computational simulations of GWT are the focus of current research.




Cognition

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  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognition - is mental processing that includes the attention of working memory, comprehending and producing language, calculating, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making. Various disciplines, such as psychology, philosophy and linguistics all study cognition. However, the term's usage varies across disciplines; for example, in psychology and cognitive science, "cognition" usually refers to an information processing view of an individual's psychological functions. It is also used in a branch of social psychology called social cognition to explain attitudes, attribution, and group dynamics. In cognitive psychology and cognitive engineering, cognition is typically assumed to be information processing in a participant’s or operator’s mind or brain. Cognition is a faculty for the processing of information, applying knowledge, and changing preferences. Cognition, or cognitive processes, can be natural or artificial, conscious or unconscious. These processes are analyzed from different perspectives within different contexts, notably in the fields of linguistics, anesthesia, neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, biology, systemics, and computer science. Within psychology or philosophy, the concept of cognition is closely related to abstract concepts such as mind, intelligence. It encompasses the mental functions, mental processes (thoughts), and states of intelligent entities (humans, collaborative groups, human organizations, highly autonomous machines, and artificial intelligences).




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_functions - also known as cognitive control and supervisory attentional system) is an umbrella term for the management (regulation, control) of cognitive processes, including working memory, reasoning, task flexibility, and problem solving as well as planning and execution. The executive system is a theorized cognitive system in psychology that controls and manages other cognitive processes, such as executive functions. The prefrontal areas of the frontal lobe are necessary but not solely sufficient for carrying out these functions.


  • Cognitive control is a construct from contemporary cognitive neuroscience that refers to processes that allow information processing and behavior to vary adaptively from moment to moment depending on current goals, rather than remaining rigid and inflexible. Cognitive control processes include a broad class of mental operations including goal or context representation and maintenance, and strategic processes such as attention allocation and stimulus-response mapping. Cognitive control is associated with a wide range of processes and is not restricted to a particular cognitive domain. For example, the presence of impairments in cognitive control functions may be associated with specific deficits in attention, memory, language comprehension and emotional processing. Given its pervasive influence, impaired cognitive control could account for many of the widespread impairments exhibited by people with schizophrenia and other neurodevelopmental disorders.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_ethology - a branch of ethology concerned with the influence of conscious awareness and intention on the behaviour of an animal. Donald Griffin, a zoology professor in the United States, set up the foundations for researches in the cognitive awareness of animals within their habitats. The fusion of cognitive science and classical ethology into cognitive ethology "emphasizes observing animals under more-or-less natural conditions, with the objective of understanding the evolution, adaptation (function), causation, and development of the species-specific behavioral repertoire"





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualia - term used in philosophy to refer to individual instances of subjective, conscious experience. The term derives from the Latin adverb quālis (Latin pronunciation: [ˈkwaːlis]) meaning "what sort" or "what kind". Examples of qualia are the pain of a headache, the taste of wine, or the perceived redness of an evening sky. The importance of qualia in philosophy of mind comes largely from the fact that it is seen as posing a fundamental problem for materialist explanations of the mind-body problem. Much of the debate over their importance hinges on the definition of the term that is used, as various philosophers emphasize or deny the existence of certain features of qualia. As such, the nature and existence of qualia are controversial.



Phenomenon

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_(philosophy) - the philosophical study of the structures of experience and consciousness. As a philosophical movement it was founded in the early years of the 20th century by Edmund Husserl and was later expanded upon by a circle of his followers at the universities of Göttingen and Munich in Germany. It then spread to France, the United States, and elsewhere, often in contexts far removed from Husserl's early work. Phenomenology, in Husserl's conception, is primarily concerned with the systematic reflection on and study of the structures of consciousness and the phenomena that appear in acts of consciousness. This ontology (study of reality) can be clearly differentiated from the Cartesian method of analysis which sees the world as objects, sets of objects, and objects acting and reacting upon one another.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Husserl - was a German philosopher who established the school of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day. He elaborated critiques of historicism and of psychologism in logic. Not limited to empiricism, but believing that experience is the source of all knowledge, he worked on a method of phenomenological reduction by which a subject may come to know directly an essence.

Husserl's conception of phenomenology has been criticized and developed not only by himself but also by students, such as Edith Stein, by hermeneutic philosophers, such as Martin Heidegger, by existentialists, such as Max Scheler, Nicolai Hartmann, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre, and by other philosophers, such as Paul Ricoeur, Jean-Luc Marion, Emmanuel Lévinas, and sociologists Alfred Schütz and Eric Voegelin.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_(psychology) - the study of subjective experience. It is an approach to psychological subject matter that has its roots in the philosophical work of Edmund Husserl. Early phenomenologists such as Husserl, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty conducted philosophical investigations of consciousness in the early 20th century. Their critiques of psychologism and positivism later influenced at least two main fields of contemporary psychology: the phenomenological psychological approach of the Duquesne School (The Descriptive Phenomenological Method in Psychology), including Amedeo Giorgi and Frederick Wertz; and the experimental approaches associated with Francisco Varela, Shaun Gallagher, Evan Thompson, and others (embodied mind thesis). Other names associated with the movement include Jonathan Smith (Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis), Steinar Kvale, and Wolfgang Köhler. Phenomenological psychologists have also figured prominently in the history of the humanistic psychology movement.

The experiencing subject can be considered to be the person or self, for purposes of convenience. In phenomenological philosophy (and in particular in the work of Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty), "experience" is a considerably more complex concept than it is usually taken to be in everyday use. Instead, experience (or being, or existence itself) is an "in-relation-to" phenomenon, and it is defined by qualities of directedness, embodiment, and worldliness, which are evoked by the term "Being-in-the-World".

The quality or nature of a given experience is often referred to by the term qualia, whose archetypical exemplar is "redness". For example, we might ask, "Is my experience of redness the same as yours?" While it is difficult to answer such a question in any concrete way, the concept of intersubjectivity is often used as a mechanism for understanding how it is that humans are able to empathise with one another's experiences, and indeed to engage in meaningful communication about them. The phenomenological formulation of Being-in-the-World, where person and world are mutually constitutive, is central here.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoch%C3%A9 - an ancient Greek term which, in its philosophical usage, describes the theoretical moment where all judgments about the existence of the external world, and consequently all action in the world, is suspended. One's own consciousness is subject to immanent critique so that when such belief is recovered, it will have a firmer grounding in consciousness. This concept was developed by the Greek skeptics and plays an implicit role in skeptical thought, as in René Descartes' epistemic principle of methodic doubt. The term was popularized in philosophy by Edmund Husserl. Husserl elaborates the notion of 'phenomenological epoché' or 'bracketing' in Ideas I. Through the systematic procedure of 'phenomenological reduction', one is thought to be able to suspend judgment regarding the general or naive philosophical belief in the existence of the external world, and thus examine phenomena as they are originally given to consciousness.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenological_description - attempts to depict the structure of first person lived experience, rather than theoretically explain it. This method was first conceived of by Edmund Husserl. It was developed through the latter work of Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Immanuel Levinas and Maurice Merleau-Ponty - and others. It has also been developed through recent strands of modern psychology and cognitive science.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasein - a German word which means "being there" or "presence" (German: da "there"; sein "being") often translated in English with the word "existence". It is a fundamental concept in the existential philosophy of Martin Heidegger particularly in his magnum opus Being and Time. Heidegger uses the expression Dasein to refer to the experience of being that is peculiar to human beings. Thus it is a form of being that is aware of and must confront such issues as personhood, mortality and the dilemma or paradox of living in relationship with other humans while being ultimately alone with oneself.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nachgewahren - Husserlian term referring to the way a lived experience is grasped and retained immediately after it occurs. It is a key component of phenomenological description and analysis since it involves memory and intentionality.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurophenomenology - refers to a scientific research program aimed to address the hard problem of consciousness in a pragmatic way. It combines neuroscience with phenomenology in order to study experience, mind, and consciousness with an emphasis on the embodied condition of the human mind. The field is very much linked to fields such as neuropsychology, neuroanthropology and behavioral neuroscience (also known as biopsychology) and the study of phenomenonology in psychology.
  • Neurophenomenology and Contemplative Experience - Themostimportantfeatureofthisapproach isthatexperienceisnotseen asan epiphenomenon,butisconsidered centraltoany adequateunderstanding ofthemind,and accordingly needsto beinvestigated inacarefulphenomenologicalmanner.



  • THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF PERSONHOOD: CHARLES TAYLOR AND EDMUND HUSSERLDERMOT MORAN - University College Dublin. This paper argues that Charles Taylor’s influential accounts of embodied personhood and agency are closer to the phenomenological accounts of personhood found in the mature Husserl (especially his Ideas II and in his ethics lectures) than, perhaps, he realises. Taylor acknowledges the infl uence of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Martin Heidegger (through the lens of Hubert Dreyfus) but tends to see Husserl as imprisoned within the Cartesian tradition that begins from the certainty of self-consciousness. I shall develop relevant aspects of embodied, situated subjectivity found in Husserl and shared by Taylor ; and, fi nally, I shall refl ect on the diffi cult problematic of the relation between natural and transcendental approaches to personhood.


Teilhard de Chardin's (1964) - "Refracted rearwards along the course of evolution, consciousness displays itself qualitatively as a spectrum of shifting shades whose lower terms are lost in the night."





Perception

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense - a physiological capacity of organisms that provides data for perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology (or cognitive science), and philosophy of perception. The nervous system has a specific sensory system or organ, dedicated to each sense.

Humans have a multitude of senses. Sight (ophthalmoception), hearing (audioception), taste (gustaoception), smell (olfacoception or olfacception), and touch (tactioception) are the five traditionally recognized senses. The ability to detect other stimuli beyond those governed by these most broadly recognized senses also exists, and these sensory modalities include temperature (thermoception), kinesthetic sense (proprioception), pain (nociception), balance (equilibrioception), vibration (mechanoreception), and various internal stimuli (e.g. the different chemoreceptors for detecting salt and carbon dioxide concentrations in the blood). However, what constitutes a sense is a matter of some debate, leading to difficulties in defining what exactly a distinct sense is, and where the borders between responses to related stimuli lay.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perception - the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the environment. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical or chemical stimulation of the sense organs. For example, vision involves light striking the retina of the eye, smell is mediated by odor molecules, and hearing involves pressure waves. Perception is not the passive receipt of these signals, but is shaped by learning, memory, expectation, and attention. Perception involves these "top-down" effects as well as the "bottom-up" process of processing sensory input. The "bottom-up" processing transforms low-level information to higher-level information (e.g., extracts shapes for object recognition). The "top-down" processing refers to a person's concept and expectations (knowledge), and selective mechanisms (attention) that influence perception. Perception depends on complex functions of the nervous system, but subjectively seems mostly effortless because this processing happens outside conscious awareness.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_(psychology) - a group of expectations that shape experience by making people especially sensitive to specific kinds of information. A perceptual set, also called perceptual expectancy, is a predisposition to perceive things in a certain way. Perceptual sets occur in all the different senses. They can be long term, such as a special sensitivity to hearing one's own name in a crowded room, or short term, as in the ease with which hungry people notice the smell of food. A mental set is a framework for thinking about a problem. It can be shaped by habit or by desire. Mental sets can make it easy to solve a class of problem, but attachment to the wrong mental set can inhibit problem-solving and creativity.


Stimulus


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subliminal_stimuli - literally "below threshold"), contrary to supraliminal stimuli or "above threshold", are any sensory stimuli below an individual's threshold for conscious perception. A recent review of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies shows that subliminal stimuli activate specific regions of the brain despite participants being unaware. Visual stimuli may be quickly flashed before an individual can process them, or flashed and then masked, thereby interrupting the processing. Audio stimuli may be played below audible volumes or masked by other stimuli.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulus_control - said to occur when an organism behaves in one way in the presence of a given stimulus and another way in its absence. For example, the presence of a stop sign increases the probability that "braking" behavior will occur. Typically stimulus control is brought about by reinforcing a behavior in the presence of one stimulus and omitting reinforcement in the presence of another stimulus. The term "stimulus control" implies nothing as to any internal processes that might mediate behavioral control, whereas "cognitive control" refers broadly to inferred internal processes like attention and working memory that may modulate or seemingly compete with direct control by stimuli. Some theorists believe that all behavior is under some form of stimulus control. For example, in the analysis of B. F. Skinner, verbal behavior is a complicated assortment of behaviors with a variety of controlling stimuli.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulus_modality - also called sensory modality, is one aspect of a stimulus or what we perceive after a stimulus. For example the temperature modality is registered after heat or cold stimulate a receptor. Some sensory modalities include: light, sound, temperature, taste, pressure, smell. The type and location of the sensory receptor activated by the stimulus plays the primary role in coding the sensation. All sensory modalities work together to heighten stimuli sensation when necessary.



  • Interoception: the sense of the physiological condition of the body. - Converging evidence indicates that primates have a distinct cortical image of homeostatic afferent activity that reflects all aspects of the physiological condition of all tissues of the body. This interoceptive system, associated with autonomic motor control, is distinct from the exteroceptive system (cutaneous mechanoreception and proprioception) that guides somatic motor activity. The primary interoceptive representation in the dorsal posterior insula engenders distinct highly resolved feelings from the body that include pain, temperature, itch, sensual touch, muscular and visceral sensations, vasomotor activity, hunger, thirst, and 'air hunger'. In humans, a meta-representation of the primary interoceptive activity is engendered in the right anterior insula, which seems to provide the basis for the subjective image of the material self as a feeling (sentient) entity, that is, emotional awareness.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_information_theory - a theory about human perception and in particular about visual perceptual organization, which is the neuro-cognitive process that enables us to perceive scenes as structured wholes consisting of objects arranged in space. SIT was initiated, in the 1960s, by Emanuel Leeuwenberg and has been developed further mainly by Peter van der Helm. It has been applied to a wide range of research topics, mostly in visual form perception but also in, for instance, visual ergonomics, data visualization, and music perception.

SIT began as a quantitative model of visual pattern classification. Nowadays, it includes quantitative models of symmetry perception and amodal completion, and is theoretically sustained by a perceptually adequate formalization of visual regularity, a quantitative account of viewpoint dependencies, and a powerful form of neurocomputation. SIT has been argued to be the best defined and most successful extension of Gestalt ideas. It is the only Gestalt approach providing a formal calculus that generates plausible perceptual interpretations.

Somatic

See Action

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic - means 'of the body'—relating to the body "distinct" from the mind, soul, or spirit. In medicine, somatic illness is bodily, not mental, illness.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesthetics - the study of body motion, and of the perception (both conscious and unconscious) of one's own body motions. The perception of continuous movement (kinesthesia) is largely unconscious. A conscious proprioception is achieved through increased awareness. Kinaesthetics involves the teaching and personal development of such awareness.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proprioception - meaning "one's own", "individual" and perception, is the sense of the relative position of neighbouring parts of the body and strength of effort being employed in movement. It is provided by proprioceptors in skeletal striated muscles and in joints. It is distinguished from exteroception, by which one perceives the outside world, and interoception, by which one perceives pain, hunger, etc., and the movement of internal organs. The word kinesthesia (kinesthetic sense) has been used inconsistently to refer either to proprioception alone or to the brain's integration of proprioceptive and
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Damasio - Damasio's main field is neurobiology, especially neural systems which subserve emotion, decision-making, memory, language and consciousness. Damasio believes that emotions play a critical role in high-level cognition—an idea counter to dominant 20th-century views in psychology, neuroscience and philosophy. Damasio formulated the somatic marker hypothesis, a theory about how emotions and their biological underpinnings are involved in decision-making (both positively and negatively, and often non-consciously). Emotions provide the scaffolding for the construction of social cognition and are required for the self processes which undergird consciousness.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_marker_hypothesis - Proposes a mechanism by which emotional processes can guide (or bias) behavior, particularly decision-making. When individuals make decisions, they must assess the incentive value of the choices available to them, using cognitive and emotional processes. When the individuals face complex and conflicting choices, they may be unable to decide using only cognitive processes, which may become overloaded. In these cases (and others), somatic markers can help decide. Somatic markers are associations between reinforcing stimuli that induce an associated physiological affective state.


Attention

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salience_(neuroscience) - the state or quality by which it stands out relative to its neighbours. Saliency detection is considered to be a key attentional mechanism that facilitates learning and survival by enabling organisms to focus their limited perceptual and cognitive resources on the most pertinent subset of the available sensory data.

Saliency typically arises from contrasts between items and their neighborhood, such as a red dot surrounded by white dots, a flickering message indicator of an answering machine, or a loud noise in an otherwise quiet environment. Saliency detection is often studied in the context of the visual system, but similar mechanisms operate in other sensory systems. What is salient can be influenced by training: for example, for human subjects particular letters can become salient by training.

When attention deployment is driven by salient stimuli, it is considered to be bottom-up, memory-free, and reactive. Attention can also be guided by top-down, memory-dependent, or anticipatory mechanisms, such as when looking ahead of moving objects or sideways before crossing streets. Humans and other animals have difficulty paying attention to more than one item simultaneously, so they are faced with the challenge of continuously integrating and prioritizing different bottom-up and top-down influences.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_attention - the shared focus of two individuals on an object. It is achieved when one individual alerts another to an object by means of eye-gazing, pointing or other verbal or non-verbal indications. An individual gazes at another individual, points to an object and then returns their gaze to the individual. Early research showed it was possible for an adult to bring certain objects in the environment to an infant's attention using eye gaze. Subsequent research demonstrates that two important skills in joint attention are following eye gaze and identifying intention. The ability to share gaze with another individual is an important skill in establishing reference. The ability to identify intention is important in a child's ability to learn language and direct the attention of others. Joint attention is important for many aspects of language development including comprehension, production and word learning.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribution_(psychology) - in social psychology, the process by which individuals explain the causes of behavior and events. Attribution theory is the study of models to explain those processes. Psychological research into attribution began with the work of Fritz Heider in the early part of the 20th century, subsequently developed by others such as Harold Kelley and Bernard Weiner.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deconcentration_of_attention - "Deconcentration of attention is opposite to concentration and can be interpreted as a process of dismantling of the figures in the field of perception and transformation of the perceptual field into a uniform (in the sense that no individual elements could be construed as a perceptual figure) background."


  • Field and observer modes of remembering - Nigro and Neisser (1983) contrasted two ways of remembering personal experiences: the rememberer may 'see' the event from his or her perspective as in normal perception, or 'see' the self engaged in the event as an observer would. Several factors contribute to the determination of perspective, but Nigro and Neisser also reported that many subjects claimed they could change to another perspective at will. We sampled personal memories from several life periods and assessed ability to change the initially reported perspective. Changing was easier for recent or vividly recalled events, harder for older and less vividly recalled events. Memory perspectives may differ in other aspects than their imagery. A second study was conducted to determine whether affective experience is altered when perspectives are changed. The affect experienced decreased when shifting from a field to an observer perspective, but did not change with the converse shift. These studies provide further evidence that remembering is more than retrieval. The information that enters awareness is determined by the information sources in memory and the organisational scheme adopted for recollection.
  • http://psych.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/Frank%20%26%20Gilo%2089.pdf Field and observer modes of remembering





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervigilance - an enhanced state of sensory sensitivity accompanied by an exaggerated intensity of behaviors whose purpose is to detect threats. Hypervigilance is also accompanied by a state of increased anxiety which can cause exhaustion. Other symptoms include: abnormally increased arousal, a high responsiveness to stimuli, and a constant scanning of the environment for threats. In hypervigilance, there is a perpetual scanning of the environment to search for sights, sounds, people, behaviors, smells, or anything else that is reminiscent of threat or trauma. The individual is placed on high alert in order to be certain danger is not near. Hypervigilance can lead to a variety of obsessive behavior patterns, as well as producing difficulties with social interaction and relationships. Hypervigilance can be a symptom of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and various types of anxiety disorder. It is distinguished from paranoia. Paranoid states, such as those in schizophrenia, can seem superficially similar, but are characteristically different.

Affect

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affect_(psychology) - refers to the experience of feeling or emotion, a key part of the process of an organism's interaction with stimuli. The affective domain represents one of the three divisions described in modern psychology.

Affective states are considered psycho-physiological constructs and are split up into three main categories: valence, arousal, and motivational intensity. Valence is the positive-to-negative evaluation of the subjectively experienced state. Emotional valence is defined as referring to the emotion’s consequences, eliciting circumstances, or subjective feel or attitude. Arousal is by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and can be measured subjectively. Arousal is a construct that is closely related to motivational intensity but they differ because motivation requires action implications while arousal does not. Motivational intensity refers to impulsion to act. It is the strength of urge to move toward or away from a stimulus. Simply moving is not considered approach motivation without a motivational urge present. All three of these categories are important when looking at the effect of affective states on cognitive scope. Initially, it was thought that positive affects broadened cognitive scope whereas negative affects narrowed cognitive scope. However, evidence now suggests that affects high in motivational intensity narrow cognitive scope whereas affects low in motivational intensity broaden cognitive scope. The cognitive scope has indeed proven to be a highly effective cognitive approach.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affect_(philosophy) - a concept, used in the philosophy of Baruch Spinoza and elaborated by Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, that places emphasis on bodily experience. For Spinoza, as discussed in Parts Two and Three of his Ethics, affects are states of mind and body related to (but not exactly synonymous with) feelings and emotions, of which he says there are three primary kinds: pleasure or joy (laetitia), pain or sorrow (tristitia) and desire (cupiditas) or appetite.

Subsequent philosophical usage by Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari and their translator Brian Massumi, while derived explicitly from Spinoza, tends to distinguish more sharply than Spinoza does between affect and what are conventionally called emotions. Affects are difficult to grasp and conceptualize because, as Spinoza says, "an affect or passion of the mind [animi pathema] is a confused idea" which is only perceived by the increase or decrease it causes in the body's vital force. The term "affect" is central to what has become known as the "affective turn" in the humanities and social sciences.

Since 2000, a number of authors in the social sciences and humanities have begun to explore affect theory as a way of understanding spheres of experience (including bodily experience) which fall outside of the dominant paradigm of representation (based on rhetoric and semiotics); this movement has been called the affective turn. Consequently, these approaches are interested in the widest possible variety of interactions and encounters, interactions and encounters that are not necessarily limited to human sensibility. The translator of Deleuze and Guattari's A Thousand Plateaus, Canadian political philosopher Brian Massumi, has given influential definitions of affect (see above) and has written on the neglected importance of movement and sensation in cultural formations and our interaction with real and virtual worlds. Likewise, geographer Nigel Thrift has explored the role of affect in what he terms "non-representational theory". In 2010, The Affect Theory Reader was published by Melissa Gregg and Gregory J. Seigworth and has provided the first compendium of affect theory writings. Researchers such as Mog Stapleton, Daniel D. Hutto and Peter Carruther have pointed to the need to investigate and to develop the notions of affect and emotion. They hold that these are important in the developing paradigm of embodiment in cognitive science, in consciousness studies and the philosophy of mind. This step will be necessary for cognitive science, Mog Stapleton maintains, to be "properly embodied" cognitive science.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affect_display - a subject's externally displayed affect. The display can be by facial, vocal, or gestural means (APA 2006, p. 26). When displayed affect is different from the subjective affect, it is incongruent affect. Some professionals[who?] use the term "affect" to mean "affect display". Affect display refers to the impetus for observable expression of emotion; for the human being that expression or feeling displayed to others through facial expressions, hand gestures, tone of voice and other emotional signs such as laughter or tears is a part of a series of non-conscious or conscious cognitive events. Many aspects of the expressions vary between and within cultures and are displayed in various forms ranging from the most discreet of facial expressions to the most dramatic and prolific gestures (Batson, 1992). Affect display is also a critical facet of communication in the social domain. Interpersonal communication is colored by displayed affect and there are various theories on affective reactions to stimuli to include conscious and non-conscious reaction and positive or negative affect.




  • Consciousness and the varieties of emotion experience: a theoretical framework. Data reviewed suggest that previous theories of emotion experience are too narrow in scope and that lack of consensus is due to the fact that emotion experience takes various forms and is heterogenous. The authors treat separately the content of emotion experience, the underlying nonconscious correspondences, and processes producing emotion experience. They classify the nature and content of emotion experience and propose that it depends on 3 aspects of attention: mode (analytic-synthetic; detached-immersed), direction (self-world), and focus (evaluation-action). The account is informed by a 2-level view of consciousness in which phenomenology (1st order) is distinguished from awareness (2nd order). These distinctions enable the authors to differentiate and account for cases of "unconscious" emotion, in which there is an apparent lack of phenomenology or awareness.





Emotions on Cerebral Asymmetry]



  • Animal spirits - "The more we learn about the emotions shared by all mammals, the more we must rethink our own human intelligence" [32]


  • ttp://www.utm.utoronto.ca/~w3psyuli/PReprints/JPSP97AffectIntensity.pdf

Limbic system



Amygdala
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response - also called the fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response [in PTSD], hyperarousal, or the acute stress response is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. It was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon. His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, priming the animal for fighting or fleeing. More specifically, the adrenal medulla produces a hormonal cascade that results in the secretion of catecholamines, especially norepinephrine and epinephrine. Amit Sood, Professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine discusses the classic fight or flight response and states that estrogen and testosterone are also hormones that affect how we react to stress, as are the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin. This response is recognized as the first stage of a general adaptation syndrome that regulates stress responses among vertebrates and other organisms.

Arousal

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arousal - the physiological and psychological state of being awake. It involves activation of the reticular activating system in the brainstem, the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system, leading to increased heart rate and blood pressure and a condition of sensory alertness, mobility and readiness to respond.

The arousal system involves many different neural systems. Five major systems originating in the brainstem, with connections extending throughout the cortex, are based on the brain's neurotransmitters, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, dopamine, histamine, and serotonin. When these systems are in action, the receiving neural areas become sensitive and responsive to incoming signals, producing alertness and cortical activity.

Arousal is important in regulating consciousness, attention, and information processing. It is a crucial for motivating certain behaviours, such as mobility, the pursuit of nutrition, the fight-or-flight response and sexual activity (known as the arousal phase of Masters and Johnson's human sexual response cycle). It is also important in emotion and has been included as a part of theories such as the James-Lange theory of emotion. According to Hans Eysenck, differences in baseline arousal level lead people to be extraverts or introverts.

The Yerkes-Dodson law states that an optimal level of arousal for performance exists, and too little or too much arousal can adversely affect task performance. One interpretation of the Yerkes-Dodson Law is the Easterbrook Cue-Utilisation hypothesis. Easterbrook states that an increase of arousal decreases the number of cues that can be used.

In positive psychology, arousal is described as a response to a difficult challenge for which the subject has moderate skills.


"Arousal is the mobilization or activation of energy, which occurs in preparation or during actual behavior (Deckers, 2010). Arousal is energy that is produced by the interaction of internal and external stimuli. Three types of arousal are physiological, brain, and psychological arousal. P[hysiological arousal is how an individual's body changes during arousal. Physiological arousal entails changes, such as sweaty palms, increased muscle tension, breathing, and heart rate. Brain arousal is the stages of sleep, awake, and alertness within the brain (Deckers, 2010). Deckers (2010), "psychological arousal refers to how subjectively aroused an individual feels" (p. 3). Feelings of psychological arousal includes anxiety, fearfulness, and tension.

"Behavior is the actions or reactions of an human or nonhuman animal in response to internal or external stimuli. The relationship between arousal and behavior is that arousal is the energy that develops in preparation of or during behavior. This relationship between arousal and behavior can impacts an individual's body in several ways, such as an individual developing anxiety and tension. The relationship between arousal and behavior depends on the nature of the task that is being performed (Deckers, 2010). Therefore, arousal and behavior can impact an individual's performance based on the task that is performed, and diminished or enhance performance.

"Three sources of arousal are stimuli, collative variables, and tasks. Stimuli is anything in the environment that causes behavior to occur, collative variables refers to collectively to stimulus characteristics that include novelty, complexity, and incongruity, and tasks are activities that stimulates arousal (Deckers, 2010). I believe that all three sources of arousal have an effect on arousal level, and one source can affect an individual's arousal level greater than another source could affect a different individual's arousal level because this depend on that particular individual's situation or circumstance. Therefore, stimuli could have the greatest effect on one individual's arousal level, while tasks could have the greatest on another individual's arousal level, and yet collative variables could have the greatest effect on a different individual's arousal level."


"The finding of a weak V-shaped relation between valence and arousal at the nomothetic level should be held against the background of the large individual differences that were observed in the relation between valence and arousal at the idiographic level. Our findings show thatthe valence-arousal relation can take almost any form, underscoring Gordon Allport’s observation many years ago that what may hold for the average person or across persons, may differ dramatically from what holds for each individual.

"The fact that the V-shaped relation between valence and arousal was consistently characterized by asymmetry—both in general as for most specific individuals—does however signal that arousal does not uniformly covary with pleasant and unpleasant feelings. In the context of the debate of the bipolarity of affect, this finding suggests that at least to someextent positive and negative affect are separable, and have bivariate instead of bipolar properties, at least in terms of their relation to arousal. Future research could take this finding as a starting point to further clarify in which respects or contexts positive and negative valence are bipolar, or bivariate (such as in their relations with other psychological dimensions).


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startle_response - a largely unconscious defensive response to sudden or threatening stimuli, such as sudden noise or sharp movement, and is associated with negative affect. Usually the onset of the startle response is a startle reflex reaction. The startle reflex is a brainstem reflectory reaction (reflex) that serves to protect vulnerable parts, such as the back of the neck (whole-body startle) and the eyes (eyeblink) and facilitates escape from sudden stimuli. It is found across the lifespan of many species. An individual's emotional state may lead to a variety of responses.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear-potentiated_startle - FPS is a reflexive physiological reaction to a presented stimulus, and is an indicator of the fear reaction in an organism. The FPS response can be elicited in the face of any threatening stimulus (e.g., any object, person or situation that would cause someone to experience feelings of fear), but it can also be elicited by a neutral stimulus as a result of fear conditioning, a process that occurs when a benign stimulus comes to evoke fear and anxiety upon being paired with a traumatic or fear-provoking event. The stimulus in question is usually of auditory (e.g., loud noise) or visual (e.g., bright light) nature, and startle response measures include eyeblink rates and pulse/heart rate. The negative impact of heightened FPS in the face of neutral stimuli can be treated pharmacologically, using psychotropic medications that are typically used to reduce anxiety in humans. Recent literature, moreover, has implicated increased FPS responses as a correlate in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escape_response - escape reaction, or escape behaviour is a possible reaction in response to stimuli indicative of danger. In particular, it initiates an escape motion of an animal. In the cases of reflectory reactions, the escape response may also be called escape reflex. The term is also used in a more general setting: avoiding of unpleasant or dangerous situations.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerkes%E2%80%93Dodson_law - an empirical relationship between arousal and performance, originally developed by psychologists Robert M. Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson in 1908. The law dictates that performance increases with physiological or mental arousal, but only up to a point. When levels of arousal become too high, performance decreases. The process is often illustrated graphically as a bell-shaped curve which increases and then decreases with higher levels of arousal.

Surprise


Stress


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_stress_reaction - also called acute stress disorder, psychological shock, mental shock, or simply shock) is a psychological condition arising in response to a terrifying or traumatic event. It should not be confused with the unrelated circulatory condition of shock, or the concept of shock value.








Polyvagal theory

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvagal_Theory - proposed and developed by Dr. Stephen Porges, Director of the Brain-Body Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The theory specifies two functionally distinct branches of the vagus, or tenth cranial nerve. The branches of the vagal nerve serve different evolutionary stress responses in mammals: the more primitive branch elicits immobilization behaviors (e.g., feigning death), whereas the more evolved branch is linked to social communication and self-soothing behaviors. These functions follow a phylogenetic hierarchy, where the most primitive systems are activated only when the more evolved structures fail. These neural pathways regulate autonomic state and the expression of emotional and social behavior. Thus, according to this theory, physiological state dictates the range of behavior and psychological experience. Polyvagal theory has many implications for the study of stress, emotion, and social behavior, which has traditionally utilized more peripheral indices of arousal, such as heart rate and cortisol level. The measurement of vagal tone in humans has become a novel index of stress vulnerability and reactivity in many studies of populations with affective disorders, such as children with conduct problems and those suffering from borderline personality disorder.

"my desire really was to try to develop methodologies that can measure people without asking them questions, so, it wasn't like I wanted to develop lie detectors, but I felt that the language that we use to describe how we feel was always distorted, and you don't want to ever get into an argument with a person you don't feel that way, and I wanted to understand in a sense the ability to make people feel safe and really what the range of human behaviour would be if people were safe. that's the real question."

Pleasure


Pain

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nociception - the encoding and processing of harmful stimuli in the nervous system, and, therefore, the ability of a body to sense potential harm. It is the afferent activity in the peripheral and central nervous systems produced by stimulation of specialized free nerve endings called nociceptors or "pain receptors" that only respond to tissue damage caused by intense chemical (e.g., chilli powder in the eyes), mechanical (e.g., pinching, crushing) or thermal (heat and cold) stimulation. Once stimulated, a nociceptor sends a signal along a chain of nerve fibers via the spinal cord to the brain. Nociception triggers a variety of autonomic responses and may also result in a subjective experience of pain in sentient beings. Nociceptive neurons generate trains of action potentials in response to intense stimuli, and the frequency of firing determines the intensity of the pain.

The three types of pain receptors are cutaneous (skin), somatic (joints and bones), and visceral (body organs). It was previously believed that pain was simply the overloading of sensory receptors, but research in the first half of the 20th century indicated that pain is a distinct phenomenon that intertwines with all of the other senses, including touch. Pain was once considered a non-material experience, but recent studies show that pain is registered in specific parts of the brain. The main function of pain is to attract our attention to dangers and motivate us to avoid them.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nociceptor - a sensory neuron (nerve cell) that responds to potentially damaging stimuli by sending signals to the spinal cord and brain. This process, called nociception, usually causes the perception of pain.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allodynia - refers to central pain sensitization (increased response of neurons) following painful, often repetitive, stimulation. Allodynia can lead to the triggering of a pain response from stimuli which do not normally provoke pain. Temperature or physical stimuli can provoke allodynia, which may feel like a burning sensation, and it often occurs after injury to a site. Allodynia is different from hyperalgesia, an extreme, exaggerated reaction to a stimulus which is normally painful.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperesthesia - a condition that involves an abnormal increase in sensitivity to stimuli of the sense. "When a non-noxious stimulus causes the sensation of pain the area will be termed hyperaesthetic". Stimuli of the senses can include sound that one hears, foods that one tastes, textures that one feels, and so forth. Increased touch sensitivity is referred to as "tactile hyperesthesia", and increased sound sensitivity is called "auditory hyperesthesia". Tactile hyperesthesia may be a common symptom of many neurologic disorders such as herpes zoster, peripheral neuropathy and radiculopathies. In 1979, and then in 1994, Merskey, Bogduk, Noordenbos, Devor and others (a subcommittee of International Association for the Study of Pain) proposed, instead of hyperaestheia, the concept of allodynia, meaning "other pain", defined as a pain resulting from a stimulus that does not normally provoke pain.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypoalgesia - denotes a decreased sensitivity to painful stimuli. Hypoalgesia occurs when nociceptive (painful) stimuli are interrupted or decreased somewhere along the path between the input (nociceptors), and the places where they are processed and recognized as pain in the conscious mind. Hypoalgesic effects can be mild, such as massaging a stubbed toe to make it hurt less or taking aspirin to decrease a headache, or they can be severe, like being under strong anesthesia. Hypoalgesia can be caused by exogenous chemicals such as opioids, as well as by chemicals produced by the body in phenomena such as fear- and exercise- induced hypoalgesia. Hypoalgesia can also be associated with diseases, such as CIPA or in less severe cases with diabetes or other diseases associated with hypertension

Valence

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valence_(psychology) - Valence, as used in psychology, especially in discussing emotions, means the intrinsic attractiveness (positive valence) or aversiveness (negative valence) of an event, object, or situation. However, the term is also used to characterize and categorize specific emotions. For example, the emotions popularly referred to as "negative", such as anger and fear, have "negative valence". Joy has "positive valence". Positively valenced emotions are evoked by positively valenced events, objects, or situations. The term is also used about the hedonic tone of feelings, affect, certain behaviors (for example, approach and avoidance), goal attainment or nonattainment, and conformity with or violation of norms. Ambivalence can be viewed as conflict between positive and negative valence-carriers. Theorists taking a valence-based approach to studying affect, judgment, and choice posit that emotions with the same valence (i.e. anger and fear or pride and surprise) produce a similar influence on judgments and choices.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valence_effect - of prediction is the tendency for people to simply overestimate the likelihood of good things happening rather than bad things. Valence refers to the positive or negative emotional charge some entity possesses. This finding has been corroborated by dozens of studies. In one straightforward experiment, all other things being equal, participants assigned a higher probability to picking a card that had a smiling face on its reverse side than one which had a frowning face In addition, some have reported a valence effect in attribution when we overpredict the likelihood of positive events happening to ourselves relative to others. (See self-serving bias.)

The outcome of valence effects may be called wishful thinking. However, in certain situations, the valence effect may actually alter the event in some way so that it indeed results in a positive outcome. For example, in some cases generals have roused up their soldiers to a point where they were able to emerge victorious in battle.


  • PDF: Appraising Valence - ‘Valence’ is used in many different ways in emotion theory. It generally refers tothe ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ character of an emotion, as well as to the ‘positive’ or‘negative’ character of some aspect of emotion. After reviewing these differentuses, I point to the conceptual problems that come with them. In particular, I dis-tinguish: problems that arise from conflating the valence of an emotion with thevalence of its aspects, and problems that arise from the very idea that an emotion(and/or its aspects) can be divided into mutually exclusive opposites. The firstgroup of problems does not question the classic dichotomous notion of valence,but the second does. In order to do justice to the richness of daily emotions, emo-tion science needs more complex conceptual tools.

Emotions


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_competence - one's ability to express or release one's inner feelings (emotions). It implies an ease around others and determines one's ability to effectively and successfully lead and express. It is described as the essential social skills to recognize, interpret, and respond constructively to emotions in yourself and others.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_affectivity - a personality variable that involves the experience of negative emotions and poor self-concept. Negative affectivity subsumes a variety of negative emotions, including anger, contempt, disgust, guilt, and fear, and nervousness. Low negative affectivity is characterized by frequent states of calmness and serenity, along with states of confidence, activeness, and great enthusiasm.

Individuals differ in negative emotional reactivity. Trait negative affectivity roughly corresponds to the dominant personality factor of anxiety/neuroticism that is found within the Big Five personality traits as emotional stability. The Big Five are characterized as openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Neuroticism can plague an individual with severe mood swings, frequent sadness, worry, and being easily disturbed, and predicts the development and onset of all "common mental disorders. Research shows that negative affectivity relates to different classes of variables: Self-reported stress and (poor) coping skills, health complaints, and frequency of unpleasant events. Weight gain and mental health complaints are often experienced as well.

People who express high negative affectivity view themselves and a variety of aspects of the world around them in generally negative terms. Negative affectivity is strongly related to life satisfaction. Individuals high in negative affect will exhibit, on average, higher levels of distress, anxiety, and dissatisfaction, and tend to focus on the unpleasant aspects of themselves, the world, the future, and other people, and also evoke more negative life events. The similarities between these affective traits and life satisfaction have led some researchers to view both positive and negative affect with life satisfaction as specific indicators of the broader construct of subjective well-being.

Negative affect arousal mechanisms can induce negative affective states as evidenced by a study conducted by Stanley S. Seidner on negative arousal and white noise. The study quantified reactions from Mexican and Puerto Rican participants in response to the devaluation of speakers from other ethnic origins.




  • Bodily maps of emotions - Emotions coordinate our behavior and physiological states during survival-salient events and pleasurable interactions. Even though we are often consciously aware of our current emotional state, such as anger or happiness, the mechanisms giving rise to these subjective sensations have remained unresolved. Here we used a topographical self-report tool to reveal that different emotional states are associated with topographically distinct and culturally universal bodily sensations; these sensations could underlie our conscious emotional experiences. Monitoring the topography of emotion-triggered bodily sensations brings forth a unique tool for emotion research and could even provide a biomarker for emotional disorders.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeostatic_emotion - primordial emotion or primordial feeling is an attention-demanding sensation and motivation (e.g., thirst, hunger, fatigue) evoked by an internal body state that drives behavior (drinking, eating and resting in these examples) aimed at maintaining the body's internal milieu in its ideal state. Derek Denton defines "primordial emotion" as "the subjective element of the instincts, which are the genetically programmed behaviour patterns which contrive homeostasis. They include thirst, hunger for air, hunger for food, pain, hunger for specific minerals etc. There are two constituents of a primordial emotion--the specific sensation which when severe may be imperious, and the compelling intention for gratification by a consummatory act."




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_expression - one or more motions or positions of the muscles beneath the skin of the face. These movements convey the emotional state of an individual to observers. Facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication. They are a primary means of conveying social information between humans, but they also occur in most other mammals and some other animal species.







  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appraisal_theory - the theory in psychology that emotions are extracted from our evaluations (appraisals or estimates) of events that cause specific reactions in different people. Essentially, our appraisal of a situation causes an emotional, or affective, response that is going to be based on that appraisal.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mood_(psychology) - an emotional state. Moods differ from emotions in that they are less specific, less intense, and less likely to be triggered by a particular stimulus or event. Moods generally have either a positive or negative valence. In other words, people typically speak of being in a good mood or a bad mood. Mood also differs from temperament or personality traits which are even longer lasting.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blunted_affect - clinical term describing a lack of emotional reactivity (affect display) on the part of an individual. It manifests as a failure to express feelings either verbally or non-verbally, especially when talking about issues that would normally be expected to engage the emotions. Expressive gestures are rare and there is little animation in facial expression or vocal inflection. Conversely, there may be poor modulation of feelings as well, with reduced expression punctuated by periods of very strong expression, including laughing uncontrollably, crying inconsolably, and outbursts of anger.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limit-experience - a type of action or experience which approaches the edge of living in terms of its intensity and its seeming impossibility. This approach has led to the seeking of limit experiences as a sort of dark mysticism. A limit experience breaks the subject from itself. The idea is associated with Georges Bataille, Maurice Blanchot, and Michel Foucault. Classical instances of limit experiences include abandonment, fascination, suffering, madness, and poetry.




Regulation


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_self-regulation - or regulation of emotion is the ability to respond to the ongoing demands of experience with the range of emotions in a manner that is socially tolerable and sufficiently flexible to permit spontaneous reactions as well as the ability to delay spontaneous reactions as needed. It can also be defined as extrinsic and intrinsic processes responsible for monitoring, evaluating, and modifying emotional reactions. Emotion self-regulation belongs to the broader set of emotion-regulation processes, which includes the regulation of one's own feelings and the regulation of other people's feelings


  • PDF: A classification of controlled interpersonal affect regulation strategies. - Controlled interpersonal affect regulation refers to the deliberate regulation of someone else’s affect. Building on existing research concerning this everyday process, the authors describe the development of a theoretical classification scheme that distinguishes between the types of strategy used to achieve interpersonal affect regulation. To test the theoretical classification, the authors generated a corpus of 378 distinct strategies using self-report questionnaires and diaries completed by student and working samples. Twenty participants then performed a card-sort of the strategies. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to determine how well the theoretical classification represented spontaneous understandings of controlled interpersonal affect regulation. The final classification primarily distinguished between strategies used to improve versus those used to worsen others’ affect, and between strategies that engaged the target in a situation or affective state versus relationship-oriented strategies. The classification provides a meaningful basis for organizing existing research and making future conceptual and empirical distinctions.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mood_management_theory - posits that the consumption of messages, particularly entertaining messages, is capable of altering prevailing mood states, and that the selection of specific messages for consumption often serves the regulation of mood states (Zillmann, 1988a). Mood management research can be traced back to Leon Festinger's (1957) cognitive dissonance theory. Festinger's theory was primarily laid out in cognitive terms, addressing exposure choices to persuasive messages. Zillmann and his colleagues thus proposed the mood management theory that attempts to cope with the broadest possible range of message choices such as news, documents, comedies, dramas, tragedies, music performances, and sports. It deals with all conceivable moods rather than a single, specific affective state, such as dissonance. Based on the hedonistic premise that individuals are motivated for pleasure and against pain, mood management theory states that, to the extent possible, individuals tend to arrange their environment so that good mood (commonly pleasure) is maximized or maintained, and bad mood (commonly pain) is diminished or alleviated.

Boredom

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boredom - an emotional state experienced when an individual is left without anything in particular to do, and not interested in their surroundings. The first recorded use of the word boredom is in the novel Bleak House by Charles Dickens, written in 1852, in which it appears six times, although the expression to be a bore had been used in print in the sense of "to be tiresome or dull" since 1768. The French term for boredom, ennui, is sometimes used in English as well.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acedia - also accidie or accedie, from Latin acedĭa, and this from Greek ἀκηδία, "negligence") describes a state of listlessness or torpor, of not caring or not being concerned with one's position or condition in the world. It can lead to a state of being unable to perform one's duties in life. Its spiritual overtones make it related to but arguably distinct from depression. Acedia was originally noted as a problem among monks and other ascetics who maintained a solitary life. St Martha is the spiritual conqueror against acedia.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weltschmerz - from the German, meaning world-pain or world-weariness, is a term coined by the German author Jean Paul and denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind. This kind of world view was widespread among several romantic authors such as Lord Byron, Giacomo Leopardi, François-René de Chateaubriand, Alfred de Musset, Nikolaus Lenau, Hermann Hesse, and Heinrich Heine. It is also used to denote the feeling of anxiety caused by the ills of the world.


Happiness


It "can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And joie de vivre may be seen as a joy of everything, a comprehensive joy, a philosophy of life, a Weltanschauung. Robert's Dictionnaire says joie is sentiment exaltant ressenti par toute la conscience, that is, involves one's whole being."

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jouissance - enjoyment, in terms both of rights and property, and of sexual orgasm — the latter has a meaning partially lacking in the English word "enjoyment". Poststructuralism has developed the latter sense of jouissance in complex ways, so as to denote a transgressive, excessive kind of pleasure linked to the division and splitting of the subject involved. The French feminist writer Hélène Cixous uses the term jouissance to describe a form of women's pleasure or sexual rapture that combines mental, physical and spiritual aspects of female experience, bordering on mystical communion: "explosion, diffusion, effervescence, abundance...takes pleasure (jouit) in being limitless".

Awe

  • PDF: The nature of awe: Elicitors, appraisals, and effects on self-concept - "Awe has been defined as an emotional response to perceptually vast stimuli that overwhelm current mental structures, yet facilitate attempts at accommodation. Four studies are presented showing the information-focused nature of awe elicitors, documenting the self-diminishing effects of awe experience, and exploring the effects of awe on the content of the self-concept. Study 1 documented the information-focused, asocial nature of awe elicitors in participant narratives. Study 2 contrasted the stimulus-focused, self-diminishing nature of appraisals and feelings associated with a prototypical awe experience with the self-focused appraisals and feelings associated with pride. Study 3 found that dispositional awe-proneness, but not dispositional joy or pride, was associated with low Need for Cognitive Closure, and also documented a relationship between dispositional awe and increased emphasis on membership in “universal” categories in participants’ self-concepts. Study 4 replicated the self-concept finding from Study 3 using experimentally elicited awe. Implications for future work on awe are discussed."

Sadness

Anger



Fear




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apparent_death - colloquially known as playing dead or playing possum, is a behavior in which an animal takes on the appearance of being dead. This form of animal deception is an adaptive behavior also known as tonic immobility or thanatosis. Apparent death can be used as a defense mechanism or as a form of aggressive mimicry, and occurs in a wide range of animals.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt - a tactic used in sales, marketing, public relations, politics and propaganda. FUD is generally a strategic attempt to influence perception by disseminating negative and dubious or false information. An individual firm, for example, might use FUD to invite unfavorable opinions and speculation about a competitor's product; to increase the general estimation of switching costs among current customers; or to maintain leverage over a current business partner who could potentially become a rival. The term originated to describe disinformation tactics in the computer hardware industry but has since been used more broadly. FUD is a manifestation of the appeal to fear.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease_mongering - a pejorative term for the practice of widening the diagnostic boundaries of illnesses and aggressively promoting their public awareness in order to expand the markets for treatment. Among the entities benefiting from selling and delivering treatments are pharmaceutical companies, physicians, and other professional or consumer organizations.

Angst

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angst - means fear or anxiety (anguish is its Latinate equivalent, and anxious, anxiety are of similar origin). The word angst was introduced into English from the Danish, Norwegian and Dutch word angst and the German word Angst. It is attested since the 19th century in English translations of the works of Kierkegaard and Freud. It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of apprehension, anxiety, or inner turmoil.

In German, the technical terminology of psychology and philosophy distinguishes between Angst and Furcht in that Furcht is a negative anticipation regarding a concrete threat, while Angst is a non-directional and unmotivated emotion. In common language, however, Angst is the normal word for "fear", while Furcht is an elevated synonym.

In other languages having the meaning of the Latin word pavor for "fear", the derived words differ in meaning, e.g. as in the French anxiété and peur. The word Angst has existed since the 8th century, from the Proto-Indo-European root *anghu-, "restraint" from which Old High German angust developed. It is pre-cognate with the Latin angustia, "tensity, tightness" and angor, "choking, clogging"; compare to the Ancient Greek ἄγχω (ankho) "strangle".

Anxiety

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_anxiety_disorder - Social anxiety disorder (SAD), also known as social phobia, is the most common anxiety disorder. It is one of the most common psychiatric disorders, with 12% of Americans having experienced it in their lifetime. It is characterized by intense fear in one or more social situations, causing considerable distress and impaired ability to function in at least some parts of daily life. These fears can be triggered by perceived or actual scrutiny from others. While the fear of social interaction may be recognized by the person as excessive or unreasonable, overcoming it can be quite difficult. Some people suffering from social anxiety disorder fear a wide range of social situations while others may only show anxiety in performance situations. In the latter case, the specifier "performance only" is added to the diagnosis. Social anxiety disorder is known to appear at an early age in most cases. Fifty percent of those who develop this disorder have developed it by the age of 11 and 80% have developed it by age 20. This early age of onset may lead to people with social anxiety disorder being particularly vulnerable to depressive illnesses, drug abuse and other psychological conflicts. Physical symptoms often accompanying social anxiety disorder include excessive blushing, sweating (hyperhidrosis), trembling, palpitations and nausea. Stammering may be present, along with rapid speech. Panic attacks can also occur under intense fear and discomfort. An early diagnosis may help minimize the symptoms and the development of additional problems, such as depression. Some sufferers may use alcohol or other drugs to reduce fears and inhibitions at social events. It is common for sufferers of social phobia to self-medicate in this fashion, especially if they are undiagnosed, untreated, or both; this can lead to alcoholism, eating disorders or other kinds of substance abuse. SAD is sometimes referred to as an 'illness of lost opportunities' where 'individuals make major life choices to accommodate their illness
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalized_anxiety_disorder - a neurological anxiety disorder that is characterized by excessive, uncontrollable and often irrational worry. For diagnosis of this disorder, symptoms must last at least six months. This excessive worry often interferes with daily functioning, as individuals suffering GAD typically anticipate disaster, and are overly concerned about everyday matters such as health issues, money, death, family problems, friendship problems, interpersonal relationship problems, or work difficulties. Individuals often exhibit a variety of physical symptoms, including fatigue, fidgeting, headaches, nausea, numbness in hands and feet, muscle tension, muscle aches, difficulty swallowing, bouts of difficulty breathing, difficulty concentrating, trembling, twitching, irritability, agitation, sweating, restlessness, insomnia, hot flashes, and rashes and inability to fully control the anxiety (ICD-10). These symptoms must be consistent and ongoing, persisting at least six months, for a formal diagnosis of GAD to be introduced.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_disorder - Characterized by recurring panic attacks. It may also include significant behavioral changes lasting at least a month and of ongoing worry about the implications or concern about having other attacks. The latter are called anticipatory attacks (DSM-IVR). Panic disorder may be differentiated as a medical condition, or chemical imbalance. The DSM-IV-TR describes panic disorder and anxiety differently. Whereas anxiety is preceded by chronic stressors which build to reactions of moderate intensity that can last for days, weeks or months, panic attacks are acute events triggered by a sudden, out-of-the-blue cause: duration is short and symptoms are more intense.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agoraphobia - characterized by anxiety in situations where the sufferer perceives certain environments as dangerous or uncomfortable, often due to the environment's vast openness or crowdedness. These situations include wide-open spaces, as well as uncontrollable social situations such as the possibility of being met in shopping malls, airports and on bridges. Agoraphobia is defined within the DSM-IV TR as a subset of panic disorder, involving the fear of incurring a panic attack in those environments. In the DSM-5, however, agoraphobia is classified as being separate from panic disorder. The sufferer may go to great lengths to avoid those situations, in severe cases becoming unable to leave their home or safe haven.


Guilt


Disgust

Motivation





"Berlyne was above all a motivation theorist. He wanted to know why organisms display curiosity and explore their environment, why they seek knowledge and information, why they look at paintings or listen to music, what directs their train of thought. All of these diverse questions were dealt with in the context of what may be labeled a theory "collative" motivation. The theory is essentially concerned with the hedonic effects of fluctuations in arousal level induced by exposure to stimuli differing in attributes such as novelty, complexity, surprisingness, and incongruity. Berlyne termed these stimulus dimensions "collative" in part to indicate that their effects are linked to operations that include comparing the currently present stimuli to those experienced in the past and evaluating the discrepancy between stimuli and expectations, but also to distinguish them from the more frequently studied classes of stimuli, notably the "psychophysical" (e. g., loudness) and the "ecological" ones (whose effects are derived from past associations with reward and punishment)."


Attitude

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attitude_(psychology) - an expression of favor or disfavor toward a person, place, thing, or event (the attitude object). Prominent psychologist Gordon Allport once described attitudes "the most distinctive and indispensable concept in contemporary social psychology." Attitude can be formed from a person's past and present. Key topics in the study of attitudes include attitude measurement, attitude change, consumer behavior, and attitude-behavior relationships.

An attitude is an evaluation of an attitude object, ranging from extremely negative to extremely positive. Most contemporary perspectives on attitudes also permit that people can also be conflicted or ambivalent toward an object by simultaneously holding both positive and negative attitudes toward the same object. This has led to some discussion of whether individual can hold multiple attitudes toward the same object. An attitude can be as a positive or negative evaluation of people, objects, events, activities, and ideas. It could be concrete, abstract or just about anything in your environment, but there is a debate about precise definitions. Eagly and Chaiken, for example, define an attitude as "a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor."

Though it is sometimes common to define an attitude as affect toward an object, affect (i.e., discrete emotions or overall arousal) is generally understood to be distinct from attitude as a measure of favorability. Attitude may influence the attention to attitude objects, the use of categories for encoding information and the interpretation, judgement and recall of attitude-relevant information. These influences tend to be more powerful for strong attitudes which are easily accessible and based an elaborate knowledge structure. Attitudes may guide attention and encoding automatically, even if the individual is pursuing unrelated goals.

Attitude is one of Jung's 57 definitions in Chapter XI of Psychological Types. Jung's definition of attitude is a "readiness of the psyche to act or react in a certain way". Attitudes very often come in pairs, one conscious and the other unconscious. Within this broad definition Jung defines several attitudes. The main (but not only) attitude dualities that Jung defines are the following:

  • Consciousness and the unconscious. The "presence of two attitudes is extremely frequent, one conscious and the other unconscious. This means that consciousness has a constellation of contents different from that of the unconscious, a duality particularly evident in neurosis".
  • Extraversion and introversion. This pair is so elementary to Jung's theory of types that he labeled them the "attitude-types".
  • Rational and irrational attitudes. "I conceive reason as an attitude".
  • The rational attitude subdivides into the thinking and feeling psychological functions, each with its attitude.
  • The irrational attitude subdivides into the sensing and intuition psychological functions, each with its attitude. "There is thus a typical thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuitive attitude".
  • Individual and social attitudes. Many of the latter are "isms".



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensation_(psychology) - when a single idea (an image, memory, or thought) appropriates the whole charge of libido of at least two other ideas. The charges are displaced from the originating ideas to the receiving one, where they merge and "condense" together.

In the 1950s the concept was used by linguist Roman Jakobson in his influential lecture on metaphor and metonymy. Jakobson's lecture led Jacques Lacan to say that the unconscious is structured like a language.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathexis - Freud defined cathexis as an investment of libido, pointing out for example how dream thoughts were cathected with different amounts of affect. A cathexis or emotional charge might be positive or negative, leading some of his followers to speak as well of a cathexis of mortido. Freud called a group of cathected ideas a complex.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortido - a term used in Freudian psychoanalysis to refer to the energy of the death instinct, formed on analogy to the term libido. In the early 21st century, the term has been used more rarely, but still designates the destructive side of psychic energy.


  • captation - The French word captation (and its rare English cognate) has a Latin root meaning "capture" or "seizure"; French law uses the term to describe situations in which a person takes control of another person through manipulation. In Lacan's use, the term describes the way particular images, as well as elements of external reality, can "catch hold" of the psyche and become important formative agents for the subject. We approach this meaning when we speak of something "capturing" our attention or "captivating" us.

Insofar as the "I" of consciousness comes into being through captation--through an encounter with something external to it (an image emanating from "outside' the subject, even if it is the reflected image of the subject's own body)--we cannot view the "I" of Descartes's "I think, therefore I am" (the Cogito) as in inborn, self-contained unit. At the end of the essay on the mirror stage, Lacan suggests that captation is also a function in the formation of psychosis.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balance_theory - a theory of attitude change, proposed by Fritz Heider. It conceptualizes the cognitive consistency motive as a drive toward psychological balance. The consistency motive is the urge to maintain one's values and beliefs over time. Heider proposed that "sentiment" or liking relationships are balanced if the affect valence in a system multiplies out to a positive result.

One might think that a valued algebraic graph is necessary to represent psycho-social reality, if it is to take into account the degree of intensity of interpersonal relationships. But in fact it then seems hardly possible to define the balance of a graph, not for mathematical but for psychological reasons. If the relationship AB is +3, the relationship BC is –4, what should the AC relationship be in order that the triangle be balanced ? The psychological hypotheses are wanting, or rather they are numerous and little justified.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-discrepancy_theory - Developed by Edward Tory Higgins in 1987, the theory provides a platform for understanding how different types of discrepancies between representations of the self are related to different kinds of emotional vulnerabilities. It maintains close ties to a long-standing tradition of belief-incongruity research. Higgins sought to illustrate that internal disagreement causes emotional and psychological turmoil. Before, many theories such as the self-inconsistency theory, the cognitive dissonance theory, and the imbalance theory (e.g., Heider, 1958), had done just that; however, Higgins aspired to predict and define what distinct emotions the cognitive imbalances would result in. Previous self-imbalance theories had recognized only positive or negative emotions, in a general sense, associated with the belief inconsistency. The self-discrepancy theory was the first to improve on these generalizations and assign specific emotions and affects to the disparity. It asserts two cognitive dimensions from which various self-states are measured: domains of the self and standpoints of the self.

The theory proposes how a variety of self-discrepancies represents a variety of types of negative psychological situations that are associated with different kinds of discomfort (p. 319). A primary goal of the self-discrepancy theory is to help aid in predicting which types of incongruent ideas will cause such individuals to feel different kinds of negative emotions (p. 319).

The structure of the theory was built based on three ideas: to distinguish among the different kinds of discomfort felt by those people holding incongruent ideals experienced, to relate the different possible kinds of emotional vulnerabilities felt by the different types of discrepancies that people may have for the self, and to consider the role of both the availability and accessibility to the different discrepancies that may potentially have in influencing the kind and type of discomfort they are most likely to experience. Also, the theory suggests that individuals are motivated to reach a goal of where the self-concept matches the appropriate self-guides



"Meyer and Allen's (1991, 1997) three component conceptualization of organizational commitment (OC) includes affective (AC), continuance (CC), and normative (NC) commitment. However, AC and NC have not been as empirically differentiated as theoretically expected. Drawing on the extant literature, I review, integrate, and expand on arguments and evidence about the lack of AC-NC differentiation. I also propose several avenues for research that could help commitment scholars attain a clearer picture of the true relationship between AC and NC, as the extant literature has inadequately addressed many issues regarding construct differentiation. Specific, testable propositions address a variety of facets of the commitment literature, including construct definition and measurement, developmental processes, relationships among the components and their unique and joint effects on outcomes, and potential moderators of the AC-NC relationship. The goal of this paper is to spur future research into the AC-NC relationship in order to gain greater construct clarity.."


"The author outlines a radically different decision-making model form the one widely used in Economics and in Psychology. Accordingly, most choices are made on the basis of emotional involvements and value commitments. Information processing is often excluded. In other areas of choices, emotions and values allow for some subsets of options to be rationally considered but ‘color’ them and/or short cut the deliberations. In a still other subset emotion/values require rational decision-making. Emotions and values are not necessarily disruptive; they have positive functions. Cognitivists’ objections to the concept of emotions are responded to. Problems of operationalization are raised. The question, if the concepts of emotions and values can be incorporated into the neoclassical paradigm, is explored."


Pride

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride - an inwardly directed emotion that carries two antithetical meanings. With a negative connotation pride refers to a foolishly and irrationally corrupt sense of one's personal value, status or accomplishments, used synonymously with hubris. With a positive connotation, pride refers to a humble and content sense of attachment toward one's own or another's choices and actions, or toward a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent self-reflection, and a fulfilled feeling of belonging.

Philosophers and social psychologists have noted that pride is a complex secondary emotion which requires the development of a sense of self and the mastery of relevant conceptual distinctions (e.g., that pride is distinct from happiness and joy) through language-based interaction with others. Some social psychologists identify the nonverbal expression of pride as a means of sending a functional, automatically perceived signal of high social status. In contrast pride could also be defined as a lowly disagreement with the truth. One definition of pride in the former sense comes from St. Augustine: "the love of one's own excellence". A similar definition comes from Meher Baba: "Pride is the specific feeling through which egoism manifests."

Pride is sometimes viewed as corrupt or as a vice, sometimes as proper or as a virtue. While some philosophers such as Aristotle (and George Bernard Shaw) consider pride (but not hubris) a profound virtue, some world religions consider pride's fraudulent form a sin, such as is expressed in Proverbs 11:2 of the Old Testament. In Christianity, pride is one of the Seven Capital Sins. When viewed as a virtue, pride in one's abilities is known as virtuous pride, greatness of soul or magnanimity, but when viewed as a vice it is often known to be self-idolatry, sadistic contempt, vanity or vainglory. Pride can also manifest itself as a high opinion of one's nation (national pride) and ethnicity (ethnic pride).

Recognition

more recently merged with another section, to resort

See also Learning

Memory

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storage_(memory) - the process of placing newly acquired information into memory, which is modified in the brain for easier storage. Encoding this information makes the process of retrieval easier for the brain where it can be recalled and brought into conscious thinking. Modern memory psychology differentiates between the two distinct types of memory storage: short-term memory and long-term memory. In addition, different memory models have suggested variations of existing short- and long-term memory to account for different ways of storing memory.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recall_(memory) - the mental process of retrieval of information from the past. Along with encoding and storage, it's one of the three core processes of memory. There are three main types of recall: free recall, cued recall and serial recall. Psychologists test these forms of recall as a way to study the memory processes of humans and animals. Two main theories of the process of recall are the Two-Stage Theory and the theory of Encoding Specificity.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_memory - a core executive function, is a cognitive system with a limited capacity that is responsible for the transient holding, processing, and manipulation of information. Working memory is an important process for reasoning and the guidance of decision making and behavior. Working memory is often used synonymously with short-term memory, but neuropsychologists have noted that the two forms of memory are distinct, particularly since they arise from different neural subsystems within the prefrontal cortex. Working memory is a short-term memory buffer that allows for the manipulation of stored information, while short-term memory is only involved in the short-term storage of information and does not entail the manipulation or organization of material held in memory. Working memory also develops later and at a slower pace than short-term memory.

The multiple-component models of working memory include proposed subsystems that store and manipulate visual images or verbal information, as well as a central executive that coordinates the subsystems. It includes visual representation of the possible moves, and awareness of the flow of information into and out of memory, all stored for a limited amount of time. Working memory is essential for navigating complex cognitive tasks such as comprehension, learning and reasoning. Working memory, categorization, and reasoning have been shown as related functions of structural organization theory. Working memory tasks require monitoring (i.e., the manipulation of information or behaviors) as part of completing goal-directed actions in the setting of interfering processes and distractions. The cognitive processes needed to achieve this include the executive and attention control of short-term memory, which permit the interim integration, processing, disposal, and retrieval of information. These processes are sensitive to age: working memory is associated with cognitive development, and research shows that its capacity tends to decline with old age. Working memory is a theoretical concept central both to cognitive psychology and neuroscience.

Theories exist both regarding the theoretical structure of working memory and the role of specific parts of the brain involved in working memory. Research identifies the frontal cortex, parietal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and parts of the basal ganglia as crucial. The neural basis of working memory has been derived from lesion experiments in animals and functional imaging in humans.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-term_memory - or "primary" or "active memory") is the capacity for holding, but not manipulating, a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state for a short period of time. The duration of short-term memory (when rehearsal or active maintenance is prevented) is believed to be in the order of seconds. The most commonly cited capacity is The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two (which is frequently referred to as Miller's Law), despite the fact that Miller himself stated that the figure was intended as "little more than a joke" (Miller, 1989, page 401) and that Cowan (2001) provided evidence that a more realistic figure is 4±1. In contrast, long-term memory can hold an indefinite amount of information. Short-term memory should be distinguished from working memory, which refers to structures and processes used for temporarily storing and manipulating information (see details below).




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_memory - the final stage of the dual memory model proposed in the Atkinson-Shiffrin memory model, in which information can be stored for long periods of time. While short-term and working memory persist for only about 18 to 30 seconds, information can remain in long-term memory indefinitely. Long-term memory is commonly broken down into explicit memory (declarative), which includes episodic memory, semantic memory, and autobiographical memory, and implicit memory (procedural memory).


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicit_memory - a type of memory in which previous experiences aid the performance of a task without conscious awareness of these previous experiences. Evidence for implicit memory arises in priming, a process whereby subjects are measured by how they have improved their performance on tasks for which they have been subconsciously prepared. Implicit memory also leads to the illusion-of-truth effect, which suggests that subjects are more likely to rate as true those statements that they have already heard, regardless of their truthfulness. In daily life, people rely on implicit memory every day in the form of procedural memory, the type of memory that allows people to remember how to tie their shoes or ride a bicycle without consciously thinking about these activities. Research into implicit memory indicates that it operates through a different mental process from explicit memory.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explicit_memory - or declarative memory is one of the two main types of long-term human memory. It is the conscious, intentional recollection of factual information, previous experiences and concepts.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_memory - one of the two types of declarative or explicit memory (our memory of facts or events that is explicitly stored and retrieved). Semantic memory refers to general world knowledge that we have accumulated throughout our lives. This general knowledge (facts, ideas, meaning and concepts) is intertwined in experience and dependent on culture.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodic_memory - the memory of autobiographical events (times, places, associated emotions, and other contextual who, what, when, where, why knowledge) that can be explicitly stated. It is the collection of past personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place. For example, if one remembers the party on his or her 6th birthday, this is an episodic memory. They allow an individual to figuratively travel back in time to remember the event that took place at that particular time and place.











"That affect and emotion have both a directional and intensity component is well known. A great deal of research and debate has been concerned with the interplay between these two components and, more specifically, the question of which is primary in one's experience of an emotion - the intensity (arousal) or the directional (evaluative) component (Schachter & Singer, 1962). The question of primacy aside, it is clear that while emotions such as fear and happiness are easily categorized into separate evaluational or affective dimensions (positive vs. negative), other emotional terms such as nervous and afraid must rely on an intensity factor (high vs. low in its most simplistic form) for differentiation. Whissell et al. (1986) found that a two-dimensional space (Evaluation x Activation) represented the most parsimonious categorization system for emotion words. A alternative solution to the dimensions of affective space can be found in Watson and colleagues' two orthogonal factors of positive and negative affect (PA and NA; Watson, Clark & Tellegen, 1988; Watson & Tellegen, 1985).

"Within the arousal domain, Thayer (1967, 1978, 1986, 1989) has explicated two orthogonal factors that can be related to dimensions of affect: energetic arousal and tense arousal. Energetic arousal and positive affect covary strongly as do tense arousal and negative affect. Thayer (1989) found that energetic arousal varies diurnally along with positive affect. Loftus (1990) found that an exercise induction (as compared to a relaxation induction) tended to increase positive affect while negative affect remained unaffected. Both energetic and tense arousal increased as a result of the exercise induction also. This result was in contrast to an earlier study performed by Thayer that suggested exercise increased energetic arousal and decreased tense arousal (Thayer, 1989).

"Although the exact nature of the relationship between positive/negative affect and low/high or energetic/tense arousal has yet to be clearly delineated, it is clear that many manipulations of affect also are manipulations of arousal. The negative affect experienced while watching a horror movie is accompanied by an increase in tense arousal. The positive affect associated with a lively party is also associated with an increase in energetic arousal. It is this confounding of affective manipulations with arousal manipulations that we believe may account for at least part of the inconsistent findings (discussed later) within the study of mood-state dependent effects. In addition, it is likely that the so-called mood intensity effects are more attributable to the effects of the arousal levels present in the experiments than the affect."


in S.A. Christianson (Ed.) (1992) Handbook of Emotion and Memory. Erlebaum.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priming_(psychology) - an implicit memory effect in which exposure to one stimulus influences the response to another stimulus. The seminal experiments of Meyer and Schvaneveldt in the early 1970s led to the flowering of research on priming of many sorts. Their original work showed that people were faster in deciding that a string of letters is a word when the word followed an associatively or semantically related word. For example, NURSE is recognized more quickly following DOCTOR than following BREAD. Various experiments supported the theory that activation spreading among related ideas was the best explanation for the facilitation observed in the lexical decision task. The priming paradigm provides excellent control over the effects of individual stimuli on cognitive processing and associated behavior because the same target stimuli can be presented with different primes. Thus differences in performance as a function of differences in priming stimuli must be attributed to the effect of the prime on the processing of the target stimulus.

Priming can occur following perceptual, semantic, or conceptual stimulus repetition. For example, if a person reads a list of words including the word table, and is later asked to complete a word starting with tab, the probability that he or she will answer table is greater than if they are not primed. Another example is if people see an incomplete sketch they are unable to identify and they are shown more of the sketch until they recognize the picture, later they will identify the sketch at an earlier stage than was possible for them the first time.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobiographical_memory - a memory system consisting of episodes recollected from an individual's life, based on a combination of episodic (personal experiences and specific objects, people and events experienced at particular time and place) and semantic (general knowledge and facts about the world) memory.



Listening

To merge with interpersonal communication sections.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_listening - a communication technique used in counselling, training and conflict resolution, which requires the listener to feed back what they hear to the speaker, by way of re-stating or paraphrasing what they have heard in their own words, to confirm what they have heard and moreover, to confirm the understanding of both parties.

a terribly underselling description!

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_listening - a communication strategy involving two key steps: seeking to understand a speaker's idea, then offering the idea back to the speaker, to confirm the idea has been understood correctly. It attempts to "reconstruct what the client is thinking and feeling and to relay this understanding back to the client". Reflective listening is a more specific strategy than the more general methods of active listening. It arose from Carl Rogers' school of client-centered therapy in counseling theory. Empathy is at the center of Rogers' approach.


Thinking

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought - can refer to the ideas or arrangements of ideas that result from thinking, the act of producing thoughts, or the process of producing thoughts. Despite the fact that thought is a fundamental human activity familiar to everyone, there is no generally accepted agreement as to what thought is or how it is created. Thoughts are the result or product of spontaneous acts of thinking. Because thought underlies many human actions and interactions, understanding its physical and metaphysical origins, processes, and effects has been a longstanding goal of many academic disciplines including artificial intelligence, biology, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. Thinking allows humans to make sense of, interpret, represent or model the world they experience, and to make predictions about that world. It is therefore helpful to an organism with needs, objectives, and desires as it makes plans or otherwise attempts to accomplish those goals. Thoughts are the keys which determine one's goal.

Reflection

To merge with contemplation topics above.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_self-reflection - the capacity of humans to exercise introspection and the willingness to learn more about their fundamental nature, purpose and essence. The earliest historical records demonstrate the great interest which humanity has had in itself. Human self-reflection invariably leads to inquiry into the human condition and the essence of humankind as a whole.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_practice - "the capacity to reflect on action so as to engage in a process of continuous learning". According to one definition it involves "paying critical attention to the practical values and theories which inform everyday actions, by examining practice reflectively and reflexively. This leads to developmental insight".
  • Give it five minutes - It was a simple thing. He said “Man, give it five minutes.” I asked him what he meant by that? He said, it’s fine to disagree, it’s fine to push back, it’s great to have strong opinions and beliefs, but give my ideas some time to set in before you’re sure you want to argue against them. “Five minutes” represented “think”, not react. ... He’s given it 30 years. And I gave it just a few minutes. Now, certainly he can be wrong and I could be right, but it’s better to think deeply about something first before being so certain you’re right. There’s also a difference between asking questions and pushing back. Pushing back means you already think you know. Asking questions means you want to know. Ask more questions.
  • PDF: On Becoming A Critically Reflexive Practitioner - Critically reflexive practice embraces subjective understandings of reality as a basis for thinking more critically about the impact of our assumptions, values, and actions on others. Such practice is important to management education, because it helps us understand how we constitute our realities and identities in relational ways and how we can develop more collaborative and responsive ways of managing organizations. This article offers three ways of stimulating critically reflexive practice: (a) an exercise to help students think about the socially constructed nature of reality, (b) a map to help situate reflective and reflexive practice, and (c) an outline and examples of critically reflexive journaling.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_aloud_protocol - or think-aloud protocols; also talk-aloud protocol) is a used to gather data in usability testing in product design and development, in psychology and a range of social sciences (e.g., reading, writing, translation research, decision making, and process tracing). The think-aloud method was introduced in the usability field by Clayton Lewis while he was at IBM, and is explained in Task-Centered User Interface Design: A Practical Introduction by C. Lewis and J. Rieman. The method was developed based on the techniques of protocol analysis by Ericsson and Simon.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_equilibrium - a state of balance or coherence among a set of beliefs arrived at by a process of deliberative mutual adjustment among general principles and particular judgments. Although he did not use the term, philosopher Nelson Goodman introduced the method of reflective equilibrium as an approach to justifying the principles of inductive logic. The term 'reflective equilibrium' was coined by John Rawls and popularized in his A Theory of Justice as a method for arriving at the content of the principles of justice.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflexivity_(social_theory) - refers to circular relationships between cause and effect. A reflexive relationship is bidirectional with both the cause and the effect affecting one another in a relationship in which neither can be assigned as causes or effects. In sociology, reflexivity therefore comes to mean an act of self-reference where examination or action "bends back on", refers to, and affects the entity instigating the action or examination. To this extent it commonly refers to the capacity of an agent to recognize horses of socialization and alter their place in the social structure. A low level of reflexivity would result in an individual shaped largely by their environment (or 'society'). A high level of social reflexivity would be defined by an individual shaping their own norms, tastes, politics, desires, and so on. This is similar to the notion of autonomy. (See also: structure and agency, social mobility). It is an instance of a feedback loop.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflectivism - a broad umbrella label, used primarily in International Relations theory, for a range of theoretical approaches which oppose rational-choice accounts of social phenomena and, perhaps, positivism more generally. Reflectivist scholars tend to emphasise the inherent reflexivity both of theory and of the social world it studies. Unlike the term "reflectivism", the concept of "reflexivity" has wide currency outside of International Relations, having come to prominence in social theory in the latter part of the 20th century. Reflexivity refers to the ways in which elements and phenomena in social life have the capacity to "fold in on", or be "directed towards", themselves. That is, they can produce effects on, or have implications for, their own features, dynamics and existence.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflexive_modernization - a joint effort of three of the leading European sociologists — Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck and Scott Lash, serving a double purpose: to reassess sociology as a science of the present (moving beyond the early 20thC conceptual framework); and to provide a counterbalance to the postmodernist paradigm offering a re-constructive view alongside deconstruction. The concept built upon previous notions such as post-industrial society (Daniel Bell) and postmaterial society, but stresses how in reflexive modernization, modernity directs its attention to the process of modernization itself.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_consciousness - an individual's accessibility to their history and plans. The concept is also loosely and commonly associated with having awareness of one's own consciousness. The ability allows its possessors to go beyond the limits of the remembered present of primary consciousness. Primary consciousness can be defined as simple awareness that includes perception and emotion. As such, it is ascribed to most animals. By contrast, secondary consciousness depends on and includes such features as self-reflective awareness, abstract thinking, volition and metacognition




Metacognition

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacognition - defined as "cognition about cognition", or "knowing about knowing". It comes from the root word "meta", meaning beyond. It can take many forms; it includes knowledge about when and how to use particular strategies for learning or for problem solving. There are generally two components of metacognition: knowledge about cognition, and regulation of cognition.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamemory - a type of metacognition, is both the introspective knowledge of one’s own memory capabilities (and strategies that can aid memory) and the processes involved in memory self-monitoring. This self-awareness of memory has important implications for how people learn and use memories. When studying, for example, students make judgements of whether they have successfully learned the assigned material and use these decisions, known as "judgments of learning", to allocate study time.



to sort;

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbol_grounding_problem - related to the problem of how words (symbols) get their meanings, and hence to the problem of what meaning itself really is. The problem of meaning is in turn related to the problem of consciousness, or how it is that mental states are meaningful. According to a widely held theory of cognition called "computationalism," cognition (i.e., thinking) is just a form of computation. But computation in turn is just formal symbol manipulation: symbols are manipulated according to rules that are based on the symbols' shapes, not their meanings. How are those symbols (e.g., the words in our heads) connected to the things they refer to?





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_capability - describes the capacity of human beings to transcend and revise their contexts. The term has been used by poets and philosophers to describe the ability of the individual to perceive, think, and operate beyond any presupposition of a predetermined capacity of the human being. It further captures the rejection of the constraints of any context, and the ability to experience phenomena free from epistemological bounds, as well as to assert one's own will and individuality upon their activity. The term was first used by the Romantic poet John Keats to critique those who sought to categorize all experience and phenomena and turn them into a theory of knowledge. It has recently been appropriated by philosopher and social theorist Roberto Mangabeira Unger to comment on human nature and to explain how human beings innovate and resist within confining social contexts. The concept has also inspired psychoanalytic practices and twentieth-century art and literary criticism.



Conception



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construals - are how individuals perceive, comprehend, and interpret the world around them, particularly the behavior or action of others towards themselves. Researchers and theorists within virtually every sub-discipline of psychology have acknowledged the relevance of a subjective construal, especially with regards to the concepts of the false consensus effect and the fundamental attribution error. There is a difference between self-construal and construal in a social atmosphere. While self-construal is a perception of the self, the latter is a perception of one's surroundings. Construal plays a crucial role in situations "whenever people are obliged to venture beyond the information immediately provided by the direct observation or secondhand report of a stimulus event, in particular whenever they are obliged to infer additional details of content, context, or meaning in the actions and outcomes that unfold around them." In other words, a person is most likely to use construal when he or she lacks the knowledge to correctly deal with a given situation.



  • xkcd: Connoisseur - "Our brains have just one scale, and we resize our experiences to fit."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_framework - an analytical tool with several variations and contexts. It is used to make conceptual distinctions and organize ideas. Strong conceptual frameworks capture something real and do this in a way that is easy to remember and apply. For example, Isaiah Berlin used the metaphor of a “Fox” and a “Hedgehog” to make conceptual distinctions in how important philosophers and authors view the world. Berlin describes hedgehogs as those who use a single idea or organizing principle to view the world (examples given include Dante, Pascal, Dostoevsky, Plato, Ibsen and Hegel). Foxes, on the other hand, incorporate a type of pluralism and view the world through multiple, sometimes conflicting, lenses (examples include Goethe, Joyce, Shakespeare, Aristotle, Herodotus, Molière, Anderson, Balzac). Economists use the conceptual framework of “supply” and “demand” to distinguish between the behavior and incentive systems of firms and consumers. Like many conceptual frameworks, supply and demand can be presented through visual or graphical representations (see Demand curve).



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notion_(philosophy) - in philosophy is a reflection in the mind of real objects and phenomena in their essential features and relations. Notions are usually described in terms of scope and content. This is because notions are often created in response to empirical observations (or experiments) of covarying trends among variables.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difference_(philosophy) - a key concept of philosophy, denoting the process or set of properties by which one entity is distinguished from another within a relational field or a given conceptual system. In the Western philosophical system, difference is traditionally viewed as being opposed to identity, following the Principles of Leibniz, and in particular, his Law of the identity of indiscernibles. In structuralist and poststructuralist accounts, however, difference is understood to be constitutive of both meaning and identity. In other words, because identity (particularly, personal identity) is viewed in non-essentialist terms as a construct, and because constructs only produce meaning through the interplay of differences (see below), it is the case that for both structuralism and poststructuralism, identity cannot be said to exist without difference.






intersubjective - the in-between, subjects and objects in relation to each other, liminal


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizome_(philosophy) - a philosophical concept developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in their Capitalism and Schizophrenia (1972–1980) project. It is what Deleuze calls an "image of thought," based on the botanical rhizome, that apprehends multiplicities.



"If it's true that we are all from the center of a star, every atom in each of us from the center of a star, then we're all the same thing. Even a coke machine or a cigarette butt in the street in Buffalo, is made out of atoms that came from a star. They've all recycled thousands of times, as have you and I. And therefore, it's only me out there, so what is there to be afraid of? What is there that needs solace seeking? Nothing. There is nothing to be afraid of because it's all us. The trouble is we have been separated by being born and given a name and an identity and being individuated. We have been separated from the oneness and that's what religion exploits, that people have this yearning to be part of the overall one again. So they exploit that. They call it god and they say he has rules and I think that's cruel. I think you can do it absent religion." --George Carlin





"In science, if you know what you are doing, you should not be doing it. In engineering, if you do not know what you are doing, you should not be doing it. Of course, you seldom, if ever, see either pure state." —Richard Hamming, The Art of Doing Science and Engineering

"The most exciting engineering challenges lie on the boundary of theory and the unknown. Not so unknown that they're hopeless, but not enough theory to predict the results of our decisions. Systems at this boundary often rely on emergent behavior — high-level effects that arise indirectly from low-level interactions. When designing at this boundary, the challenge lies not in constructing the system, but in understanding it. In the absence of theory, we must develop an intuition to guide our decisions. The design process is thus one of exploration and discovery. The most powerful way to gain insight into a system is by moving between levels of abstraction. Many designers do this instinctively. But it's easy to get stuck on the ground, experiencing concrete systems with no higher-level view. It's also easy to get stuck in the clouds, working entirely with abstract equations or aggregate statistics. This interactive essay presents the ladder of abstraction, a technique for thinking explicitly about these levels, so a designer can move among them consciously and confidently. I believe that an essential skill of the modern system designer will be using the interactive medium to move fluidly around the ladder of abstraction."



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximate_and_ultimate_causation - A proximate cause is an event which is closest to, or immediately responsible for causing, some observed result. This exists in contrast to a higher-level ultimate cause (or distal cause) which is usually thought of as the "real" reason something occurred.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need_for_cognition - has been variously defined as "a need to structure relevant situations in meaningful, integrated ways" and "a need to understand and make reasonable the experiential world". Higher NFC is associated with increased appreciation of debate, idea evaluation, and problem solving. Those with a high need for cognition may be inclined towards high elaboration. Those with a lower need for cognition may display opposite tendencies, and may process information more heuristically, often through low elaboration.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typical_intellectual_engagement - a personality construct referring to a person's enjoyment (or dislike) of intellectually demanding activities. TIE was developed to identify aspects of personality most closely related to intelligence and knowledge and measures a person's typical performance in intellectual domains rather than their maximal performance (intellectual capacity measured by IQ tests). TIE is moderately positively associated with crystallized intelligence, and with general knowledge, and predicts academic performance. TIE is hard to distinguish from the earlier construct need for cognition and is positively correlated with openness to experience.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openness_to_experience - is one of the domains which are used to describe human personality in the Five Factor Model. Openness involves six facets, or dimensions, including active imagination (fantasy), aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to inner feelings, preference for variety, and intellectual curiosity.

Openness to experience, like the other traits in the five factor model, is believed to have a genetic component. Identical twins (who have the same DNA) show similar scores on openness to experience, even when they have been adopted into different families and raised in very different environments. One genetic study with 86 subjects found Openness to experience related to the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism associated with the serotonin transporter gene. Higher levels of openness have been linked to activity in the ascending dopaminergic system and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Openness is the only personality trait that correlates with neuropsychological tests of dorsolateral prefrontal cortical function, supporting theoretical links among openness, cognitive functioning, and IQ.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factor_analysis - a statistical method used to describe variability among observed, correlated variables in terms of a potentially lower number of unobserved variables called factors. For example, it is possible that variations in four observed variables mainly reflect the variations in two unobserved variables. Factor analysis searches for such joint variations in response to unobserved latent variables. The observed variables are modelled as linear combinations of the potential factors, plus "error" terms. The information gained about the interdependencies between observed variables can be used later to reduce the set of variables in a dataset. Computationally this technique is equivalent to low rank approximation of the matrix of observed variables. Factor analysis originated in psychometrics, and is used in behavioral sciences, social sciences, marketing, product management, operations research, and other applied sciences that deal with large quantities of data.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_process_theory - an account of how a phenomenon can occur in two different ways, or as a result of two different processes. Often, the two processes consist of an implicit (automatic), unconscious process and an explicit (controlled), conscious process. Verbalized explicit processes or attitudes and actions may change with persuasion or education; though implicit process or attitudes usually take a long amount of time to change with the forming of new habits. Dual process theories can be found in social, personality, cognitive, and clinical psychology. It has also been linked with economics via prospect theory and behavioral economics.










Analogy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analogy - a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject (the analogue or source) to another particular subject (the target), or a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process. In a narrower sense, analogy is an inference or an argument from one particular to another particular, as opposed to deduction, induction, and abduction, where at least one of the premises or the conclusion is general. The word analogy can also refer to the relation between the source and the target themselves, which is often, though not necessarily, a similarity, as in the biological notion of analogy.

an agreement or correspondence in particular features between things otherwise dissimilar; in literature, the basis for metaphor and simile.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_metaphor - or cognitive metaphor, refers to the understanding of one idea, or conceptual domain, in terms of another. An example of this is the understanding of quantity in terms of directionality (e.g. "the prices are rising").

A conceptual domain can be any coherent organization of human experience. The regularity with which different languages employ the same metaphors, which often appear to be perceptually based, has led to the hypothesis that the mapping between conceptual domains corresponds to neural mappings in the brain.

This idea, and a detailed examination of the underlying processes, was first extensively explored by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in their work Metaphors We Live By. Other cognitive scientists study subjects similar to conceptual metaphor under the labels "analogy", "conceptual blending" and "ideasthesia".

Conceptual metaphors are seen in language in our everyday lives. Conceptual metaphors shape not just our communication, but also shape the way we think and act. In George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s work, Metaphors We Live By (1980), we see how everyday language is filled with metaphors we may not always notice. An example of one of the commonly used conceptual metaphors is "argument is war." This metaphor shapes our language in the way we view argument as war or as a battle to be won. It is not uncommon to hear someone say "He won that argument" or "I attacked every weak point in his argument". The very way argument is thought of is shaped by this metaphor of arguments being war and battles that must be won. Argument can be seen in other ways than a battle, but we use this concept to shape the way we think of argument and the way we go about arguing.

Conceptual metaphors are used very often to understand theories and models. A conceptual metaphor uses one idea and links it to another to better understand something. For example, the conceptual metaphor of viewing communication as a conduit is one large theory explained with a metaphor. So not only is our everyday communication shaped by the language of conceptual metaphors, but so is the very way we understand scholarly theories. These metaphors are prevalent in communication and we do not just use them in language; we actually perceive and act in accordance with the metaphors.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_metaphor - also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is when an author exploits a single metaphor or analogy at length through multiple linked vehicles, tenors, and grounds throughout a poem or story. Tenor is the subject of the metaphor, vehicle is the image or subject that carries the weight of the comparison, and ground is the shared proprieties of the two compared subjects. Another way to think of extended metaphors is in terms of implications of a base metaphor. These implications are repeatedly emphasized, discovered, rediscovered, and progressed in new ways.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceit - an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem. By juxtaposing, usurping and manipulating images and ideas in surprising ways, a conceit invites the reader into a more sophisticated understanding of an object of comparison. In English literature the term is generally associated with the 17th century metaphysical poets, an extension of contemporary usage. The metaphysical conceit differs from an extended analogy in the sense that it does not have a clear-cut relationship between the things being compared. Helen Gardner observed that "a conceit is a comparison whose ingenuity is more striking than its justness" and that "a comparison becomes a conceit when we are made to concede likeness while being strongly conscious of unlikeness."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simile - a figure of speech that directly compares two things through the explicit use of connecting words (such as like, as, so, than, or various verbs such as resemble). Although similes and metaphors are sometimes considered to be interchangeable, similes acknowledge the imperfections and limitations of the comparative relationship to a greater extent than metaphors. Metaphors are subtler and therefore rhetorically stronger in that metaphors equate two things rather than simply compare them. Similes also safeguard the author against outrageous, incomplete, or unfair comparison. Generally, metaphor is the stronger and more encompassing of the two forms of rhetorical analogies. While similes are mainly used in forms of poetry that compare the inanimate and the living, there are also terms in which similes and personifications are used for humorous purposes and comparison.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonymy - a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is called not by its own name but rather by the name of something associated in meaning with that thing or concept.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche - meaning "simultaneous understanding", is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something refers to the whole of something, or vice versa. A synecdoche is a class of metonymy, often by means of either mentioning a part for the whole, or conversely the whole for one of its parts. Examples from everyday English-language idiomatic expressions include "bread and butter" for "livelihood", "suits" for "businessmen", "boots" for "soldiers", etc.[3] It is also often used in government announcements where a building stands in for a government official or agency, such as "No. 10" or "No. 10 Downing Street," the address of same, being used to represent the British Prime Minister, or "The Pentagon," the building housing its headquarters, to represent the United States Department of Defense.


everything is X all of the Y

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory - As a literary device, an allegory in its most general sense is an extended metaphor. Allegory has been used widely throughout history in all forms of art, largely because it can readily illustrate complex ideas and concepts in ways that are comprehensible or striking to its viewers, readers, or listeners.

Writers or speakers typically use allegories as literary devices or as rhetorical devices that convey hidden meanings through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, and/or events, which together create the moral, spiritual, or political meaning the author wishes to convey.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysemy - the capacity for a sign (e.g., a word, phrase, etc.) or signs to have multiple related meanings (sememes), i.e., a large semantic field. It is usually regarded as distinct from homonymy, in which the multiple meanings of a word may be unconnected or unrelated.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym - one of a group of words that share the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings. Thus homonyms are simultaneously homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of their pronunciation) and homophones (words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of their spelling). The state of being a homonym is called homonymy. Examples of homonyms are the pair stalk (part of a plant) and stalk (follow/harass a person) and the pair left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right). A distinction is sometimes made between "true" homonyms, which are unrelated in origin, such as skate (glide on ice) and skate (the fish), and polysemous homonyms, or polysemes, which have a shared origin, such as mouth (of a river) and mouth (of an animal).


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntactic_ambiguity - also called amphiboly or amphibology, is a situation where a sentence may be interpreted in more than one way due to ambiguous sentence structure. Syntactic ambiguity arises not from the range of meanings of single words, but from the relationship between the words and clauses of a sentence, and the sentence structure implied thereby. When a reader can reasonably interpret the same sentence as having more than one possible structure, the text meets the definition of syntactic ambiguity. In legal disputes, courts may be asked to interpret the meaning of syntactic ambiguities in statutes or contracts. In some instances, arguments asserting highly unlikely interpretations have been deemed frivolous.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_semantics_(linguistics) - a theory of linguistic meaning developed by Charles J. Fillmore that extends his earlier case grammar. It relates linguistic semantics to encyclopaedic knowledge. The basic idea is that one cannot understand the meaning of a single word without access to all the essential knowledge that relates to that word. For example, one would not be able to understand the word "sell" without knowing anything about the situation of commercial transfer, which also involves, among other things, a seller, a buyer, goods, money, the relation between the money and the goods, the relations between the seller and the goods and the money, the relation between the buyer and the goods and the money and so on. Thus, a word activates, or evokes, a frame of semantic knowledge relating to the specific concept it refers to (or highlights, in frame semantic terminology).

A semantic frame is a collection of facts that specify "characteristic features, attributes, and functions of a denotatum, and its characteristic interactions with things necessarily or typically associated with it." [1] A semantic frame can also be defined as a coherent structure of related concepts that are related such that without knowledge of all of them, one does not have complete knowledge of any one; they are in that sense types of gestalt. Frames are based on recurring experiences. So the commercial transaction frame is based on recurring experiences of commercial transactions.

Words not only highlight individual concepts, but also specify a certain perspective from which the frame is viewed. For example "sell" views the situation from the perspective of the seller and "buy" from the perspective of the buyer. This, according to Fillmore, explains the observed asymmetries in many lexical relations.

While originally only being applied to lexemes, frame semantics has now been expanded to grammatical constructions and other larger and more complex linguistic units and has more or less been integrated into construction grammar as the main semantic principle. Semantic frames are also becoming used in information modeling, for example in Gellish, especially in the form of 'definition models' and 'knowledge models'. Frame semantics has much in common with the semantic principle of profiling from Ronald W. Langacker's Cognitive Grammar.[




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Images_of_Organization - a bestseller book by Gareth Morgan, professor of organizational behavior/industrial relations at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, which attempts to unveil organization via a number of metaphors. The book particularly describes the organization as (1) machines, (2) organisms, (3) brains, (4) cultures, (5) political systems, (6) psychic prisons, (7) flux and transformation, and (8) instruments of domination.
  • Metaphor as the Foundation of Organizational Studies - This article is the first part of a Citation Classics and Foundational Works feature focused on metaphor and organizational studies. The second part of the feature is a personal reflection by Gareth Morgan on the genesis and impact of his pathbreaking book, Images of Organization (IO). In this article, we summarize the nature of the contributions made by IO, sketch ways in which the book has prompted and served as a touchstone for new research on metaphor and organization, and discuss the application of contemporary metaphorical analysis to the problems of theory development, research methods, and puzzle solving facing scholars interested in sustainability studies and research on organizations and the natural environment (ONE). We illustrate how early research that fostered ONE scholarship is marked by the use of particularly powerful metaphorical language and attention to poetic technique as well as rigorous science. We suggest how ONE research (and organizational studies in general) can benefit from studying IO and related literature on metaphorical analysis.

Visual thinking

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_image - the representation in a person's mind of the physical world outside of that person. It is an experience that, on most occasions, significantly resembles the experience of perceiving some object, event, or scene, but occurs when the relevant object, event, or scene is not actually present to the senses.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind's_eye - refers to the human ability for visualization, i.e., for the experiencing of visual mental imagery; in other words, one's ability to "see" things with the mind.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_schema - a recurring structure within our cognitive processes which establishes patterns of understanding and reasoning. Image schemas are formed from our bodily interactions, from linguistic experience, and from historical context. In contemporary cognitive linguistics, an image schema is considered an embodied prelinguistic structure of experience that motivates conceptual metaphor mappings. Evidence for image schemata is drawn from a number of related disciplines, including work on cross-modal cognition in psychology, from spatial cognition in both linguistics and psychology, cognitive linguistics, and from neuroscience.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_imagery - a mental process by which an individual rehearses or simulates a given action. It is widely used in sport training as mental practice of action, neurological rehabilitation, and has also been employed as a research paradigm in cognitive neuroscience and cognitive psychology to investigate the content and the structure of covert processes (i.e., unconscious) that precede the execution of action.



Understanding

tooo sort.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understanding - a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object. Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object of understanding. Understanding implies abilities and dispositions with respect to an object of knowledge sufficient to support intelligent behavior. An understanding is the limit of a conceptualization. To understand something is to have conceptualized it to a given measure.






"If the truth can be told so as to be understood, it will be believed." -- William Blake ("Truth cannot be told, so as to be understood, and not be believ'd.")

"Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive" -- Sir Walter Scott

"'Understanding' is a vague concept." -- Wittgenstein

"Do not follow in the footsteps of sages. Seek what they sought."

"There is old wisdom enough to contradict the other half of old wisdom" -- Approx.

“I would like to beg you, dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.

Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now.

Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

~ Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet (1903) [50] 

What I if told you
You the read first line wrong
Same with the second


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nous - sometimes equated to intellect or intelligence, is a philosophical term for the faculty of the human mind which is described in classical philosophy as necessary for understanding what is true or real, similar in meaning to intuition. The three commonly used philosophical terms are from Greek, νοῦς or νόος, and Latin intellectus and intelligentia respectively.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noumenon - a posited object or event that is known (if at all) without the use of the senses. The term is generally used in contrast with, or in relation to "phenomenon", which refers to anything that appears to, or is an object of, the senses. In Platonic philosophy, the noumenal realm was equated with the world of ideas known to the philosophical mind, in contrast to the phenomenal realm, which was equated with the world of sensory reality, known to the uneducated mind.


Attribution and insight

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attribution_(psychology) - he process by which individuals explain the causes of behavior and events. Attribution theory is the study of various models that attempt to explain those processes. Psychological research into attribution began with the work of Fritz Heider in the early part of the 20th century, subsequently developed by others such as Harold Kelley and Bernard Weiner. Heider subsequently extended his ideas to the question of how people perceive each other, and in particular how they account for each other's behavior, person perception. Motives played an important role in Heider's model: "motives, intentions, sentiments ... the core processes which manifest themselves in overt behavior".


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm_shift - is, according to Thomas Kuhn, in his influential book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), a change in the basic assumptions, or paradigms, within the ruling theory of science. It is in contrast to his idea of normal science. According to Kuhn, "A paradigm is what members of a scientific community, and they alone, share" (The Essential Tension, 1977). Unlike a normal scientist, Kuhn held, "a student in the humanities has constantly before him a number of competing and incommensurable solutions to these problems, solutions that he must ultimately examine for himself" (The Structure of Scientific Revolutions).

Once a paradigm shift is complete, a scientist cannot, for example, reject the germ theory of disease to posit the possibility that miasma causes disease or reject modern physics and optics to posit that aether carries light. In contrast, a critic in the humanities can choose to adopt an array of stances (e.g., Marxist criticism, Freudian criticism, Deconstruction, 19th-century-style literary criticism), which may be more or less fashionable during any given period but all regarded as legitimate. Since the 1960s, the term has also been used in numerous non-scientific contexts to describe a profound change in a fundamental model or perception of events, even though Kuhn himself restricted the use of the term to the hard sciences. Compare as a structured form of Zeitgeist.

Belief and faith

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belief - a mental representation, treated in various academic disciplines, especially philosophy and psychology, of a sentient being's attitude toward the likelihood or truth of something. In Greek, two different concepts are often represented by the concept of belief: Pistis and Doxa. Simplified we may say that the first deals in trust and confidence, the latter in opinion and acceptance.




  • Belief – An opinion or judgement in which a person is fully persuaded.
  • Faith = ( Belief + Action + Confidence )
  • Confidence – Trust that is based on knowledge or past experience

"But our problem is really with unbelief, not a lack of faith. The good news is that we can change our unbelief into belief. It’s really a fairly simple, straight forward process. We just need to become more fully persuaded of the truth instead of the misconceptions and lies that we are currently holding on to."



"[Death] You need to believe in things that aren't true. How else can they become?"

Knowledge and truth

See also Maths#Formal systems


"figuring out which ideas are true is hard."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology - the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge and is also referred to as "theory of knowledge". It questions what knowledge is and how it can be acquired, and the extent to which knowledge pertinent to any given subject or entity can be acquired. Much of the debate in this field has focused on the philosophical analysis of the nature of knowledge and how it relates to connected notions such as truth, belief, and justification. The term "epistemology" was introduced by the Scottish philosopher James Frederick Ferrier (1808–1864).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemic_virtue - as identified by virtue epistemologists, reflect their contention that belief is an ethical process, and thus susceptible to the intellectual virtue or vice of one's own life and personal experiences. Being an epistemically virtuous person is often equated with being a critical thinker.






  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coherentism - whereby a body of knowledge, not requiring a secure foundation, can be established by the interlocking strength of its components, like a puzzle solved without prior certainty that each small region was solved correctly.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallibilism - the philosophical principle that human beings could be wrong about their beliefs, expectations, or their understanding of the world, and yet still be justified in holding their incorrect beliefs.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhonism - a school of skepticism founded by Aenesidemus in the 1st century BC and recorded by Sextus Empiricus in the late 2nd century or early 3rd century AD. It was named after Pyrrho, a philosopher who lived from c. 360 to c. 270 BC, although the relationship between the philosophy of the school and that of the historical figure is murky. A revival of the use of the term occurred during the 17th century.

Whereas academic skepticism, with Carneades as its most famous adherent, claims that "Nothing can be known, not even this", Pyrrhonian skeptics withhold any assent with regard to non-evident propositions and remain in a state of perpetual inquiry. They disputed the possibility of attaining truth by sensory apprehension, reason, or the two combined, and thence inferred the need for total suspension of judgment (epoché) on things. A Pyrrhonist tries to make the arguments of both sides as strong as possible. Then he asks himself if there is any reason to prefer one side to the other. And if not, he suspends belief in either side. According to them, even the statement that nothing can be known is dogmatic. They thus attempted to make their skepticism universal, and to escape the reproach of basing it upon a fresh dogmatism. Mental imperturbability (ataraxia) was the result to be attained by cultivating such a frame of mind. As in Stoicism and Epicureanism, the happiness or satisfaction of the individual was the goal of life, and all three philosophies placed it in tranquility or indifference. According to the Pyrrhonists, it is our opinions or unwarranted judgments about things which turn them into desires, painful effort, and disappointment. From all this a person is delivered who abstains from judging one state to be preferable to another. But, as complete inactivity would have been synonymous with death, the skeptic, while retaining his consciousness of the complete uncertainty enveloping every step, might follow custom (or nature) in the ordinary affairs of life.


It is generally agreed that knowledge requires justification. It is not enough to have a true belief: one must also have good reasons for that belief. Skeptics claim that it is not possible to have an adequate justification.

Skepticism is not a single position but covers a range of different positions. In the ancient world there were two main skeptical traditions. Academic skepticism took the dogmatic position that knowledge was not possible; Pyrrhonian skeptics refused to take a dogmatic position on any issue—including skepticism. Radical skepticism ends in the paradoxical claim that one cannot know anything—including that one cannot know anything.

Skepticism can be classified according to its scope. Local skepticism involves being skeptical about particular areas of knowledge, e.g. moral skepticism, skepticism about the external world, or skepticism about other minds, whereas global skepticism is skeptical about the possibility of any knowledge at all.

Skepticism can also be classified according to its method. In the Western tradition there are two basic approaches to skepticism. Cartesian skepticism, named somewhat misleadingly after René Descartes who was not a skeptic but used some traditional skeptical arguments in his Meditations to help establish his rationalist approach to knowledge, attempts to show that any proposed knowledge claim can be doubted. Agrippan skepticism focuses on the process of justification rather than the possibility of doubt. According to this view there are three ways in which one might attempt to justify a claim but none of them are adequate. One can keep on providing further justification but this leads to an infinite regress; one can stop at a dogmatic assertion; or one can argue in a circle.

Philosophical skepticism is distinguished from methodological skepticism in that philosophical skepticism is an approach that questions the possibility of certainty in knowledge, whereas methodological skepticism is an approach that subjects all knowledge claims to scrutiny with the goal of sorting out true from false claims.

Skepticism, as an epistemological argument, poses the question of whether knowledge, in the first place, is possible. Skeptics argue that the belief in something does not necessarily justify an assertion of knowledge of it. In this, skeptics oppose dogmatic foundationalism, which states that there have to be some basic positions that are self-justified or beyond justification, without reference to others. (One example of such foundationalism may be found in Spinoza's Ethics.) The skeptical response to this can take several approaches. First, claiming that "basic positions" must exist amounts to the logical fallacy of argument from ignorance combined with the slippery slope.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empiricism - a theory which states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism and skepticism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence, especially sensory experience, in the formation of ideas, over the notion of innate ideas or traditions; empiricists may argue however that traditions (or customs) arise due to relations of previous sense experiences.

Empiricism in the philosophy of science emphasizes evidence, especially as discovered in experiments. It is a fundamental part of the scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations of the natural world rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation.

Empiricism, often used by natural scientists, asserts that "knowledge is based on experience" and that "knowledge is tentative and probabilistic, subject to continued revision and falsification." One of the epistemological tenets is that sensory experience creates knowledge. The scientific method, including experiments and validated measurement tools, guides empirical research.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationalism - the view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification". More formally, rationalism is defined as a methodology or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive" Rationalists believe reality has an intrinsically logical structure. Because of this, rationalists argue that certain truths exist and that the intellect can directly grasp these truths. That is to say, rationalists assert that certain rational principles exist in logic, mathematics, ethics, and metaphysics that are so fundamentally true that denying them causes one to fall into contradiction. Rationalists have such a high confidence in reason that proof and physical evidence are unnecessary to ascertain truth – in other words, "there are significant ways in which our concepts and knowledge are gained independently of sense experience". Because of this belief, empiricism is one of rationalism's greatest rivals.

Different degrees of emphasis on this method or theory lead to a range of rationalist standpoints, from the moderate position "that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge" to the more extreme position that reason is "the unique path to knowledge". Given a pre-modern understanding of reason, rationalism is identical to philosophy, the Socratic life of inquiry, or the zetetic (skeptical) clear interpretation of authority (open to the underlying or essential cause of things as they appear to our sense of certainty). In recent decades, Leo Strauss sought to revive "Classical Political Rationalism" as a discipline that understands the task of reasoning, not as foundational, but as maieutic. Rationalism should not be confused with rationality, nor with rationalization.

In politics, Rationalism, since the Enlightenment, historically emphasized a "politics of reason" centered upon rational choice, utilitarianism, secularism, and irreligion – the latter aspect's antitheism later ameliorated by utilitarian adoption of pluralistic rationalist methods practicable regardless of religious or irreligious ideology.

In this regard, the philosopher John Cottingham noted how rationalism, a methodology, became socially conflated with atheism, a worldview: In the past, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries, the term 'rationalist' was often used to refer to free thinkers of an anti-clerical and anti-religious outlook, and for a time the word acquired a distinctly pejorative horse (thus in 1670 Sanderson spoke disparagingly of 'a mere rationalist, that is to say in plain English an atheist of the late edition...'). The use of the label 'rationalist' to characterize a world outlook which has no place for the supernatural is becoming less popular today; terms like 'humanist' or 'materialist' seem largely to have taken its place. But the old usage still survives.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idealism - the group of philosophies which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing. In a sociological sense, idealism emphasizes how human ideas—especially beliefs and values—shape society. As an ontological doctrine, idealism goes further, asserting that all entities are composed of mind or spirit. Idealism thus rejects physicalist and dualist theories that fail to ascribe priority to the mind.

The earliest extant arguments that the world of experience is grounded in the mental derive from India and Greece. The Hindu idealists in India and the Greek Neoplatonists gave panentheistic arguments for an all-pervading consciousness as the ground or true nature of reality. In contrast, the Yogācāra school, which arose within Mahayana Buddhism in India in the 4th century CE, based its "mind-only" idealism to a greater extent on phenomenological analyses of personal experience. This turn toward the subjective anticipated empiricists such as George Berkeley, who revived idealism in 18th-century Europe by employing skeptical arguments against materialism.

Beginning with Immanuel Kant, German idealists such as G. W. F. Hegel, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, and Arthur Schopenhauer dominated 19th-century philosophy. This tradition, which emphasized the mental or "ideal" character of all phenomena, birthed idealistic and subjectivist schools ranging from British idealism to phenomenalism to existentialism. The historical influence of this branch of idealism remains central even to the schools that rejected its metaphysical assumptions, such as Marxism, pragmatism and positivism.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na%C3%AFve_realism - also known as direct realism or common sense realism, is a philosophy of mind rooted in a theory of perception that claims that the senses provide us with direct awareness of the external world. In contrast, some forms of idealism assert that no world exists apart from mind-dependent ideas and some forms of skepticism say we cannot trust our senses.

The realist view is that we perceive objects as they really are. They are composed of matter, occupy spaaaaaace and have properties, such as size, shape, texture, smell, taste and colour, that are usually perceived correctly. Objects obey the laws of physics and retain all their properties whether or not there is anyone to observe them.

Naïve realism is known as direct as against indirect or representative realism when its arguments are developed to counter the latter position, also known as epistemological dualism; that our conscious experience is not of the real world but of an internal representation of the world.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_and_indirect_realism - question of direct or "naïve" realism, as opposed to indirect or "representational" realism, arises in the philosophy of perception and of mind out of the debate over the nature of conscious experience; the epistemological question of whether the world we see around us is the real world itself or merely an internal perceptual copy of that world generated by neural processes in our brain.

Naïve realism is known as direct realism when developed to counter indirect or representative realism, also known as epistemological dualism, the philosophical position that our conscious experience is not of the real world itself but of an internal representation, a miniature virtual-reality replica of the world. Indirect realism is broadly equivalent to the accepted view of perception in natural science that states that we do not and cannot perceive the external world as it really is but know only our ideas and interpretations of the way the world is.

Representationalism is one of the key assumptions of cognitivism in psychology. The representational realist would deny that 'first-hand knowledge' is a coherent concept, since knowledge is always via some means. Our ideas of the world are interpretations of sensory input derived from an external world that is real (unlike the standpoint of idealism). The alternative, that we have knowledge of the outside world that is unconstrained by our sense organs and does not require interpretation, would appear to be inconsistent with everyday observation.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_realism - is, at the most general level, the view that the world described by science is the real world, as it is, independent of what we might take it to be. Within philosophy of science, it is often framed as an answer to the question "how is the success of science to be explained?" The debate over what the success of science involves centers primarily on the status of unobservable entities apparently talked about by scientific theories. Generally, those who are scientific realists assert that one can make valid claims about unobservables (viz., that they have the same ontological status) as observables, as opposed to instrumentalism.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_positivism - and logical empiricism, which together formed neopositivism, was a movement in Western philosophy that embraced verificationism, an approach that sought to legitimize philosophical discourse on a basis shared with the best examples of empirical sciences. In this theory of knowledge, only statements verifiable either logically or empirically would be cognitively meaningful. Seeking to convert philosophy to this new scientific philosophy was aimed to prevent confusion rooted in unclear language and unverifiable claims. The Berlin Circle and the Vienna Circle propounded logical positivism starting in the late 1920s.

Interpreting Ludwig Wittgenstein's philosophy of language, logical positivists identified a verifiability principle or criterion of cognitive meaningfulness. From Bertrand Russell's logicism they sought reduction of mathematics to logic as well as Russell's logical atomism, Ernst Mach's phenomenalism—whereby the mind knows only actual or potential sensory experience, which is the content of all sciences, whether physics or psychology—and Percy Bridgman's musings that others proclaimed as operationalism. Thereby, only the verifiable was scientific and cognitively meaningful, whereas the unverifiable was unscientific, cognitively meaningless "pseudostatements"—metaphysic, emotive, or such—not candidate to further review by philosophers, newly tasked to organize knowledge, not develop new knowledge.

Logical positivism became famed for vigorous scientific antirealism to purge science of talk about nature's unobservable aspects—including causality, mechanism, and principles—although that goal has been exaggerated[who said this?]. Still, talk of such unobservables would be metaphorical—direct observations viewed in the abstract—or at worst metaphysical or emotional. Theoretical laws would be reduced to empirical laws, while theoretical terms would garner meaning from observational terms via correspondence rules. Mathematics of physics would reduce to symbolic logic via logicism, while rational reconstruction would convert ordinary language into standardized equivalents, all networked and united by a logical syntax. A scientific theory would be stated with its method of verification, whereby a logical calculus or empirical operation could verify its falsity or truth.

In the late 1930s, logical positivists fled Germany and Austria for Britain and America. By then, many had replaced Mach's phenomenalism with Neurath's physicalism, and Carnap had sought to replace verification with simply confirmation. With World War II's close in 1945, logical positivism became milder, logical empiricism, led largely by Carl Hempel, in America, who expounded the covering law model of scientific explanation. The logical positivist movement became a major underpinning of analytic philosophy, and dominated Anglosphere philosophy, including philosophy of science, while influencing sciences, into the 1960s. Yet the movement failed to resolve its central problems, and its doctrines were increasingly assaulted, most trenchantly by W V O Quine, Norwood Hanson, Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, and by Carl Hempel.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_realism_(philosophy) - was a philosophy expounded in the early 20th century by a group of six US based scholars, namely Edwin Bissell Holt (Harvard University), Walter Taylor Marvin (Rutgers College), William Pepperell Montague (Columbia University), Ralph Barton Perry (Harvard), Walter Boughton Pitkin (Columbia) and Edward Gleason Spaulding (Princeton University).

The central feature of the new realism was a rejection of the epistemological dualism of John Locke and of older forms of realism. The group maintained that, when one is conscious of, or knows, an object, it is an error to say that the object in itself and our knowledge of the object are two distinct facts. If we know a particular cow is black, is the blackness on that cow or in the observer's mind? Holt wrote; "That color out there is the thing in consciousness selected for such inclusion by the nervous system's specific response," Consciousness is not physically identical with the nervous system: it is "out there" with the cow, all throughout the field of sight (and smell, and hearing) and identical with the set of facts it knows at any moment. The nervous system is merely a system of selection.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatism - A rejection of the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. Instead, pragmatists develop their philosophy around the idea that the function of thought is as an instrument or tool for prediction, action, and problem solving. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics—such as the nature of knowledge, language, concepts, meaning, belief, and science—are all best viewed in terms of their practical uses and successes rather than in terms of representative accuracy
  • In Out Time - Pragmatism




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physicalism - thesis that "everything is physical", that there is "nothing over and above" the physical,[1] or that everything supervenes on the physical. Physicalism is a form of ontological monism—a "one substance" view of the nature of reality as opposed to a "two-substance" (dualism) or "many-substance" (pluralism) view. Both the definition of physical and the meaning of physicalism have been debated. Physicalism is closely related to materialism. Physicalism grew out of materialism with the success of the physical sciences in explaining observed phenomena. The terms are often used interchangeably, although they are sometimes distinguished, for example on the basis of physics describing more than just matter (including energy and physical law).


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_realism - the view propounded by David Kellogg Lewis that all possible worlds are as real as the actual world. It is based on the following tenets: possible worlds exist; possible worlds are not different in kind from the actual world; possible worlds are irreducible entities; the term actual in actual world is indexical, i.e. any subject can declare their world to be the actual one, much as they label the place they are "here" and the time they are "now".



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-oriented_ontology - that rejects the privileging of human existence over the existence of nonhuman objects. Specifically, object-oriented ontology opposes the anthropocentrism of Immanuel Kant's Copernican Revolution, whereby objects are said to conform to the mind of the subject and, in turn, become products of human cognition. In contrast to Kant's view, object-oriented philosophers maintain that objects exist independently of human perception and are not ontologically exhausted by their relations with humans or other objects. Thus, for object-oriented ontologists, all relations, including those between nonhumans, distort their relata in the same basic manner as human consciousness and exist on an equal footing with one another.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_rationalism - an epistemological philosophy advanced by Karl Popper. Critical rationalists hold that scientific theories and any other claims to knowledge can and should be rationally criticized, and (if they have empirical content) can and should be subjected to tests which may falsify them. Thus claims to knowledge may be contrastingly and normatively evaluated. They are either falsifiable and thus empirical (in a very broad sense), or not falsifiable and thus non-empirical. Those claims to knowledge that are potentially falsifiable can then be admitted to the body of empirical science, and then further differentiated according to whether they are retained or are later actually falsified. If retained, further differentiation may be made on the basis of how much subjection to criticism they have received, how severe such criticism has been, and how probable the theory is, with the least[1] probable theory that still withstands attempts to falsify it being the one to be preferred. That it is the least probable theory that is to be preferred is one of the contrasting differences between critical rationalism and classical views on science, such as positivism, who hold that one should instead accept the most probable theory. (The least probable theory is the one with the highest information content and most open to future falsification.)

Critical Rationalism as a discourse positioned itself against what its proponents took to be epistemologically relativist philosophies, particularly post-modernist or sociological approaches to knowledge. Critical rationalism has it that knowledge is objective (in the sense of being embodied in various substrates and in the sense of not being reducible to what humans individually "know"), and also that truth is objective (exists independently of social mediation or individual perception, but is "really real").


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_epistemology - A study of the origins (genesis) of knowledge (epistemology). The discipline was established by Jean Piaget. The goal of genetic epistemology is to link the validity of knowledge to the model of its construction. It shows that how the knowledge was gained affects how valid it is. It also explains the process of how people develop cognitively from birth throughout their lives in four primary stages: sensorimotor (birth to age 2), preoperational (2-7), concrete operational (7-11), and formal operational (11 years onward). Assimilation occurs when the perception of a new event or object occurs to the learner in an existing schema and is usually used in the context of self-motivation. In Accommodation, one accommodates the experiences according to the outcome of the tasks. The highest form of development is equilibration. Equilibration encompasses both assimilation and accommodation as the learner changes how they think to get a better answer. This is the upper level of development. Piaget's genetic epistemology is half-way between formal logic and dialectical logic and mid-way between objective idealism and materialism.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget
  • Piaget on Piaget


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duhem–Quine_thesis - that it is impossible to test a scientific hypothesis in isolation, because an empirical test of the hypothesis requires one or more background assumptions (also called auxiliary assumptions or auxiliary hypotheses).













Reasoning

surprise; a right mess

See also Learning

"Reasons are ideas that work"


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_of_reasoning - he study of how people reason, often broadly defined as the process of drawing conclusions to inform how people solve problems and make decisions. It is at the intersection of psychology, philosophy, linguistics, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, logic, and probability theory. Psychological experiments on how humans and other animals reason have been carried out for over 100 years. An enduring question is whether or not people have the capacity to be rational. What does it mean to be rational? Current research in this area addresses various questions about reasoning, rationality, judgments, intelligence, relationships between emotion and reasoning, and development.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_thought - fundamental axiomatic rules upon which rational discourse itself is often considered to be based. The formulation and clarification of such rules have a long tradition in the history of philosophy and logic. Generally they are taken as laws that guide and underlie everyone's thinking, thoughts, expressions, discussions, etc. However such classical ideas are often questioned or rejected in more recent developments, such as Intuitionistic logic, Dialetheism and Fuzzy Logic.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice - involves decision making. It can include judging the merits of multiple options and selecting one or more of them. One can make a choice between imagined options ("what would I do if ...?") or between real options followed by the corresponding action. For example, a traveller might choose a route for a journey based on the preference of arriving at a given destination as soon as possible. The preferred (and therefore chosen) route can then follow from information such as the length of each of the possible routes, traffic conditions, etc. If the arrival at a choice includes more complex motivators, cognition, instinct and feeling can become more intertwined.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nous - sometimes equated to intellect or intelligence, is a philosophical term for the faculty of the human mind which is described in classical philosophy as necessary for understanding what is true or real, similar in meaning to intuition.



Rationality

See also Maths#Logic

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defeasible_reasoning - a particular kind of non-demonstrative reasoning, where the reasoning does not produce a full, complete, or final demonstration of a claim, i.e., where fallibility and corrigibility of a conclusion are acknowledged. In other words defeasible reasoning produces a contingent statement or claim. Other kinds of non-demonstrative reasoning are probabilistic reasoning, inductive reasoning, statistical reasoning, abductive reasoning, and paraconsistent reasoning. Defeasible reasoning is also a kind of ampliative reasoning because its conclusions reach beyond the pure meanings of the premises.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abductive_reasoning - a form of logical inference that goes from an observation to a hypothesis that accounts for the observation, ideally seeking to find the simplest and most likely explanation. In abductive reasoning, unlike in deductive reasoning, the premises do not guarantee the conclusion. One can understand abductive reasoning as "inference to the best explanation".


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raven_paradox - also known as Hempel's paradox or Hempel's ravens, is a paradox arising from the question of what constitutes evidence for a statement. Observing objects that are neither black nor ravens may formally increase the likelihood that all ravens are black even though, intuitively, these observations are unrelated. This problem was proposed by the logician Carl Gustav Hempel in the 1940s to illustrate a contradiction between inductive logic and intuition.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivated_reasoning - emotion-biased decision-making phenomenon studied in cognitive science and social psychology. This term describes the role of motivation in cognitive processes such as decision-making and attitude change in a number of paradigms, including: Cognitive dissonance reduction, Beliefs about others on whom one's own outcomes depend, Evaluation of evidence related to one's own outcomes


  • The Structure of Ill Structured Problems - Herbert A. Simon - The boundary between well structured and ill structured problems is vague, fluid and not susceptible to formalization. Any problem solving process will appear ill structured if the problem solver is a serial machine that has access to a very large long-term memory of potentially relevant information, and/or access to a very large external memory that provides information about the actual real-world consequences of problem-solving actions. There is no reason to suppose that new and hitherto unknown concepts or techniques are needed to enable artificial intelligence systems to operate successfully in domains that have these characteristics.



Bias and fallacy

Not all biases are bad, especially when they are known.








  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideas_of_reference_and_delusions_of_reference - For the antipsychiatrists, validation rather than clinical condemnation of ideas of reference frequently took place, on the grounds for example that 'the patient's ideas of reference and influence and delusions of persecution were merely descriptions of her parents' behavior toward her'. Whilst accepting that 'there is certainly confusion between persecutory fantasies and persecutory realities', figures like David Cooper considered that 'ideas of connection with apparently remote people, or ideas of being influenced by others equally remote, are in fact stating their experience' of social influence—albeit in a distorted form by 'including in their network of influence institutions as absurd as Scotland Yard, the Queen of England, the President of the United States, or the B. B. C.' R. D. Laing took a similar view of the person who was 'saying that his brains have been taken from him, that his actions are controlled from outer space, etc. Such delusions are partially achieved derealization-realizations'.

Laing also considered of the way 'in typical paranoid ideas of reference, the person feels that the murmurings and mutterings he hears as he walks past a street crowd are about him. In a bar, a burst of laughter behind his back is at some joke cracked about him' that deeper acquaintance with the patient reveals in fact that 'what tortures him is not so much his delusions of reference, but his harrowing suspicion that he is of no importance to anyone, that no one is referring to him at all'.






  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_effect_(psychology) - in which people react to a particular choice in different ways depending on how it is presented; e.g. as a loss or as a gain. People tend to avoid risk when a positive frame is presented but seek risks when a negative frame is presented. Gain and loss are defined in the scenario as descriptions of outcomes (e.g. lives lost or saved, disease patients treated and not treated, lives saved and lost during accidents, etc.


The concept helps to develop an understanding of frame analysis within social movements, and also in the formation of political opinion where spin plays a large role in political opinion polls that are framed to encourage a response beneficial to the organization that has commissioned the poll. It has been suggested that the use of the technique is discrediting political polls themselves.[5] The effect is reduced, or even eliminated, if ample credible information is provided to people.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_distortion - exaggerated or irrational thought patterns that are believed to perpetuate the effects of psychopathological states, especially depression and anxiety. Psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck laid the groundwork for the study of these distortions, and his student David D. Burns continued research on the topic. Most notably, Burns’ 1989 book, The Feeling Good Handbook presented information on these thought patterns along with a proposal of how to eliminate them. Moreover, cognitive distortions are thoughts that cause individuals to perceive reality negatively. These negative thinking patterns are simply convincing the mind of individuals that what they see is true when it is not. They are inaccurate thoughts that usually reinforce negative thoughts or emotions. Cognitive distortions tend to interfere with the way a person perceives an event. Since the way a person feels intervenes with how they think, these distorted thoughts feed their negative emotions. As a result, an individual affected by cognitive distortions may have an overall negative outlook on the world.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance - the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance focuses on how humans strive for internal consistency. An individual who experiences inconsistency (dissonance) tends to become psychologically uncomfortable, and is motivated to try to reduce this dissonance—as well as actively avoid situations and information likely to increase it.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introspection_illusion - a cognitive bias in which people wrongly think they have direct insight into the origins of their mental states, while treating others' introspections as unreliable. In certain situations, this illusion leads people to make confident but false explanations of their own behavior (called "causal theories") or inaccurate predictions of their future mental states.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_abstraction - in which a detail is taken out of context and believed whilst everything else in the context is ignored. It commonly appears in Aaron Beck's work in cognitive therapy. Another definition is, "focusing on only the negative aspects of an event, such as, 'I ruined the whole recital because of that one mistake'"


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy_gap - in which a person underestimates the influences of visceral drives, and instead attributes behavior primarily to other, nonvisceral factors. The crux of this idea is that human understanding is "state dependent". For example, when one is angry, it is difficult to understand what it is like for one to be happy, and vice versa; when one is blindly in love with someone, it is difficult to understand what it is like for one not to be, (or to imagine the possibility of not being blindly in love in the future). The bargaining games conclude that if one is completely powerless, the one proposing the offer to the powerless will lack strategy.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjective_validation - sometimes called personal validation effect, is a cognitive bias by which a person will consider a statement or another piece of information to be correct if it has any personal meaning or significance to them
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forer_effect - the observation that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically for them, but are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_exposure_theory- a concept in media and communication research that historically refers to individuals’ tendency to favor information that reinforces pre-existing views while avoiding contradictory information. In contemporary work, the term 'selective exposure' coins any bias in exposure to available messages (e.g., men watching more sports than women, or individuals with higher education spending more time with newspaper reading).



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-risk_bias - a tendency to prefer the complete elimination of a risk even when alternative options produce a greater reduction in risk (overall). Other biases might underlie the zero-risk bias. One is a tendency to think in terms of proportions rather than differences. A greater reduction in proportion of deaths is valued higher than a greater reduction in actual deaths. The zero-risk bias could then be seen as the extreme end of a broad bias about quantities as applied to risk. Framing effects can enhance the bias, for example, by emphasizing a large proportion in a small set or can attempt to mitigate the bias by emphasizing total quantities.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reification_(fallacy) - also known as concretism, or the fallacy of misplaced concreteness, is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it were a concrete, real event, or physical entity. In other words, it is the error of treating as a concrete thing, something which is not concrete, but merely an idea.

Another common manifestation is the confusion of a model with reality. Mathematical or simulation models may help understand a system or situation but real life will differ from the model (e.g. 'the map is not the territory'). Reification is generally accepted in literature and other forms of discourse where reified abstractions are understood to be intended metaphorically, but the use of reification in logical arguments is usually regarded as a fallacy.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindsight_bias - also known as the knew-it-all-along effect or creeping determinism, is the inclination, after an event has occurred, to see the event as having been predictable, despite there having been little or no objective basis for predicting it, prior to its occurrence


  • An Illustrated Book of Bad Arguments - "This book is aimed at newcomers to the field of logical reasoning, particularly those who, to borrow a phrase from Pascal, are so made that they understand best through visuals. I have selected a small set of common errors in reasoning and visualized them using memorable illustrations that are supplemented with lots of examples. The hope is that the reader will learn from these pages some of the most common pitfalls in arguments and be able to identify and avoid them in practice."
  • The Skeptic's Dictionary is a website and a book. Each features definitions, arguments, and essays on topics ranging from acupuncture to zombies, and provides a lively, commonsense trove of detailed information on things supernatural, paranormal, and pseudoscientific.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_justification - a theory within social psychology that proposes people have a motivation to defend and justify the status quo, even when it may be disadvantageous to certain people. People have a psychological need to maintain stability and order in their lives. As such, they are motivated to see the status quo (or prevailing social, economic, and political norms) as good, legitimate, and desirable

Heuristic

to resort

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heuristic - refers to experience-based techniques for problem solving, learning, and discovery that find a solution which is not guaranteed to be optimal, but good enough for a given set of goals. Where the exhaustive search is impractical, heuristic methods are used to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution via mental shortcuts to ease the cognitive load of making a decision. Examples of this method include using a rule of thumb, an educated guess, an intuitive judgment, stereotyping, or common sense. More precisely, heuristics are strategies using readily accessible, though loosely applicable, information to control problem solving in human beings and machines.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affect_heuristic - a mental shortcut that allows people to make decisions and solve problems quickly and efficiently, in which current emotion—fear, pleasure, surprise, etc.—influences decisions. In other words, it is a type of heuristic in which emotional response, or "affect" in psychological terms, plays a lead role. It is a subconscious process that shortens the decision-making process and allows people to function without having to complete an extensive search for information. It is shorter in duration than a mood, occurring rapidly and involuntarily in response to a stimulus. Reading the words "lung cancer" usually generates an affect of dread, while reading the words "mother's love" usually generates a feeling of affection and comfort. The affect heuristic is typically used while judging the risks and benefits of something, depending on the positive or negative feelings that people associate with a stimulus. It is the equivalent of "going with your gut". If their feelings towards an activity are positive, then people are more likely to judge the risks as low and the benefits high. On the other hand, if their feelings towards an activity are negative, they are more likely to perceive the risks as high and benefits low.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representativeness_heuristic - the degree to which [an event] (i) is similar in essential characteristics to its parent population, and (ii) reflects the salient features of the process by which it is generated". When people rely on representativeness to make judgments, they are likely to judge wrongly because the fact that something is more representative does not make it more likely. The representativeness heuristic is simply described as assessing similarity of objects and organizing them based around the category prototype (e.g. like goes with like and causes and effects should resemble each other. This heuristic is used because it is an easy computation. The problem is that people overestimate its ability to accurately predict the likelihood of an event. Thus it can result in neglect of relevant base rates and other cognitive biases.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaheuristic - a metaheuristic is a higher-level procedure or heuristic designed to find, generate, or select a lower-level procedure or heuristic (partial search algorithm) that may provide a sufficiently good solution to an optimization problem, especially with incomplete or imperfect information or limited computation capacity. Metaheuristics may make few assumptions about the optimization problem being solved, and so they may be usable for a variety of problems.

Compared to optimization algorithms and iterative methods, metaheuristics do not guarantee that a globally optimal solution can be found on some class of problems. Many metaheuristics implement some form of stochastic optimization, so that the solution found is dependent on the set of random variables generated. By searching over a large set of feasible solutions, metaheuristics can often find good solutions with less computational effort than algorithms, iterative methods, or simple heuristics. As such, they are useful approaches for optimization problems.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po_(lateral_thinking) - an idea which moves thinking forward to a new place from where new ideas or solutions may be found. The term was created by Edward de Bono as part of a lateral thinking technique to suggest forward movement, that is, making a statement and seeing where it leads to. It is an extraction from words such as hypothesis, suppose, possible and poetry, all of which indicate forward movement and contain the syllable "po." Po can be taken to refer to any of the following: provoking operation, provocative operation or provocation operation. Also, in ancient Polynesian and the Maori, the word "po" refers to the original chaotic state of formlessness, from which evolution occurred. Edward de Bono argues that this context as well applies to the term.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariadne's_thread_(logic) - named for the legend of Ariadne, is the solving of a problem with multiple apparent means of proceeding - such as a physical maze, a logic puzzle, or an ethical dilemma - through an exhaustive application of logic to all available routes. It is the particular method used that is able to follow completely through to trace steps or take point by point a series of found truths in a contingent, ordered search that reaches an end position. This process can take the form of a mental record, a physical marking, or even a philosophical debate; it is the process itself that assumes the name.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polychotomous_key - refers to the number of alternatives which a decision point may have in a non-temporal hierarchy of independent variables. The number of alternatives are equivalent to the root or nth root of a mathematical or logical variable. Decision points or independent variables with two states have a binary root that is referred to as a dichotomous key whereas, the term polychotomous key refers to roots which are greater than one or unitary and usually greater than two or binary. Polychotomous keys are used in troubleshooting to build troubleshooting charts and in classification/identification schemes with characteristics that have more than one attribute and the order of characteristics is not inherently based on the progression of time.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_theory - in economics, psychology, philosophy, mathematics, and statistics is concerned with identifying the values, uncertainties and other issues relevant in a given decision, its rationality, and the resulting optimal decision. It is closely related to the field of game theory as to interactions of agents with at least partially conflicting interests whose decisions affect each other.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transderivational_search - often abbreviated to TDS, is a psychological and cybernetics term, meaning when a search is being conducted for a fuzzy match across a broad field. In computing the equivalent function can be performed using content-addressable memory. Unlike usual searches, which look for literal (i.e. exact, logical, or regular expression) matches, a transderivational search is a search for a possible meaning or possible match as part of communication, and without which an incoming communication cannot be made any sense of whatsoever. It is thus an integral part of processing language, and of attaching meaning to communication.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satisficing - portmanteau of satisfy and suffice, a decision-making strategy or cognitive heuristic that entails searching through the available alternatives until an acceptability threshold is met. This is contrasted with optimal decision making, an approach that specifically attempts to find the best alternative available.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounded_rationality - the idea that in decision-making, rationality of individuals is limited by the information they have, the cognitive limitations of their minds, and the finite amount of time they have to make a decision.


Intuition

Intuitions are a priori. This view holds that distinctions are to be made between various sorts of intuition, roughly corresponding to their subject matter (see George Bealer). The only intuitions that are relevant in analytic philosophy are 'rational' intuitions. These are intellectual seemings that something is necessarily the case. They are directed exclusively towards statements that make some kind of necessity claim. For example, a rational intuition is what occurs when it seems to us that a mathematical statement (e.g. 2+2=4) must be true. Intuitions, as this view characterizes them, are to be distinguished from beliefs, since we can hold beliefs which are not intuitive, or have intuitions for propositions that we know to be false.

Intuitions are a species of belief, and based ultimately in experience. This view holds that intuitions are not especially different from beliefs, although they appear subjectively to be more unrevisable than other beliefs. Unlike the previous view, these intuitions are liable to differ between social groups. Evidence for this is shown in various psychological studies (e.g. the one by Stich, Weinburg and Nichols)

In the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, intuition is thought of as basic sensory information provided by the cognitive faculty of sensibility (equivalent to what might loosely be called perception). Kant held that our mind casts all of our external intuitions in the form of spaaaaaace, and all of our internal intuitions (memory, thought) in the form of time.

Intuitionism is a position advanced by Luitzen Egbertus Jan Brouwer in philosophy of mathematics derived from Kant's claim that all mathematical knowledge is knowledge of the pure forms of the intuition - that is, intuition that is not empirical (Prolegomena, p.7). Intuitionistic logic was devised by Arend Heyting to accommodate this position (and has been adopted by other forms of constructivism in general). It is characterized by rejecting the law of excluded middle: as a consequence it does not in general accept rules such as double negation elimination and the use of reductio ad absurdum to prove the existence of something.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition_(psychology) - is the ability to acquire knowledge without inference or the use of reason. The word intuition comes from Latin verb intueri which is usually translated as to look inside or to contemplate. Intuition is thus often conceived as a kind of inner perception, sometimes regarded as real lucidity or understanding. Cases of intuition are of a great diversity; however, processes by which they happen typically remain mostly unknown to the thinker, as opposed to the view of rational thinking. Intuition provides views, understandings, judgements, or beliefs that we cannot in every case empirically verify or rationally justify. For this reason, it has been not only a subject of study in psychology, but also a topic of interest in various religions and esoteric domains, as well as a common subject of writings. The right brain is popularly associated with intuitive processes such as aesthetic or generally creative abilities. Some scientists have contended that intuition is associated with innovation in scientific discovery.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuition_pump - a thought experiment structured to allow the thinker to use their intuition to develop an answer to a problem. The term was coined by Daniel Dennett. In Consciousness Explained, he uses the term to describe John Searle's Chinese room thought experiment, characterizing it as designed to elicit intuitive but incorrect answers by formulating the description in such a way that important implications of the experiment would be difficult to imagine and tend to be ignored. In his book, Elbow Room, Dennett used the term in a positive sense to describe thought experiments which facilitate the understanding of or reasoning about complex subjects by harnessing intuition: "A popular strategy in philosophy is to construct a certain sort of thought experiment I call an intuition pump [...]. Intuition pumps are cunningly designed to focus the reader's attention on "the important" features, and to deflect the reader from bogging down in hard-to-follow details. There is nothing wrong with this in principle. Indeed one of philosophy's highest callings is finding ways of helping people see the forest and not just the trees. But intuition pumps are often abused, though seldom deliberately."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_intuitionism - proposes that moral judgments and actions are caused more by intuition than by reason. Jonathan Haidt (2001) greatly de-emphasizes the role of reasoning in reaching moral conclusions, asserting that moral judgment is primarily given rise to by intuition with reasoning playing a very marginalized role in most of our moral decision-making. Conscious thought-processes serves as a kind of post hoc justification of our decisions.


Methodology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodology


Narrative

See also Language

Science

See Science, Maths#Logic


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothesis - a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous observations that cannot satisfactorily be explained with the available scientific theories. Even though the words "hypothesis" and "theory" are often used synonymously, a scientific hypothesis is not the same as a scientific theory. A working hypothesis is a provisionally accepted hypothesis proposed for further research.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory - a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method, and repeatedly confirmed through observation and experimentation. As with most (if not all) forms of scientific knowledge, scientific theories are inductive in nature and aim for predictive power and explanatory horse. The strength of a scientific theory is related to the diversity of phenomena it can explain, and to its elegance and simplicity (Occam's razor). As additional scientific evidence is gathered, a scientific theory may be rejected or modified if it does not fit the new empirical findings- in such circumstances, a more accurate theory is then desired. In certain cases, the less-accurate unmodified scientific theory can still be treated as a theory if it is useful (due to its sheer simplicity) as an approximation under specific conditions (e.g. Newton's laws of motion as an approximation to special relativity at velocities which are small relative to the speed of light).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictive_power - refers to its ability of a a scientific theory to generate testable predictions. Theories with strong predictive power are highly valued because they have practical applications. The concept of predictive power differs from explanatory and descriptive power (where phenomena that are already known are retrospectively explained by a given theory) in that it allows a prospective test of theoretical understanding.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_evidence - evidence which serves to either support or counter a scientific theory or hypothesis. Such evidence is expected to be empirical evidence and in accordance with scientific method. Standards for scientific evidence vary according to the field of inquiry, but the strength of scientific evidence is generally based on the results of statistical analysis and the strength of scientific controls.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_modelling - a scientific activity, the aim of which is to make a particular part or feature of the world easier to understand, define, quantify, visualize, or simulate. It requires selecting and identifying relevant aspects of a situation in the real world and then using different types of models for different aims, such as conceptual models to better understand, operational models to operationalize, mathematical models to quantify, and graphical models to visualize the subject. Modelling is an essential and inseparable part of scientific activity, and many scientific disciplines have their own ideas about specific types of modelling.

"Science is prediction, not explanation." - Fred Hoyle.











to sort






Ontology

See also Language

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorites_paradox - sometimes translated as the paradox of the heap because in Ancient Greek: σωρίτης sōritēs means "heap") is a paradox that arises from vague predicates. A typical formulation involves a heap of sand, from which grains are individually removed. Under the assumption that removing a single grain does not turn a heap into a non-heap, the paradox is to consider what happens when the process is repeated enough times: is a single remaining grain still a heap? (Or are even no grains at all a heap?) If not, when did it change from a heap to a non-heap?





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_physicalism - asserts that mental events can be grouped into types, and can then be correlated with types of physical events in the brain. For example, one type of mental event, such as "mental pains" will, presumably, turn out to be describing one type of physical event (like C-fiber firings).



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomalous_monism - first proposed by Donald Davidson in his 1970 paper Mental Events. The theory is twofold and states that mental events are identical with physical events, and that the mental is anomalous, i.e. under their mental descriptions, relationships between these mental events are not describable by strict physical laws. Hence, Davidson proposes an identity theory of mind without the reductive bridge laws associated with the type-identity theory.



  • http://thebohmdocumentary.org/bohr-bohm-and-language/ - "And the language we speak, be in English, Danish or German, contains all sort of hidden assumptions about the nature of space, time and causality. In Bohr’s words “we are suspended in language so that we do not know what is up and what is down”. ... Does that mean we are trapped in the language we speak and with no escape? Bohm didn’t agree and felt it was necessary to develop a strongly verb based language. That is a language of process, flow and transformation. He called this the Rheomode or “flowing mode” and tried to experiment with it via staff and students at Krishnamurti’s Brockwood Park School. But he was not that successful and felt that the mind set associated with our everyday language is too strong, as a result everyone started using the verbs as nouns."

Metaphysics


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indefinite_monism - a philosophical conception of reality that asserts that only Awareness is real and that the wholeness of Reality can be conceptually thought of in terms of immanent and transcendent aspects. The immanent aspect is denominated simply as Awareness, while the transcendent aspect is referred to as Omnific Awareness. Awareness in this system is not equivalent to consciousness. Rather, Awareness is the venue for consciousness, and the transcendent aspect of Reality, Omnific Awareness, is what consciousness is of.



  • http://www.reddit.com/r/ProcessRelational - Process-relational thought, an umbrella term for a form of metaphysical realism, focuses on the dynamism by which things are perpetually moving forward, interacting, and creating new conditions in the world. Process-relational thought rejects the Cartesian idea that there are minds, or things that think, and bodies, or matter that only acts according to strict causal laws. Rather, the two are considered one and the same, or two aspects of the same evolving, processual reality. In this sense, process-relational views are related to certain forms of panpsychism and pan-experientialism, that is, to philosophies that understand “mind” or “mental experience” to be not the possession of specific objects or subjects, but part of the relational expression or manifestation of all things.
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Barad - According to Barad's theory of agential realism, the world is made up of phenomena, which are "the ontological inseparability of intra-acting agencies". Intra-action, a neologism introduced by Barad, signals an important challenge to individualist metaphysics. For Barad, things or objects do not precede their interaction, rather, 'objects' emerge through particular intra-actions. Thus, apparatuses, which produce phenomena are not assemblages of humans and nonhumans (as in actor-network theory), rather they are the condition of possibility of 'humans' and 'non-humans', not merely as ideational concepts, but in their materiality. Apparatuses are 'material-discursive' in that they produce determinate meanings and material beings while simultaneously excluding the production of others. What it means to matter is therefore always material-discursive. Barad takes her inspiration from physicist Niels Bohr, one of the founders of quantum physics. Barad's agential realism is at once an epistemology (theory of knowing), an ontology (theory of being), and an ethics. Barad coins the term onto-epistemology. Because specific practices of mattering have ethical consequences, excluding other kinds of mattering, onto-epistemological practices are always in turn onto-ethico-epistemological.


"When those recluses and brahmins who are speculators about the past, speculators about the future, speculators about the past and the future together, who hold settled views about the past and the future, assert on sixty-two grounds various conceptual theorems referring to the past and the future — that too is conditioned by contact. That they can experience that feeling without contact — such a case is impossible."

Intersubjectivity

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersubjectivity - a term used in philosophy, psychology, sociology, and anthropology to represent the psychological relation between people. It is usually used in contrast to solipsistic individual experience, emphasizing our inherently social being.
  • Intersubjectivity is the process in which mental activity -- including conscious awareness, motives and intentions, cognitions, and emotions -- is transferred between minds. ANIMAL COMMUNICATION and cooperative social life require intersubjective signaling (Marler, Evans, and Hauser 1992). Individuals must perceive and selectively respond to the motives, interests, and emotions behind perceived movement in bodies of other animals, especially in conspecifics. Such communication has attained a new level of complexity in human communities, with their consciousness of collectively discovered cultural meanings. Colwyn Trevarthen.

Human intersubectivity manifests itself as an immediate sympathetic awareness of feelings and conscious, purposeful intelligence in others. It is transmitted by body movements (especially of face, vocal tract, and hands) that are adapted to give instantaneous visual, auditory, or tactile information about purposes, interests, and emotions and symbolic ideas active in subjects' minds. On it depends cultural learning, and the creation of a "social reality," of conventional beliefs, languages, rituals, and technologies. Education of children is rooted in preverbal, mimetic intersubjectivity. Human linguistic dialogue also rests on intersubjective awareness, as do the phenomena of "self-awareness" in society. A psychology of intersubjectivity concerns itself with analysis of this innate capacity for intimate and efficient intermental coupling, and attempts to assess what must be learned, through imitation or instruction, to advance intelligent cooperation.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_cognition - how people deal with conspecifics (members of the same species) or even across species (such as pet) information, include four stages: encoding, storage, retrieval, and processing. In the area of social psychology, social cognition refers to a specific approach in which these processes are studied according to the methods of cognitive psychology and information processing theory. According to this view, social cognition is a level of analysis that aims to understand social psychological phenomena by investigating the cognitive processes that underlie them. The major concerns of the approach are the processes involved in the perception, judgment, and memory of social stimuli; the effects of social and affective factors on information processing; and the behavioral and interpersonal consequences of cognitive processes. This level of analysis may be applied to any content area within social psychology, including research on intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, and intergroup processes.

However, the term social cognition has also been used in multiple areas in psychology and cognitive neuroscience.In these areas, the term social cognition is most often used to refer to various social abilities disrupted in autism, schizophrenia and other disorders.[4] In cognitive neuroscience the biological basis of social cognition is investigated. Developmental psychologists study the development of social cognition abilities.


  • Two Distinct Moral Mechanisms for Ascribing and Denying Intentionality - Emotion drives ascriptions of intentionality for negative consequences, while the consideration of statistical norms leads to the denial of intentionality for positive consequences. We employ this novel two-mechanism model to illustrate that morality can paradoxically shape judgments of intentionality. [65]


  • PDF: Three Levels Of Intersubjectivity In Early Development - The sense of shared values is a specific aspect to human sociality. It originates from reciprocal social exchanges that include imitation, empathy, but also negotiation from which meanings, values and norms are eventually constructed with others. Research suggests that this process starts from birth via imitation and mirroring processes that are important foundations of sociality providing a basic sense of social connectedness and mutual acknowledgement with others. From the second month, mirroring, imitative and other contagious responses are by-passed. Neonatal imitation gives way to first signs of reciprocation (primary intersubjectivity), and joint attention in reference to objects (secondary intersubjectivity). We review this development and propose a third level of intersubjectivity,that is the emergence of values that are jointly represented and negotiated with others, as well as the development of an ethical stance accompanying emerging theories of mind from about 4 years of age. We propose that tertiary intersubjectivity is an ontogenetically new process of value negotiation and mutual recognition that are the cardinal trademarks of human sociality.


Situated / embodied

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situated_cognition - a theory that posits that knowing is inseparable from doing by arguing that all knowledge is situated in activity bound to social, cultural and physical contexts. Under this assumption, which requires an epistemological shift from empiricism, situativity theorists suggest a model of knowledge and learning that requires thinking on the fly rather than the storage and retrieval of conceptual knowledge. In essence, cognition cannot be separated from the context. Instead knowing exists, in situ, inseparable from context, activity, people, culture, and language. Therefore, learning is seen in terms of an individual's increasingly effective performance across situations rather than in terms of an accumulation of knowledge, since what is known is co-determined by the agent and the context. This perspective rejects mind-body dualism and person-environment dualism, being conceptually similar to functional contextualism, and B.F. Skinner's behavior analysis.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lived_body - your own body as experienced by yourself, as yourself. Your own body manifests itself to you mainly as your possibilities of acting in the world. It is what lets you reach out and grab something, for instance, but it also, and more importantly, allows for the possibility of changing your point of view. This helps you differentiate one thing from another by the experience of moving around it, seeing new aspects of it (often referred to as making the absent present and the present absent), and still retaining the notion that this is the same thing that you saw other aspects of just a moment ago (it is identical). Your body is also experienced as a duality, both as object (you can touch your own hand) and as your own subjectivity (you are being touched). Empathy refers to the experience of another human body as another subjectivity: In one sense, you see another body, but what you immediately perceive or experience is another subject. In Husserl's original account, this was done by a sort of apperception built on the experiences of your own lived-body.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enactivism - argues that cognition depends on a dynamic interaction between a cognitive organism and its environment. It claims that our environment is one which we selectively create through our capacities to interact with the world. "Organisms do not passively receive information from their environments, which they then translate into internal representations. Natural cognitive systems...participate in the generation of meaning ...engaging in transformational and not merely informational interactions: they enact a world." These authors suggest that the increasing emphasis upon enactive terminology presages a new era in thinking about cognitive science. How the actions involved in enactivism relate to age-old questions about free will remains a topic of active debate. The term 'enactivism' is close in meaning to 'enaction', defined as "the manner in which a subject of perception creatively matches its actions to the requirements of its situation".


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embodied_cognition - holds that the nature of the human mind is largely determined by the form of the human body. Philosophers, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and artificial intelligence researchers who study embodied cognition and the embodied mind argue that all aspects of cognition are shaped by aspects of the body. The aspects of cognition include high level mental constructs (such as concepts and categories) and human performance on various cognitive tasks (such as reasoning or judgment). The aspects of the body include the motor system, the perceptual system, the body's interactions with the environment (situatedness) and the ontological assumptions about the world that are built into the body and the brain.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Extended_Mind - an idea in the field of philosophy of mind which holds that the reach of the mind need not end at the boundaries of skin and skull. Tools, instrument and other environmental props can under certain conditions also count as proper parts of our minds.



Alterity

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alterity - a philosophical term meaning "otherness", strictly being in the sense of the other of two (Latin alter). In the phenomenological tradition it is usually understood as the entity in contrast to which an identity is constructed, and it implies the ability to distinguish between self and not-self, and consequently to assume the existence of an alternative viewpoint. The concept was established by Emmanuel Lévinas in a series of essays, collected under the title Alterity and Transcendence.

The term is also deployed outside of philosophy, notably in anthropology by scholars such as Nicholas Dirks, Johannes Fabian, Michael Taussig and Pauline Turner Strong to refer to the construction of "cultural others". The term has gained further use in seemingly somewhat remote disciplines, e.g. historical musicology where it is effectively employed by John Michael Cooper in a study of Goethe and Mendelssohn. Alterity is a process that has taken place actively throughout time, as charted through generations of history. The effects of alterity can be tracked through a variety of forms of behavioral modes and interventions, both consensual and non consensual. Furthermore, behaviors that induce otherness are both conscious and unconscious.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind - often abbreviated ToM, is the ability to attribute mental states — beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc. — to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives that are different from one's own. Deficits can occur in people with autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, as well as alcoholics who have been brain damage due to alcohol's neurotoxicity. Although philosophical approaches to this exist, the theory of mind as such is distinct from the philosophy of mind.


Self


"Recent years have seen several new models of individual-differences in self-consciousness. The present research evaluated self-reflection and insight as types of self-focused attention. In the self-reflection and insight model, both traits represent metacognitive individual differences that aid self-regulation. In a sample of 233 young adults, both self-reflection and insight covaried with many different self-conscious traits (public and private self-consciousness, rumination, reflection), which suggests that they crosscut past typologies. Insight, but not self-reflection, covaried with many markers of affect and well-being: people high in insight had lower depression and anxiety symptoms, lower NA, higher PA, and higher self-esteem. On the whole, the evidence is consistent with the self-reflection and insight model, and the findings suggest that self-reflection and insight are distinct from each other and from other self-conscious traits."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-concept - also called self-construction, self-identity, or self-perspective) is a collection of beliefs about oneself that includes elements such as academic performance, gender roles and sexuality, and racial identity. Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to "Who am I?". One's self-concept is made up of self-schemas, and their past, present, and future selves. Self-concept is distinguishable from self-awareness, which refers to the extent to which self-knowledge is defined, consistent, and currently applicable to one's attitudes and dispositions. Self-concept also differs from self-esteem: self-concept is a cognitive or descriptive component of one's self (e.g. "I am a fast runner"), while self-esteem is evaluative and opinionated (e.g. "I feel good about being a fast runner"). Self-concept is made up of one's self-schemas, and interacts with self-esteem, self-knowledge, and the social self to form the self as whole. It includes the past, present, and future selves, where future selves (or possible selves) represent individuals' ideas of what they might become, what they would like to become, or what they are afraid of becoming. Possible selves may function as incentives for certain behavior. The perception people have about their past or future selves is related to the perception of their current selves. The temporal self-appraisal theory argues that people have a tendency to maintain a positive self-evaluation by distancing themselves from their negative self and paying more attention to their positive one. In addition, people have a tendency to perceive the past self less favorably (e.g. "I'm better than I used to be") and the future self more positively (e.g. "I will be better than I am now").







  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-esteem - term used regarding the reflection a person's overall emotional evaluation of his or her own worth. It is a judgment of oneself as well as an attitude toward the self. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs (for example, "I am competent," "I am worthy") and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame. Smith and Mackie define it by saying "The self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, is the positive or negative evaluations of the self, as in how we feel about it." Self-esteem is also known as the evaluative dimension of the self that includes feelings of worthiness, prides and discouragement. One's self-esteem is also closely associated with self-consciousness.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-efficacy - the extent or strength of one's belief in one's own ability to complete tasks and reach goals. Psychologists have studied self-efficacy from several perspectives, noting various paths in the development of self-efficacy; the dynamics of self-efficacy, and lack thereof, in many different settings; interactions between self-efficacy and self-concept; and habits of attribution that contribute to, or detract from, self-efficacy. This can be seen as the ability to persist and a person's ability to succeed with a task. As an example, self-efficacy directly relates to how long someone will stick to a workout regimen or a diet. High and low self-efficacy determine whether or not someone will choose to take on a challenging task or write it off as impossible. Self-efficacy affects every area of human endeavor. By determining the beliefs a person holds regarding his or her power to affect situations, it strongly influences both the power a person actually has to face challenges competently and the choices a person is most likely to make. These effects are particularly apparent, and compelling, with regard to behaviors affecting health. Judge et al. (2002) argued the concepts of locus of control, neuroticism, self-efficacy and self-esteem measured the same, single factor and demonstrated them to be related concepts.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_self_and_false_self - concepts introduced into psychoanalysis in 1960 by D. W. Winnicott. Winnicott used "True Self" to describe a sense of self based on spontaneous authentic experience, and a feeling of being alive, having a "real self". "False Self" by contrast Winnicott saw as a defensive facade - one which in extreme cases could leave its holders lacking spontaneity and feeling dead and empty, behind a mere appearance of being real.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individuation - describes the manner in which a thing is identified as distinguished from other things. The concept appears in numerous fields and is encountered in works of Carl Jung, Gilbert Simondon, Bernard Stiegler, Friedrich Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer, David Bohm, Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze, and Manuel De Landa.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_formation - also known as individuation, is the development of the distinct personality of an individual regarded as a persisting entity (known as personal continuity) in a particular stage of life in which individual characteristics are possessed and by which a person is recognized or known (such as the establishment of a reputation). This process defines individuals to others and themselves. Pieces of the person's actual identity include a sense of continuity, a sense of uniqueness from others, and a sense of affiliation. Identity formation leads to a number of issues of personal identity and an identity where the individual has some sort of comprehension of him or herself as a discrete and separate entity. This may be through individuation whereby the undifferentiated individual tends to become unique, or undergoes stages through which differentiated facets of a person's life tend toward becoming a more indivisible whole.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_style - has been defined as "an individual's relatively consistent inclinations and preferences across contexts." Personality can be defined as a dynamic and organized set of personal traits and patterns of behavior. "Personality includes attitudes, modes of thought, feelings, impulses, strivings, actions, responses to opportunity and stress and everyday modes of interacting with others." Personality style is apparent "when these elements of personality are expressed in a characteristically repeated and dynamic combination."


"Contemporary models of human temperament have been based on the general constructs of arousal, emotion, and self-regulation. In order to more precisely investigate these constructs, they were theoretically decomposed into 19 subconstructs, and homogeneous scales were developed to assess them. The scales were constructed through an item-selection technique that maximized internal consistency and minimized conceptual overlap. Correlational and factor analyses suggested that arousal can be usefully assessed in terms of its central, autonomic, and motor components. The emotions of sadness, relief, and low-intensity pleasure were most closely related to the measures of central arousal. Emotions of fear, frustration, discomfort, and high-intensity pleasure were more closely related to measures of attentional control. We discuss these findings in terms of the functional relations between arousal, emotion, and attention."



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-fulfillment - a concept used in philosophy and, to a lesser degree, psychology, referring to the realizing of one's deepest desires and capacities. The history of this concept can be traced to Ancient Greek philosophers, and although it has been criticized since, it still remains a notable concept in modern philosophy.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-realization - an expression used in psychology, spirituality, and Eastern religions. It is defined as the "fulfillment by oneself of the possibilities of one's character or personality. In one overview, Mortimer Adler defines self-realization as freedom from external coercion, including cultural expectations, political and economic freedom, and the freedom from worldly attachments and desires etc.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_self-reflection - the capacity of humans to exercise introspection and the willingness to learn more about their fundamental nature, purpose and essence. The earliest historical records demonstrate the great interest which humanity has had in itself. Human self-reflection invariably leads to inquiry into the human condition and the essence of humankind as a whole. Human self-reflection is related to the philosophy of consciousness, the topic of awareness, consciousness in general and the philosophy of mind.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_mindedness - refers to a person's capacity for self-examination, self-reflection, introspection and personal insight. It includes an ability to recognize meanings that underlie overt words and actions, to appreciate emotional nuance and complexity, to recognize the links between past and present, and insight into one's own and others' motives and intentions. Psychologically minded people have above average insight into mental life. Conceptual definitions of psychological mindedness have included variant, but related descriptions. Some definitions relate solely to the self, “a person’s ability to see relationships among thoughts, feelings, and actions with the goal of learning the meanings and causes of his experiences and behaviors”. Conte (1996) extended the concept beyond self-focus, as involving “... both self-understanding and an interest in the motivation and behavior of others”. Hall’s (1992) definition introduces the multidimensional nature of PM. She defined it as “reflectivity about psychological processes, relationships and meanings [that] is displayed by ... both interest in and ability for such reflectivity across affective and intellectual dimensions”



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egosyntonic_and_egodystonic - Egosyntonic is a psychological term referring to behaviors, values, feelings that are in harmony with or acceptable to the needs and goals of the ego, or consistent with one's ideal self-image. Egodystonic (or ego alien) is the opposite of egosyntonic and refers to thoughts and behaviors (e.g., dreams, impulses, compulsions, desires, etc.) that are in conflict, or dissonant, with the needs and goals of the ego, or, further, in conflict with a person's ideal self-image.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_resilience - defined as an individual’s ability to properly adapt to stress and adversity. Stress and adversity can come in the shape of family or relationship problems, health problems, or workplace and financial stressors, among others. Individuals demonstrate resilience when they can face difficult experiences and rise above them with ease. Resilience is not a rare ability; in reality, it is found in the average individual and it can be learned and developed by virtually anyone. Resilience should be considered a process, rather than a trait to be had. There is a common misconception that people who are resilient experience no negative emotions or thoughts and display optimism in all situations. Contrary to this misconception, the reality remains that resiliency is demonstrated within individuals who can effectively and relatively easily navigate their way around crises and utilize effective methods of coping. In other words, people who demonstrate resilience are people with positive emotionality; they are keen to effectively balance negative emotions with positive ones.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introjection - Generally, it is regarded as the process where the subject replicates in itself behaviors, attributes or other fragments of the surrounding world, especially of other subjects. Cognate concepts are identification, incorporation, and internalization. To use a simple example, a person who picks up traits from their friends (e.g., a person who begins frequently exclaiming "Ridiculous!" as a result of hearing a friend of theirs repeatedly doing the same) is introjecting. Projection has been described as an early phase of introjection.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acting_in - generally used in opposition to acting out to cover conflicts which are brought to life inside therapy, as opposed to outside. One commentator, noting the variety of usages, points out that it is often “unclear whether 'in' refers to the internalization into the personality, to the growth in insight, or to the acting within the session”.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performativity - a term for the capacity of speech and communication not simply to communicate but rather to act or consummate an action, or to construct and perform an identity. A common example is the act of saying "I pronounce you man and wife" by a licensed minister before two people who are prepared to wed (or "I do" by one of those people upon being asked whether they take their partner in marriage). An umpire calling a strike, a judge pronouncing a verdict, or a union boss declaring a strike are all examples of performative speech.

Some theorists in philosophy and gender studies, notably Judith Butler, have argued that even commonplace communication and speech acts are performative, in that they serve to define identity. In this way, performativity reverses the idea that an identity is the source of more secondary actions (speech, gestures). Instead, it inquires into the construction of identities as they are caused by performative actions, behaviors, and gestures. This view is influenced by philosophers including Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trait_theory - also called dispositional theory) is an approach to the study of human personality. Trait theorists are primarily interested in the measurement of traits, which can be defined as habitual patterns of behavior, thought, and emotion. According to this perspective, traits are relatively stable over time, differ across individuals (e.g. some people are outgoing whereas others are shy), and influence behavior. Traits are in contrast to states which are more transitory dispositions. In some theories and systems, traits are something a person either has or does not have, but in many others traits are dimensions such as extraversion vs. introversion, with each person rating somewhere along this spectrum.

Behaviour

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaviorism - an approach to psychology that combines elements of philosophy, methodology, and theory. It emerged in the early twentieth century as a reaction to "mentalistic" psychology, which often had difficulty making predictions that could be tested using rigorous experimental methods. The primary tenet of behaviorism, as expressed in the writings of John B. Watson, B. F. Skinner, and others, is that psychology should concern itself with the observable behavior of people and animals, not with unobservable events that take place in their minds.

While behaviorism and cognitive schools of psychological thought may not agree theoretically, they have complemented each other in practical therapeutic applications, such as in cognitive–behavioral therapy that has demonstrable utility in treating certain pathologies, such as simple phobias, PTSD, and addiction.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescorla%E2%80%93Wagner_model - a model of classical conditioning in which the animal is theorized to learn from the discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens. This is a trial-level model in which each stimulus is either present or not present at some point in the trial.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antecedent_(behavioral_psychology) - a stimulus that cues an organism to perform a learned behavior. When an organism perceives an antecedent stimulus, it behaves in a way that maximizes reinforcing consequences and minimizes punishing consequences. Antecedent stimuli that have been paired with reinforcing consequences activate centers of the brain involved in motivation, while antecedents that have been paired with punishing consequences activate brain centers involved in fear.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mand_(psychology) - a verbal operant in which the response is reinforced by a characteristic consequence and is therefore under the functional control of relevant conditions of deprivation or aversive stimulation. One cannot determine, based on form alone, whether a response is a mand; it is necessary to know the kinds of variables controlling a response in order to identify a verbal operant. A mand is sometimes said to "specify its reinforcement" although this is not always the case.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tact_(psychology) - a verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise). Less technically, a tact is a label. For example, a child may see their pet dog and say "dog"; the nonverbal stimulus (dog) evoked the response "dog" which is maintained by praise (or generalized conditioned reinforcement) "you're right that is a dog!". Chapter five of Skinner's Verbal Behavior discusses the tact in depth. A tact is said to "make contact with" the world, and refers to behavior that is under the control of generalized reinforcement. The controlling antecedent stimulus is nonverbal, and constitutes some portion of "the whole of the physical environment."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioural_sciences - the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behaviour through controlled and naturalistic observation, and disciplined scientific experimentation. It attempts to accomplish legitimate, objective conclusions through rigorous formulations and observation. Examples of behavioural sciences include psychology, psychobiology, and cognitive science. Behavioral sciences includes two broad categories: neural — Information sciences and social — Relational sciences.

Information processing sciences deals with information processing of stimuli from the social environment by cognitive entities in order to engage in decision making, social judgment and social perception for individual functioning and survival of organism in a social environment. These include psychology, cognitive science, psychobiology, neural networks, social cognition, social psychology, semantic networks, ethology and social neuroscience. On the other hand, Relational sciences deals with relationships, interaction, communication networks, associations and relational strategies or dynamics between organisms or cognitive entities in a social system. These include fields like sociological social psychology, social networks, dynamic network analysis, agent-based model and microsimulation.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_behaviorism - is "the established formal designation for B. F. Skinner's philosophy of the science of behavior". The term radical behaviorism is also used to refer to the school of psychology known as the experimental analysis of behavior. Radical behaviorism, as a school of psychology, bears little resemblance to other schools of psychology, differing in the acceptance of mediating structures, the role of private events and emotions, and other areas. Radical behaviorism has attracted attention since its inception. First, it proposes that all organismic action is determined and not free. However, there are deterministic elements in much of psychology. Second, it is considered to be "anti-theoretical," although this is a fundamental misunderstanding of the role of theory in a radically inductive scientific position, which rejects hypothetico-deductive method.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_medicine - interdisciplinary field of medicine concerned with the integration of knowledge in the biological, behavioral, psychological, and social sciences relevant to health and illness, exploded during the late 1970s




  • Procrastination Research Group (PRG) began in 1995 when Dr. Pychyl completed his own doctoral work related to personal projects and subjective well being (see Pychyl & Little, 1998 in the Research Bibliography). In his research interviews, a consistent theme emerged in which participants described the difficulty they were having with procrastination on their personal projects and how this procrastination had a negative impact on their well being. This was the beginning of a new focus for Dr. Pychyl and his students at Carleton University as they explored how procrastination, as a breakdown in volitional action, affects our lives.
    • Dr. Pychyl is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology with a cross-appointment to the School of Linguistics and Language Studies. His research in psychology is focused on the breakdown in volitional action commonly known as procrastination and its relation to personal well being (recent publications are provided below).
    • YouTube: Teaching Talk: Helping Students Who Procrastinate (Tim Pychyl)




  • Addiction and Subtraction - a game designed to help you beat bad habits, addictions and drive away negative thoughts. The game consists of 34 habit-busting cards, one “My Future Self” card and a “Trigger Tracker” to identify and stop urges cold. Gives you actionable alternatives to your bad habits and addictions, replaces destructive behaviours with positive behaviours, motivation in beating your last streak, saves on money and health



  • http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/14/opinion/sunday/learning-self-control.html - Whether you eat the marshmallow at age 5 isn’t your destiny. Self-control can be taught. The secret of self-control, he says, is to train the prefrontal cortex to kick in first. To do this, use specific if-then plans, like “If it’s before noon, I won’t check email” or “If I feel angry, I will count backward from 10.” Done repeatedly, this buys a few seconds to at least consider your options. Self-control alone doesn’t guarantee success. People also need a “burning goal” that gives them a reason to activate these skills, he says. [70]
  • HOWTO: Be more productive - Choose good problems. Have a bunch of them. Make a list. Integrate the list with your life. Ease physical constraints. Carry pen and paper. Avoid being interrupted. Ease mental constraints. Eat, sleep, exercise. Talk to cheerful people. Share the load. - Aaron Swartz
  • Your app makes me fat - "Because on their deathbed, our users won't be thinking, 'If only I'd spent more time engaging with brands."'
  • Glucose Is Not Willpower Fuel - In sum, the paper frequently touted as the best evidence in favor of the glucose-as-resource-for-self-control model shows 1) a drop in glucose for people with abnormally high levels of glucose and 2) no drop in glucose among a larger sample of subjects.

In short, the idea that more sugar is consumed when exerting “self control” is wrong.

  • The Art of Being Still - We writers must learn how to become still in our heads, to achieve the sort of stillness that allows our senses to become heightened. The wonderful nonfiction writer Joyce Dyer refers to this as seeing like an animal. “Discover something new every day,”


  • Mind Management (Not Time Management) - Productivity is less about time management than it is about mind management.
    • Three Important Questions: What kind of work do I need to do right now? What kind of mental state am I in right now? Is there something I can do to get myself into the right mental state?
  • Your brain is plastic. Love your prefrontal cortex. Fight your amygdala. Restorative things are productive.
  • Meditate. Make time for planning. Trick yourself into starting.
  • Smart Guy Productivity - "I still screw off during the day. I am not a code grinding automaton. I read Facebook, chat with others, Tweet, shop on Amazon, get coffee, read forums, write blog posts like this one and I'm totally fine with that. Because I know I'm committed to getting things done as well. So even though I'm writing this right now at 3pm, if I have to work until 8pm to get my shit done and checked in, I'll do that, so that tomorrow is a fresh start, not a day of 'Oh goddamit, let's try again to finish that task I started a week ago.'"




Bonding and attachment


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_theory - a psychological model that attempts to describe the dynamics of long-term and short-term interpersonal relationships between humans. However, "attachment theory is not formulated as a general theory of relationships. It addresses only a specific facet" (Waters et al. 2005: 81): how human beings respond within relationships when hurt, separated from loved ones, or perceiving a threat.[1] Essentially all infants become attached if provided any caregiver, but there are individual differences in the quality of the relationships. In infants, attachment as a motivational and behavioral system directs the child to seek proximity with a familiar caregiver when they are alarmed, with the expectation that they will receive protection and emotional support.

Attachments between infants and caregivers form even if this caregiver is not sensitive and responsive in social interactions with them. This has important implications. Infants cannot exit unpredictable or insensitive caregiving relationships. Instead they must manage themselves as best they can within such relationships. Based on her established Strange Situation Protocol, research by developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth in the 1960s and 1970s found that children will have different patterns of attachment depending primarily on how they experienced their early caregiving environment. Early patterns of attachment, in turn, shape — but do not determine — the individual's expectations in later relationships. Four different attachment classifications have been identified in children: secure attachment, anxious-ambivalent attachment, anxious-avoidant attachment, and disorganized attachment. Attachment theory has become the dominant theory used today in the study of infant and toddler behavior and in the fields of infant mental health, treatment of children, and related fields. Secure attachment is when children feel they can rely on their caregivers to attend to their needs of proximity, emotional support and protection. It is considered to be the best attachment style. Anxious-ambivalent attachment is when the infant feels separation anxiety when separated from the caregiver and does not feel reassured when the caregiver returns to the infant. Anxious-avoidant attachment is when the infant avoids their parents. Disorganized attachment is when there is a lack of attachment behavior. In the 1980s, the theory was extended to attachment in adults. Attachment applies to adults when adults feel close attachment to their parents and their romantic partners.

"This representional system is a mentalizing system that offers the enormous evolutionary survival advantage of enabling individuals to understand, interpret, and predict the behaviour of others, as well as their own behaviour. As such it is a "cornerstone of social intelligence" and critical to work, play, and collaboration of all kinds." (Allen & Fonage, 2002)







  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_situation - a procedure devised by Mary Ainsworth in 1969 to observe attachment relationships between a caregiver and a child. It applies to children between the ages of twelve and twenty four months. In this procedure of the strange situation the child is observed playing for 20 minutes while caregivers and strangers enter and leave the room, recreating the flow of the familiar and unfamiliar presence in most children's lives. The situation varies in stressfulness and the child's responses are observed. On the basis of their behaviors, the children were categorized into three groups, with a fourth added later. Each of these groups reflects a different kind of attachment relationship with the caregiver.



See also #Attachment for maladaption of attachment.



"any psychopathology we deal with with is an inhibition of mentalizing ... psychotherapy can be understood to rekindle (or kindle) the patients capacity to mentalize" - Wallin

"In an absence of a secure attachment history, individuals may be very brittle, they may be very resistant to new information, and again, those of you who don't have the privilege of working with people and trying to help them, it's hard to imagine sometimes how brittle peole can be in terms of the worldview they hold and the patterns - and I should say we, because I'm included as a client - that we can hold onto when we get stuck on things."

"In the grip of an absence of mentalizing, individuals can't think anything they don't already believe, they are unable to imagine feelings other than what they are currently feeling, and they are unable to consider actions other than are already decided on."


"In therapy we want somebody to have actually their feelings but then engage in a reflective conversation about those feelings ... this feeling is arising, is it a kind of immediate trying to turn away or is there a holding for that feeling? ... One of the reasons I'm so eager to push therapy or conversations about therapy is that I had a lot of personal history in meditation with Goenka's meditation [vipassana] as a matter of fact and ended up with a lot of personal difficulty, panic attacks to be exact, and so that was startling to me, and I had to get into therapy, which was also a very startling endeavour for me. It was so startling, I was so amazed that I decided to become a therapist because when I walked into therapy everything was fine, and even within a ten session short term first exposure to therapy, I started realising that a lot of things that I thought were fine were not fine, and was really within the relational context of therapy that my defences were confronted, and so one of the big axes I have to grind with everything that is typically said about most of these cognitive interventions is that they're really not talking about the relationship with the key person, which I think first of all is a very big variable in terms of that there is a relationship. In traditional practice, we 're sent of and are on our own for weeks and months so the fact that these are actually psychoeducational there there is usually a leader is very important, but in my own experience, I could have meditated til I was blue in my face, I still would not have recognised the things I needed to recognise because somebody was asking me very very pointed questions, and so that is a plug for psychodynamic psychotherapy, I'm sorry but I'm not affiliated with any big commercial ventures!"


"One of the ways in which we avoid the impulse to attach to a stronger and/or wiser other is to decide that actually that you're with a weaker and/or less wise other. I think that the devaluation is another form of protection from the impulse to attach. It's turning don the volume on our need to attach."





Mentalization

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentalization - the ability to understand the mental state of oneself and others which underlies overt behaviour. Mentalization can be seen as a form of imaginative mental activity, which allows us to perceive and interpret human behaviour in terms of intentional mental states (e.g. needs, desires, feelings, beliefs, goals, purposes, and reasons). Another term that David Wallin has used for mentalization is "Thinking about thinking".

"I think when we talk about the capacity for mentalizing, in other words, the capacity, as I say, to make sense of our own experience, our own behavior, and the experience and behavior of others in terms of underlying mental states, like beliefs, feelings, desires; to the extent that we're able to make sense of behavior on the basis of those underlying mental states, it serves us. And the way in which that's, in a sense, different from the concept of psychological mindedness is that psychological mindedness is something that exists. It's inside you or it's inside me. I think mentalizing, making sense of difficult experience, is of necessity a two-person enterprise. And the reason this is so, is that when you or I or anyone else is in the grip of overwhelmingly intense feelings, we simply can't reflect on our experience. We can't take a step back from experience to try to make sense of it. It's only with the benefit of a relationship to somebody who is, so to speak, mentalizing our experience, that we can come to occupy a stance toward our own experience that's more reflective, more understanding, and so on. So psychological mindedness, you might say, it's kind of like a one-person psychological concept. Mentalizing, in some ways, is a relational, it's a two-person psychological concept. And so the whole idea here is we learn about ourselves through being understood by other people. Babies learn about their feelings by having their feelings understood by someone else."




  • Emotional mentalizing - affective reactions (somatic transference?)
  • Cognitive mentalizing - diminished role taking, inferences of affective and cognitive states - (??? these can be adaptive or maladaptive; projection, projective identity, transference countertransference, presumptions ???)

what is maladaptive? behaviour that causes trauma?




Mentalizing as the engine of attachment: patient contribution to attachment relationships

  • Selection of attachment figures and appraisal of trustworthiness
  • Self-awareness regarding needs and feelings
  • Expression of emotional distress (affective competence) and context (narrative competence); associated emotion-regulation skills
  • Appraisal of the attachment figure’s receptiveness, attunement, responsiveness (i.e., the caregiver’s mentalizing)
  • Appraisal of the effectiveness of strategies to influence the caregiver’s responsiveness
  • Ability to manage conflicts, understand misunderstandings, and repair ruptures
  • Correcting and updating mental representations of self and others (internal working models)
  • Reciprocating caregiving




Hypermentalization is argued to be a #Borderline trait. There are arguments that autism might be related to either hypomentalization or another form of hypermentalization.


The Mentalizing Stance (mentalizing mindfully)

Psychological aspects

  • psychoeducation and reflection
  • inquisitive, curious, playful, open-minded
  • “not knowing” (cleverness as cardinal sin*)
  • not creating the capacity but rather promoting attentiveness to the activity of mentalizing

Ethical aspects (as in parenting, for example)

  • good will and compassion
  • acceptance and forgiveness
  • respect for autonomy
  • love
  • To do anything well you must have the humility to bumble around a bit, to follow your nose, to get lost, to goof. Have the courage to try an undertaking and possibly do it poorly. Unremarkable lives are marked by the fear of not looking capable when trying something new.—Epictetus

Mindful attention may or may not be directed toward mental states (i.e., may or may not relate in any way to mentalizing)Meditation pertinent to mentalizing is directed primarily toward awareness of internal experience but also can be extended to others (e.g., compassion)The developmental story for mentalizing (i.e., development in attachment relationships) can be retold, substituting the word “mindfulness” for “mentalizing”—for example, construing assessment of mentalizing in the Adult Attachment Interview as measuring the “reflective component of mindfulness” (Dan Siegal)Mindfulness-Based Relationship Enhancement (James Carson) has been applied to couples but goes far beyond mindful attention to include mentalizing (e.g., understanding each other’s behavior and motivations, interpersonal problem solving, improved communication)



  • PDF: Intentional Attunement: Mirror Neurons and the Neural Underpinnings of Interpersonal Relations - The neural circuits activated in a person carrying out actions, expressing emotions, and experiencing sensations are activated also, automatically via a mirror neuron system, in the observer of those actions, emotions, and sensations. It is proposed that this finding of shared activation suggests a functional mechanism of “embodied simulation” that consists of the automatic, unconscious, and noninferential simulation in the observer of actions, emotions, and sensations carried out and experienced by the observed. It is proposed also that the shared neural activation pattern and the accompanying embodied simulation constitute a fundamental biological basis for understanding another's mind. The implications of this perspective for psychoanalysis are discussed, particularly regarding unconscious communication, projective identification, attunement, empathy, autism, therapeutic action, and transference-countertransference interactions.
  • Mentalization and intersubjectivity. Towards a theoretical integration - The introduction of the concept of mentalization in psychological science by Fonagy and his associates has opened up new perspectives for the understanding of psychopathology, psychotherapy and child development. The present study reviews the theory of mentalization, with a focus on its four dimensions (cognitive/affective, implicit/explicit, self/other, and external/internal), and some unclear points and unresolved issues are identified. Mentalization theory is then contrasted with the theory of primary intersubjectivity, which is often seen as an incompatible approach to the development of social understanding. It is argued that this theory, at least in one of its interpretations, is not only compatible with mentalization theory, but may also possibly contribute to the resolution of some problems in mentalization theory. More specifically, it is argued that mentalization originally develops in the context of primary intersubjectivity, and that primary intersubjectivity is a basic prerequisite for the development of mentalization; but also that there is a considerable overlap between the concepts of primary intersubjectivity and those of implicit and externally focused mentalization.



  • The Language of Neuroception& the Bodily Self - applying “mindful attentiveness to . . . extending our conscious relationship to the internal micro-sensory components underlying affect [that] can enhance our ability for self-attunement.”

"In this article the importance of language for the formation of one’s self through organizing one’s experience into a coherent core narrative is emphasized, especially as it relates to the micro-sensory experience of the body for which vocabulary is often inadequate. The importance of attuned caregivers helping the developing child name reality is outlined. The importance of movement, oscillations, pulsations, and sensations being included in a full experience of a psycho-somatic self is argued. The still open issue of finding adequate cortical representation of the felt sense of these neuroceptive movements is raised."

"More attention could be given to the infraverbal experiential implicit bodily processes out of which our narrative arises, to the “neural architecture which supports consciousness” (Damasio, 1999).In the interest of efficiency, the brain delegates much of what happens in the nervous system to autonomic processes. The micro-feedback levels of the nervous system are mostly transparent to conscious awareness."

"Mindful attentiveness to the rhythms of primary respiration and intrasomatic micro-sensations and micro-movements can support entry into our autonomic and self-referential neuronal circuitry. Extending our conscious relationship to the internal micro-sensory components underlying affect can enhance our ability for self-attunement. By extension, this deepening awareness can help us better identify with the needs of our clients and, more important for those of us who are parents, to our children’s developing nervous systems so that they do not remain alone in a world to which we, as adults, have lost access."


Hypermentalization is argued to be a #Borderline trait. There are arguments that autism might be related to either hypomentalization or another form of hypermentalization.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intentional_stance - a term coined by philosopher Daniel Dennett for the level of abstraction in which we view the behaviour of a thing in terms of mental properties, part of a theory of mental content. "Here is how it works: first you decide to treat the object whose behavior is to be predicted as a rational agent; then you figure out what beliefs that agent ought to have, given its place in the world and its purpose. Then you figure out what desires it ought to have, on the same considerations, and finally you predict that this rational agent will act to further its goals in the light of its beliefs. A little practical reasoning from the chosen set of beliefs and desires will in most instances yield a decision about what the agent ought to do; that is what you predict the agent will do."
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterophenomenology - a term coined by Daniel Dennett to describe an explicitly third-person, scientific approach to the study of consciousness and other mental phenomena. It consists of applying the scientific method with an anthropological bent, combining the subject's self-reports with all other available evidence to determine their mental state. The goal is to discover how the subject sees the world him- or herself, without taking the accuracy of the subject's view for granted. Heterophenomenology is put forth as the alternative to traditional Cartesian phenomenology, which Dennett calls "lone-wolf autophenomenology" to emphasize the fact that it accepts the subject's self-reports as being authoritative. In contrast, heterophenomenology considers the subjects authoritative only about how things seem to them. It does not dismiss the Cartesian first-person perspective, but rather brackets it so that it can be intersubjectively verified by empirical means, allowing it to be submitted as scientific evidence.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parataxic_distortion - a psychiatric term first used by Harry S. Sullivan to describe the inclination to skew perceptions of others based on fantasy. The "distortion" is a faulty perception of others, based not on actual experience with the other individual, but on a projected fantasy personality attributed to the individual. For example, when one falls in love, an image of another person as the “perfect match” or “soul mate” can be created when in reality, the other person may not live up to these expectations or embody the imagined traits at all.

The fantasy personality is created in part from past experiences and from expectations as to how the person 'should be', and is formulated in response to emotional stress. This stress can originate from the formation of a new relationship, or from cognitive dissonance required to maintain an existing relationship. Parataxic distortion serves as an immature cognitive defense mechanism against this psychological stress and is similar to Transference.

Parataxic distortion is difficult to avoid because of the nature of human learning and interaction. Stereotyping of individuals based on social cues and the classification of people into groups is a commonplace cognitive function of the human mind. Such pigeonholing allows for a person to gain a quick, though possibly inaccurate, assessment of an interaction. The cognitive processes employed, however, can have a distorting effect on the clear understanding of individuals. In essence, one can lose the ability to 'hear the other' through one's own projected beliefs of what the other person is saying.


"The vitality affectsa re the micro-affects through which moment-to-moment fluctuations in attunement are expressed. They refer to subtle, ongoing, moment-to-moment, qualitative shifts in arousal, energy, flow, feeling, and rhythm. Their “elusive qualities are better captured by dynamic, kinetic terms, such as “surging,” “fading away,” “fleeting,” “explosive,” “crescendo,” “decrescendo,” “bursting,” “drawn out,” and so on... The vitality affects are experienced as dynamic shifts or patterned changes within ourselves”(Stern, 1985). The dyadic regulation of affective states through the vitality affects, i.e., through fluctuations in voice, gaze, rhythm, touch, and timing, is a fundamental aspect of interpersonal interaction throughout the lifespan. The vitality affects are to emotional communication what words are to verbal communication. The vitality affects are the affects of attunement, intersubjectivity and social connection: they both express it and are vehicles for their entrainment. As a function of their ephemeral and fluid nature, they are well suited to dyadic coordination and mutual affective sharing."

"Additions to Stance: Not Only PACE:

  • P--presence, playfulness is an emergent phenomenon in AEDP
  • A–attunement, acceptance, affirmation
  • C–compassion, care, curiosity
  • E–empathy

but also SUFIED

  • S–self-disclosureU–undoing aloneness, being with and then some
  • F–fearless, though mindful, exploration of relational and transformational experience
  • I–make Implicit explicitE-make the explicit experiential
  • D –dyadic exploration of all of the above

Additions to Objects of Mindfulness and especially Dyadic Mindfulness, which in AEDP we call Metatherapeutic Processing: In AEDP, in addition to body, emotion, sensation, breath, we have some additional objects of mindful attention, especially dyadicallymindful attention, which when experientially explored, constitutes its Global Emotional Moments (GEMs), and the fundamental AEDP method of GEM-to-GEM tracking


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_tunnel - a term, akin to the idea of representative realism, coined by Timothy Leary (1920-1996). It was further expanded on by Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007), who wrote about the idea extensively in his 1983 book Prometheus Rising. The theory states that, with a subconscious set of mental filters formed from his or her beliefs and experiences, every individual interprets the same world differently, hence "Truth is in the eye of the beholder". "The gene-pool politics which monitor power struggles among terrestrial humanity are transcended in this info-world, i.e. seen as static, artificial charades. One is neither coercively manipulated into another's territorial reality nor forced to struggle against it with reciprocal game-playing (the usual soap opera dramatics). One simply elects, consciously, whether or not to share the other's reality tunnel."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_reflex - While examining recorded protocols of communications in adults, Leary discovered that typical patterns of interaction existed. Individual units of these behaviors were called interpersonal mechanisms or interpersonal reflexes. "They are defined as the observable, expressive units of face-to-face social behavior." These reflexes are automatic and involuntary responses to interpersonal situations. They are independent of the content of the communication. They are the individual's spontaneous methods of reacting to others. Leary states, "The reflex manner in which human beings react to others and train others to respond to them in selective ways is, I believe, the most important single aspect of personality. The systematic estimates of a patient's repertoire of interpersonal reflexes is a key factor in functional diagnosis."
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_circumplex - or interpersonal circle, is a model for conceptualizing, organizing, and assessing interpersonal behavior, traits, and motives (Wiggins, 2003). The interpersonal circumplex is defined by two orthogonal axes: a vertical axis (of status, dominance, power, or control) and a horizontal axis (of solidarity, friendliness, warmth, or love). In recent years, it has become conventional to identify the vertical and horizontal axes with the broad constructs of agency and communion (Horowitz, 2004). Thus, each point in the interpersonal circumplex space can be specified as a weighted combination of agency and communion.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consensus_reality - that which is generally agreed to be reality, based on a consensus view. The appeal to consensus arises from the fact that humans do not fully understand or agree upon the nature of knowledge or ontology, often making it uncertain what is real, given the vast inconsistencies between individual subjectivities. We can, however, seek to obtain some form of consensus, with others, of what is real. We can use this consensus as a pragmatic guide, either on the assumption that it seems to approximate some kind of valid reality, or simply because it is more "practical" than perceived alternatives. Consensus reality therefore refers to the agreed-upon concepts of reality which people in the world, or a culture or group, believe are real (or treat as real), usually based upon their common experiences as they believe them to be; anyone who does not agree with these is sometimes stated to be "in effect... living in a different world."


Projection / transference


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externalization - means to put something outside its original borders, especially to put a human function outside the human body. In Freudian psychology, externalization is an unconscious defense mechanism by which an individual "projects" his or her own internal characteristics onto the outside world, particularly onto other people. For example, a patient who is overly argumentative might instead perceive others as argumentative and himself as blameless. Like other defense mechanisms, externalization is a protection against anxiety and is, therefore, part of a healthy, normally functioning mind. However, if taken to excess, it can lead to the development of a neurosis.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection - also known as praise/blame shifting, is a theory in psychology in which humans defend themselves against their own unpleasant impulses by denying their existence while attributing them to others. For example, a person who is rude may constantly accuse other people of being rude. According to some research, the projection of one's negative qualities onto others is a common process in everyday life.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projective_identification - a term introduced by Melanie Klein to describe the process whereby in a close relationship, as between mother and child, lovers, or therapist and patient, parts of the self may in unconscious fantasy be thought of as being forced into the other person. While based on Freud's concept of psychological projection, projective identification represents a step beyond. In R.D. Laing's words, “The one person does not use the other merely as a hook to hang projections on. He strives to find in the other, or to induce the other to become, the very embodiment of projection”. Feelings which can not be consciously accessed are defensively projected into another person in order to evoke the thoughts or feelings projected.


"Projective identification . . . is a psychological process that is simultaneously a type of defense, a means of communication, a primitive form of object relationship, and a pathway for psychological change. As a defense, projective identification serves to create a sense of psychological distance from unwanted (often frightening) aspects of the self; as a mode of communication, projective identification is a process by which feelings congruent with one's own are induced in another person, thereby creating a sense of being understood by or of being “at one with” the other person. As a type of object relationship, projective identification constitutes a way of being with and relating to a partially separate object, and finally, as a pathway for psychological change; projective identification is a process by which feelings like those that one is struggling with are psychologically processed by another person and made available for re-internalization in an altered form. Each of these functions of projective identification evolves in the context of the infant's early attempts to perceive, organize, and manage his internal and external experience and to communicate with his environment."

-- On projective identification, Ogden TH




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transference - characterized by unconscious redirection of feelings from one person to another. One definition of transference is "the inappropriate repetition in the present of a relationship that was important in a person's childhood." Another definition is "the redirection of feelings and desires and especially of those unconsciously retained from childhood toward a new object." Still another definition is "a reproduction of emotions relating to repressed experiences, especially of childhood, and the substitution of another person ... for the original object of the repressed impulses." Transference was first described by Sigmund Freud, who acknowledged its importance for psychoanalysis for better understanding of the patient's feelings. The inclusion of "inappropriate" in the first definition notwithstanding, transference is normal and does not constitute underlying pathology in itself; it is only inappropriate when patterns of transference lead to maladaptive thoughts, feelings or behaviours.


"Not all transference is bad, according to Buddhism, anyway; that is, where the transference is platonic (non-erotic or non-sexual) or healthy (that is, not based on a power-mode). German pioneer psychologist Carl Jung, in his Psychology of Transference (1969), for example, says that within the transference dyad both actors typically experience a variety of opposites, that of being in love and of psychological growth, the key to success is the ability to endure the tension of the opposites without abandoning the wholesome aspects, and that this tension allows one to grow and transform oneself."




"The contention that the analyst is not affected by these experiences is both false and would convey to the patient that his plight, pain and behavior are emotionally ignored by the analyst. [I am suggesting] that if we keep emotions out, we are in danger of keeping out the love which mitigates the hatred, allowing the so-called pursuit of truth to be governed by hatred. What appears as dispassionate may contain the murder of love and concern. " -- Working through in the countertransference, Pick






"In other words, as the result of the patient's projective identification dynamics and the totality of the therapeutic relationship, countertransference will exist. The question is not what to do if countertransference is present in a treatment, but what form it takes and how to use it effectively.

"Therapist and patient constantly struggle to make meaning and sense out of what takes place in the therapeutic relationship. However, both parties are constantly tempted to act out these meanings rather than verbalize or mentalize them. There is a mutual resistance to feeling and working with the strong fantasy material in the room. Freud4 wrote that patients remember nothing of their internal conflicts but express them through action. Their behavior becomes a vehicle for the conflicts they would otherwise painfully have to face. Therefore, action feels safer or at least feels temporarily relieving. It can be an excitement, a stimulation, an escape, or a revenge. Nevertheless, it remains as an unintegrated and split-off portion of the mind's urges and mobilized fantasies. Projective identification can be an acting-out process of discharging internal “pollutants” into the object, followed by a denial of any connection or familiarity with such debris in the first place. Although this may sound like simple projection, the ego is still responding to the fantasy of some type of object and some type of relationship to that object. In this case, the response is a denial of the relationship to the object.

"Therapists are inevitably touched, contaminated, and seduced by these dynamics. The effects of projective identification are strong and can produce intense countertransference reactions.

"Certain aspects of the intrapsychic and interpersonal communications between therapist and patient can continue beyond the hour or even past termination. Therapists speak among themselves of being hounded by a session and having it follow them into their personal lives. They can unwittingly bring home clinical situations and even find the patient's material invading their dreams. In the moment-to-moment clinical situation, countertransference anxiety can be so great that the therapist is pushed to act out and rapidly return the patient's unbearable projections. This can occur in many ways. Some projective identification mechanisms produce intense reactions in both parties. Others produce more subtle effects within the analytic relationship."


  • PDF: Understanding Projective Identification - Louise Braddock. Projective identification is a concept of psychoanalytic psychology which is extensively used within clinical practice and with wide extra-clinical application. It is however under-theorized within psychoanalysis, while as a concept acquired through clinical practice it is not easily accessible to other disciplines. I provide a philosophical explanation of projective identification as it occurs in the clinical interaction, in terms of the linking of the imaginations of patient and analyst by the patient’s speech behavior and the analyst’s response. I show how the patient communicates his feeling to the analyst through a speech act and how the receptive act of imagining this provokes in the analyst forms part of her counter-transference. Reflection on her counter-transference response enables her to understand and interpret the patient’s ‘thick communication’ of his unconscious state of mind.]


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_attribution_hypothesis - or defensive attribution bias, is a social psychological term from the attributional approach referring to a set of beliefs about who is culpable in a given situation. More responsibility will be attributed to the harm-doer as the outcome becomes more severe, and as personal or situational similarity to the victim increases.



Shadow

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_(psychology) - may refer to (1) an unconscious aspect of the personality which the conscious ego does not identify in itself. Because one tends to reject or remain ignorant of the least desirable aspects of one's personality, the shadow is largely negative, or (2) the entirety of the unconscious, i.e., everything of which a person is not fully conscious. There are, however, positive aspects which may also remain hidden in one's shadow (especially in people with low self-esteem). Contrary to a Freudian definition of shadow, therefore, the Jungian shadow can include everything outside the light of consciousness, and may be positive or negative.


"Unfortunately there is no doubt about the fact that man is, as a whole, less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Every one carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. If an inferiority is conscious, one has always a chance to correct it. Furthermore, it is constantly in contact with other interests, so that it is steadily subjected to modifications. But if it is repressed and isolated from consciousness, it never gets corrected. It is, moreover, liable to burst forth in a moment of unawareness. At all events, it forms an unconscious snag, blocking the most recent attempts.

"We carry our past with us, viz: the primitive and inferior man with his desires and emotions, and it is only by a considerable effort that we can detach ourselves from this burden. If it comes to a neurosis, we have invariably to deal with a considerably intensified shadow. And if such a case wants to be cured it is necessary to find a way in which man's conscious personality and his shadow can live together.

"This is a very serious problem for all those who are either themselves in such a predicament, or who have to help other people to live. A mere suppression of the shadow is just as little of a remedy as beheading against headache. To destroy a man's morality does not help either because it would kill his better self, without which even the shadow makes no sense.

"The reconciliation of these opposites is a major problem. It is natural that the more robust mentality of the fathers could not appreciate the delicacy and the merit of this subtle and, from a modern point of view, immensely practical argument. It was also dangerous, and it is still the most vital and yet the most ticklish problem of a civilization that has forgotten why man's life should be sacrificial, that means, offered up to an idea greater than man."



Interaction theory

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interaction_theory - an approach to questions about social cognition, or how one understands other people, that focuses on bodily behaviors and environmental contexts rather than on mental processes. IT argues against two other contemporary approaches to social cognition (or what is sometimes called ‘theory of mind’), namely theory theory (TT) and simulation theory (ST). For TT and ST, the primary way of understanding others is by means of ‘mindreading’ or ‘mentalizing’ – processes that depend on either theoretical inference from folk psychology, or simulation. In contrast, for IT, the minds of others are understood primarily through our embodied interactive relations. IT draws on interdisciplinary studies and appeals to evidence developed in developmental psychology, phenomenology (philosophy), and neuroscience.

Simulation theory

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_theory_of_empathy - a theory that holds that humans anticipate and make sense of the behavior of others by activating mental processes that, if carried into action, would produce similar behavior. This includes intentional behavior as well as the expression of emotions. The theory states that children use their own emotions to predict what others will do. Therefore, we project our own mental states onto others. Simulation theory is not primarily a theory of empathy, but rather a theory of how people understand others—that they do so by way of a kind of empathetic response. This theory uses more biological evidence than other theories of mind, such as the theory-theory.

Theory-theory

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_theory - Theory-theory (or ‘theory theory’) is a scientific theory relating to the human development of understanding about the outside world. This theory asserts that individuals hold a basic or ‘naïve’ theory of psychology ("folk psychology") to infer the mental states of others, such as their beliefs, desires or emotions, and use this information to understand the intentions behind that person’s actions or predict future behavior. Theory-theorists use the term 'perspective taking' to describe how one makes inferences about another person's inner state using theoretical knowledge about the other's situation.

This approach has become popular with psychologists as it gives a basis from which to explore human social understanding. Beginning in the mid-1980s, several influential developmental psychologists began advocating the theory theory: the view that humans learn through a process of theory revision closely resembling the way scientists propose and revise theories. Children observe the world, and in doing so, gather data about the world's true structure. As more data accumulates, children can revise their naive theories accordingly. Children can also use these theories about the world's causal structure to make predictions, and possibly even test them out. This concept is described as the ‘Child Scientist’ theory, proposing that a series of personal scientific revolutions are required for the development of theories about the outside world, including the social world.


  • PFD: The Edge Of Awareness - Gendlin’s Contribution to Explorations of the Implicit, Lynn Preston. In the last several years there has been an upsurge of ideas about the implicit dimension of experience, that which is in some sense known, but not yet available to reflective thought or verbalization. Terms such as: “implicit relational knowing,” “unformulated experience,” “pre-reflective unconscious,” “horizon of experience,” “subsymbolic process,”“embodied knowing,” and “the unthought known” are emerging from virtually every school of thought in the fields of psychoanalysis, cognitive science and infant research. Each of these concepts contributes its own unique perspective to our increasing understanding of this vital domain of experience. In this paper I wish to highlight a conceptualization of the implicit as “the edge of awareness”- experience that is just beneath the surface of consciousness. I will focus on Eugene Gendlin's concept of “felt sense” as it adds to and informs this timely investigation.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colwyn_Trevarthen - He believes that very young babies rapidly develop proto-cultural intelligence through interacting with other people, including in teasing fun play. For instance he has demonstrated that a newborn has an innate ability to initiate a dialogic relationship with an adult, and then build up this relationship through eye contact, smiling, and other holistic body functions rhythmically and cooperatively. He studied successful interactions between infants and their primary care givers, and found that the mother's responsiveness to her baby's initiatives supported and developed intersubjectivity (shared understanding), which he regarded as the basis of all effective communication, interaction and learning.

He has applied intersubjectivity to the very rapid cultural development of new born infants. and used the term ‘primary intersubjectivity’ to refer to early developing sensory-motor processes of interaction between infants and caregivers. He believes babies are looking for companionship (including the sense of fun and playfulness), engagement and relationship (rather than using the term attachment), and that companions can include mothers, fathers, other adults, peers and siblings; he has said "I think the ideal companion – and it can be a practitioner or not – is a familiar person who really treats the baby with playful human respect." In later years his work has focused on the musicality of babies, including its use in communication.


  • Social Mirrors - This website explores issues such as what makes us different from animals, why we are so self-conscious, what is human culture, and how does consciousness fit in with the rest of reality. Each core topic has a brief introduction followed by wiki contributions that anyone can add to or change


Love


  • To Love Someone, Do You Really Need to Love Yourself First? - "Given my professional role as a psychologist for the past 30+ years, I’ve come, empirically, to a rather different conclusion about self-love. To me, it’s extremely unlikely that without the ability to love oneself a person can ever be happy. That is, what’s necessary and sufficient—not for loving another but for a state of inner contentment and well-being—is healthy self-love and acceptance. For it only makes sense that if you’re not on very good terms with yourself, you’re not going to be happy with life generally ...

"Yet one last question remains: Would learning how to truly love yourself enable you to love another more? No simple answer suggests itself here because your growing self-love might be seen as independent of your ability to love someone else. But if, warts and all, you come to fully embrace yourself, your relationships would definitely become more intimate. For then you’d no longer feel compelled to hide your supposedly 'unacceptable' qualities. You’d be more able to open yourself up to others, and you’d probably want to do so. Plus, such a heightened willingness to self-disclose can be infectious, prompting others to respond in kind and so deepen feelings of love and attachment between both of you. Having resolved old feelings of anxiety, shame, inferiority, and unlovability, you’d no longer fear being “unmasked”—and thereby repudiated. You’d finally feel comfortable in your own skin, confident about letting others know who you are. And so your lifelong potential for a deeper, more confiding—and consequently, more loving—relationship might at last be realized."


“My dear, find what you love and let it kill you. Let it drain you of your all. Let it cling onto your back and weigh you down into eventual nothingness. Let it kill you and let it devour your remains. For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it’s much better to be killed by a lover." --Charles Bukowski


Trauma



  • YouTube: The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma - Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence—the body keeps the score. That’s how Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s leading experts on developmental trauma, explains how our long-term health and happiness can be compromised by prior exposure to violence, emotional abuse, and other forms of traumatic stress. In his new book, Dr. van der Kolk explores how innovative treatments—ranging from meditation and neurofeedback to yoga, sports, and drama—offer new paths to healing and wellness. A psychiatrist and author of multiple books, his work and perspectives have been featured in The New York Times, on National Public Radio, and in many other media outlets. 2015.

Harvard Medical School, 1991




Trauma refers to the condition whereby an individual experiences a cluster of sever negative effects as a result of extremely stressful events. These negative effects may include relational and behaviour problems and psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, dissociation and posttraumatic stress. Potentially traumatic events include an objective experience such as witnessing a life threatening event, and a subjective experience such as feeling helpless and terrified that you’re about to be killed. Whether or not exposure to potentially traumatic events results in persistent negative effects often depends on whether the “victim” has sufficient emotional structure (Object Constancy) to accommodate the event into her schemata and the support and comfort to restore a sense of safety amid the helpless and loneliness of personal trauma.

Potentially traumatic events range from a single incident (a car accident) to repeated stress (refugee trauma). It is possible to distinguish among three levels of involvement in potentially traumatic events: impersonal (e.g., a tornado), interpersonal (e.g., an assault), and attachment trauma (i.e., trauma in attachment relationships). Attachment trauma includes physical, sexual and psychological abuse; and emotional and physical neglect related to relationships.

One important neurological principle is that all our experiences are filtered by our senses of sound, sight, taste, touch and smell that, in turn, initiate a cascade of neurochemistry and ultimately a change in brain structure and function. One function created by this process is the formation of our internal representations of the external world. The more frequently a certain pattern of neural activation occurs, the more indelible the internal representation becomes.Another important neurological principle to consider is that the brain develops in a sequential and hierarchical fashion i.e., from less complex (brainstem) to most complex (limbic and cortical areas). These different areas develop, interact with other systems and become fully functional at different times during childhood.

In the initial stages of threat, an alarm reaction is initiated. The alarm reaction is characterized by hyperarousal of the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in increased heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, a release of stored sugar, an increase in muscle tone, a sense of hypervigilance, and screening out of all non­ critical information. In this early stage of threat, the young child commonly utilises the hyperarousal response which is designed to bring caretakers to defend them. If the threat continues she tends to utilise the dissociative continuum, initially becoming immobile (freezing) or compliant, and on through to dissociation. Dissociation is more likely to be used if:∑ The child is female∑ The child is younger∑ The child feels helpless∑ When physical injury, pain or torture is involved If dissociation is imprinted by repeated utilization, it becomes the standard response to perceived threat throughout life. The cues that trigger the response then become generalized and the adult is at risk of escaping any form of conflict or challenge with an attached threat. The damage this can to relationships in general is immense.


Empathy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathy - the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within the other person's frame of reference, i.e., the capacity to place oneself in another's position.



(German: Nachfühlen, literally "after experience") is a philosophical concept related to empathy and sympathy. In Dagobert D. Runes' 1942 Dictionary of Philosophy, contributor Herman Hausheer defines mimpathy as the sharing of another's feelings on a matter, without necessarily experiencing feelings of sympathy.

Philosopher Max Scheler describes mimpathy, or "emotional imitation", as the basis for sympathy, but of no help in understanding another person in and of itself. Scheler identifies four types of sympathy:

  • Compathy, or emotional solidarity, the immediate sharing of the same emotion with another
  • Genuine sympathy, in which sorrow is experienced "in an act of understanding experienced as such an act", and the objective source of emotion is not shared
  • Transpathy, or emotional contagion, a state introduced in a group, "automatic and without understanding", by the emotional display of another
  • Unipathy, or genuine emotional identification with another, an "intensified" and "involuntary" form of transpathy, which may present as a folie à deux.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathic_accuracy - refers to how accurately one person can infer the thoughts and feelings of another person. It was first introduced in conjunction with the term empathic inference, which was presented by psychologists William Ickes and William Tooke in 1988. Since then research on empathic accuracy has explored its relationship with the concepts of affect sharing and mentalizing. In order to accurately infer another’s psychological state, one must be able to both share that state (affect sharing), and understand cognitively how to label that state (mentalizing). Neuroscience research has shown that brain activation associated with empathic accuracy overlaps with both the areas responsible for affect sharing and mentalizing.





Compassion

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compassion - motivates people to go out of their way to help physical, spiritual, or emotional hurts or pains of another. Compassion is often regarded as having an emotional aspect to it, though when based on cerebral notions such as fairness, justice and interdependence, it may be considered rational in nature and its application understood as an activity based on sound judgment. There is also an aspect of compassion which regards a quantitative dimension, such that individual's compassion is often given a property of "depth," "vigour," or "passion." The etymology of "compassion" is Latin, meaning "co-suffering." More involved than simple empathy, compassion commonly gives rise to an active desire to alleviate another's suffering.
  • Self-Compassion, Self-Esteem, and Well-Being - Kristin D. Neff, University of Texas at Austin. This article focuses on the construct of self-compassion and how it differs from self-esteem. First,it discusses the fact that while self-esteem is related to psychological well-being, the pursuit ofhigh self-esteem can be problematic. Next it presents another way to feel good about oneself: self-compassion. Self-compassion entails treating oneself with kindness, recognizing one’s sharedhumanity, and being mindful when considering negative aspects of oneself. Finally, this articlesuggests that self-compassion may offer similar mental health benefits as self-esteem, but withfewer downsides. Research is presented which shows that self-compassion provides greater emo-tional resilience and stability than self-esteem, but involves less self-evaluation, ego-defensiveness,and self-enhancement than self-esteem. Whereas self-esteem entails evaluating oneself positivelyand often involves the need to be special and above average, self-compassion does not entail self-evaluation or comparisons with others. Rather, it is a kind, connected, and clear-sighted way ofrelating to ourselves even in instances of failure, perceived inadequacy, and imperfection.
  • YouTube: Self Compassion Part 1 Kristin Neff
  • YouTube: A Love affair - Vidyuddeva - "How are we ever going to be free from anger, if you're angry at human delusion? Look around! What are we gonna do?! Although there's a pathological aspect to what I'm going to say next, what stuck me is that there has to be a love affair with human delusion to have any effectiveness, any efficacy at all, there has to be a love affair with human delusion. But this total love and this total acceptance is not justification or condoning or even propagating, particularly ... Error has it's own beauty, it's own pathology, but when you spot error, often our tendency is then to be arrogant and to distance ourselves and then not to be in communication, not to have any relationship ..."


Compersion

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compersion - after overcoming attachment issues and fear of abandonment, managing expectations and communication, and responding over reacting, compersion or sympathetic joy replaces jealousy



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudita - means joy; especially sympathetic or vicarious joy. Also: the pleasure that comes from delighting in other people's well-being. The traditional paradigmatic example of this mind-state is the attitude of a parent observing a growing child's accomplishments and successes. Mudita should not be confounded with pride as a person feeling mudita may not have any interest or direct income from the accomplishments of the other. Mudita is a pure joy unadulterated by self-interest. When we can be happy of the joys other beings feel, it is called mudita; the opposite word is envy or schadenfreude.

Sustainability

to move somewhere else..

See also Living

deep/social ecology, etc...



Existential

Human condition: "These limitations are neither subjective nor objective, or rather there is both a subjective and an objective aspect of them. Objective, because we meet with them everywhere and they are everywhere recognisable: and subjective because they are lived and are nothing if man does not live them – if, that is to say, he does not freely determine himself and his existence in relation to them. And, diverse though man’s purpose may be, at least none of them is wholly foreign to me, since every human purpose presents itself as an attempt either to surpass these limitations, or to widen them, or else to deny or to accommodate oneself to them." ... "In this sense we may say that there is a human universality, but it is not something given; it is being perpetually made. I make this universality in choosing myself; I also make it by understanding the purpose of any other man, of whatever epoch. This absoluteness of the act of choice does not alter the relativity of each epoch."

"There is this in common between art and morality, that in both we have to do with creation and invention."

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_faith_(existentialism) - used by existentialist philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir to describe the phenomenon where a human being under pressure from societal forces adopts false values and disowns his/her innate freedom to act authentically. It is closely related to the concepts of self-deception and ressentiment.







  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai - a Japanese concept meaning "a reason for being". Everyone, according to the Japanese, has an ikigai. Finding it requires a deep and often lengthy search of self. Such a search is regarded as being very important, since it is believed that discovery of one's ikigai brings satisfaction and meaning to life.

Will and change

See Organisation, Startups#Innovation, Aesthetics



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conation - a term that stems from the Latin conatus, meaning any natural tendency, impulse, striving, or directed effort. Conative is one of three parts of the mind, along with the affective and cognitive. In short, the cognitive part of the brain has to do with intelligence, the affective deals with emotions and the conative drives how one acts on those thoughts and feelings.


"In effect, I can resist change by suppressing my experience or elicit change by succumbing to it."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_actualization - a term that has been used in various psychology theories, often in slightly different ways. The term was originally introduced by the organismic theorist Kurt Goldstein for the motive to realize one's full potential. Expressing one's creativity, quest for spiritual enlightenment, pursuit of knowledge, and the desire to give to society are examples of self-actualization. In Goldstein's view, it is the organism's master motive, the only real motive: "the tendency to actualize itself as fully as possible is the basic drive... the drive of self-actualization." Carl Rogers similarly wrote of "the curative force in psychotherapy - man's tendency to actualize himself, to become his potentialities... to express and activate all the capacities of the organism." The concept was brought most fully to prominence in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory as the final level of psychological development that can be achieved when all basic and mental needs are essentially fulfilled and the "actualization" of the full personal potential takes place, although he adapted this viewpoint later on in life, and saw it more flexibly. Self actualization can be seen as similar to words and concepts such as self discovery, self reflection, self realisation and self exploration.


"I don't envision a single thing that is as quick to reverse itself as the mind — so much so that there is no feasible simile for how quick to reverse itself it is."

-- Lahu-parivatta Sutta: Quick to Reverse Itself - AN 1.48 PTS: A i 10 I,v,8, translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu


"Try the opposite."









  • Composition is not research - John Croft. Abstract: Composers in academic institutions are increasingly required to describe their activities in terms of ‘research’ – formulating ‘research questions’, ‘research narratives’, ‘aims’ and ‘outcomes’. Research plans and funding applications require one to specify the nature of the original contribution that will be made by a piece of music, even before it is composed. These requirements lead to an emphasis on collaborative work, technology and superficial novelty of format. Yet the very idea that musical composition is a form of research is a category error: music is a domain of thought whose cognitive dimension lies in embodiment, revelation or presentation, but not in investigation and description. It is argued here that the idea of composition as research is not only objectively false but inimical to genuine musical originality.

"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." --Stephen R. Covey

"Every transition involves to some extent the killing off of the old self"

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." -- Alan Kay

Put The Other Thoughts Down

Get Shit Done, etc.


Creating opportunities;

  • McDonald’s Theory - I use a trick with co-workers when we’re trying to decide where to eat for lunch and no one has any ideas. I recommend McDonald’s. An interesting thing happens. Everyone unanimously agrees that we can’t possibly go to McDonald’s, and better lunch suggestions emerge. Magic!

times for the specific, times for the general. FOCUS.

"(By the way, try thinking about Imposter Syndrome and the Dunning–Kruger effect in a loop sometime. Fastest way to feeling worthless and confused that I've ever found.)"

golden thread;

silver thread

  • connects to astral plane

inner funk (idm)









Action

See also;




  • A Meditation on the Art of Not Trying - The advice is as maddening as it is inescapable. It’s the default prescription for any tense situation: a blind date, a speech, a job interview, the first dinner with the potential in-laws. “Our culture is very good at pushing people to work hard or acquire particular technical skills,” Dr. Slingerland says. “But in many domains actual success requires the ability to transcend our training and relax completely into what we are doing, or simply forget ourselves as agents.” He likes the compromise approach of Mencius, a Chinese philosopher in the fourth century B.C. who combined the Confucian and Taoist approaches: Try, but not too hard. Mencius told a parable about a grain farmer who returned one evening exhausted from his labors. “I’ve been out in the fields helping the sprouts grow,” he explained, whereupon his worried sons rushed out to see the results. They found a bunch of shriveled sprouts that he’d yanked to death. The sprouts were Mencius’ conception of wu wei: Something natural that requires gentle cultivation. You plant the seeds and water the sprouts, but at some point you need to let nature take its course. Just let the sprouts be themselves. [85]



So for a study recently published in The Journal of Comparative Neurology, scientists at Wayne State University School of Medicine and other institutions gathered a dozen rats. They settled half of them in cages with running wheels and let the animals run at will. Rats like running, and these animals were soon covering about three miles a day on their wheels. The other rats were housed in cages without wheels and remained sedentary.

After almost three months of resting or running, the animals were injected with a special dye that colors certain neurons in the brain. In this case, the scientists wanted to mark neurons in the animals’ rostral ventrolateral medulla, an obscure portion of the brain that controls breathing and other unconscious activities central to our existence.

The neurons in the brains of the running rats were still shaped much as they had been at the start of the study and were functioning normally, but many of the neurons in the brains of the sedentary rats had sprouted far more new tentacle-like arms known as branches. Branches connect healthy neurons into the nervous system. But these neurons now had more branches than normal neurons would have, making them more sensitive to stimuli and apt to zap scattershot messages into the nervous system.

In effect, these neurons had changed in ways that made them likely to overstimulate the sympathetic nervous system, potentially increasing blood pressure and contributing to the development of heart disease.

The rostral ventrolateral medulla commands the body’s sympathetic nervous system, which among other things controls blood pressure on a minute-by-minute basis by altering blood-vessel constriction. Although most of the science related to the rostral ventrolateral medulla has been completed using animals, imaging studies in people suggest that we have the same brain region and it functions similarly.

A well-regulated sympathetic nervous system correctly directs blood vessels to widen or contract as needed and blood to flow, so that you can, say, scurry away from a predator or rise from your office chair without fainting. But an overly responsive sympathetic nervous system is problematic, said Patrick Mueller, an associate professor of physiology at Wayne State University who oversaw the new study. Recent science shows that “overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system contributes to cardiovascular disease,” he said, by stimulating blood vessels to constrict too much, too little or too often, leading to high blood pressure and cardiovascular damage.

The sympathetic nervous system will respond erratically and dangerously, scientists theorize, if it is receiving too many and possibly garbled messages from neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla.

  • Wheel running in the wild - "The importance of exercise for health and neurogenesis is becoming increasingly clear. Wheel running is often used in the laboratory for triggering enhanced activity levels, despite the common objection that this behaviour is an artefact of captivity and merely signifies neurosis or stereotypy. If wheel running is indeed caused by captive housing, wild mice are not expected to use a running wheel in nature. This however, to our knowledge, has never been tested. Here, we show that when running wheels are placed in nature, they are frequently used by wild mice, also when no extrinsic reward is provided. Bout lengths of running wheel behaviour in the wild match those for captive mice. This finding falsifies one criterion for stereotypic behaviour, and suggests that running wheel activity is an elective behaviour. In a time when lifestyle in general and lack of exercise in particular are a major cause of disease in the modern world, research into physical activity is of utmost importance. Our findings may help alleviate the main concern regarding the use of running wheels in research on exercise."




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delayed_gratification - or deferred gratification, is the ability to resist the temptation for an immediate reward and wait for a later reward. Generally, delayed gratification is associated with resisting a smaller but more immediate reward in order to receive a larger or more enduring reward later. A growing body of literature has linked the ability to delay gratification to a host of other positive outcomes, including academic success, physical health, psychological health, and social competence.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganachakra - also known as tsog, ganapuja, cakrapuja or ganacakrapuja. It is a generic term for various tantric assemblies or feasts, in which practitioners meet to chant mantra, enact mudra, make votive offerings and practice various tantric rituals as part of a sādhanā, or spiritual practice. The ganachakra often comprises a sacramental meal and festivities such as dancing; the feast generally consisting of materials that were considered forbidden or taboo in medieval India, where the tantric movement arose. As a tantric practice, forms of gaṇacakra are practiced today in Hinduism, Bön and Vajrayāna Buddhism.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dérive - French: "drift", in psychogeography is an unplanned journey through a landscape, usually urban, on which the subtle aesthetic contours of the surrounding architecture and geography subconsciously direct the travellers, with the ultimate goal of encountering an entirely new and authentic experience. Situationist theorist Guy Debord defines the dérive as "a mode of experimental behavior linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances." He also notes that "the term also designates a specific uninterrupted period of dériving."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happenings - a performance, event or situation meant to be considered art, usually as performance art. Happenings occur anywhere and are often multi-disciplinary, with a nonlinear narrative and the active participation of the audience. Key elements of happenings are planned but artists sometimes retain room for improvisation. This new media art aspect to happenings eliminates the boundary between the artwork and its viewer. In the late 1960s, perhaps due to the depiction in films of hippie culture, the term was used much less specifically to mean any gathering of interest from a pool hall meetup or a jamming of a few young people to a beer blast or fancy formal party.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achievement_ideology - the belief that one reaches a socially perceived definition of success through hard work and education. In this view, factors such as gender, race/ethnicity, economic background, social networks, or neighborhoods/geography are secondary to hard work and education or are altogether irrelevant in the pursuit of success.

Wellbeing

to sort/reorder

See also Organisation#Communication, Health



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coping_(psychology) - expending conscious effort to solve personal and interpersonal problems, and seeking to master, minimize or tolerate stress or conflict. The effectiveness of the coping efforts depend on the type of stress and/or conflict, the particular individual, and the circumstances. Psychological coping mechanisms are commonly termed coping strategies or coping skills. Unconscious or non conscious strategies (e.g. defense mechanisms) are generally excluded. The term coping generally refers to adaptive or constructive coping strategies, i.e. the strategies reduce stress levels. However, some coping strategies can be considered maladaptive, i.e. stress levels increase. Maladaptive coping can thus be described, in effect, as non-coping. Furthermore, the term coping generally refers to reactive coping, i.e. the coping response follows the stressor. This contrasts with proactive coping, in which a coping response aims to head off a future stressor. Coping responses are partly controlled by personality (habitual traits), but also partly by the social environment, particularly the nature of the stressful environment.



  • Self-Absorption: Why You MUST Like Yourself - As such, you’ll be so desperately self-absorbed in your self-worth crisis that you will instinctively try to manipulate people into giving you validation as a means of self-preservation (fishing for compliments, boasting excessively, etc.).



"Optimists explain good things as being personal, general, and permanent, and explain away bad things as being impersonal, specific, and temporary. And if you point out the contradiction in their explanations, they see no contradiction. To them, the bad stuff really isn't about them, it's just that one thing that one time.

"Let's think about those three things whenever we look at someone or something. Let's think of the positives as personal, general, and permanent. Let's think of the negatives as impersonal, specific, and temporary. Let's actually go out of our way to inject these three things into our discussions and debates and flame wars."

"He tips forward, performs an awkward jump and splashes inelegantly into the water. Inelegant, but he's done it! His mother and I smile; the girls laugh a little, but not in a mean way, and quickly get back to their own chatter; the children hardly register, so impatient for their own turns.

"Alex resurfaces, his first words are not "awesome!" or even "yes!" but "I failed!", and with half a smile he punches the water. Again, "I failed!".

"Alex's mind has almost completely bifurcated at this point. One half is silently pleased, glad that he jumped at all, even if it sucked, and feeling a surge of adrenaline from the stunt. But the vocal half of his mind, that has been shaped by his 16 years in this world, and millions of years of evolution, has kicked into "rejection protection" mode. It has anticipated that his mother, the girls, the children, and I, would all be laughing at him uncontrollably, and shunning him from our lives forever more - kicking him out of the tribe. In a last ditch effort for acceptance, and to protect himself, he cries "I failed!", as if the rejection is justified.

"His cry of failure cuts me deeper than I expect. In it I see my cries of failure, my tears of frustration in years gone by at my inability to just achieve things on the first, second, tenth try and to be accepted. As if we are all born perfect divers, skateboarders, mathematicians, lovers. As if the fact that we tried at all, even if we failed, is unimportant. How ridiculous a life to lead. To think that we should be perfect on our first, second even hundredth try. What a world this would be if we perfected everything instantly. How trivial, how easy, how boring!

"I know now what I should have done. What would have made Alex, myself and possibly everyone else feel much better about the world at that point. I should have congratulated him in his attempt. I should have walked over to him as he got out of the pool, stuck up my hand for a high-five, and said "good job! now go do it again", with a big sincere smile on my face.

"But I didn't. I didn't even think about it, but next time, I will.

"Good job Alex, good job."


"This philosophy feels so good that I’ve playfully decided to apply this “EVERYTHING IS MY FAULT” rule to the rest of my life.

"It's one of those base rules like “people mean well” that's more fun to believe, and have a few exceptions, than to not believe at all.

"The guy that stole $9000 from me? My fault. I should have verified his claims. The love of my life that dumped me out of the blue (by email!) after 6 years? My fault. I let our relationship plateau. Someone was rude to me today? My fault. I could have lightened their mood beforehand. Don’t like my government? My fault. I could get involved and change the world. See what power it is?

Yes, the word “responsibility” is more accurate, but it's such a serious 6-syllable word, whereas “everything’s my fault” is a fun rule-of-thumb, and gets me singing Nirvana’s “All Apologies”.

Try it on. Stand up, open the window, look out at the world and shout, “Everything is my fault!”





Equanimity





"I was thinking about the Carmelite’s emphasis on passion and the Buddhist’s parallel emphasis on equanimity. This somehow seemed more important to me than the age-old argument about theism versus nontheism that these two groups usually engage in, and which seems beside the point to me. It suddenly occurred to me that our normal understanding of what passion means is loaded with the idea of clinging, of wanting something or someone, of fearing losing them, of possessiveness.

"What if you had passion without all that stuff, passion without attachment, passion clean and pure? What would that be like, what would that mean? I thought of those moments in meditation when I’ve felt my heart open, a painfully wonderful sensation, a passionate feeling but without clinging to any content or person or thing. And the two words suddenly coupled in my mind and made a whole. Passionate equanimity, passionate equanimity – to be fully passionate about all aspects of life, about one’s relationship with spirit, to care to the depths of one’s being but with no trace of clinging or holding, that’s what the phrase has come to mean to me. It feels full, rounded, complete, and challenging. This feels very right to me, very deep to me, very central to what I have been working on for many years, going back to the name change. It’s like the first part of my life was learning passion. The life after cancer, equanimity. And now bringing them together. This feels so important! And it seems slowly but surely to be permeating all aspects of my life. I still have a ways to go! But it feels like I can finally see the road clearly, on that 'journey without goal.'"

And as for the task before me, it means to work passionately for life, without attachment to results. Passionate equanimity, passionate equanimity. So appropriate!"


Flourishing


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closure_(psychology) - or need for closure (NFC) (used interchangeably with need for cognitive closure (NFCC)) are psychological terms that describe an individual's desire for a firm answer to a question and an aversion toward ambiguity. The term "need" denotes a motivated tendency to seek out information


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broaden-and-build - suggests that positive emotions (viz. enjoyment/happiness/joy, and perhaps interest/anticipation) broaden one's awareness and encourage novel, varied, and exploratory thoughts and actions. Over time, this broadened behavioral repertoire builds skills and resources. For example, curiosity about a landscape becomes valuable navigational knowledge; pleasant interactions with a stranger become a supportive friendship; aimless physical play becomes exercise and physical excellence.

This is in contrast to negative emotions, which prompt narrow, immediate survival-oriented behaviors. For example, the negative emotion of anxiety leads to the specific fight-or-flight response for immediate survival. On the other hand, positive emotions do not have any immediate survival value, because they take one's mind off immediate needs and stressors. However, over time, the skills and resources built by broadened behavior enhance survival. When a life-threatening event occurs, people typically have a narrow range of possible responses or urges. Having a limited number of urges, called specific action tendencies, quickens a person’s response time in these situations. While negative emotions experienced during life-threatening situations narrow an individual’s thought-action repertoire, positive emotions present new possibilities, providing the individual with a wider range of thoughts and actions to choose to draw upon.

The broaden-and-build theory is an exploration of the evolved function of positive emotions. It was developed by Barbara Fredrickson starting around 1998 and is commonly associated with positive psychology. The broaden-and-build theory has substantial support. Barbara Fredrickson has conducted randomized controlled lab studies in which participants are randomly assigned to watch films that induce positive emotions such as amusement and contentment, negative emotions such as fear and sadness, or no emotions. Compared to people in the other conditions, participants who experience positive emotions show heightened levels of creativity, inventiveness, and "big picture" perceptual focus. Longitudinal intervention studies show that positive emotions play a role in the development of long-term resource such as psychological resilience and flourishing. Not only are positive emotions a sign of flourishing, or thriving and expanding in life rather than simply surviving life, they can also help create flourishing in the present and in the future. Because positive emotions positively broaden and build one’s thought-action repertoires they lead to increased resources and more satisfied lives.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness_(psychology) - is "the intentional, accepting and non-judgmental focus of one's attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment", which can be trained by meditational practices derived from Buddhist anapanasati. It has been popularized in the west by Jon Kabat-Zinn with his Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. Clinical psychology and psychiatry since the 1970s have developed a number of therapeutic applications based on mindfulness for helping people suffering from a variety of psychological conditions. Clinical studies have documented the physical and mental health benefits of mindfulness in general, and MBSR in particular. Programs based on MBSR and similar models have been widely adapted in schools, prisons, hospitals, veterans centers, and other environments.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-disclosure - a process of communication through which one person reveals himself or herself to another. It comprises everything an individual chooses to tell the other person about himself or herself, making him or her known. The information can be descriptive or evaluative and can include thoughts, feelings, aspirations, goals, failures, successes, fears, dreams as well as one's likes, dislikes, and favorites. According to social penetration theory, there are two dimensions to self-disclosure: breadth and depth. Both are crucial in developing a fully intimate relationship. The range of topics discussed by two individuals is the breadth of disclosure. The degree to which the information revealed is private or personal is the depth of that disclosure. It is easier for breadth to be expanded first in a relationship because of its more accessible features; it consists of outer layers of personality and everyday lives, such as occupations and preferences. Depth is more difficult to reach, given its inner location; it includes painful memories and more unusual traits that we might try to hide from most people. This is why we reveal ourselves most thoroughly and discuss the widest range of topics with our spouses and loved ones. Self-disclosure is an important building block for intimacy; intimacy cannot be achieved without it. We expect self-disclosure to be reciprocal and appropriate. Self-disclosure can be assessed by an analysis of cost and rewards which can be further explained by social exchange theory. Most self-disclosure occurs early in relational development, but more intimate self-disclosure occurs later.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decatastrophizing - In cognitive therapy, decatastrophizing or decatastrophization is a cognitive restructuring technique to treat cognitive distortions, such as magnification and catastrophizing, commonly seen in psychological disorders like anxiety and psychosis. The technique consists of confronting the worst-case scenario of a feared event or object, using mental imagery to examine whether the effects of the event or object have been overestimated (magnified or exaggerated) and where the patient's coping skills have been underestimated. The term was coined by Albert Ellis, and various versions of the technique have been developed, most notably by Aaron T. Beck. Decatastrophizing is also called the "what if" technique, because the worst-case scenario is confronted by asking: "What if the feared event or object happened, what would occur then?"
  • https://www.facebook.com/ghandi.gizzapie/posts/10152292952605672 - "Plant seeds everywhere you can. See empty space drop seeds from your consumables or whatever. lets regrow the land. floral, vegetation, herbal. start a revolution. seeds will thrive. it may take time, but the change. free food, medicines and of course the floral for the bees"



Language

See Language. To megamerge.






  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorical_modes - also known as modes of discourse, describe the variety, conventions, and purposes of the major kinds of language-based communication, particularly writing and speaking. Four of the most common rhetorical modes and their purpose are narration, description, exposition, and argumentation.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Description - act of description may be related to that of definition. Description is also the fiction-writing mode for transmitting a mental image of the particulars of a story. Definition: The pattern of development that presents a word picture of a thing, a person, a situation, or a series of events.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative - or story is any report of connected events, real or imaginary, presented in a sequence of written or spoken words, and/or still or moving images. Narrative can be organized in a number of thematic and/or formal categories: non-fiction (such as definitively including creative non-fiction, biography, journalism, transcript poetry, and historiography); fictionalization of historical events (such as anecdote, myth, legend, and historical fiction); and fiction proper (such as literature in prose and sometimes poetry, such as short stories, novels, and narrative poems and songs, and imaginary narratives as portrayed in other textual forms, games, or live or recorded performances). Narrative is found in all forms of human creativity, art, and entertainment, including speech, literature, theatre, music and song, comics, journalism, film, television and video, radio, gameplay, unstructured recreation, and performance in general, as well as some painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, and other visual arts (though several modern art movements refuse the narrative in favor of the abstract and conceptual), as long as a sequence of events is presented. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to tell", which is derived from the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled".

Oral storytelling is perhaps the earliest method for sharing narratives. During most people's childhoods, narratives are used to guide them on proper behavior, cultural history, formation of a communal identity, and values, as especially studied in anthropology today among traditional indigenous peoples. Narratives may also be nested within other narratives, such as narratives told by an unreliable narrator (a character) typically found in noir fiction genre. An important part of narration is the narrative mode, the set of methods used to communicate the narrative through a process narration (see also "Narrative Aesthetics" below). Along with exposition, argumentation, and description, narration, broadly defined, is one of four rhetorical modes of discourse. More narrowly defined, it is the fiction-writing mode in which the narrator communicates directly to the reader.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposition_(narrative) - the insertion of important background information within a story; for example, information about the setting, characters' backstories, prior plot events, historical context, etc. In a specifically literary context, exposition appears in the form of expository writing embedded within the narrative.

Linguistics

moved from language, to merge with above

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics - the scientific study of language, specifically language form, language meaning, and language in context. The earliest activities in the description of language have been attributed to the 4th century BCE Indian grammarian Pāṇini, who was an early student of linguistics and wrote a formal description of the Sanskrit language in his Aṣṭādhyāyī.

Linguistics analyzes human language as a system for relating sounds (or signs in signed languages) and meaning. Phonetics studies acoustic and articulatory properties of the production and perception of speech sounds and non-speech sounds. The study of language meaning, on the other hand, deals with how languages encode relations between entities, properties, and other aspects of the world to convey, process, and assign meaning, as well as to manage and resolve ambiguity. While the study of semantics typically concerns itself with truth conditions, pragmatics deals with how context influences meanings.

Grammar is a system of rules which govern the form of the utterances in a given language. It encompasses both sound and meaning, and includes phonology (how sounds or gestures function together), morphology (the formation and composition of words), and syntax (the formation and composition of phrases and sentences from words).

In the early 20th century, Ferdinand de Saussure distinguished between the notions of langue and parole in his formulation of structural linguistics. According to him, parole is the specific utterance of speech, whereas langue refers to an abstract phenomenon that theoretically defines the principles and system of rules that govern a language. This distinction resembles the one made by Noam Chomsky between competence and performance, where competence is individual's ideal knowledge of a language, while performance is the specific way in which it is used.

The formal study of language has also led to the growth of fields like psycholinguistics, which explores the representation and function of language in the mind; neurolinguistics, which studies language processing in the brain; and language acquisition, which investigates how children and adults acquire a particular language.

Linguistics also includes non-formal approaches to the study of other aspects of human language, such as social, cultural, historical and political factors. The study of cultural discourses and dialects is the domain of sociolinguistics, which looks at the relation between linguistic variation and social structures, as well as that of discourse analysis, which examines the structure of texts and conversations. Research on language through historical and evolutionary linguistics focuses on how languages change, and on the origin and growth of languages, particularly over an extended period of time.

Corpus linguistics takes naturally occurring texts and studies the variation of grammatical and other features based on such corpora. Stylistics involves the study of patterns of style: within written, signed, or spoken discourse. Language documentation combines anthropological inquiry with linguistic inquiry to describe languages and their grammars. Lexicography covers the study and construction of dictionaries. Computational linguistics applies computer technology to address questions in theoretical linguistics, as well as to create applications for use in parsing, data retrieval, machine translation, and other areas. People can apply actual knowledge of a language in translation and interpreting, as well as in language education – the teaching of a second or foreign language. Policy makers work with governments to implement new plans in education and teaching which are based on linguistic research.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_linguistics - an interdisciplinary field of linguistics that identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, computer science, communication research, anthropology, and sociology.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_turn - a major development in Western philosophy during the 20th century, the most important characteristic of which is the focusing of philosophy and the other humanities primarily on the relationship between philosophy and language.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etymology - is the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time. By an extension, the term "the etymology of [a word]" means the origin of the particular word.





Becker's Criterion: "Any theory (or partial theory) of the English Language that is expounded in the English Language must account for (or at least apply to) the text of its own exposition."

Becker's Razor: his final riposte to theoretical linguists: "Elegance and truth are inversely related', after which he finishes with, 'Put that in your phrasal lexicon and invoke it!"









  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_typology - a subfield of linguistics that studies and classifies languages according to their structural and functional features. Its aim is to describe and explain the common properties and the structural diversity of the world's languages. It includes three subdisciplines: qualitative typology, which deals with the issue of comparing languages and within-language variance; quantitative typology, which deals with the distribution of structural patterns in the world’s languages; and theoretical typology, which explains these distributions.














Semiotics

See also Maths#Logic

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics - also called semiotic studies; not to be confused with the Saussurean tradition called semiology which is a part of semiotics) is the study of meaning-making, the study of sign processes and meaningful communication. This includes the study of signs and sign processes (semiosis), indication, designation, likeness, analogy, allegory, metonymy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication.

Semiotics is closely related to the field of linguistics, which, for its part, studies the structure and meaning of language more specifically. The semiotic tradition explores the study of signs and symbols as a significant part of communications. As different from linguistics, however, semiotics also studies non-linguistic sign systems.

Semiotics is frequently seen as having important anthropological dimensions; for example, the late Italian semiotician and novelist Umberto Eco proposed that every cultural phenomenon may be studied as communication. Some semioticians focus on the logical dimensions of the science, however. They examine areas belonging also to the life sciences—such as how organisms make predictions about, and adapt to, their semiotic niche in the world (see semiosis). In general, semiotic theories take signs or sign systems as their object of study: the communication of information in living organisms is covered in biosemiotics (including zoosemiotics).




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntagma_(linguistics) - an elementary constituent segment within a text. Such a segment can be a phoneme, a word, a grammatical phrase, a sentence, or an event within a larger narrative structure, depending on the level of analysis. Syntagmatic analysis involves the study of relationships (rules of combination) among syntagmas.

At the lexical level, syntagmatic structure in a language is the combination of words according to the rules of syntax for that language. For example, English uses determiner + adjective + noun, e.g. the big house. Another language might use determiner + noun + adjective (Spanish la casa grande) and therefore have a different syntagmatic structure.

At a higher level, narrative structures feature a realistic temporal flow guided by tension and relaxation; thus, for example, events or rhetorical figures may be treated as syntagmas of epic structures.

Syntagmatic structure is often contrasted with paradigmatic structure. In semiotics, "syntagmatic analysis" is analysis of syntax or surface structure (syntagmatic structure), rather than paradigms as in paradigmatic analysis. Analysis is often achieved through commutation tests.






Pragmatics

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatics - a subfield of linguistics and semiotics that studies the ways in which context contributes to meaning. Pragmatics encompasses speech act theory, conversational implicature, talk in interaction and other approaches to language behavior in philosophy, sociology, linguistics and anthropology.

Unlike semantics, which examines meaning that is conventional or "coded" in a given language, pragmatics studies how the transmission of meaning depends not only on structural and linguistic knowledge (e.g., grammar, lexicon, etc.) of the speaker and listener, but also on the context of the utterance, any pre-existing knowledge about those involved, the inferred intent of the speaker, and other factors. In this respect, pragmatics explains how language users are able to overcome apparent ambiguity, since meaning relies on the manner, place, time etc. of an utterance.

The ability to understand another speaker's intended meaning is called pragmatic competence.

Phonetics

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonetics - a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech, or—in the case of sign languages—the equivalent aspects of sign. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds or signs (phones): their physiological production, acoustic properties, auditory perception, and neurophysiological status. Phonology, on the other hand, is concerned with the abstract, grammatical characterization of systems of sounds or signs.

The field of phonetics is a multilayered subject of linguistics that focuses on speech. In the case of oral languages there are three basic areas of study inter-connected through the common mechanism of sound, such as wavelength (pitch), amplitude, and harmonics:


Phonology

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonology - a branch of linguistics concerned with the systematic organization of sounds in languages. It has traditionally focused largely on the study of the systems of phonemes in particular languages (and therefore used to be also called phonemics, or phonematics), but it may also cover any linguistic analysis either at a level beneath the word (including syllable, onset and rime, articulatory gestures, articulatory features, mora, etc.) or at all levels of language where sound is considered to be structured for conveying linguistic meaning. Phonology also includes the study of equivalent organizational systems in sign languages.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneme - one of the units of sound that distinguish one word from another in a particular language. The difference in meaning between the English words kill and kiss is a result of the exchange of the phoneme /l/ for the phoneme /s/. Two words that differ in meaning through a contrast of a single phoneme form a minimal pair.

In linguistics, phonemes (established by the use of minimal pairs, such as kill vs kiss or pat vs bat) are written between slashes like this: /p/, whereas when it is desired to show the more exact pronunciation of any sound, linguists use square brackets, for example [pʰ] (indicating an aspirated p).

Within linguistics there are differing views as to exactly what phonemes are and how a given language should be analyzed in phonemic (or phonematic) terms. However, a phoneme is generally regarded as an abstraction of a set (or equivalence class) of speech sounds (phones) which are perceived as equivalent to each other in a given language. For example, in English, the "k" sounds in the words kit and skill are not identical (as described below), but they are distributional variants of a single phoneme /k/. Different speech sounds that are realizations of the same phoneme are known as allophones. Allophonic variation may be conditioned, in which case a certain phoneme is realized as a certain allophone in particular phonological environments, or it may be free in which case it may vary randomly. In this way, phonemes are often considered to constitute an abstract underlying representation for segments of words, while speech sounds make up the corresponding phonetic realization, or surface form.


Morphology

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme - is the smallest grammatical unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word, by definition, is freestanding. When it stands by itself, it is considered a root because it has a meaning of its own (e.g. the morpheme cat) and when it depends on another morpheme to express an idea, it is an affix because it has a grammatical function (e.g. the –s in cats to specify that it is plural). Every word comprises one or more morphemes. The more combinations a morpheme is found in, the more productive it is said to be.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphology_(linguistics) - the identification, analysis and description of the structure of a given language's morphemes and other linguistic units, such as root words, affixes, parts of speech, intonations and stresses, or implied context. In contrast, morphological typology is the classification of languages according to their use of morphemes, while lexicology is the study of those words forming a language's wordstock. The discipline that deals specifically with the sound changes occurring within morphemes is morphophonology.

While words, along with clitics, are generally accepted as being the smallest units of syntax, in most languages, if not all, many words can be related to other words by rules that collectively describe the grammar for that language. For example, English speakers recognize that the words dog and dogs are closely related, differentiated only by the plurality morpheme "-s", only found bound to nouns. Speakers of English, a fusional language, recognize these relations from their tacit knowledge of English's rules of word formation. They infer intuitively that dog is to dogs as cat is to cats; and, in similar fashion, dog is to dog catcher as dish is to dishwasher. By contrast, Classical Chinese has very little morphology, using almost exclusively unbound morphemes ("free" morphemes) and depending on word order to convey meaning. (Most words in modern Standard Chinese ("Mandarin"), however, are compounds and most roots are bound.) These are understood as grammars that represent the morphology of the language. The rules understood by a speaker reflect specific patterns or regularities in the way words are formed from smaller units in the language they are using and how those smaller units interact in speech. In this way, morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies patterns of word formation within and across languages and attempts to formulate rules that model the knowledge of the speakers of those languages.

Polysynthetic languages, such as Chukchi, have words composed of many morphemes. The Chukchi word "təmeyŋəlevtpəγtərkən", for example, meaning "I have a fierce headache", is composed of eight morphemes t-ə-meyŋ-ə-levt-pəγt-ə-rkən that may be glossed. The morphology of such languages allows for each consonant and vowel to be understood as morphemes, while the grammar of the language indicates the usage and understanding of each morpheme.

Lexicology

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexeme - a unit of lexical meaning that exists regardless of the number of inflectional endings it may have or the number of words it may contain. It is a basic unit of meaning, and the headwords of a dictionary are all lexemes. Put more technically, a lexeme is an abstract unit of morphological analysis in linguistics, that roughly corresponds to a set of forms taken by a single word. For example, in the English language, run, runs, ran and running are forms of the same lexeme, conventionally written as run. A related concept is the lemma (or citation form), which is a particular form of a lexeme that is chosen by convention to represent a canonical form of a lexeme. Lemmas are used in dictionaries as the headwords, and other forms of a lexeme are often listed later in the entry if they are not common conjugations of that word.

A lexeme belongs to a particular syntactic category, has a certain meaning (semantic value), and in inflecting languages, has a corresponding inflectional paradigm; that is, a lexeme in many languages will have many different forms. For example, the lexeme run has a present third person singular form runs, a present non-third-person singular form run (which also functions as the past participle and non-finite form), a past form ran, and a present participle running. (It does not include runner, runners, runnable, etc.) The use of the forms of a lexeme is governed by rules of grammar; in the case of English verbs such as run, these include subject-verb agreement and compound tense rules, which determine which form of a verb can be used in a given sentence.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-formation - the process of creating a new lexeme, usually by removing actual or supposed affixes. The resulting neologism is called a back-formation, a term coined by James Murray in 1889. (OED online first definition of 'back formation' is from the definition of to burgle, which was first published in 1889.) Back-formation is different from clipping – back-formation may change the part of speech or the word's meaning, whereas clipping creates shortened words from longer words, but does not change the part of speech or the meaning of the word.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexicology - the part of linguistics which studies words. This may include their nature and function as symbols[1] their meaning, the relationship of their meaning to epistemology in general, and the rules of their composition from smaller elements (morphemes such as the English -ed marker for past or un- for negation; and phonemes as basic sound units). Lexicology also involves relations between words, which may involve semantics (for example, love vs. affection), derivation (for example, fathom vs. unfathomably), usage and sociolinguistic distinctions (for example, flesh vs. meat), and any other issues involved in analyzing the whole lexicon of a language(s).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_lexicology - that branch of computational linguistics, which is concerned with the use of computers in the study of lexicon. It has been more narrowly described by some scholars (Amsler, 1980) as the use of computers in the study of machine-readable dictionaries. It is distinguished from computational lexicography, which more properly would be the use of computers in the construction of dictionaries, though some researchers have used computational lexicography as synonymous.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexicography - is divided into two separate but equally important groups: Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries; Theoretical lexicography is the scholarly discipline of analyzing and describing the semantic, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships within the lexicon (vocabulary) of a language, developing theories of dictionary components and structures linking the data in dictionaries, the needs for information by users in specific types of situation, and how users may best access the data incorporated in printed and electronic dictionaries. This is sometimes referred to as 'metalexicography'.


Part of speech

Three little words you often see
Are ARTICLES: a, an, and the.

A NOUN's the name of anything,
As: school or garden, toy, or swing.

ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun,
As: great, small, pretty, white, or brown.

VERBS tell of something being done: 
To read, write, count, sing, jump, or run.

How things are done the ADVERBS tell, 
As: slowly, quickly, badly, well.

CONJUNCTIONS join the words together,
As: men and women, wind or weather.

The PREPOSITION stands before
A noun as: in or through a door.

The INTERJECTION shows surprise
As: Oh, how pretty! Ah! how wise!

Grammar

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammar - the set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics, and pragmatics.





to sort






  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clause - the smallest grammar unit that can express a complete proposition. typically consists of a subject and a predicate, where the predicate is typically a verb phrase – a verb together with any objects and other modifiers.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaphora_(linguistics) - use of an expression the interpretation of which depends upon another expression in context (its antecedent or postcedent). In a narrower sense, anaphora is the use of an expression which depends specifically upon an antecedent expression, and thus is contrasted with cataphora, which is the use of an expression which depends upon a postcedent expression. The anaphoric (referring) term is called an anaphor. For example, in the sentence Sally arrived, but nobody saw her, the pronoun her is an anaphor, referring back to the antecedent Sally. In the sentence Before her arrival, nobody saw Sally, the pronoun her refers forward to the postcedent Sally, so her is now a cataphor (and an anaphor in the broader, but not the narrower, sense). Usually, an anaphoric expression is a proform or some other kind of deictic (contextually-dependent) expression. Both anaphora and cataphora are species of endophora, referring to something mentioned elsewhere in a dialog or text.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formulaic_language - previously known as automatic speech or embolalia, is a linguistic term for verbal expressions that are fixed in form, often non-literal in meaning with attitudinal nuances, and closely related to communicative-pragmatic context.[1] Along with idioms, expletives and proverbs, formulaic language includes pause fillers (e.g., “Like,” “Er” or “Uhm”) and conversational speech formulas (e.g., “You’ve got to be kidding,” “Excuse me?” or “Hang on a minute”).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_expression - a standard form of expression that has taken on a more specific meaning than the expression itself. It is different from a proverb in that it is used as a part of a sentence, and is the standard way of expressing a concept or idea.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom - (Latin: idioma, "special property", from Greek: ἰδίωμα – idíōma, "special feature, special phrasing, a peculiarity", f. Greek: ἴδιος – ídios, "one’s own") is a phrase or a fixed expression that has a figurative, or sometimes literal, meaning. An idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning.[1] There are thousands of idioms, and they occur frequently in all languages. It is estimated that there are at least twenty-five thousand idiomatic expressions in the English language. Idioms fall into the category of formulaic language.







  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archi-writing - a term used by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his attempt to re-orient the relationship between speech and writing. Derrida argued that as far back as Plato, speech had been always given priority over writing. In the West, phonetic writing was considered as a secondary imitation of speech, a poor copy of the immediate living act of speech. Derrida argued that in later centuries philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and linguist Ferdinand de Saussure both gave writing a secondary or parasitic role. In Derrida's essay Plato's Pharmacy, he sought to question this prioritising by firstly complicating the two terms speech and writing.



Formal language

See also Maths, Computing

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chomsky_hierarchy - a containment hierarchy of classes of formal grammars. allows the possibility for the understanding and use of a computer science model which enables a programmer to accomplish meaningful linguistic goals systematically.

Natural language

See also Computing#NLP

Dialect



Written language


Interaction

See also Organisation, Media

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_communication - or anthroposemiotics, is the field dedicated to understanding how humans communicate. Human communication is grounded in cooperative and shared intentions. Richmond and McCroskey (2009) state that "the importance of communication in human society has been recognized for thousands of years, far longer than we can demonstrate through recorded history."[1]:223 Humans have communication abilities that other animals do not. Being able to communicate aspects like time and place as though they were solid objects are a few examples. It is said that humans communicate to request help, to inform others, and to share attitudes as a way of bonding.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_communication - an exchange of information between two or more people. It is also an area of study. Communication skills are developed and may be enhanced or improved with increased knowledge and practice. During interpersonal communication there is message sending and message receiving. This can be conducted using both direct and indirect methods. Successful interpersonal communication is when the message senders and the message receivers understand the message.

A large number of scholars collectively identify with and use the term interpersonal communication to describe their own work. These scholars, however, also recognize that there is a considerable variety in how they and their colleagues conceptually and operationally define this area of study. In some regards, the construct of interpersonal communication is like the phenomena it represents- that is, it is dynamic and changing. Thus, attempts to identify exactly what interpersonal communication is or is not are often frustrating and fall short of consensus. Additionally, many who research and theorize about interpersonal communication do so from across many different research paradigms and theoretical traditions.

While there are many definitions available, interpersonal communication is often defined as the communication that takes place between people who are interdependent and have some knowledge of each other. Interpersonal communication includes what takes place between a son and his father, an employer and an employee, two sisters, a teacher and a student, two lovers, two friends, and so on. Although largely dyadic in nature, interpersonal communication is often extended to include small intimate groups such as the family. Interpersonal communication can take place in face-to-face settings, as well as through media platforms, such as social media.

The study of interpersonal communication looks at a variety of elements that contribute to the interpersonal communication experience. Both quantitative/social scientific methods and qualitative methods are used to explore interpersonal communication. Additionally, a biological and physiological perspective on interpersonal communication is a growing field. Within the study of interpersonal communication, some of concepts explored include the following: personality, knowledge structures and social interaction, language, nonverbal signals, emotion experience and expression, supportive communication, social networks and the life of relationships, influence, conflict, computer-mediated communication, interpersonal skills, interpersonal communication in the workplace, intercultural perspectives on interpersonal communication, escalation and de-escalation of romantic relationships, interpersonal communication and healthcare, family relationships, and communication across the life span.[1]

Interpersonal communication can fail to serve its purpose if too many symbolic gestures are used as there is a fair chance that no two individual will attach same meaning to a symbolic meaning which is referred to as bypassing and when there is lack of language and listening skills. Emotional interference and physical distractions like faulty acoustics and noisy surroundings also acts as a barrier to interpersonal communication.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta-communication - a secondary communication (including indirect cues) about how a piece of information is meant to be interpreted. It is based on idea that the same message accompanied by different meta-communication can mean something entirely different, including its opposite, as in irony. The term was brought to prominence by Gregory Bateson to refer to "communication about communication", which he expanded to: "all exchanged cues and propositions about (a) codification and (b) relationship between the communicators". Metacommunication may or may not be congruent, supportive or contradictory of that verbal communication.






Discourse






See also Chat, Comms#Structured debate






"When we wish to correct with advantage, and to show another that he errs, we must notice from what side he views the matter, for on that side it is usually true, and admit that truth to him, but reveal to him the side on which it is false. He is satisfied with that, for he sees that he was not mistaken, and that he only failed to see all sides. Now, no one is offended at not seeing everything; but one does not like to be mistaken, and that perhaps arises from the fact that man naturally cannot see everything, and that naturally he cannot err in the side he looks at, since the perceptions of our senses are always true. ... People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of others."







  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversation_Theory - cybernetic and dialectic framework that offers a scientific theory to explain how interactions lead to "construction of knowledge", or "knowing": wishing to preserve both the dynamic/kinetic quality, and the necessity for there to be a "knower". 70s.


The objects of discourse analysis—discourse, writing, conversation, communicative event—are variously defined in terms of coherent sequences of sentences, propositions, speech, or turns-at-talk. Contrary to much of traditional linguistics, discourse analysts not only study language use 'beyond the sentence boundary', but also prefer to analyze 'naturally occurring' language use, and not invented examples. Text linguistics is a closely related field. The essential difference between discourse analysis and text linguistics is that discourse analysis aims at revealing socio-psychological characteristics of a person/persons rather than text structure.

Discourse analysis has been taken up in a variety of social science disciplines, including linguistics, education, sociology, anthropology, social work, cognitive psychology, social psychology, area studies, cultural studies, international relations, human geography, communication studies, and translation studies, each of which is subject to its own assumptions, dimensions of analysis, and methodologies.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrastive_rhetoric - the study of how a person's first language and culture influence his or her writing in a second language. Kaplan’s (1966) research pioneered the attention to cultural and linguistic differences in the writing of ESL students. This attention to writing was especially welcomed in the area of ESL instruction, as an emphasis on spoken-language skills had previously dominated ESL contexts in the United States. Two major factors—the acknowledgment of more genres with specific textual requirements and increased awareness of the social contexts of writing—have motivated scholars of contrastive rhetoric to adjust and supplement research approaches in their work.

Intercultural rhetoric better describes the broadening trends of writing across languages and cultures. It preserves the traditional approaches that use textual analysis, genre analysis, and corpus analysis, yet also introduces ethnographic approaches that examine language in interactions. Furthermore, it connotes the analysis of texts that allows for dynamic definitions of culture and the inclusion of smaller cultures (e.g., disciplinary, classroom) in the analysis.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discursive_psychology - a form of discourse analysis that focuses on psychological themes in talk, text and images. As a counter to mainstream psychology’s treatment of discourse as a “mirror” for people’s expressions of thoughts, intentions, motives, etc., DP’s founders made the case for picturing it instead as if a “construction yard” wherein all such presumptively prior and independent notions of thought and so on were built from linguistic materials, topicalised and, in various less direct ways, handled and managed. Here, the study of the psychological implies commitment not to the inner life of the mind, but rather, to the written and spoken practices within which people invoked, implicitly or explicitly, notions precisely like “the inner life of the mind”. Discursive psychology therefore starts with psychological phenomena as things that are constructed, attended to, and understood in interaction. An evaluation, say, may be constructed using particular phrases and idioms, responded to by the recipient (as a compliment perhaps) and treated as the expression of a strong position. In discursive psychology the focus is not on psychological matters somehow leaking out into interaction; rather interaction is the primary site where psychological issues are live. It is philosophically opposed to more traditional cognitivist approaches to language. It uses studies of naturally occurring conversation to critique the way that topics have been conceptualised and treated in psychology.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_discourse_analysis - an interdisciplinary approach to the study of discourse that views language as a form of social practice and focuses on the ways social and political domination are reproduced in text and talk. Since Norman Fairclough's Language and Power in 1989, CDA has been deployed as a method of multidisciplinary analysis throughout the humanities and social sciences. It does not confine itself only to method, though the overriding assumption shared by CDA practitioners is that language and power are linked.

Although CDA is sometimes mistaken to represent a 'method' of discourse analysis, it is generally agreed upon that any explicit method in discourse studies, the humanities and social sciences may be used in CDA research, as long as it is able to adequately and relevantly produce insights into the way discourse reproduces (or resists) social and political inequality, power abuse or domination.[citation needed] That is, CDA does not limit its analysis to specific structures of text or talk, but systematically relates these to structures of the sociopolitical context.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_communication - and communication guerrilla refer to an attempt to provoke subversive effects through interventions in the process of communication. It can be distinguished from other classes of political action because it is not based on the critique of the dominant discourses but in the interpretation of the signs in a different way. Its main goal is to make a critical non-questioning of the existing,[clarification needed] for reasons ranging from political activism to marketing. In terms of marketing, journalist Warren Berger explains unconventional guerrilla-style advertising as "something that lurks all around, hits us where we live, and invariably takes us by surprise". These premises apply to the entire spectrum of guerrilla communication because each tactic intends to disrupt cognitive schemas and thought processing.





Dialectic

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectic - a method of argument for resolving disagreement that has been central to European and Indian philosophy since antiquity. The word dialectic originated in ancient Greece, and was made popular by Plato in the Socratic dialogues. The dialectical method is discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject, who wish to establish the truth of the matter guided by reasoned arguments.

The term dialectics is not synonymous with the term debate. While in theory debaters are not necessarily emotionally invested in their point of view, in practice debaters frequently display an emotional commitment that may cloud rational judgement. Debates are won through a combination of persuading the opponent; proving one's argument correct; or proving the opponent's argument incorrect. Debates do not necessarily require promptly identifying a clear winner or loser; however clear winners are frequently determined by either a judge, jury, or by group consensus. The term dialectics is also not synonymous with the term rhetoric, a method or art of discourse that seeks to persuade, inform, or motivate an audience.

Different forms of dialectical reasoning have emerged throughout history from the Indosphere (Greater India) and the West (Europe). These forms include the Socratic method, Hindu, Buddhist, Medieval, Hegelian dialectics, Marxist, Talmudic, and Neo-orthodoxy.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_questioning - is disciplined questioning that can be used to pursue thought in many directions and for many purposes, including: to explore complex ideas, to get to the truth of things, to open up issues and problems, to uncover assumptions, to analyze concepts, to distinguish what we know from what we don't know, to follow out logical implications of thought or to control the discussion. The key to distinguishing Socratic questioning from questioning per se is that Socratic questioning is systematic, disciplined, deep and usually focuses on fundamental concepts, principles, theories, issues or problems.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method - named after the classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and discussion between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to illuminate ideas. It is a dialectical method, often involving a discussion in which the defense of one point of view is questioned; one participant may lead another to contradict himself in some way, thus strengthening the inquirer's own point.

A Socratic Circle (also known as a Socratic Seminar) is a pedagogical approach based on the Socratic method and uses a dialogic approach to understand information in a text. Its systematic procedure is used to examine a text through questions and answers founded on the beliefs that all new knowledge is connected to prior knowledge, that all thinking comes from asking questions, and that asking one question should lead to asking further questions.A Socratic Circle is not a debate. The goal of this activity is to have participants work together to construct meaning and arrive at an answer, not for one student or one group to “win the argument”.

A dialogic process stands in contrast to a dialectic process (proposed by G. W. F. Hegel):

  • In a dialectic process describing the interaction and resolution between multiple paradigms or ideologies, one putative solution establishes primacy over the others. The goal of a dialectic process is to merge point and counterpoint (thesis and antithesis) into a compromise or other state of agreement via conflict and tension (synthesis). "Synthesis that evolves from the opposition between thesis and antithesis." Examples of dialectic process can be found in Plato's Republic.
  • In a dialogic process, various approaches coexist and are comparatively existential and relativistic in their interaction. Here, each ideology can hold more salience in particular circumstances. Changes can be made within these ideologies if a strategy does not have the desired effect. An example of the dialogic process can be found in Nozick's, Anarchy, State, and Utopia.

These two distinctions are observed in studies of personal identity, national identity, and group identity.

Sociologist Richard Sennett has stated that the distinction between dialogic and dialectic is fundamental to understanding human communication. Sennett says that dialectic deals with the explicit meaning of statements, and tends to lead to closure and resolution. Whereas dialogic processes, especially those involved with regular spoken conversation, involve a type of listening that attends to the implicit intentions behind the speakers actual words. Unlike a dialectic process, dialogics often do not lead to closure and remain unresolved. Compared to dialectics, a dialogic exchange can be less competitive, and more suitable for facilitating cooperation.[

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_dialectics - Relational dialectics is a communication theory. The theory could be interpreted as "a knot of contradictions in personal relationships or an unceasing interplay between contrary or opposing tendencies." The theory, first proposed respectively by Leslie Baxter and W. K. Rawlins in 1988, defines communication patterns between relationship partners as the result of endemic dialectical tensions. In their description of Relational Dialectics, Leslie A. Baxter and Barbara M. Montgomery simplify the concept by posing “opposites attract”, but “birds of a feather flock together”. Also, “Two’s company; three’s a crowd” but “the more the merrier.” These contradictions experienced within common folk proverbs are similar to those we experience within our relationships as individuals. When making decisions, we give voice to multiple viewpoints and desires that often contradict each other.

The Relational Dialectic is an elaboration on Mikhail Bakhtin’s idea that life is an open monologue and humans experience collisions between opposing desires and needs within relational communications. Baxter includes a list of Dialectical Tensions that reminds us that relationships are constantly changing, and that successful and satisfying relationships require constant attention. Although Baxter’s description of Relational Dialectics is thorough, it by no means is exact or all inclusive since we all experience different tensions in different ways.

Dialogic

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogic - In a dialogic process, various approaches coexist and are comparatively existential and relativistic in their interaction. Here, each ideology can hold more salience in particular circumstances. Changes can be made within these ideologies if a strategy does not have the desired effect.

The English terms dialogic and dialogism often refer to the concept used by the Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin in his work of literary theory, The Dialogic Imagination. Bakhtin contrasts the dialogic and the "monologic" work of literature. The dialogic work carries on a continual dialogue with other works of literature and other authors. It does not merely answer, correct, silence, or extend a previous work, but informs and is continually informed by the previous work. Dialogic literature is in communication with multiple works. This is not merely a matter of influence, for the dialogue extends in both directions, and the previous work of literature is as altered by the dialogue as the present one is.

Bakhtin's "dialogic" is consonant with T.S.Eliot's ideas in "Tradition and the Individual Talent," where Eliot holds that "the past should be altered by the present as much as the present is directed by the past". For Bakhtin, the influence can also occur at the level of the individual word or phrase as much as it does the work and even the oeuvre or collection of works. A German cannot use the word "fatherland" or the phrase "blood and soil" without (possibly unintentionally) also echoing (or, Bakhtin would say "refracting") the meaning that those terms took on under National Socialism. Every word has a history of usage to which it responds, and anticipates a future response.

The term 'dialogic' does not only apply to literature. For Bakhtin, all language — indeed, all thought — appears as dialogical. This means that everything anybody ever says always exists in response to things that have been said before and in anticipation of things that will be said in response. In other words, we do not speak in a vacuum. All language (and the ideas which language contains and communicates) is dynamic, relational and engaged in a process of endless redescriptions of the world.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogical_analysis - more precisely dialogical interaction analysis, refers to a way of analyzing human communication which is based on the theory of dialogism. The approach has been developed based on the theoretical work of George Herbert Mead and Bakhtin.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogical_self - a psychological concept which describes the mind's ability to imagine the different positions of participants in an internal dialogue, in close connection with external dialogue. The "dialogical self" is the central concept in the Dialogical Self Theory (DST), as created and developed by the Dutch psychologist Hubert Hermans since the 1990s.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialogic_learning - the result of egalitarian dialogue; in other words, the consequence of a dialogue in which different people provide arguments based on validity claims and not on power claims. The concept of dialogic learning is not a new one. It is frequently linked to the Socratic dialogues and sometimes considered a Western tradition. Nevertheless, the book The Argumentative Indian, written by Nobel Prize of Economics winner Amartya Sen (2005), argues that Indians also have always had a habit of asking questions. Dialogic learning can occur in any educational situation and contains an important potential for social transformation.

In recent times, the concept of dialogic learning was linked to contributions from various perspectives and disciplines, such as the theory of dialogic action (Freire, 1970), the dialogic inquiry approach (Wells, 1999), the theory of communicative action (Habermas, 1984), the notion of dialogic imagination (Bahktin, 1981) and the dialogical self (Soler, 2004). In addition, the work of an important range of contemporary authors is based on dialogic conceptions. Among those, it is worth to mention authors like Jack Mezirow (1990, 1991, 2000) and his transformative learning theory; Michael Fielding (2001), who sees students as radical agents of change; Timothy Koschmann (1999), who highlights the potential advantages of adopting dialogicality as the basis of education; and Anne C. Hargrave (2000), who demonstrates that children in dialogic-learning conditions make significantly larger gains in vocabulary, than do children in a less dialogic reading environment.



Nonviolent communication

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonviolent_Communication - (abbreviated NVC, also called Compassionate Communication or Collaborative Communication) is a communication process developed by Marshall Rosenberg beginning in the 1960s. NVC often functions as a conflict resolution process. It focuses on three aspects of communication: self-empathy (defined as a deep and compassionate awareness of one's own inner experience), empathy (defined as listening to another with deep compassion), and honest self-expression (defined as expressing oneself authentically in a way that is likely to inspire compassion in others). NVC is based on the idea that all human beings have the capacity for compassion and only resort to violence or behavior that harms others when they don't recognize more effective strategies for meeting needs. Habits of thinking and speaking that lead to the use of violence (psychological and physical) are learned through culture. NVC theory supposes all human behavior stems from attempts to meet universal human needs and that these needs are never in conflict. Rather, conflict arises when strategies for meeting needs clash. NVC proposes that if people can identify their needs, the needs of others, and the feelings that surround these needs, harmony can be achieved. While NVC is ostensibly taught as a process of communication designed to improve compassionate connection to others, it has also been interpreted as a spiritual practice, a set of values, a parenting technique, an educational method and a worldview.
  • Communication based on honesty and trust
  • Observation -> feelings -> needs -> request
  • Empathy, active/reflective listening, sensing feelings and needs
  • Violent communication is a tragic expression of a deeper need and a request for understanding and empathy.
  • Don't try to be perfect, rather progressively less stupid (anything worth doing is worth doing poorly)

Observation, Feeling, Need, Request - In NVC expression all four parts are used. When verbalizing empathy, often only the first three or even just the feeling and need are spoken. There is an out, in, out pattern to the model - the observation is something concrete and specific out in the world, the feeling and need help you go as deep as possible with what's alive in you and/or others, and the request is about manifesting as specifically as possible out in the world again.

There may be similarity between OFNR and "Active Listening" at first glance. However, the OFNR approach of NVC might be considered Reframing of language rather than "Paraphrasing." This is because NVC translates thoughts, judgements and some linguistic elements of dialog into Feelings and Needs. NVC also includes the Observation which helps to distinguish facts from interpretations of them, and the Request which tends to move the dialog closer to discovering and sharing appreciation of the Needs underlying all human feelings and behavior.


Videos
Non-Rosenburg
Compassionate communication
  • Compassionate Communication works with an easy-to-understand model that helps you choose words that strengthen relationships. And avoid words that weaken relationships. The model gives you practical and clear steps. Courses give you an opportunity to learn and practise. Compassionate Communication is based on Nonviolent Communication (NVC), developed by Marshall Rosenberg and the Centre for Nonviolent Communication.

Radical honesty

Humour

Gaze

Relationships


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_circumplex - a model for conceptualizing, organizing, and assessing interpersonal behavior, traits, and motives (Wiggins, 2003). The interpersonal circumplex is defined by two orthogonal axes: a vertical axis (of status, dominance, power, or control) and a horizontal axis (of solidarity, friendliness, warmth, or love). In recent years, it has become conventional to identify the vertical and horizontal axes with the broad constructs of agency and communion (Horowitz, 2004). Thus, each point in the interpersonal circumplex space can be specified as a weighted combination of agency and communion.



See also Learning


Caregiving

Space and location




Groups

See also Organising

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_dynamics - a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring within a social group (intragroup dynamics), or between social groups (intergroup dynamics). The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision-making behavior, tracking the spread of diseases in society, creating effective therapy techniques, and following the emergence and popularity of new ideas and technologies. Group dynamics are at the core of understanding racism, sexism, and other forms of social prejudice and discrimination. These applications of the field are studied in psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, epidemiology, education, social work, business, and communication studies.


Friendship


Family


Parenting

See Learning

misc links for now, kids later


> The ultimate productivity and savings hack is to have the grandparent(s) around to take care of the kid(s) during the day while both parents work. Spend the childcare savings on house cleaners for you and your in-laws' home and pocket the rest.


Ethics
  • Can Classic Moral Stories Promote Honesty in Children? - The classic moral stories have been used extensively to teach children about the consequences of lying and the virtue of honesty. Despite their widespread use, there is no evidence whether these stories actually promote honesty in children. This study compared the effectiveness of four classic moral stories in promoting honesty in 3- to 7-year-olds. Surprisingly, the stories of “Pinocchio” and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” failed to reduce lying in children. In contrast, the apocryphal story of “George Washington and the Cherry Tree” significantly increased truth telling. Further results suggest that the reason for the difference in honesty-promoting effectiveness between the “George Washington” story and the other stories was that the former emphasizes the positive consequences of honesty, whereas the latter focus on the negative consequences of dishonesty. When the “George Washington” story was altered to focus on the negative consequences of dishonesty, it too failed to promote honesty in children.
Computing
Creativity
Name
Generations


Relationship styles

to sort out..

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intimate_relationship - an interpersonal relationship that involves physical and/or emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy is characterized by friendship, platonic love, romantic love or sexual activity. Intimate relationships play a central role in the overall human experience. Humans have a general desire to belong and to love, which is usually satisfied within an intimate relationship. These relationships involve feelings of liking or loving one or more people, romance, physical or sexual attraction, sexual relationships, or emotional and personal support between the members. Intimate relationships allow a social network for people to form strong emotional attachments.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committed_relationship - an interpersonal relationship based upon a mutually agreed-upon commitment to one another involving exclusivity, love, trust, honesty, openness, or some other agreed-upon behavior. Forms of committed relationships are: close friendship, courtship, long-term relationships (LTR), engagement, marriage, and civil unions. The term is most commonly used with informal relationships, such as "going steady," but may encompass any relationship where an expressed commitment is involved.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Significant_other (s) - a gender-neutral term for a person's partner in an intimate relationship without disclosing or presuming anything about marital status, relationship status, or sexual orientation. Synonyms with similar properties include sweetheart, better half, spouse, domestic partner, lover, soulmate, or life partner.




  • Researchers find romantic kissing is not the norm in most cultures - study published in the journal American Anthropologist -- "Is the Romantic-Sexual Kiss a Near Human Universal?" -- that looked at 168 cultures throughout the world to better understand where kissing does and doesn’t occur. Using standard cross-cultural methods, the study found that fewer than half of all cultures surveyed -- 46 percent -- engage in romantic/sexual kissing. Romantic kissing was defined as lip-to-lip contact that may or may not be prolonged.


Monogamy



Non-monogamy
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-monogamy - a type of interpersonal relationship in which sexual exclusivity is not held as the primary fundamental premise of the relationship. Individuals may form multiple and simultaneous sexual or romantic bonds.[1] This can be contrasted with its opposite, monogamy, and yet may arise from the same psychology. The term has been criticized as it may imply that monogamy is the norm and that other ways of relating are deviations.

open and/or multipartner relationships for intimacy, sexuality and/or romance, etc..




Polyamory





  • Polytical - some resources you might find useful on polyamory & ethical non-monogamy in the UK


Relationship anarchy

"Relationship anarchy is not about never committing to anything - it’s about designing your own commitments with the people around you."







Marriage


Aromantic




Sexuality














  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_therapy - a strategy for the treatment of sexual dysfunction when there is no medical etiology (physiological reason) or as a complement to medical treatment. The sexual dysfunctions which may be addressed by sex therapy include non-consummation, premature ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, low libido, unwanted sexual fetishes, sexual addiction, painful sex, or a lack of sexual confidence, assisting people who are recovering from sexual assault, problems commonly caused by stress, tiredness, and other environmental and relationship factors. Sex therapists assist those experiencing problems in overcoming them, in doing so possibly regaining an active sex life.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensate_focusing - or sensate focusing is a term usually associated with a set of specific sexual exercises for couples or for individuals. The term was introduced by Masters and Johnson, and was aimed at increasing personal and interpersonal awareness of self and the other's needs. Each participant is encouraged to focus on their own varied sense experience, rather than to see orgasm as the sole goal of sex. Initially, the emphasis is on touching in a mindful way for oneself without regard for sexual response or pleasure for oneself or one’s partner.






  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maithuna - a Sanskrit term used in Tantra most often translated as "sexual union" in a ritual context. It is the most important of the five makara and constitutes the main part of the Grand Ritual of Tantra variously known as Panchamakara, Panchatattva, and Tattva Chakra.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coitus_reservatus - also known as sexual continence, is a form of sexual intercourse in which the penetrative partner does not attempt to ejaculate within the receptive partner, but instead attempts to remain at the plateau phase of intercourse for as long as possible avoiding the seminal emission.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Butterfly - a term used for various sexual techniques, one of which being the subject of the 1988 book The One Hour Orgasm. It was first publicly mentioned in a 1986 episode of the American television drama L.A. Law, although a technique of the same name appears in the book The Sensuous Woman, which was first published in 1969.

The 1988 book The One Hour Orgasm: How to Learn the Amazing "Venus Butterfly" Technique, written by Leah and Bob Schwartz, is dedicated to educating readers on how to perform the technique. In this variation either the woman or man is lying down, and their partner, sitting next to them with their legs positioned around each other, very gently, with just the minimal amount of pressure (the "touch" of a butterfly's wing, at least on the clitoris) stimulates the clitoris or the hood, with the penis at the two-o'clock or ten-o'clock position. The book suggests keeping the clitoral shaft steady with one thumb laid gently along and beside it, with the other thumb lying lengthwise just within the vagina but not moving deep within it. (All of this is done using a lubricant.) The light pressure continues using the same speed throughout until a peak is reached close to orgasm but not quite (although it can be continued if multiple orgasms are the goal), then the speed is slowed down even further or stopped, but very soon continued again and the person is brought back near orgasm or given a second or third orgasm. This orgasm control on the part of the person providing the technique can be learned over time with a particular partner. The technique can be sustained, "surfing" near the orgasm but stopping occasionally, for a very long time, hence the term "One Hour Orgasm".


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_magick - any type of sexual activity used in magical, ritualistic or otherwise religious and spiritual pursuits. One practice of sex magic is using the energy of sexual arousal or orgasm with visualization of a desired result. A premise of sex magic is the concept that sexual energy is a potent force that can be harnessed to transcend one's normally perceived reality.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eroto-comatose_lucidity - a technique of sex magic known best by its formulation by English author and occultist Aleister Crowley in 1912, but which has several variations and is used in a number of ways by different spiritual communities.[1][2] A common form of the ritual uses repeated sexual stimulation (but not to physical orgasm) to place the individual in a state between full sleep and full wakefulness as well as exhaustion, allowing the practitioner to commune with their god.




Other

Change

Events

Adaption and maladaption

to balance with Neurodiversity and Trauma sections and work out differentials?


a better word than disorder (and recovery)??

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_system used in biology in relation to how living beings adapt to their environments, but with two different meanings. First, the continuous adaptation of an organism to its environment, so as to maintain itself in a viable state, through sensory feedback mechanisms. Second, the development (through evolutionary steps) of an adaptation (an anatomic structure, physiological process or behavior characteristic) that increases the probability of an organism reproducing itself (although sometimes not directly).

Generally speaking, an adaptive system is a set of interacting or interdependent entities, real or abstract, forming an integrated whole that together are able to respond to environmental changes or changes in the interacting parts. Feedback loops represent a key feature of adaptive systems, allowing the response to changes; examples of adaptive systems include: natural ecosystems, individual organisms, human communities, human organizations, and human families.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_adaptation - or sensory adaptation is a change over time in the responsiveness of the sensory system to a constant stimulus. It is usually experienced as a change in the stimulus. For example, if one rests one's hand on a table, one immediately feels the table's surface on one's skin. Within a few seconds, however, one ceases to feel the table's surface. The sensory neurons stimulated by the table's surface respond immediately, but then respond less and less until they may not respond at all; this is an example of neural adaptation. Neural adaptation is also thought to happen at a more central level such as the cortex.




Withdrawal is to be understood simultaneously as an expression of destructiveness and a defense against it, serving a quasi-adaptivity which allows a quiet and temporarily protected space but at the price of impaired contact with reality: 'withdrawal to a refuge where the patient was relatively free from anxiety but where development was minimal'.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afterburn_(psychotherapy) - a psychological term coined by Eric Berne, who defined it as "the period of time before a past event is assimilated", used to indicate the effect an atypical past event continues to exert on a person's daily schedule, activities and mental state even after it is over: to "those occasions when it disturbs normal patterns for an appreciable period, rather than being assimilated into them or excluded from them by repression and other psychological mechanisms"


Psychosocial Acceleration Theory (Belsky, Steinberg & Draper, 1991; Chisholm, 1993; 1999a) is an explanatory framework that recasts behaviours viewed as deviant or pathological (such as aggression and early reproductive behaviour) as adaptive strategies for individuals developing in high stress environments. Chisholm and later theorists linked disrupted attachment process during early childhood to perceptions of an uncertain future and local mortality rates. Uncertain futures cause individuals to focus on present consumption (shortening “time preference”) to avoid lineage extinction through accelerated reproductive function and competitive behaviours. Questions remain as to the details of how this process operates; specifically, the identification of environmental stressors, the specification of Chisholm’s “time preference” mechanism and the role of biological sex.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emptiness - as a human condition is a sense of generalized boredom, social alienation and apathy. Feelings of emptiness often accompany dysthymia, depression, loneliness, anhedonia, despair, or other mental/emotional disorders, including schizoid personality disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizotypal personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. A sense of emptiness is also part of a natural process of grief, as resulting of separation, death of a loved one, or other significant changes. However, the particular meanings of “emptiness” vary with the particular context and the religious or cultural tradition in which it is used. While Christianity and Western sociologists and psychologists view a state of emptiness as a negative, unwanted condition, in some Eastern philosophies such as Buddhist philosophy and Taoism, emptiness (Śūnyatā) is a realized achievement. Outside of Eastern philosophy, some writers have also suggested that people may use a transitory state of emptiness as a means of liberating themselves for personal growth.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shyness - also called diffidence, is the feeling of apprehension, lack of comfort, or awkwardness especially when a person is in proximity to other people. This commonly occurs in new situations or with unfamiliar people. Shyness can be a characteristic of people who have low self-esteem. Stronger forms of shyness are usually referred to as social anxiety or social phobia.


Defence mechanisms

  • Repression, reaction formation, denial, projection, displacement, sublimation, regression, and rationalization.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaction_formation - a defensive process (defense mechanism) in which emotions and impulses which are anxiety-producing or perceived to be unacceptable are mastered by exaggeration (hypertrophy) of the directly opposing tendency. The reaction formations belong to Level III or neurotic defense mechanisms, which also include intellectualization, dissociation, displacement and repression.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactance_(psychology) - a motivational reaction to offers, persons, rules, or regulations that threaten or eliminate specific behavioral freedoms. Reactance occurs when a person feels that someone or something is taking away his or her choices or limiting the range of alternatives. Reactances can occur when someone is heavily pressured to accept a certain view or attitude. Reactance can cause the person to adopt or strengthen a view or attitude that is contrary to what was intended, and also increases resistance to persuasion. People using reverse psychology are playing on at least an informal awareness of reactance, attempting to influence someone to choose the opposite of what they request. In the phenomenology of reactance there is no assumption that a person will be aware of reactance. When a person becomes aware of reactance, they will feel a higher level of self-direction in relationship to their own behavior. In other words, they will feel that if they are able to do what they want, then they do not have to do what they do not want. In this case when the freedom is in question, that person alone is the director of their own behavior.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postponement_of_affect - may be used against a variety of feelings or emotions. Such a 'temporal displacement, resulting simply in a later appearance of the affect reaction and in thus preventing the recognition of the motivating connection, is...most frequently used against the affects of rage (or annoyance) and grief'.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensation_(psychology) - a strategy whereby one covers up, consciously or unconsciously, weaknesses, frustrations, desires, or feelings of inadequacy or incompetence in one life area through the gratification or (drive towards) excellence in another area. Compensation can cover up either real or imagined deficiencies and personal or physical inferiority. Positive compensations may help one to overcome one's difficulties. On the other hand, negative compensations do not, which results in a reinforced feeling of inferiority. There are two kinds of negative compensation: Overcompensation, characterized by a superiority goal, leads to striving for power, dominance, self-esteem, and self-devaluation. Undercompensation, which includes a demand for help, leads to a lack of courage and a fear for life.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_aggression - also known as covert aggression, or covert bullying is a type of aggression in which harm is caused by damaging someone's relationships or social status. Although it can be used in many contexts and among different age groups, relational aggression among adolescents in particular has received a lot of attention.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusion - a belief held with strong conviction despite superior evidence to the contrary. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, or other effects of perception.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_suppression - when an individual consciously attempts to stop thinking about a particular thought. It is often associated with obsessive–compulsive disorder. OCD is when a person will repeatedly (usually unsuccessfully) attempt to prevent or "neutralize" intrusive distressing thoughts centered around one or more obsessions. It is also related to work on memory inhibition. Thought suppression is relevant to both mental and behavioral levels, possibly leading to ironic effects that are contrary to intention.


  • Effective Web Experimentation as a Homo Narrans - "Humans are at once flawed and remarkable animals. Much as we might imagine ourselves to be rational actors, we aren't. But we can erect frameworks in which we can compel ourselves to behave rationally."



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splitting_(psychology) - (also called all-or-nothing thinking) is the failure in a person's thinking to bring together both positive and negative qualities of the self and others into a cohesive, realistic whole. The individual tends to think in extremes (i.e., an individual's actions and motivations are all good or all bad with no middle ground.) The concept of splitting was developed by Ronald Fairbairn in his formulation of object relations theory; it begins as the inability of the infant to combine the fulfilling aspects of the parents (the good object) and their unresponsive aspects (the unsatisfying object) into the same individuals, but sees the good and bad as separate. In psychoanalytic theory this functions as a defense mechanism. It is a relatively common defense mechanism for people with borderline personality disorder in DSM-IV-TR.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addictive_personality - refers to a particular set of personality traits that make an individual predisposed to addictions. Many scientists believe that addictive behaviors are defined by the "excessive, repetitive use of pleasurable activities to cope with unmanageable internal conflict, pressure, and stress." This hypothesis states that there are common elements among people with varying addictions that relates to personality traits. People who are substance dependent are characterized by: a physical or psychological dependency that negatively affects their quality of life. They are frequently connected with substance abuse; however, people with addictive personalities are also highly at risk of becoming addicted to gambling, food, pornography, exercise, work, and codependency.



.. ...to merge with therapy below?

Irritability

Bullying


Neurodiversity

to properly sort

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurodiversity - an approach to learning and disability that suggests that diverse neurological conditions appear as a result of normal variations in the human genome. This portmanteau of neurological and diversity originated in the late 1990s as a challenge to prevailing views of neurological diversity as inherently pathological, instead asserting that neurological differences should be recognized and respected as a social category on a par with gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability status.






  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_disorder - a mental disorder that includes a range of linked conditions, sometimes also extending to include singular symptoms and traits. The different elements of a spectrum either have a similar appearance or are thought to be caused by the same underlying mechanism. In either case, a spectrum approach is taken because there appears to be "not a unitary disorder but rather a syndrome composed of subgroups". The spectrum may represent a range of severity, comprising relatively "severe" mental disorders through to relatively "mild and nonclinical deficits".


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_disorder - refers to disorganized thinking as evidenced by disorganized speech. Specific thought disorders include derailment, poverty of speech, tangentiality, illogicality, perseveration, neologism, and thought blocking. Psychiatrists consider formal thought disorder as being one of two types of disordered thinking, with the other type being delusions. The latter involves "content" while the former involves "form". Although the term "thought disorder" can refer to either type, in common parlance it refers most often to a disorder of thought "form" also known as formal thought disorder. Eugen Bleuler, who named schizophrenia, held that thought disorder was its defining characteristic. However, formal thought disorder is not unique to schizophrenia or psychosis. It is often a symptom of mania, and less often it can be present in other mental disorders such as depression. Clanging or echolalia may be present in Tourette syndrome. Patients with a clouded consciousness, like that found in delirium, also have a formal thought disorder


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequela - a pathological condition resulting from a disease, injury, therapy, or other trauma. Typically, a sequela is a chronic condition that is a complication of an acute condition that begins during that acute condition.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentalism_(discrimination) - a form of discrimination and oppression because of a mental trait or condition a person has, or is judged to have. This may or may not be described in terms of mental disorder or disability. The discrimination is based on numerous factors such as: stereotypes about neurodivergence (e.g. autism, ADHD, bipolar, schizophrenia, personality disorder diagnoses), specific behavioral phenomena (e.g. stuttering, tics), or supposed intelligence.

Developmental

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_disorder - a group of psychiatric conditions originating in childhood that involve serious impairment in different areas. There are several ways of using this term. The most narrow concept is used in the category "Specific Disorders of Psychological Development" in the ICD-10. These disorders comprise language disorders, learning disorders, motor disorders and autism spectrum disorders. In broader definitions ADHD is included, and the term used is neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet others include antisocial behavior and schizophrenia that begins in childhood and continues through life. However, these two latter conditions are not as stable as the other developmental disorders, and there is not the same evidence of a shared genetic liability.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurodevelopmental_disorder - are impairments of the growth and development of the brain or central nervous system. A narrower use of the term refers to a disorder of brain function that affects emotion, learning ability, self-control and memory and that unfolds as the individual grows. The term is sometimes erroneously used as an exclusive synonym for autism and autism spectrum disorders.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pervasive_developmental_disorder - a group of five disorders characterized by delays in the development of multiple basic functions including socialization and communication - Pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), which includes atypical autism, and is the most common; Autism, the best-known, now understood to be part of a spectrum; Asperger syndrome; Rett syndrome; and Childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD).
Autism
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism - characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. The diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome - also known as Asperger disorder (AD) or simply Asperger's, is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development. Although not required for diagnosis, physical clumsiness and atypical (peculiar, odd) use of language are frequently reported.


  • Landmark Study Identifies Key Brain Difference In Autism - The results showed that adults with autism switched back and forth only half as much as those without autism, and they were significantly less able to suppress one image in order to focus on the other. While the participants completed the task, the researchers measured GABA activity in their brains. Among non-autistic participants, those with higher GABA levels were better able to suppress the non-dominant image. But among those with autism, there was no relationship between performance on the task and GABA levels -- suggesting that in the case of autism, GABA is "not doing its job," Robertson said.
ADHD
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder - a psychiatric disorder of the neurodevelopmental type in which there are significant problems of attention, hyperactivity, or acting impulsively that are not appropriate for a person's age. These symptoms must begin by age six to twelve and persist for more than six months for a diagnosis to be made. In school-aged individuals inattention symptoms often result in poor school performance. Despite being the most commonly studied and diagnosed psychiatric disorder in children and adolescents, the cause in the majority of cases is unknown.

Mental

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_disorder - also called a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a mental or behavioral pattern or anomaly that causes either suffering or an impaired ability to function in ordinary life (disability), and which is not developmentally or socially normative. Mental disorders are generally defined by a combination of how a person feels, acts, thinks or perceives. This may be associated with particular regions or functions of the brain or rest of the nervous system, often in a social context. Mental disorder is one aspect of mental health.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathology - the scientific study of mental disorders, including efforts to understand their genetic, biological, psychological, and social causes; effective classification schemes (nosology); course across all stages of development; manifestations; and treatment.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysthymia - greek for "bad state of mind", sometimes also called neurotic depression, dysthymic disorder, or chronic depression, is a mood disorder consisting of the same cognitive and physical problems as in depression, with less severe but longer-lasting symptoms


Personality

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_disorder - a class of mental disorders characterized by enduring maladaptive patterns of behavior, cognition and inner experience, exhibited across many contexts and deviating markedly from those accepted by the individual's culture. These patterns develop early, are inflexible and are associated with significant distress or disability. The definitions may vary some according to other sources.

The ICD-10 section on mental and behavioral disorders includes categories of personality disorder and enduring personality changes. They are defined as ingrained patterns indicated by inflexible and disabling responses that significantly differ from how the average person in the culture perceives, thinks and feels, particularly in relating to others. The specific personality disorders are: paranoid, schizoid, dissocial, emotionally unstable (borderline type and impulsive type), histrionic, anankastic, anxious (avoidant) and dependent. There is also an 'Others' category involving conditions characterized as eccentric, haltlose (derived from "haltlos" (German) = drifting, aimless and irresponsible), immature, narcissistic, passive-aggressive or psychoneurotic. An additional category is for unspecified personality disorder, including character neurosis and pathological personality.




Dissociation / derealization

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociation_(psychology) - describes a wide array of experiences from mild detachment from immediate surroundings to more severe detachment from physical and emotional experience. The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a detachment from reality, rather than a loss of reality as in psychosis. Dissociative experiences are further characterized by the varied maladaptive mental constructions of an individual's natural imaginative capacity.

Dissociation is commonly displayed on a continuum. In mild cases, dissociation can be regarded as a coping mechanism or defense mechanisms in seeking to master, minimize or tolerate stress – including boredom or conflict. At the nonpathological end of the continuum, dissociation describes common events such as daydreaming while driving a vehicle. Further along the continuum are non-pathological altered states of consciousness.

More pathological dissociation involves dissociative disorders, including dissociative fugue and depersonalization disorder with or without alterations in personal identity or sense of self. These alterations can include: a sense that self or the world is unreal (depersonalization and derealization); a loss of memory (amnesia); forgetting identity or assuming a new self (fugue); and fragmentation of identity or self into separate streams of consciousness (dissociative identity disorder, formerly termed multiple personality disorder) and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derealization - an alteration in the perception or experience of the external world so that it seems unreal. Other symptoms include feeling as though one's environment is lacking in spontaneity, emotional coloring and depth. It is a dissociative symptom of many conditions, such as psychiatric and neurological disorders, and not a standalone disorder. Although most authors currently regard derealization (surroundings) and depersonalization (self) as independent constructs, many do not want to separate derealization from depersonalization. The main reason for this is nosological, because these symptoms often co-occur, but there is another, more philosophical reason: the idea that the phenomenological experience of self, others, and world is one continuous whole. Thus, feelings of unreality may blend in and the person may puzzle over deciding whether it is the self or the world that feels unreal to them.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization - an anomaly of self-awareness. It consists of a feeling of watching oneself act, while having no control over a situation. Subjects feel they have changed, and the world has become vague, dreamlike, less real, or lacking in significance. It can be a disturbing experience, since many feel that, indeed, they are living in a "dream". Chronic depersonalization refers to depersonalization disorder, which is classified by the DSM-IV as a dissociative disorder. Though degrees of depersonalization and derealization can happen to anyone who is subject to temporary anxiety/stress, chronic depersonalization is more related to individuals who have experienced a severe trauma or prolonged stress/anxiety.

Depersonalization-derealization is the single most important symptom in the spectrum of dissociative disorders, including dissociative identity disorder and "dissociative disorder not otherwise specified" (DD-NOS). It is also a prominent symptom in some other non-dissociative disorders, such as anxiety disorders, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, migraine and sleep deprivation, and it can be a symptom of some types of neurological seizure. It can be considered desirable, such as in the use of recreational drugs. In social psychology, and in particular self-categorization theory, the term depersonalization has a different meaning and refers to "the stereotypical perception of the self as an example of some defining social category".



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociative_fugue - formally fugue state or psychogenic fugue is a DSM-5 Dissociative Disorder. It is a rare psychiatric disorder characterized by reversible amnesia for personal identity, including the memories, personality, and other identifying characteristics of individuality. The state is usually short-lived (ranging from hours to days), but can last months or longer. Dissociative fugue usually involves unplanned travel or wandering, and is sometimes accompanied by the establishment of a new identity. It is no longer its own classification or diagnosis as it was in the DSM-IV, but now a facet of Dissociative Amnesia according to the DSM-5.

After recovery from fugue, previous memories usually return intact, but there is typically amnesia for the fugue episode. Additionally, an episode of fugue is not characterized as attributable to a psychiatric disorder if it can be related to the ingestion of psychotropic substances, to physical trauma, to a general medical condition, or to other psychiatric conditions such as dissociative identity disorder, delirium, or dementia. Fugues are usually precipitated by a stressful episode, and upon recovery there may be amnesia for the original stressor (dissociative amnesia).



Somatic

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_coordination_disorder - also known as developmental dyspraxia is a chronic neurological disorder beginning in childhood that can affect planning of movements and co-ordination as a result of brain messages not being accurately transmitted to the body. Developmental coordination disorder is diagnosed in the absence of other neurological impairments like cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplification_(psychology) - used to describe a judged tendency of a person to amplify physical symptoms based on psychological factors such as anxiety or depression. Distinct interpretations of this type of presentation could be Sensory processing disorder involving differences in the way a person reacts to sensory input which is regarded as a pervasive developmental disorder related to the Autism spectrum; or there is an alternative psychological concept of 'innate sensitiveness' as a personality trait coined by Carl Jung later developed into the Highly sensitive person trait. In one instance where Amplification is used as a handle or point of reference or diagnosis it is said "somatosensory amplification refers to the tendency to experience somatic sensation as intense, noxious, and disturbing. What may be a minor 'twinge' or mild 'soreness' to the stoic, is a severe, consuming pain to the amplifier." Psychological state has been documented to affect the course of upper respiratory tract infection, post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome, and musculoskeletal pain. Amplification is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatosensory_amplification - tendency to perceive normal somatic and visceral sensations as being relatively intense, disturbing and noxious. It is a common feature of hypochondriasis and is commonly found with fibromyalgia, major depressive disorder, some anxiety disorders, Asperger syndrome, and alexithymia. One common clinical measure of SA is the Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS). It is unclear whether persons with SA have a truly increased physiological sensitivity to bodily sensations. One study paradoxically found lower levels of SA in hypochondriacs who reported being constantly aware of their own heartbeats. Tentative encephalography[disambiguation needed] results, however, tend to indicate SA is more likely due to differences in long-latency cognitive processing, rather than objective physiological differences in sensitivity. It is not currently known whether SA causes or is caused by any of these conditions, only that they are comorbid conditions. One small study did find that, in patients with depression, SA may be part of the depression (i.e., treating the depression reduced the SA)



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_symptom_disorder - formerly known as a somatoform disorder, is a category of mental disorder included in a number of diagnostic schemes of mental illness, including the DSM-5. The diagnosis requires physical symptoms that suggest physical illness or injury – symptoms that cannot be explained fully by a general medical condition or by the direct effect of a substance, and are not attributable to another mental disorder (e.g., panic disorder). In people who have been diagnosed with a somatic symptom disorder, medical test results are either normal or do not explain the person's symptoms, and history and physical examination do not indicate the presence of a known medical condition that could cause them, though it is important to note that the DSM-5 cautions that this alone is not sufficient for diagnosis. The patient must also be excessively worried about their symptoms, and this worry must be judged to be out of proportion to the severity of the physical complaints themselves. A diagnosis of somatic symptom disorder requires that the subject have recurring somatic complaints for at least six months.

Symptoms are sometimes similar to those of other illnesses and may last for years. Usually, the symptoms begin appearing during adolescence, and patients are diagnosed before the age of 30 years. Symptoms may occur across cultures and gender. Other common symptoms include anxiety and depression. However, since anxiety and depression are also very common in persons with confirmed medical illnesses, it remains possible that such symptoms are a consequence of the physical impairment, rather than a cause. Somatic symptom disorders are not the result of conscious malingering (fabricating or exaggerating symptoms for secondary motives) or factitious disorders (deliberately producing, feigning, or exaggerating symptoms). Somatic symptom disorder is difficult to diagnose and treat. Some advocates of the diagnosis believe this is because proper diagnosis and treatment requires psychiatrists to work with neurologists on patients with this disorder.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body-centred_countertransference - involves a psychotherapist's experiencing the physical state of the patient in a clinical context. Also known as somatic countertransference, it can incorporate the therapist's gut feelings, as well as changes to breathing, to heart rate and to tension in muscles.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychomotor_agitation - a series of unintentional and purposeless motions that stem from mental tension and anxiety of an individual. This includes pacing around a room, wringing one's hands, uncontrolled tongue movement, pulling off clothing and putting it back on and other similar actions. In more severe cases, the motions may become harmful to the individual, such as ripping, tearing or chewing at the skin around one's fingernails or lips to the point of bleeding. Psychomotor agitation is a symptom typically found in major depressive disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder, and sometimes the manic phase in bipolar disorder though it can also be a result of an excess intake of stimulants. It can also be caused by severe hyponatremia. The middle-aged and the elderly are more at risk to express this condition.


Affective


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysphoria - (from Greek: δύσφορος (dysphoros), δυσ-, difficult, and φέρειν, to bear) is a profound state of unease or dissatisfaction. In a psychiatric context, dysphoria may accompany depression, anxiety, or agitation. It can also mean someone that is not comfortable in their current body, particularly in cases of gender dysphoria. Common reactions to dysphoria include emotional distress or indifference. The opposite state of mind is known as euphoria.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blunted_affect - a clinical term to define a lack of emotional reactivity (affect display) in an individual. It manifests as a failure to express feelings either verbally or non-verbally, especially when talking about issues that would normally be expected to engage the emotions. Expressive gestures are rare and there is little animation in facial expression or vocal inflection. Blunted affect can be symptomatic of schizophrenia, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, depersonalization disorder, or brain damage. It may also be a side effect of certain medications (e.g., antipsychotics).] Individuals with blunted or flat affect show different regional brain activity when compared with healthy individuals.

Blunted affect is a lack of affect more severe than restricted or constricted affect, but less severe than flat or flattened affect. "The difference between flat and blunted affect is in degree. A person with flat affect has no or nearly no emotional expression. He or she may not react at all to circumstances that usually evoke strong emotions in others. A person with blunted affect, on the other hand, has a significantly reduced intensity in emotional expression".

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avolition - as a symptom of various forms of psychopathology, is the decrease in the motivation to initiate and perform self-directed purposeful activities. Such activities that appear to be neglected usually include routine activities, including hobbies, going to work and/or school, and most notably, engaging in social activities. A person experiencing avolition may stay at home for long periods of time, rather than seeking out work or peer relations.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asociality - refers to the lack of motivation to engage in social interaction, or a preference for solitary activities. Developmental psychologists use the synonyms nonsocial, unsocial, and social disinterest. Asociality is distinct from but not mutually exclusive to anti-social behavior, in which the latter implies an active misanthropy or antagonism toward other people or the general social order. A degree of asociality is routinely observed in introverts, while extreme asociality is observed in people with a variety of clinical conditions.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhedonia - Greek: ἀν- an-, "without" and ἡδονή hēdonē, "pleasure", is defined as the inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, e.g. exercise, hobbies, music, sexual activities or social interactions. While earlier definitions of anhedonia emphasized pleasurable experience, more recent models have highlighted the need to consider different aspects of enjoyable behavior, such as motivation or desire to engage in an activity ("motivational anhedonia"), as compared to the level of enjoyment of the activity itself ("consummatory anhedonia").
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexithymia - a personality construct characterized by the sub-clinical inability to identify and describe emotions in the self. The core characteristics of alexithymia are marked dysfunction in emotional awareness, social attachment, and interpersonal relating. Furthermore, individuals suffering from alexithymia also have difficulty in distinguishing and appreciating the emotions of others, which is thought to lead to unempathic and ineffective emotional responding. Alexithymia is prevalent in approximately 10% of the general population and is known to be comorbid with a number of psychiatric conditions.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_explosive_disorder - sometimes abbreviated as IED) is a behavioral disorder characterized by explosive outbursts of anger, often to the point of rage, that are disproportionate to the situation at hand (e.g., impulsive screaming triggered by relatively inconsequential events). Impulsive aggression is unpremeditated, and is defined by a disproportionate reaction to any provocation, real or perceived. Some individuals have reported affective changes prior to an outburst (e.g., tension, mood changes, energy changes, etc.).


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disruptive_mood_dysregulation_disorder - a psychiatric disorder in children, characterized by persistently irritable or angry mood with recurrent, severe temper outbursts. DMDD is classified as a mood disorder in the fifth revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Children with DMDD are at risk for depression in later childhood or adolescence.

The symptoms of DMDD resemble those of other childhood disorders, notably attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and bipolar disorder in children. DMDD first appeared as a disorder in DSM-5 in 2013. Little is known about its course or etiology. Evidence-based treatments include medication to manage mood symptoms, behavior therapy to manage temper outbursts, and family therapy to address symptoms of depression.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodic_dyscontrol_syndrome - EDS, or sometimes just dyscontrol, is a pattern of abnormal, episodic, and frequently violent and uncontrollable social behavior in the absence of significant provocation; it can result from limbic system diseases, disorders of the temporal lobe, or abuse of alcohol or other psychoactive substances. EDS may affect children or adults


Depression





Hyper and manic

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthymic_temperament - or hyperthymia, from Greek hyper ("over", meaning here excessive) + θυμός ("spirited"), is a proposed personality type characterized by an excessively positive disposition similar to, but more stable than, the hypomania of bipolar disorder. Characteristics of the hyperthymic temperament are: increased energy and productivity, short sleep patterns, vividness, activity extroversion, self-assurance, self-confidence, strong will, extreme talkativeness, tendency to repeat oneself, risk-taking/sensation seeking, breaking social norms, very strong libido, love of attention, low threshold for boredom, generosity and tendency to overspend, emotion sensitivity, cheerfulness and joviality, unusual warmth, expansiveness, tirelessness, irrepressibility, irresistible and infectious quality
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypomania - (literally “under mania” or "less than mania") is a mood state characterized by persistent disinhibition and pervasive elevated (euphoric) or irritable mood but generally less severe than full mania. Characteristic behaviors are extremely energetic, talkative, and confident commonly exhibited with a flight of creative ideas. While hypomanic behavior often generates productivity and excitement, it can become troublesome if the subject engages in risky or otherwise inadvisable behaviors.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclothymia - also called cyclothymic disorder, is a type of chronic mood disorder widely considered to be a milder or subthreshold form of bipolar disorder. Cyclothymia is characterized by numerous mood disturbances, with periods of hypomanic symptoms that do not meet criteria for a hypomanic episode, alternating with periods of mild or moderate symptoms of depression that do not meet criteria for a major depressive episode.

Bipolar

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipolar_disorder - also known as bipolar affective disorder (and originally called manic-depressive illness), is a mental disorder characterized by periods of elevated mood and periods of depression. The elevated mood is significant and is known as mania or hypomania depending on the severity or whether there is psychosis. During mania an individual feels or acts abnormally happy, energetic, or irritable. They often make poorly thought out decisions with little regard to the consequences. The need for sleep is usually reduced. During periods of depression there may be crying, poor eye contact with others, and a negative outlook on life.


  • PDF: Can Feeling Too Good Be Bad? Positive Emotion Persistence (PEP) in Bipolar Disorder - Positive emotions are vital to attaining important goals, nurturing social bonds, and promoting cognitive flexibility. However, one question remains relatively unaddressed: Can positive emotions also be a source of dysfunction and negative outcomes? An ideal point of entry to understand how positive emotion can go awry is bipolar disorder, a psychiatric disorder marked by abnormally elevated positive emotion. In this review I provide an overview of recent experimental evidence from individuals at risk for, and diagnosed with, bipolar disorder. I present a novel account of positive-emotion disturbance, referred to as positive emotion persistence (PEP), and consider potential mechanisms. The central thesis guiding PEP is that persistent activation of positive emotion across contexts and not solely in response to positive or rewarding stimuli is a marker of emotion dysfunction in bipolar disorder. I discuss implications for the study of bipolar disorder and positive emotion generally.


Post-Traumatic Stress

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_stress_disorder - PTSD, may develop after a person is exposed to one or more traumatic events, such as sexual assault, warfare, serious injury, or threats of imminent death. The diagnosis may be given when a group of symptoms, such as disturbing recurring flashbacks, avoidance or numbing of memories of the event, and hyperarousal, continue for more than a month after the occurrence of a traumatic event. Most people having experienced a traumatizing event will not develop PTSD. Women are more likely to experience higher impact events, and are also more likely to develop PTSD than men. Children are less likely to experience PTSD after trauma than adults, especially if they are under ten years of age. War veterans are commonly at risk for PTSD.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_post-traumatic_stress_disorder - C-PTSD, also known as developmental trauma disorder (DTD) or complex trauma is a psychological injury that results from protracted exposure to prolonged social and/or interpersonal trauma in the context of dependence, captivity or entrapment (a situation lacking a viable escape route for the victim), which results in the lack or loss of control, helplessness, and deformations of identity and sense of self. Examples include people who have experienced chronic maltreatment, neglect or abuse in a care-giving relationship, hostages, prisoners of war, concentration camp survivors, and survivors of some religious cults. C-PTSD is distinct from, but similar to, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), somatization disorder, dissociative identity disorder, and borderline personality disorder.


"Progress in clinical and affective neuroscience is redefining psychiatric illness as symptomatic expression of cellular/molecular dysfunctions in specific brain circuits. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been an exemplar of this progress, with improved understanding of neurobiological systems subserving fear learning, salience detection, and emotion regulation explaining much of its phenomenology and neurobiology. However, many features remain unexplained and a parsimonious model that more fully accounts for symptoms and the core neurobiology remains elusive. Contextual processing is a key modulatory function of hippocampal-prefrontal-thalamic circuitry, allowing organisms to disambiguate cues and derive situation-specific meaning from the world. We propose that dysregulation within this context-processing circuit is at the core of PTSD pathophysiology, accounting for much of its phenomenology and most of its biological findings. Understanding core mechanisms like this, and their underlying neural circuits, will sharpen diagnostic precision and understanding of risk factors, enhancing our ability to develop preventive and “personalized” interventions."


  • Social Bonds and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder - Retrospective and prospective studies consistently show that individuals exposed to human-generated traumatic events carry a higher risk of developing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than those exposed to other kinds of events. These studies also consistently identify perceptions of social support both before and after a traumatic event as an important factor in the determining vulnerability to the development of PTSD. We review the literature on interpersonal traumas, social support and risk for PTSD and integrate findings with recent advances in developmental psychopathology, attachment theory and social neuroscience. We propose and gather evidence for what we term the social ecology of PTSD, a conceptual framework for understanding how both PTSD risk and recovery are highly dependent on social phenomena. We explore clinical implications of this conceptual framework.

Borderline

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality_disorder - also known as emotionally unstable personality disorder, impulsive or borderline type or emotional intensity disorder, the essential feature of which is a pattern of marked impulsivity and instability of affects, interpersonal relationships and self image (hypermentalization). The pattern is present by early adulthood and occurs across a variety of situations and contexts. Other symptoms usually include intense fears of abandonment and intense anger and irritability, the reason for which others have difficulty understanding. People with BPD often engage in idealization and devaluation of others, alternating between high positive regard and great disappointment.

The first significant psychoanalytic work to use the term "borderline" was written by Adolf Stern in 1938. It described a group of patients suffering from what he thought to be a mild form of schizophrenia, on the borderline between neurosis and psychosis. The 1960s and 1970s saw a shift from thinking of the condition as borderline schizophrenia to thinking of it as a borderline affective disorder (mood disorder), on the fringes of bipolar disorder, cyclothymia, and dysthymia. In the DSM-II, stressing the intensity and variability of moods, it was called cyclothymic personality (affective personality). While the term "borderline" was evolving to refer to a distinct category of disorder, psychoanalysts such as Otto Kernberg were using it to refer to a broad spectrum of issues, describing an intermediate level of personality organization[141] between neurosis and psychosis.

After standardized criteria were developed to distinguish it from mood disorders and other Axis I disorders, BPD became a personality disorder diagnosis in 1980 with the publication of the DSM-III. The diagnosis was distinguished from sub-syndromal schizophrenia, which was termed "Schizotypal personality disorder". The DSM-IV Axis II Work Group of the American Psychiatric Association finally decided on the name "borderline personality disorder," which is still in use by the DSM-5 today. However, the term "borderline" has been described as uniquely inadequate for describing the symptoms characteristic of this disorder.

With treatment, the majority of people with BPD can find relief from distressing symptoms and achieve remission, defined as a consistent relief from symptoms for at least two years. This longitudinal study tracking the symptoms of people with BPD found that 34.5% achieved remission within two years from the beginning of the study. Within four years, 49.4% had achieved remission, and within six years, 68.6% had achieved remission. By the end of the study, 73.5% of participants were found to be in remission. Moreover, of those who achieved recovery from symptoms, only 5.9% experienced recurrences. A later study found that ten years from baseline (during a hospitalization), 86% of patients had sustained a stable recovery from symptoms.








Obsessive compulsive

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive%E2%80%93compulsive_disorder - an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear or worry (obsessions), repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety (compulsions), or a combination of such obsessions and compulsions. Symptoms of the disorder include excessive washing or cleaning, repeated checking, extreme hoarding, preoccupation with sexual, violent or religious thoughts, relationship-related obsessions, aversion to particular numbers and nervous rituals such as opening and closing a door a certain number of times before entering or leaving a room. These symptoms are time-consuming, might result in loss of relationships with others, and often cause severe emotional and financial distress. The acts of those who have OCD may appear paranoid and potentially psychotic. However, people with OCD generally recognize their obsessions and compulsions as irrational and may become further distressed by this realization. Despite the irrational behaviour, OCD is associated with high verbal IQ..


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive%E2%80%93compulsive_personality_disorder - also called anankastic personality disorder, is a personality disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, mental and interpersonal control and a need for power over one's environment, at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency. People with OCPD do not generally feel the need to repeatedly perform ritualistic actions—a common symptom of OCD—and usually find pleasure in perfecting a task, whereas people with OCD are often more distressed after their actions.





Avoidance

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiential_avoidance - has been broadly defined as attempts to avoid thoughts, feelings, memories, physical sensations, and other internal experiences—even when doing so creates harm in the long-run. The process of EA is thought to be maintained through negative reinforcement—that is, short-term relief of discomfort is achieved through avoidance, thereby increasing the likelihood that the behavior will persist. Importantly, the current conceptualization of EA suggests that it is not negative thoughts, emotions, and sensations that are problematic, but how one responds to them that can cause difficulties. In particular, a habitual and persistent unwillingness to experience uncomfortable thoughts and feelings (and the associated avoidance and inhibition of these experiences) is thought to be linked to a wide range of problems.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoidance_coping - or escape coping, is a maladaptive coping mechanism characterized by the effort to avoid dealing with a stressor. Coping refers to behaviors that attempt to protect oneself from psychological damage. Variations of avoidance coping include modifying or eliminating the conditions that gave rise to the problem and changing the perception of an experience in a way that neutralizes the problem.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoidant_personality_disorder - also known as anxious personality disorder, is a Cluster C personality disorder recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders handbook as afflicting persons when they display a pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation, and avoidance of social interaction. Individuals afflicted with the disorder tend to describe themselves as ill at ease, anxious, lonely, and generally feel unwanted and isolated from others. People with avoidant personality disorder often consider themselves to be socially inept or personally unappealing and avoid social interaction for fear of being ridiculed, humiliated, rejected, or disliked. Avoidant personality disorder is usually first noticed in early adulthood. Childhood emotional neglect and peer group rejection are both associated with an increased risk for the development of AvPD.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobia - (from the Greek: φόβος phóbos,"aversion", "fear, morbid fear") is, when used in the context of clinical psychology, a type of anxiety disorder, usually defined as a persistent fear of an object or situation in which the sufferer commits to great lengths in avoiding, typically disproportional to the actual danger posed, often being recognized as irrational. In the event the phobia cannot be avoided entirely, the sufferer will endure the situation or object with marked distress and significant interference in social or occupational activities. The terms distress and impairment as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV-TR) should also take into account the context of the sufferer's environment if attempting a diagnosis. The DSM-IV-TR states that if a phobic stimulus, whether it be an object or a social situation, is absent entirely in an environment — a diagnosis cannot be made.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterphobic_attitude - a response to anxiety that, instead of fleeing the source of fear in the manner of a phobia, actively seeks it out, in the hope of overcoming the original anxiousness. Contrary to the avoidant personality disorder, the counterphobic represents the less usual, but not totally uncommon, response of seeking out what is feared: codependents may fall into a subcategory of this group, hiding their fears of attachment in over-dependency.


Self-defeating personality disorder

Anti-social

Psychosis

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis - refers to an abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality". People suffering from psychosis are described as psychotic.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postpartum_psychosis - (or puerperal psychosis) is a term that covers a group of mental illnesses with the sudden onset of psychotic symptoms following childbirth. A typical example is for a woman to become irritable, have extreme mood swings and hallucinations, and possibly need psychiatric hospitalization. Often, out of fear of stigma or misunderstanding, women hide their condition. Although there are factors that contribute to an increased risk of developing postpartum psychosis, such as an underlying bipolar disorder, or a previous postpartum psychosis, any pregnant woman is potentially at risk. This illness can take the woman, her family and her medical providers completely by surprise.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusional_disorder - a psychiatric condition in which the patients present with delusions, but with no accompanying prominent hallucinations, thought disorder, mood disorder, or significant flattening of affect. Delusions are a specific symptom of psychosis. Delusions can be bizarre or non-bizarre in content. Non-bizarre delusions are fixed false beliefs that involve situations that could potentially occur in real life; examples include being followed or poisoned. Apart from their delusions, people with delusional disorder may continue to socialize and function in a normal manner and their behaviour does not generally seem odd or bizarre. However, the preoccupation with delusional ideas can be disruptive to their overall lives. For the diagnosis to be made, auditory and visual hallucinations cannot be prominent, though olfactory or tactile hallucinations related to the content of the delusion may be present.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histrionic_personality_disorder - characterized by a pattern of excessive emotions and attention-seeking, including inappropriately seductive behavior and an excessive need for approval, usually beginning in early adulthood. People affected by HPD are lively, dramatic, vivacious, enthusiastic, and flirtatious. HPD affects four times as many women as men.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haltlose_personality_disorder - in which affected individuals are selfish, irresponsible and hedonistic. They have many similarities with dissocial personality disorder and its DSM counterpart antisocial personality disorder. Haltlose people have a strong present time orientation with no long-term goals. They have no conscientiousness or concentration; they do not feel remorse or learn from experience. They are typically overoptimistic. They have charm and are easily persuaded, features in common with histrionic personality disorder. Many haltlosen are alcoholics and associate with antisocials. "Haltlos" is a German word which means drifting, aimless, irresponsible.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependent_personality_disorder - formerly known as asthenic personality disorder, is a personality disorder that is characterized by a pervasive psychological dependence on other people. This personality disorder is a long-term (chronic) condition in which people depend on others to meet their emotional and physical needs, with only a minority achieving normal levels of independence.


Psychopathy / sociopathy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy - now distinguished from sociopathy (/soʊsiˈɒpəθi/), is traditionally defined as a personality disorder characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, diminished empathy and remorse, and disinhibited or bold behavior. It may also be defined as a continuous aspect of personality, representing scores on different personality dimensions found throughout the population in varying combinations. The definition of psychopathy has varied significantly throughout the history of the concept; different definitions continue to be used that are only partly overlapping and sometimes appear contradictory.

Hervey M. Cleckley, an American psychiatrist, probably influenced the initial diagnostic criteria for antisocial personality reaction/disturbance in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), as did American psychologist George E. Partridge. The DSM and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) subsequently introduced the diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and dissocial personality disorder, stating that these have been referred to (or include what is referred to) as psychopathy or sociopathy. Canadian psychologist Robert D. Hare later repopularised the construct of psychopathy in criminology with his Psychopathy Checklist.

Although no psychiatric or psychological organization has sanctioned a diagnosis titled "psychopathy", assessments of psychopathic characteristics are widely used in criminal justice settings in some nations, and may have important consequences for individuals. The term is also used by the general public, in popular press, and in fictional portrayals.

Sociopathy - The word element socio has been used in compound words since around 1880. The term sociopathy may have been first introduced in 1909 in Germany by biological psychiatrist Karl Birnbaum and in 1930 in the US by educational psychologist George E. Partridge, as an alternative to the concept of psychopathy. It was used to indicate that the defining feature is violation of social norms, or antisocial behavior, and has often also been associated with postulating social as well as biological causation.

There are various contemporary usages of the term. Robert Hare claimed in the popular science book entitled Snakes in Suits that sociopathy and psychopathy are often used interchangeably, but in some cases the term sociopathy is preferred because it is less likely than is psychopathy to be confused with psychosis, whereas in other cases the two terms may be used with different meanings that reflect the user's views on the origins and determinants of the disorder. Hare contended that the term sociopathy is preferred by those that see the causes as due to social factors and early environment, and the term psychopathy preferred by those who believe that there are psychological, biological, and genetic factors involved in addition to environmental factors.[84] Hare also provides his own definitions: he describes psychopathy as not having a sense of empathy or morality, but sociopathy as only differing in sense of right and wrong from the average person.

  • Life as a Nonviolent Psychopath - James Fallon discovered through his work that he has the brain of a psychopath, and subsequently learned a lot about the role of genes in personality and how his brain affects his life.

Schizophrenia




Attachment

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attachment_disorder - a broad term intended to describe disorders of mood, behavior, and social relationships arising from a failure to form normal attachments to primary care giving figures in early childhood, resulting in problematic social expectations and behaviors. Such a failure would result from unusual early experiences of neglect, abuse, abrupt separation from caregivers after about 6 months of age but before about three years of age, frequent change of caregivers or excessive numbers of caregivers, or lack of caregiver responsiveness to child communicative efforts. A problematic history of social relationships occurring after about age three may be distressing to a child, but does not result in attachment disorder.The term attachment disorder is most often used to describe emotional and behavioral problems of young children, but is sometimes applied to school-age children or even to adults.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reactive_attachment_disorder - described in clinical literature as a severe and relatively uncommon disorder that can affect children. RAD is characterized by markedly disturbed and developmentally inappropriate ways of relating socially in most contexts. It can take the form of a persistent failure to initiate or respond to most social interactions in a developmentally appropriate way—known as the "inhibited form"—or can present itself as indiscriminate sociability, such as excessive familiarity with relative strangers—known as the "disinhibited form".



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codependency - a type of dysfunctional helping relationship where one person supports or enables another person’s addiction, poor mental health, immaturity, irresponsibility, or under-achievement. People with a predisposition to be a codependent enabler often find themselves in relationships where their primary role is that of rescuer, supporter, and confidante. These helper types are often dependent on the other person's poor functioning to satisfy their own emotional needs. Codependency often involves placing a lower priority on one's own needs, while being excessively preoccupied with the needs of others. Codependency can occur in any type of relationship, including family, work, friendship, and also romantic, peer or community relationships. Codependency may also be characterized by denial, low self-esteem, excessive compliance, or control patterns.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotomania - a type of delusion in which the affected person believes that another person, usually a stranger, high-status or famous person, is in love with them. The illness often occurs during psychosis, especially in patients with schizophrenia, delusional disorder or bipolar mania. During an erotomanic episode, the patient believes that a secret admirer is declaring their affection to the patient, often by special glances, signals, telepathy, or messages through the media. Usually the patient then returns the perceived affection by means of letters, phone calls, gifts, and visits to the unwitting recipient. Even though these advances are unexpected and often unwanted, any denial of affection by the object of this delusional love is dismissed by the patient as a ploy to conceal the forbidden love from the rest of the world. The term erotomania is often confused with obsessive love, obsession with unrequited love, or hypersexuality. Obsessive love is not erotomania by definition. Erotomania is also called de Clérambault's syndrome, after the French psychiatrist Gaëtan Gatian de Clérambault (1872–1934), who published a comprehensive review paper on the subject (Les Psychoses Passionelles) in 1921.




Narcissism

Meditations

The term meditation refers to a broad variety of practices (much like the term sports) that includes techniques designed to promote relaxation, build internal energy or life force (qi, ki, prana, etc.) and develop compassion, love, patience, generosity and forgiveness. A particularly ambitious form of meditation aims at effortlessly sustained single-pointed concentration meant to enable its practitioner to enjoy an indestructible sense of well-being while engaging in any life activity.

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone." ― Blaise Pascal, Pensées


"In this article, we expand our original framework to accommodate a broader range of traditional and contemporary meditation practices, grouping them into attentional, constructive, and deconstructive families. According to this model, the primary cognitive mechanisms in these three families are: (i) attention regulation and meta-awareness; (ii) perspective taking and reappraisal; and (iii) self-inquiry, respectively. To illustrate the role of these processes in different forms of meditation, we discuss how experiential fusion, maladaptive self-schema, and cognitive reification are differentially targeted by these processes in the context of Buddhist meditation, integrating the perspectives of other contemplative, philosophical, and clinical perspectives when relevant. The mechanisms and targets we propose are drawn from cognitive science and clinical psychology. Although these psychological processes are theoretically complex, as are the meditation practices that target them, we propose this novel framework as a first step in identifying specific cognitive mechanisms to aid in the scientific study of different families of meditation and the impact of these practices on well-being."


Buddhist

See also #Buddhism - to merge with in a mega Praxis section

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhyāna_in_Buddhism - or Jhāna (झान) (Pāli) means meditation in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In Buddhism, it is a series of cultivated states of mind, which lead to "state of perfect equanimity and awareness (upekkhii-sati-piirisuddhl)." Dhyana may have been the core practice of the earliest Buddhism, but became appended with other forms of meditation throughout its development.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citta - one of three overlapping terms used in the nikayas to refer to the mind, the others being manas and viññāṇa. Each is sometimes used in the generic and non-technical sense of "mind" in general, and the three are sometimes used in sequence to refer to one's mental processes as a whole. Their primary uses are, however, distinct.

In the Pāli Canon's Sutta Pitaka's first four nikāyas, viññāṇa is one of three overlapping Pali terms used to refer to the mind, the others being manas and citta. Each is used in the generic and non-technical sense of "mind" in general, but the three are sometimes used in sequence to refer to one's mental processes as a whole. Their primary uses are, however, distinct


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_factors_(Buddhism) - (Sanskrit: caitasika; Pali: cetasika; Tibetan Wylie: sems byung), in Buddhism, are identified within the teachings of the Abhidharma (Buddhist psychology). They are defined as aspects of the mind that apprehend the quality of an object, and that have the ability to color the mind. Within the Abhidharma, the mental factors are categorized as formations (Sanskrit: saṅkhāra) concurrent with mind (Sanskrit: citta). Alternate translations for mental factors include "mental states", "mental events", and "concomitants of consciousness". Mental factors are aspects of the mind that apprehend the quality of an object and have the ability to color the mind.
  • Cetasikas - Cetasika means belonging to the mind. It is a mental factor which accompanies consciousness (citta) and experiences an object. There are 52 cetasikas. This book gives an outline of each of these 52 cetasikas and shows the relationship they have with each other. It will help the student have more understanding of the intricate operations of the mind enabling the development of good qualities and the eventual eradication of all defilements. It will help to understand that citta and cetasika act according to their own conditions and that an abiding agent (soul or self) is not to be found. The book assumes some previous knowledge of Buddhism.


"Friends, whoever — monk or nun — declares the attainment of arahantship in my presence, they all do it by means of one or another of four paths. Which four? "There is the case where a monk has developed insight preceded by tranquillity. [...] "Then there is the case where a monk has developed tranquillity preceded by insight. [...] "Then there is the case where a monk has developed tranquillity in tandem with insight. [...] "Then there is the case where a monk's mind has its restlessness concerning the Dhamma [Comm: the corruptions of insight] well under control."

-- AN 4.170: Yuganaddha Sutta

"These two qualities have a share in clear knowing. Which two? Tranquillity (samatha) & insight (vipassana).

"When tranquillity is developed, what purpose does it serve? The mind is developed. And when the mind is developed, what purpose does it serve? Passion is abandoned.

"When insight is developed, what purpose does it serve? Discernment is developed. And when discernment is developed, what purpose does it serve? Ignorance is abandoned.

"Defiled by passion, the mind is not released. Defiled by ignorance, discernment does not develop. Thus from the fading of passion is there awareness-release. From the fading of ignorance is there discernment-release."

-- AN 2.30: Vijja-bhagiya Sutta: A Share in Clear Knowing



But while studying with the poet-monk Bao, he had an experience that put him back on course. Struck by piles of books put out in the temple courtyard, books from many differing schools of Buddhism, he prayed to the gods of the Dharma to help him choose a path. Then he picked a book at random. It was a collection of Zen stories, and he dedicated himself to the practice of Zen for the rest of his life.Hakuin’s early exertions affected his health, and while he was still relatively young, he had a nervous breakdown. He called it Zen sickness and sought the advice of a Taoist cave dwelling hermit, who prescribed a visualisation and breathing practices. These eventually relieved his symptoms and from then on, Hakuin emphasised physical strength and health in his Zen practice. He often spoke of strengthening the body by concentrating the spirit. In his seventies, he claimed to have more physical strength than in his thirties and was able to sit in zazen meditation or chant sutras for an entire day without fatigue. ‘At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening. If you doubt fully, you will awaken fully’

Zen students came from all over the country to study with him. His teaching (like his own practice) focused on zazen (sitting meditation) and koan study. A koan is a condundrum that you can’t solve with logic. However, the mind still tries to solve it, and the ensuing psychological pressure is meant to create a tension that leads to awakening. Hakuin called this ‘great doubt.’ ‘At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening. If you doubt fully, you will awaken fully.’


Bhavana (cultivation)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhavana - literally means "development" or "cultivating" or "producing" in the sense of "calling into existence." It is an important concept in Buddhist praxis (Patipatti). The word bhavana normally appears in conjunction with another word forming a compound phrase such as citta-bhavana (the development or cultivation of the heart/mind) or metta-bhavana (the development/cultivation of lovingkindness). When used on its own bhavana signifies 'spiritual cultivation' generally.


Single point
Ekaggata
Trāṭaka
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trāṭaka - the practice of staring at some external object. This fixed gazing is a method of meditation which involves concentrating on a single point such as a small object, black dot or candle flame. It is used in yoga as a way of developing concentration, strengthening the eyes, and stimulating the ājňā chakra.



Kasina
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasina - In Buddhism, kasiṇa (Pali; Sanskrit: kṛtsna) refers to a class of basic visual objects of meditation. The kasiṇa are typically described as a colored disk, with the particular color, properties, dimensions and medium often specified according to the type of kasiṇa. The earth kasiṇa, for instance, is a disk in a red-brown color formed by spreading earth or clay (or another medium producing similar color and texture) on a screen of canvas or another backing material. Kasiṇa meditation is a concentration meditation (variously known in different traditions as samatha, dhyana, or jhana meditations), intended to settle the mind of the practitioner and create a foundation for further practices of meditation. In the early stages of kasiṇa meditation, a physical object is used as the object of meditation, being focused upon by the practitioner until an eidetic image of the object forms in the practitioners mind. In more advanced levels of kasiṇa meditation, only a mental image of the kasiṇa is used as an object of meditation. Unlike the breath, Buddhist tradition indicates that some kasiṇa are not appropriate objects for certain higher levels of meditation, nor for meditation of the vipassana (insight) type.

There are ten kasiṇa mentioned in the Pali Tipitaka:

  • earth (paṭhavī kasiṇa)
  • water (āpo kasiṇa)
  • fire (tejo kasiṇa)
  • air, wind (vāyo kasiṇa)
  • blue, green (nīla kasiṇa)
  • yellow (pīta kasiṇa)
  • red (lohita kasiṇa)
  • white (odāta kasiṇa)
  • enclosed space, hole, aperture (ākāsa kasiṇa)
  • bright light (āloka kasiṇa)
Sati (mindfulness)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_(Buddhism) - translated as mindfulness or awareness is a spiritual or psychological faculty (indriya) that forms an essential part of Buddhist practice. It is one of the seven factors of enlightenment. "Correct" or "right" mindfulness (Pali: sammā-sati, Sanskrit samyak-smṛti) is the seventh element of the noble eightfold path.

"And what is right mindfulness?

Here the monk remains contemplating the body as body, resolute, aware and mindful, having put aside worldly desire and sadness;

he remains contemplating feelings as feelings;

he remains contemplating mental states as mental states;

he remains contemplating mental objects as mental objects, resolute, aware and mindful, having put aside worldly desire and sadness;

This is called right mindfulness."

-- Sacca-vibhanga Sutta


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anussati - Sanskrit: Anusmriti, means "recollection," "contemplation," "remembrance," "meditation" and "mindfulness." In Buddhism, anussati refers to either: specific meditative or devotional practices, such as recollecting the sublime qualities of the Buddha, which lead to mental tranquillity and abiding joy; or, meditative attainment, such as the ability to recollect past lives.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satipatthana_Sutta - (The Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) and the Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (The Great Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness) are two of the most important and widely studied discourses in the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. The former is also found in the Āgamas of other early schools, and has been embraced by contemporary Mahayana practitioners such as Thich Nhat Hanh. These discourses (Pāli: sutta) provide a means for practicing mindfulness in a variety of contexts and potentially continuously.
    • body, feelings, mind, and dhammas


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anapanasati - meaning 'mindfulness of breathing' ("sati" means mindfulness; "ānāpāna" refers to inhalation and exhalation), is a form of Buddhist meditation now common to the Tibetan, Zen, Tiantai, and Theravada schools of Buddhism, as well as western-based mindfulness programs. Anapanasati means to feel the sensations caused by the movements of the breath in the body, as is practiced in the context of mindfulness. According to tradition, Anapanasati was originally taught by the Buddha in several sutras including the Ānāpānasati Sutta



"One of the most common unquestioned assumptions among Buddhist meditators is that satipaṭṭhāna is synonymous with vipassanā. This assumption, it seems, often is a result of reading the Satipaṭṭhāna Suttas in isolation without carefully considering the context in which satipaṭṭhāna is used throughout the suttas. When the broader view of the entire Sutta Piṭaka is taken into account, it becomes clear that such an assumption is, at best, only partially correct. In this short study I will investigate the various contexts in which satipaṭṭhāna appears and in particular consider its relationship with samādhi."

"From the above it emerges that satipaṭṭhāna normally should be considered as a practice leading to samādhi and under special circumstances as a practice leading to deep insight. Furthermore, it appears that these two aspects of satipaṭṭhāna can be divided into two quite distinct stages. In accordance with the natural progression of meditation practice, (30) the first stage of satipaṭṭhāna is about attaining samādhi. Once samādhi has been achieved (i.e. the necessary condition for deep insight is in place), the mind is equipped to uncover the true nature of the five aspects of personality and realise the successive stages of awakening. This is the second stage of satipaṭṭhāna. Such a two-stage division of satipaṭṭhāna is in fact explicitly described in the suttas:

“… so these four focuses of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna) are the bindings for the mind of the noble disciple in order to subdue his habits from lay life, to subdue his distress, fatigue, and fever from lay life, and in order that he may attain the true way and realise extinguishment (nibbāna). “Then the Tathāgata trains him further: ‘Come, bhikkhu, contemplate an aspect of the body … feelings … mind … phenomena, but do not think thoughts of sense desire.’”

"Here the first stage of satipaṭṭhāna serves the purpose of abandoning refined hindrances. This is part of the path leading to samādhi. The second stage of satipaṭṭhāna is here characterised by sense desire having been abandoned, something suggesting that samādhi has been attained.


Presence

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampajañña (Pāli; Skt.: saṃprajanya) means "clear comprehension", "clear knowing," "constant thorough understanding of impermanence", "fully alert" or "full awareness", as well as "attention, consideration, discrimination, comprehension, circumspection". Sampajañña is a Pali term used in the suttas; the equivalent Sanskrit term samprajaña is found in Sanskrit texts employed (in translation) by a variety of meditation teachers such as Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and in the Tibetan tradition.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present - the time that is associated with the events perceived directly and in the first time, not as a recollection (perceived more than once) or a speculation (predicted, hypothesis, uncertain). It is a period of time between the past and the future, and can vary in meaning from being an instant to a day or longer. In radiocarbon dating, the "present" is defined as AD 1950. It is sometimes represented as a hyperplane in space-time, typically called "now", although modern physics demonstrates that such a hyperplane cannot be defined uniquely for observers in relative motion. The present may also be viewed as a duration (see specious present).

Buddhism and many of its associated paradigms emphasize the importance of living in the present moment — being fully aware of what is happening, and not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. This does not mean that they encourage hedonism, but merely that constant focus on one's current position in space and time (rather than future considerations, or past reminiscence) will aid one in relieving suffering. They teach that those who live in the present moment are the happiest. A number of meditative techniques aim to help the practiser live in the present moment.


"In a correspondence between Bhikkhu Bodhi and B. Alan Wallace, Bodhi described Ven. Nyanaponika Thera's views on "right mindfulness" and sampajañña as follows,: ... I should add that Ven. Nyanaponika himself did not regard “bare attention” as capturing the complete significance of satipaṭṭhāna, but as representing only one phase, the initial phase, in the meditative development of right mindfulness. He held that in the proper practice of right mindfulness, sati has to be integrated with sampajañña, clear comprehension, and it is only when these two work together that right mindfulness can fulfill its intended purpose."


"The psychological facts underlying those religious experiences are accepted by the Buddhist and are well-known to him; but he carefully distinguishes the experiences themselves from the theological interpretations imposed upon them. After rising from deep meditative absorption (jhāna), the Buddhist meditator is advised to view the physical and mental factors constituting his experience in the light of the three characteristics of all conditioned existence: impermanence, liability to suffering, and absence of an abiding ego or eternal substance. This is done primarily in order to utilize the meditative purity and strength of consciousness for the highest purpose: liberating insight. But this procedure also has a very important side effect which concerns us here: the meditator will not be overwhelmed by any uncontrolled emotions and thoughts evoked by his singular experience, and will thus be able to avoid interpretations of that experience not warranted by the facts.

"Hence a Buddhist meditator, while benefiting from the refinement of consciousness he has achieved, will be able to see these meditative experiences for what they are; and he will further know that they are without any abiding substance that could be attributed to a deity manifesting itself to his mind. "

"True wisdom is always young, and always near to the grasp of an open mind."

"It is a significant fact and worth pondering upon that the Bible commences with the words: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth....", while the Dhammapada … opens with the words "Mind precedes things, dominates them, creates them". (difference of opinion, or mind as god?)


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choiceless_awareness - posited in philosophy, psychology, and spirituality to be the state of unpremeditated, complete awareness of the present without preference, effort, or compulsion. the term was popularized in mid-20th-century by Jiddu Krishnamurti
  • Aeon: Inner peace - We yearn for silence, yet the less sound there is, the more our thoughts deafen us. How can we still the noise within? by Tim Parks


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahaja_Yoga - a spiritual technique founded by Nirmala Srivastava, more widely known as Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi or as "Mother" by her followers, who are called Sahaja yogis. According to the movement, Sahaja Yoga is the state of self-realization produced by kundalini awakening and is accompanied by the experience of thoughtless awareness or mental silence. Sahaja Yoga is not only the name of the movement, but also the technique the movement teaches and the state of awareness achieved by the technique. The movement teaches the belief that self-realization through kundalini awakening is a transformation which results in a more moral, united, integrated and balanced personality.


  • Stillness and Awareness from Person to Person - By Astrid Schillings, Cologne. "In this paper I would like to clarify how Carl Rogers' "Therapeutic Core Conditions" can assume a meditative character in psychotherapy. I seek to differentiate the concept of 'presence' in so far as it can vary in meaning depending on the very depth from which we are communicating. Then I go on to illustrate how an understanding of self as process or as interaction - particularly after the further conceptual development by the philosopher and psychologist Eugene Gendlin and the resulting practice of Focusing - resonates with certain experiences from meditative contexts."
Western

to resort about



  • PDF: Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters). - Modern exponents of mindfulness meditation promote the therapeutic effects of "bare attention"--a sort of non-judgmental, non-discursive attending to the moment-to-moment flow of consciousness. This approach to Buddhist meditation can be traced to Burmese Buddhist reform movements of the first half of the 20th century, and is arguably at odds with more traditional Theravāda Buddhist doctrine and meditative practices. But the cultivation of present-centered awareness is not without precedent in Buddhist history; similar innovations arose in medieval Chinese Zen (Chan) and Tibetan Dzogchen. These movements have several things in common. In each case the reforms were, in part, attempts to render Buddhist practice and insight accessible to laypersons unfamiliar with Buddhist philosophy and/or unwilling to adopt a renunciatory lifestyle. In addition, these movements all promised astonishingly quick results. And finally, the innovations in practice were met with suspicion and criticism from traditional Buddhist quarters. Those interested in the therapeutic effects of mindfulness and bare attention are often not aware of the existence, much less the content, of the controversies surrounding these practices in Asian Buddhist history.

There are, in addition, philosophical objections to construing sati as bare attention.The popular understanding of bare attention presumes that it is possible to disaggregate pre-reflective sensations (what contemporary philosophers sometimes refer to as “raw feels” orqualia) from perceptual experience writ large. In other words,there is an assumption that our recognition of and response to an object is logicallyand/or temporally preceded by an unconstructed or “pure” impression of said object that can be rendered, at least with mental training, available to conscious experience. Mindfulness practice is then a means to quiet the ongoing chatter of the mind and to keep to the “bare registering of the facts observed.”Superficially, this notion of mindfulness as bare attention would seem tied to a view of the mind as a sort of tabula rasa or clear mirror that passively registers raw sensations prior to any recognition, judgment, or response.

The notion of a conscious state devoid of conceptualization or discrimination is not unknown to Buddhist exegetes; indeed, later Buddhist philosophers associated with praman (logic) andyogacara (mental construction) systems posit a “non-conceptual cognition” (nirvikalpajn ̃ana) that operates by means of “direct perception” (pratyaks_ajn ̃ana), and these authors use the imagery of the mirror to illustrate the relationship between pure mind and defiled object. This state is sometimes understood as preceding (or undergirding) the arising of conceptualization, or as an advanced stage of attainment tantamount to awakening. But while the notion of non-conceptual cognition became important in some yogacara systems (not to mention Tibetan Dzogchen), it remained at odds with the Theravada analysis of mind and perception. In Theravada abhidharma,consciousness and the object of consciousness emerge codependently and are hence phenomenologically inextricable. That is to say, the objects of experience appear not upon a preexistent tabula rasa, but rather within a cognitive matrix that includes affective and discursive dispositions occasioned by one’s past activity (karma).

The elimination of these attendant dispositions does not yield “non-conceptual awareness” so much as the cessation of consciousness itself. Arguing along similar lines, Paul Griffiths suggests that the closest thing to a state of unconstructed or pure experience in classical Indian Buddhist literature is nirodha samapatti — a condition in which both objects and conscious experience cease altogether (Griffiths, 1986, 1990; Sharf, 2014a). In such a framework, it seems misleading to construe any mode of attention or perception as “bare.” The psychological model behind Nyanaponika’s understanding of sati as bare attention may owe more to internalist and empiricist epistemologies than it owes to early Buddhist or traditional Theravada formulations (Sharf, 1998).Given the ambiguities surrounding sati, it is not surprising that the Mahası method quickly came under fire from a number of quarters, including both Theravada traditionalists in Southeast Asia and practitioners and scholars in the West. Critics object to (1) Mahası’s devaluation of concentration techniques leading to absorption (Pali: jhana); (2) claims that practitioners of the Mahası method are able to attain advanced stages of the path, including the four stages of enlightenment (Pali: ariya-magga), in remarkably short periods of time; and (3) the ethics of rendering sati as bare attention, which would seem to devalue or neglect the importance of ethical judgement.

In my own work on the roots of the Zen (Chinese: Chan) tradition in 8th-century China, I found that certain early Zen teachers seem to have turned away from traditional forms of meditation—repentance practices, meditations on corpses and the impurity of the body, and so on — in favor of instructing their disciples to simply set aside all distinctions and conceptualizations, and allow the mind to come to rest in the flow of the here-and-now (Sharf, 2014b). It may not be a coincidence that the teachers who advocated this new style of practice were also those who had garnered a sizable lay audience, an audience that presumably had little interest in monastic renunciation and little background in Buddhist doctrine. So these early Zen techniques, which went under the rubrics of “viewing mind”(kanxin), “discerning mind” (guanxin), “reflecting without an object” (wu suo nian), and so on, were, like “bare attention,” seen as direct approaches that circumvented the need for traditional dhyana attainments, for mastery of scripture and doctrine, and for proficiency in monastic ritual. In brief, the early Zen technique (or techniques — it is difficult to determine whether these terms were referring to one and the same practice) revolved around a seemingly simple figure–ground shift, where inattention is directed away from objects of any kind toward the abiding “luminosity” or “transparency” of mind or awareness itself. The early Zen reformers, like the Burmese reformers in the 20th century, were popularizers: they touted a method that was simple, promised quick results, and could be cultivated by anyone in a short period of time.

"I would draw attention to certain institutional and sociological parallels to the fact that the early Zen patriarchs and Dzogchen masters, like their modern Burmese counterparts, were interested in developing a method simple enough to be accessible to those who were unschooled in Buddhist doctrine and scripture, who were not necessarily wedded to classical Indian cosmology, who may not have had the time or inclination for extended monastic practice, and who were interested in immediate results as opposed to incremental advancement over count-less lifetimes. It is thus not surprising that the early Zen and Dzogchen teachers found themselves in the same position as Mahası: castigated for dumbing down the tradition, for devaluing ethical training, for misconstruing or devaluing the role of wisdom, and for their crassly “instrumental” approach to practice. ...

"To conclude, it is my impression that many of the psychologists, cognitive scientists, and sociologists doing research on Burmese style mindfulness practices seem to assume that the psychological benefits of such practice are born out by centuries of Buddhist experience. Such is not the case. To the extent that the modern approach to mindfulness can be found in premodern Asia, it was a minority position that was met with considerable criticism from traditional quarters. The nature of the criticism warrants our attention, as it parallels criticism directed against Mahası’s technique in modern Southeast Asia. Thus we hear the charge that such practices emphasize momentary states rather than long-term transformation,that they do not yield the benefits that are claimed on their behalf, that they are more Hindu than Buddhist, and that the overriding emphasis on inner stillness, in the absence of critical intellectual engagement with the teachings, can lead to a paralyzing state of self-absorption—what East Asian Buddhists have long identified as “meditation sickness” (Ahn, 2007).

"To be clear, I am not claiming that mindfulness has no therapeutic value. I am aware of the claims, based on a substantial body of empirical (if contested)data, that suggests it does. But my own experience among long-term meditators in Asian monastic settings as well as in American practice centers leads me to be somewhat skeptical, and I sometimes wonder if researchers in this area are asking the right questions of the right people. It is not just that advanced meditation practitioners in more traditional Asian settings may not exhibit the kinds of behavior that we associate with mental health. It is that, as Obeyesekere noted, it is not clear that they aspire to our model of mental health in the first place. And this, I submit, is the real challenge for those interested in the causal relationship between traditional forms of Buddhist meditation and the psychological and behavioral outcomes that such meditation is assumed to produce"




  • Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy (IMP) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and training of mental health professionals interested in the integration of mindfulness meditation and psychotherapy, for the purpose of enhancing the therapy relationship, the quality of clinical interventions, and the well-being of the therapist.


  • Mind wandering and attention during focused meditation: a fine-grained temporal analysis of fluctuating cognitive states. - Studies have suggested that the default mode network is active during mind wandering, which is often experienced intermittently during sustained attention tasks. Conversely, an anticorrelated task-positive network is thought to subserve various forms of attentional processing. Understanding how these two systems work together is central for understanding many forms of optimal and sub-optimal task performance. Here we present a basic model of naturalistic cognitive fluctuations between mind wandering and attentional states derived from the practice of focused attention meditation. This model proposes four intervals in a cognitive cycle: mind wandering, awareness of mind wandering, shifting of attention, and sustained attention. People who train in this style of meditation cultivate their abilities to monitor cognitive processes related to attention and distraction, making them well suited to report on these mental events. Fourteen meditation practitioners performed breath-focused meditation while undergoing fMRI scanning. When participants realized their mind had wandered, they pressed a button and returned their focus to the breath. The four intervals above were then constructed around these button presses. We hypothesized that periods of mind wandering would be associated with default mode activity, whereas cognitive processes engaged during awareness of mind wandering, shifting of attention and sustained attention would engage attentional subnetworks. Analyses revealed activity in brain regions associated with the default mode during mind wandering, and in salience network regions during awareness of mind wandering. Elements of the executive network were active during shifting and sustained attention. Furthermore, activations during these cognitive phases were modulated by lifetime meditation experience. These findings support and extend theories about cognitive correlates of distributed brain networks.



  • Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness - Mindfulness—as a state, trait, process, type of meditation, and intervention has proven to be beneficial across a diverse group of psychological disorders as well as for general stress reduction. Yet, there remains a lack of clarity in the operationalization of this construct, and underlying mechanisms. Here, we provide an integrative theoretical framework and systems-based neurobiological model that explains the mechanisms by which mindfulness reduces biases related to self-processing and creates a sustainable healthy mind. Mindfulness is described through systematic mental training that develops meta-awareness (self-awareness), an ability to effectively modulate one's behavior (self-regulation), and a positive relationship between self and other that transcends self-focused needs and increases prosocial characteristics (self-transcendence). This framework of self-awareness, -regulation, and -transcendence (S-ART) illustrates a method for becoming aware of the conditions that cause (and remove) distortions or biases. The development of S-ART through meditation is proposed to modulate self-specifying and narrative self-networks through an integrative fronto-parietal control network. Relevant perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral neuropsychological processes are highlighted as supporting mechanisms for S-ART, including intention and motivation, attention regulation, emotion regulation, extinction and reconsolidation, prosociality, non-attachment, and decentering. The S-ART framework and neurobiological model is based on our growing understanding of the mechanisms for neurocognition, empirical literature, and through dismantling the specific meditation practices thought to cultivate mindfulness. The proposed framework will inform future research in the contemplative sciences and target specific areas for development in the treatment of psychological disorders.


V"alerie Gawron was one of those researchers, a renowned engineer with a PhD in aviation psychology who first started investigating F-16 crashes on Brooks Air Force Base in the '80s and '90s. Like NASA's early astronaut selection process, the Air Force had tried to choose pilots that might be resistant to certain motion and perception problems based on their body types. When that didn't work—anyone, as it happened, could become spatially disoriented—Gawron and her colleagues started taking a deeper look into what went wrong. ...

"Many of those pilots recounted positive feelings, even as they started making dangerous mistakes. Feelings like awe, reverence, and a sense of calm and "separation from the problems of the world" could all force them to take their aircraft into an unplanned maneuver. Pilots also experienced common illusions. One, called the "left hand of God" illusion, had pilots reporting that they felt a giant hand pressing down on one of the wings of their aircraft."


Samadhi (concentration)

http://www.dhammahome.com/article_en/topic/238/18

Samatha (enduring tranquillity)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samatha - the Buddhist practice (bhavana) of calming of the mind (citta) and its 'formations' (sankhara). This is done by practicing single-pointed or focused meditation. Samatha is common to all Buddhist traditions.
  • http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Shamatha - or 'calm abiding' is also translated as ‘peacefully remaining’ or ‘tranquillity meditation’. Shama means ‘peace’, tha means ‘to dwell’ or ‘stability’. Shyi also means ‘peace’, né is ‘to abide’. There are two central meditation practices on the Buddhist path: calm abiding and clear seeing. The method of calm abiding is to work with the conceptual mind. When you are able to go beyond that and reach the domain of the wisdom of rigpa, it is called clear seeing or vipashyana (Skt.).

Prerequisites of Shamatha, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche says; "Generally for shamatha, we need what are termed the ‘three solitudes’ of body, speech and mind. Solitude of body and speech means to go to a secluded place and remain silent. Solitude of mind means to be free of the mental poisons." Khenpo Ngakchung explains that shamatha is divided into shamatha with an object and shamatha without a conceptual object.



Vipassanā (insight)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassanā - or vipaśyanā, experiential insight into the true nature of reality which enables one to see, explore and discern "formations" (conditioned phenomena based on the five aggregates), exploring impermanence, suffering and non-self. "Looking into something with clarity and precision, seeing each component as distinct and separate, and piercing all the way through so as to perceive the most fundamental reality of that thing"

It is sometimes not suitable for some to attempt vipassanā conceptualisation practices without first steadying the mind through samatha. Forgoing progression with jhana is "dry insight".


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassanā-ñāṇa - or insight knowledges are various stages that a practitioner of Buddhist Vipassanā ("insight", "clear-seeing") meditation is said to pass through on the way to nibbana. This "progress of insight" (Visuddhiñana-katha) is outlined in various traditional Theravada Buddhist commentary texts such as the Patisambhidamagga, the Vimuttimagga and the Visuddhimagga. In Sarvastivadin abhidharma texts, the "path of insight" (darśana-mārga) one of the five paths of progress in the dharma and is made up of several jñānas also called "thought moments".



  • Abhidhamma And Vipasanna - Because mind, mental factors and matter are forever bound up with this fathom-long body, the study and learning of this subject, and the concentrated observation of the nature of mind, mental factors and matter are tasks which cannot be distinguished. Since at the very least one would have to say that there can be no Vipassana without an understanding of mind and matter, surely then it is not possible to separate Abhidhamma and Vipassana.

“You need to think about death for five minutes every day,” Ura replied. “It will cure you.” “How?” I said, dumbfounded. “It is this thing, this fear of death, this fear of dying before we have accomplished what we want or seen our children grow. This is what is troubling you.” “But why would I want to think about something so depressing?” “Rich people in the West, they have not touched dead bodies, fresh wounds, rotten things. This is a problem. This is the human condition. We have to be ready for the moment we cease to exist.”


Patisambhidamagga
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patisambhidamagga - Pali for "path of discrimination"; sometimes called just Patisambhida for short; abbrevs.: Paṭis, Pṭs) is a Buddhist scripture, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. It is included there as the twelfth book of the Sutta Pitaka's Khuddaka Nikaya. Tradition ascribes it to the Buddha's disciple Sariputta. It comprises 30 chapters on different topics, of which the first, on knowledge, makes up about a third of the book.
Visuddhimagga
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visuddhimagga - (Pali; English The Path of Purification), is the 'great treatise' on Theravada Buddhist doctrine written by Buddhaghosa approximately in 430 CE in Sri Lanka. It is a comprehensive manual condensing and systematizing the theoretical and practical teachings of the Buddha as they were understood by the elders of the Mahavihara Monastery in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is described as "the hub of a complete and coherent method of exegesis of the Tipitaka, using the ‘Abhidhamma method' as it is called. And it sets out detailed practical instructions for developing purification of mind." It is considered the most important Theravada text outside of the Tipitaka canon of scriptures.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kammaṭṭhāna - literally means the place of work. Figuratively it means the place within the mind where one goes in order to work on spiritual development. More concretely, it refers to the forty canonical objects of meditation, listed in the third chapter of the Visuddhimagga

"The following make forty subjects of meditation: ten kasinas, ten impurities, ten reflections, four sublime states, four formless states, one perception, and one analysis.

  • Here the ten kasinas are the earth-kasina, the water-kasina, the fire-kasina, the wind-kasina, the dark-blue kasina, the yellow kasina, the blood-red kasina, the white kasina, the light kasina, the limited-aperture kasina.
  • The ten impurities are: a bloated corpse, a purple corpse, a putrid corpse, a hacked-to-pieces corpse, a gnawed-to-pieces corpse, a scattered-in-pieces corpse, a beaten-and-scattered-in-pieces corpse, a bloody corpse, a worm-infested corpse, a skeleton-corpse.
  • The ten reflections are: reflection on The Buddha, reflection on the Doctrine, reflection on the Order, reflection on conduct, reflection on liberality, reflection on the gods, the contemplation of death, the contemplation of the body, the contemplation of breathing, reflection on quiescence.
  • The four sublime states are: friendliness, compassion, joy, and indifference.
  • The four formless states are: the realm of the infinity of space, the realm of the infinity of consciousness, the realm of nothingness, and the realm of neither perception nor yet non-perception.
  • The one perception is the perception of the loathsomeness of nutriment.
  • The one analysis is the analysis into the four elements.
  • Thus are they to be catalogued in respect to their names.


"After an exhaustive account of the various practices and meditative states discussed in the scriptures, Buddhaghosa turns to the ascending “stages of insight” that immediately precede the attainment of liberation. The eight stages of insight include “knowledge of dissolution,” “knowledge of appearance as terror,” and “knowledge of danger,” and Buddhaghosa resorts to vivid similes to capture the affective tone that accompanies these rarefied states. One of the most harrowing is found in the description of “knowledge of appearance as terror”:

"A woman’s three sons had offended against the king, it seems. The king ordered their heads to be cut off. She went with her sons to the place of their execution. When they had cut off the eldest one’s head, they set about cutting off the middle one’s head. Seeing the eldest one’s head already cut off and the middle one’s head being cut off,she gave up hope for the youngest, thinking, “He too will fare like them.” Now, the meditator’s seeing the cessation of past formations is like the woman’s seeing the eldest son’s head cut off. His seeing the cessation of those present is like her seeing the middle one’s head being cut off.

"His seeing the cessation of those in the future thinking, “Formations to be generated in the future will cease too,” is like her giving up hope for the youngest son, thinking, “He too will fare like them.” When he sees in this way, knowledge of appearance as terror arises in him at that stage. (Buddhaghosa,1956/1976, Vol. 2, p. 753) In other words, the emotional valence of this advanced stage of insight is likened to that of a mother being forced to witness the execution of all three of her sons.Could one imagine a more disturbing image of human anguish? Yet, according to Therav�ada teachings, it is necessary to experience such despair — to confront the unmitigated horror of sentient existence — so as to acquire the resolve necessary to abandon the last vestiges of attachment to things of this world. Obeyesekere would seem to have a point: states akin to what we identify as “depression” would seem to be valorized, if only for the insight they engender, on the Buddhist path.

-- Is mindfulness Buddhist? (and why it matters), Robert H. Sharf

Visuddhiñana-katha


Jhāna / ñāṇa (meditation)


For each Jhāna are given a set of qualities which are present in that jhana:

First Jhāna — the five hindrances have completely disappeared and intense unified bliss remains. Only the subtlest of mental movement remains, perceivable in its absence by those who have entered the second jhāna. The ability to form unwholesome intentions ceases. The remaining qualities are: "directed thought, evaluation, rapture, pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention"

Second Jhāna — all mental movement utterly ceases. There is only bliss. The ability to form wholesome intentions ceases as well. The remaining qualities are: "internal assurance, rapture, pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity, & attention"

Third Jhāna — one-half of bliss (joy) disappears. The remaining qualities are: "equanimity-pleasure, unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention"

Fourth Jhāna — The other half of bliss (happiness) disappears, leading to a state with neither pleasure nor pain, which the Buddha said is actually a subtle form of happiness (more sublime than pīti and sukha). The breath is said to cease temporarily in this state. The remaining qualities are: "a feeling of equanimity, neither pleasure nor pain; an unconcern due to serenity of awareness; unification of mind, contact, feeling, perception, intention, consciousness, desire, decision, persistence, mindfulness, equanimity & attention".


Jñāna / ñāṇa (knowledge)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jñāna - pali: ñāṇa, a term for "knowledge" in Indian philosophy and religion. The idea of jnana centers on cognitive event which is recognized when experienced. It is knowledge inseparable from the total experience of reality.

In Tibetan Buddhism, it refers to pure awareness that is free of conceptual encumbrances, and is contrasted with vijnana, which is a moment of 'divided knowing'. Entrance to, and progression through the ten stages of Jnana/Bhimis, will lead one to complete enlightenment and nirvana. In the Vipassanā tradition of Buddhism there are the following ñanas according to Mahasi Sayadaw. As a person meditates these ñanas or "knowledges" will be experienced in order. The experience of each may be brief or may last for years and the subjective intensity of each is variable. Each ñana could also be considered a jhāna although many are not stable and the mind has no way to remain embedded in the experience. Experiencing all the ñanas will lead to the first of the Four stages of enlightenment then the cycle will start over at a subtler level.

  1. Analytical Knowledge of Body and Mind (nama-rupa-pariccheda-ñana) (corresponds to 1st jhana)
  2. Knowledge by Discerning Conditionality (paccaya-pariggaha-ñana)
  3. Knowledge by Comprehension (sammasana-ñana)
  4. Knowledge of Arising and Passing Away (udayabbaya-ñana) (corresponds to 2nd jhana)
  5. Knowledge of Dissolution (bhanga-ñana) (corresponds to 3rd jhana)
  6. Awareness of Fearfulness (bhayatupatthana-ñana)
  7. Knowledge of Misery (adinava-ñana)
  8. Knowledge of Disgust (nibbida-ñana)
  9. Knowledge of Desire for Deliverance (muncitu-kamyata-ñana)
  10. Knowledge of Re-observation (patisankhanupassana-ñana)
  11. Knowledge of Equanimity about Formations (sankhar'upekkha-ñana) (corresponds to 4th jhana)
  12. Insight Leading to emergence (vutthanagamini-vipassana-ñana)
  13. Knowledge of Adaptation (anuloma-ñana) (one-time event)
  14. Maturity Knowledge (gotrabhu-ñana) (one-time event)
  15. Path Knowledge (magga-ñana) (one-time event)
  16. Fruition Knowledge (phala-ñana) (corresponds to Nibbāna)
  17. Knowledge of Reviewing (paccavekkhana-ñana)


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupajhana - (Sanskrit: rūpadhyāna "meditations of form", literally "form meditations") are successive levels of meditation in which the mind is focused on a material or mental object: it is a word frequently used in Pāli scriptures and to a lesser extent in the Mahayana scriptures. Each higher level is harder to reach than the previous one as it relinquishes an attachment to one of the positive experiences of the previous state.

These first four jhānas can be characterized, in the commentaries[tbc], by certain factors called jhānaṅga/dhyānāṅga whose presence or absence in each rūpajhāna is summarized in the following table:

  • prepatory concentration
  • access/neighbourhood concentration (with visual/felt/imagery access/counterpoint sign)
  • fixed concentration
jhāna vitakka
& vicāra
(applied and
sustained thought) 		pīti
(rapture) 		sukha
(bliss) 		ekaggatā
(one-pointedness) 		upekkhā
(equanimity)
paṭhama-jhāna * * * *  
dutiya-jhāna   * * *  
tatiya-jhāna     * *  
catuttha-jhāna       * *
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arūpajhāna - or "formless meditations" are four successive levels of meditation on non-material objects. These levels are higher than the rūpajhānas, and harder to attain. In themselves, they are believed to lead to rebirth as gods belonging to the realm of the same name.

In the fourth rupajhana, there is already Upekkha, equanimity and Ekkagata, concentration, but the mind is still focused on a "material" object, as any color.

  • In the fifth jhana, the meditator discovers that there is no object, but only an infinite space, which is empty. This perception motivates the interest of claiming arupajhanas.
  • In the sixth jhana, it becomes obvious that space has no existence. There is only infinite consciousness.
  • In the seventh jhana appears the feeling that there is no consciousness, but nothingness.
  • The eighth jhana consists in the most discrete possible state of mind, which justifies the using of "neither perception nor non-perception".




Trikaya
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambhogakāya - or body of mutual enjoyment which is a body of bliss or clear light manifestation; a "subtle body of limitless form". Both "celestial" Buddhas such as Bhaisajyaguru and Amitābha, as well as advanced bodhisattvas such as Avalokiteśvara and Manjusri can appear in an "enjoyment-body." A Buddha can appear in an "enjoyment-body" to teach bodhisattvas through visionary experiences. Those Buddhas and Bodhisattvas manifest themselves in their specific pure lands. These worlds are created for the benefits of others. In those lands it is easy to hear and practice the Dharma. A person can be reborn in such a pure land by "the transfer of some of the huge stock of 'merit' of a Land's presiding Buddha, stimulated by devout prayer. One of the places where the Sambhogakāya body appears is the extra-cosmic realm or pure land called Akaniṣṭha. This is one of the highest realms of the Śuddhāvāsa devas. Absolutely seen, only the Dharmakāya is real; the Sambhogakāya and Nirmanakaya are "provisional ways of talking about and apprehending it".
  • Nirmanakaya - created body which manifests in time and space
Bodhipathapradīpa
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhipathapradīpa - Buddhist text composed in Sanskrit by the teacher Atisha and widely considered his magnum opus. The text reconciles the doctrines of many various Buddhist schools and philosophies, and is notable for the introduction of the three levels of spiritual aspiration: lesser, middling and superior.
Zen
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikantaza - a Japanese translation of a Chinese term for zazen introduced by Rujing, a monk of the Caodong school of Zen Buddhism. In Japan, it is associated with the Soto school.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mind - a technique developed by Zen teacher Dennis Merzel that merges Western psychological techniques (specifically Voice Dialogue therapy) with Buddhist conceptions of self and mind.
Vipassana / Insight movement
  • Vipassana - As taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin

Mindfulness is

  • more than observing - beyond automatic thinking
  • free of desire, aversion or delusion
  • remembering to check in and look, to ask the question - what is the attitude in the mind now?
  • etc.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medawi - (1728–1816) was a Burmese Theravada Buddhist monk credited with being the first author of extant modern vipassanā manuals and thus may have been the first practitioner in the modern vipassana movement. Medawi’s first manual dates from 1754. Medawi was highly critical of the Burmese attitude at the time, which did not see meditation as important and did not believe in that enlightenment was possible at the time due to the decline of the Buddha's teachings. Most believed that the only option left was to make enough merit to be reborn in the presence of the future Buddha, Metteya.


to sort


Sitting posture

Preliminary exercises;

  • Butterfly
  • Rocking child
  • Sitting triangle
Daoist
Neo-Confucian
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jing_zuo - mainly Neo-Confucian meditation practice, literal: "quiet sitting" / "sitting in silence", does not require the stopping of rational thought, but instead relies upon disciplined attention to one's current situation and mental phenomena
Christian
Sufi
Sikh
Vivation
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivation - form of meditation whose primary aim is the permanent and pleasurable resolution of suppressed negative emotions. The word "Vivation" comes from the Latin word vivé (to fully embrace life). Vivation integrates the core principles found in yoga, tantra, breathwork, and meditation into a unified process of healing and personal empowerment. Created by Jim Leonard in 1979, emphasis on maintaining awareness of the strongest feeling in the body on an ongoing basis.
Articles
Transcendental Meditation


Naikan
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naikan - (Japanese: 内観, lit. “inside looking” or “introspection”) is a structured method of self-reflection developed by Yoshimoto Ishin (1916-1988) a businessman and devout Jodo Shinshu Buddhist who, as a young man, had engaged in an ascetic 'contrition' (mishirabe) practice involving sensory deprivation through dwelling in a dark cave without food, water or sleep. Wishing to make such introspection available to others he developed Naikan as a less difficult method which he first introduced to young people who had been incarcerated for committing crime and social disturbances. Later the practice was introduced to the general public. Naikan practitioners claim that Naikan helps people understand themselves and their relationships.

Naikan practice is based on three questions:

  • What have I received from (person x)?
  • What have I given to (person x)?
  • What troubles and difficulties have I caused to (person x)?

A related fourth question, "What troubles and difficulties has (person x) caused me", is purposely ignored in Naikan. (Naikan) presupposes that we're all naturally good at seeing answers to this fourth question, and that too much focus on this question is responsible for much of one's misery in day-to-day life.

Guided
Other


to sort


Research

  • Mindfulness Research Guide is a comprehensive electronic resource and publication database that provides information to researchers, practitioners, and the general public on the scientific study of mindfulness.

Various

  • The Dharma Overground is a resource for the support of hardcore meditation practice. It is a place where everything related to the support of practice may flourish, including where to go on retreats, what techniques may lead to what, an in depth look at the maps of possible states and stages, discussions about how to determine what experience was what, and in general anything that has to do with actually practicing rather than what typically occurs in standard meditation circles. Here you will find a robust and variable community of people with a wide range of experience levels, perspectives and interests, though all loosely bound by the same basic principles of empowering, helpful, engaged dharma and exploration of the possibilities of the mind.
  • Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha - An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book] - Arahat Daniel M. Ingram, MD MSPH. A practical and technically detailed manuals for high-level insight and concentration practice available, and its maps of spiritual terrain and advice for navigating in unusual territory are world-class. The book is about 392 pages. In 2007 and 2008 I rewrote a substantial portion of the chapter on the Models of the Stages of Enlightenment. The current version is also available at the Dharma Overground Wiki in wiki form, and compiled in Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha, Adobe/.pdf version, Revised 2007 version: [http://static.squarespace.com/static/5037f52d84ae1e87f694cfda/t/5055915f84aedaeee9181119/1347785055665/ Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha:




Five faults

  1. Laziness (Tib. ལེ་ལོ་, Wyl. le lo) – there are three kinds: (i) lethargy, (ii) attachment to negative behaviour, and (iii) despondency
  2. Forgetting the instructions (Skt. upadeśa saṃpramoṣa; Tib. བརྗེད་པ་, Wyl. brjed pa). These first two faults are obstacles in the beginning.
  3. Dullness and Agitation (Tib. བྱིང་རྒོད་, Wyl. bying rgod) – there are subtle and gross forms to both dullness (Tib. བྱིང་པ་, Wyl. bying pa) and agitation (Tib. རྒོད་པ་, Wyl. rgod pa). These are obstacles during the actual practice of meditation.
  4. Under-application (Skt. anābhisaṃskārapratipakṣa; Tib. འདུ་མི་བྱེད་པ་, Wyl. ‘du mi byed pa) – this occurs when one recognizes the presence of dullness or agitation but fails to apply the antidote
  5. Over-application (Skt. abhisaṃskārapratipakṣa; Tib. ཧ་ཅང་འདུ་བྱེད་པ་, Wyl. ha cang ‘du byed pa) – this occurs when one recognizes the presence of dullness or agitation, applies the antidote, and then continues to apply it even when dullness or agitation are no longer present. These last two faults are obstacles to the further development of one’s meditation.
  1. Aspiration, or interest (Tib. མོས་པ་, möpa)
  2. Exertion (Tib. རྩོལ་བ་, tsolwa)
  3. Faith (Tib. དད་པ་, dépa)
  4. Pliancy, or flexibility (Tib. ཤིན་སྦྱངས་, shinjang)
  5. The fifth antidote, which is the antidote to the second fault, forgetting the instructions or the object of focus, is mindfulness (Tib. དྲན་པ་, drenpa).
  6. The sixth antidote, which is the antidote to dullness and agitation, is awareness (Tib. ཤེས་བཞིན་, shé shyin).
  7. The seventh antidote, which is the antidote to the fourth fault, under-application, is attention (Tib. སེམས་པ་, sempa).
  8. The eighth antidote, which is the antidote to the fifth fault, over-application, is equanimity (Tib. བཏང་སྙོམས་, tang nyom).


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekagrata - one-pointed, intentness in the pursuit of one object, close and undisturbed attention. Tapas and Brahmacharya are part of the Vedic exercises meant for attaining self-control. The Upanishads emphasise on the practice of austere virtues; tapas destroys sins, weakens indriyas, purifies citta and leads to ekagrata. The Yoga school also lays equal emphasis on self-control and gain of Abhyasa through regular practice of meditation, through self-imposed discipline to prevent detraction of thought and to acquire Ekagrata.



"All these approaches have the common elements of CBT (recognizing and challenging maladaptive thoughts) and a version of meditation that goes under the moniker “mindfulness meditation” or sometimes just “mindfulness.” A review of the treatment manuals for DBT, ACT, MBSR and MBCBT suggest that “mindfulness meditation” is something close to a “soft-vipassana.” The person doing meditation in these treatment protocols is instructed to watch thoughts and feelings come and go on their own without judgment. This leads to the insight that one does not need to believe in, or act on, thoughts or feelings. This is perfect for CBT, which emphasizes the importance of thoughts and beliefs as the drivers of mood disorders. I call mindfulness meditation a “soft” version of vipassana because it stops short of instructing the person to see that everything in awareness is coming and going and is not owned. It also does not emphasize the kind of intense or rapid momentary concentration that marks some vipassana techniques. Instead, clinical mindfulness focuses on relaxation and gentleness (but not samadhi) and points the person to watch thinking and emotional reactions. I would argue that these differences are a very good thing because, despite popular opinion, traditional vipassana would be terrible medicine for a person who is emotionally distraught, unstable, and unable to cope."

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_muscle_relaxation - technique for learning to monitor and control the state of muscular tension. It was developed by American physician Edmund Jacobson in the early 1920s. Dr Jacobson wrote several books on the subject of Progressive Relaxation. The technique involves learning to monitor tension in each specific muscle group in the body by deliberately inducing tension in each group. This tension is then released, with attention paid to the contrast between tension and relaxation. These learning sessions are not exercises or self-hypnotism.



Autogenic training

Wake Up Movement


Hypnosis

Unconscious

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscious_mind - unconscious phenomena include repressed feelings, automatic skills, subliminal perceptions, thoughts, habits, and automatic reactions, and possibly also complexes, hidden phobias and desires. It has been argued that consciousness is influenced by other parts of the mind. These include unconsciousness as a personal habit, being unaware, and intuition. Terms related to semi-consciousness include: awakening, implicit memory, subliminal messages, trances, hypnagogia, and hypnosis. Some critics have doubted the existence of the unconscious. In psychoanalytic terms, the unconscious does not include all that is not conscious, but rather what is actively repressed from conscious thought or what a person is averse to knowing consciously.

Erich Fromm contends that, "The term 'the unconscious' is actually a mystification (even though one might use it for reasons of convenience, as I am guilty of doing in these pages). There is no such thing as the unconscious; there are only experiences of which we are aware, and others of which we are not aware, that is, of which we are unconscious. If I hate a man because I am afraid of him, and if I am aware of my hate but not of my fear, we may say that my hate is conscious and that my fear is unconscious; still my fear does not lie in that mysterious place: 'the' unconscious."

  • Psychology of the unconscious : a study of the transformations and symbolisms of the libido : a contribution to the history of the evolution of thought (1916) - Jung, Hinkle
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_unconscious - a set of mental processes influencing judgement and decision making, in a way that is inaccessible to introspective awareness. This conception of the unconscious mind has emerged in cognitive psychology. It was influenced by, but different from, other views on the unconscious mind such as Sigmund Freud's.



Hypnagogia

Sleep

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somnolence - alternatively "sleepiness" or "drowsiness", is a state of near-sleep, a strong desire for sleep, or sleeping for unusually long periods (cf. hypersomnia). It has two distinct meanings, referring both to the usual state preceding falling asleep, and the chronic condition referring to being in that state independent of a circadian rhythm. "Somnolence" is derived from the Latin "somnus" meaning "sleep."






Dreaming



To sort


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichotic_listening_test - a psychological test commonly used to investigate selective attention within the auditory system and is a subtopic of cognitive psychology and neuroscience. Specifically, it is "used as a behavioral test for hemispheric lateralization of speech sound perception."[1] During a standard dichotic listening test, a participant is presented with two different auditory stimuli simultaneously (usually speech). The different stimuli are directed into different ears over headphones.[2] Research Participants were instructed to repeat aloud the words they heard in one ear while a different message was presented to the other ear. As a result of focusing to repeat the words, participants noticed little of the message to the other ear, often not even realizing that at some point it changed from English to German. At the same time, participants did notice when the voice in the unattended ear changed from a male’s to a female’s, suggesting that the selectivity of consciousness can work to tune in some information."

Sensory deprivation goes from CIA torture manuals to a yoga studio near you.








  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_Wonderland_syndrome - also known as Todd's syndrome or lilliputian hallucinations, is a disorienting neurological condition that affects human perception. Sufferers experience dysmetropsia (micropsia, macropsia, pelopsia, teleopsia) or size distortion of other sensory modalities.




Support

to sort!

Psychiatrist, psychologist, analyst, therapist, councillor, healer, life coach.

The simplest answer lies in the educational background required for each profession. A psychiatrist has a degree in medicine and a psychologist has a doctoral-level degree in psychology. However, there are a number of other distinctions that make each profession quite unique.


  • Trauma Pages focuses primarily on emotional trauma and traumatic stress, including PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) and dissociation, whether following individual traumatic experience(s) or a large-scale disaster. The purpose of this award winning site is to provide information for clinicians and researchers in the traumatic-stress field. Specifically, my interests here include both clinical and research aspects of trauma responses and their resolution.

Self-care/help

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_care - refers to actions and attitudes which contribute to the maintenance of well-being and personal health and promote human development. In terms of health maintenance, self care is any activity of an individual, family or community, with the intention of improving or restoring health, or treating or preventing disease. A holistic health approach is common in self care.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-help - or self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. Many different self-help group programs exist, each with its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders. "Self-help culture, particularly Twelve-Step culture, has provided some of our most robust new language: recovery, dysfunctional families, and codependency." Self-help often utilizes publicly available information or support groups, on the Internet as well as in person, where people in similar situations join together. From early examples in self-driven legal practice and home-spun advice, the connotations of the word have spread and often apply particularly to education, business, psychology and psychotherapy, commonly distributed through the popular genre of self-help books. According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, potential benefits of self-help groups that professionals may not be able to provide include friendship, emotional support, experiential knowledge, identity, meaningful roles, and a sense of belonging.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_effectiveness - a branch of the self-help movement dealing with success, goals, and related concepts. Personal effectiveness integrates some ideas from “the power of positive thinking” and Positive Psychology but in general it is distinct from the New Thought Movement. A primary differentiating factor is that Personal Effectiveness proponents generally take a more systematic approach including a number of factors beside simple positive thinking. Some proponents take an approach with similarities to business process management techniques. Others may take a holistic spiritual and physical wellness approach.

Radical mental health

Radical mental health is about grass-roots and diversity. For so long, our psychic differences have been defined by authority figures intent on fitting us into narrow versions of “normality.” Radical mental health is a dynamic, creative term; one which empowers us to come up with our own understandings for how our psyches, souls, and hearts experience the world, rather than pour them into conventional medical frameworks. It follows that any realistic approach to well-being has to begin by accepting and valuing diversity. There is no single model for a “healthy mind,” no matter how many years of drug treatment, schooling, or behavior modification programs we’ve been put through. And without differences, there can be no movement.

Radical mental health is about politics and social justice. Radical mental health understands how the tools of psychiatric intervention are embedded in broader relations of power. People in power benefit from controlling and silencing how our psyches/bodies/souls speak about an unjust world. They also see these tools as part of a powerful, global medico-industrial complex that profits from framing our experiences as chronic illnesses that require lifelong treatment. For example, the psychiatric establishment has a history of diagnosing entire groups of people who were queer, black, women, poor, gender-variant and/or trans, sick and abnormal, therefore justifying forms of violence and exclusion that maintained the dominance of whiteness, patriarchy, and heternormativity.

Radical mental health is about interconnectedness. Radical mental health sees human experience as a holistic convergence of social, emotional, cultural, physical, spiritual, historical, and environmental elements. The growth and strength of individuals and communities comes from our interconnectedness – we struggle and celebrate together, always. Radical mental health is about emotional/embodied expertise. Radical mental health is about listening to and learning from the expertise of our feelings and bodies.

Radical mental health is about new languages and cultures. We need to get together and find language for our stories that make sense to us; to unlearn social conditioning about what it means to be “sick” and “healthy.” We should feel empowered to create words that better reflect our personal experiences. Some of us have reclaimed the term “mad” or “madness” as no longer negative, but rather, as a proud statement of survival. Radical mental health is about challenging the dominance of biopsychiatry. The biomedical model of psychiatry, or “biopsychiatry,” rests on the belief that mental health issues are the result of chemical imbalances in the brain. It is an idea that is wrapped up in the same ideology of the marketplace that has cut our social safety nets and fragmented our communities — that is, that the problems and solutions of our lives are located solely in the individual.

Radical mental health is about options. Some may assume that radical mental health is simply “anti-psychiatry.” However, most of us take far more complicated, diverse, and nuanced viewpoints. Radical mental health may mean accepting some of the things that mainstream, medicalized models suggest for our well-being, while discarding some of the things we may not find useful, helpful, or positive. In practice, this means supporting people’s self-determination for personal, ongoing decision-making, including whether to take psychiatric drugs or not, and whether to use diagnostic categories or not. Radical alternatives to mainstream approaches celebrate multiple options and diverse forms of expertise. They value, for example, peer support, listening, dialogue, mutual aid, activism, counseling, spirituality, creative activity, community engagement, politicization, and access to more marginalized healing methods. Radical mental health is about questioning and imagination.

Radical mental health is about working within, and without, the bigger mental health systems. Radical mental health activists have a diversity of perspectives towards hospitalization, medication, and diagnoses. Perhaps the most radical aspect of radical mental health has to do with questioning authority and the production of knowledge. We challenge the exclusive voice of formal expertise, and demand that our stories and experiences be considered alongside the voices of professional mental health service providers, profiteers, and institutions. Along with the disability rights movement, we insist: Nothing about us without us. Radical mental health then, is about returning the pathologizing gaze to our crazy-making world. Our struggles for mad justice intersect with others challenging oppressive social relations, including anti-racist, feminist, queer, decolonization, disability, anti-war, decarceration, anti-corporate, public education, and other grassroots community movements.

Geel
The Icarus Project
  • The Icarus Project envisions a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of 'mental illness' rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework. We are a network of people living with and/or affected by experiences that are often diagnosed and labeled as psychiatric conditions. We believe these experiences are mad gifts needing cultivation and care, rather than diseases or disorders. By joining together as individuals and as a community, the intertwined threads of madness, creativity, and collaboration can inspire hope and transformation in an oppressive and damaged world. Participation in The Icarus Project helps us overcome alienation and tap into the true potential that lies between brilliance and madness.
Mindful Liberation Project
  • Mindful Liberation Project has brought a much-needed radical activist approach to mental well-being to Virginia’s capitol. We work tirelessly in destigmatizing differing mental health concerns, termed “mental illnesses” or “disorders” by the Psychiatric Industrial Complex. With free peer support gatherings that are entirely facilitated by volunteers, we take our health into our own hands and make it okay to be able to openly and frankly tell a friend “I am trying to find a reason to live” or “I feel like I am on top of the world” without fear of being institutionalized or having the police called. We have various events to raise awareness about mental health itself, and to give our community the chance to speak out about their own unique experiences with mental health. We are survivors and we’re here to help. We are not mental health professionals.
Mad Pride
Recovery in the Bin

Charities and government

  • SAMH is Scotland's leading mental health charity. On these pages you can find out more about our vital work.


Psychology

to resort and shorten

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psyche_(psychology) - the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious. Psychology is the scientific or objective study of the psyche. The word has a long history of use in psychology and philosophy, dating back to ancient times, and has been one of the fundamental concepts for understanding human nature from a scientific point of view. The English word soul is sometimes used synonymously, especially in older texts.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_science_(psychology) - subdisciplines within psychology that can be thought to reflect a basic-science orientation include biological psychology, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, etc., characterized by methodological rigor, concerned by understanding the laws and processes that underlie behavior, cognition, and emotion.
Areas
  • Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science - One of the central goals in any scientific endeavor is to understand causality. Experiments that seek to demonstrate a cause/effect relation most often manipulate the postulated causal factor. Aarts et al. describe the replication of 100 experiments reported in papers published in 2008 in three high-ranking psychology journals. Assessing whether the replication and the original experiment yielded the same result according to several criteria, they find that about one-third to one-half of the original findings were also observed in the replication study.




Clinical
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_psychology - an integration of science, theory and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective and behavioural well-being and personal development. Central to its practice are psychological assessment and psychotherapy, although clinical psychologists also engage in research, teaching, consultation, forensic testimony, and program development and administration. In many countries, clinical psychology is regulated as a health care profession.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizotypy - a theory stating that there is a continuum of personality characteristics and experiences ranging from normal dissociative, imaginative states to more extreme states related to psychosis and in particular, schizophrenia. This is in contrast to a categorical view of psychosis, where psychosis is considered to be a particular (usually pathological) state, that someone either has, or has not.
  • Gloria—Fifty years on - Two new APA videos on contemporary psychotherapy, "Three Approaches to Psychotherapy with a Male/Female Client—The Next Generation," are reviewed and discussed


Cognitive;

Affective;

  • acceptance
  • altruism
  • transference

Behavioural;

  • reality testing
  • ventilation
  • interaction


Social psychology
Early psychology
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_psychology - refers to work done by those who apply experimental methods to the study of behavior and the processes that underlie it. Experimental psychologists employ human participants and animal subjects to study a great many topics, including, among others sensation & perception, memory, cognition, learning, motivation, emotion; developmental processes, social psychology, and the neural substrates of all of these.
  • "I swear half of user support is letting the users down gently when the problem fixes itself the moment you look at it." [135]
Critical psychology
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_psychology - challenges mainstream psychology and attempts to apply psychological understandings in more progressive ways, often looking towards social change as a means of preventing and treating psychopathology
  • - Radical Psychology Network seeks like-minded psychologists and others to help create a society better able to meet human needs and bring about social justice. We want to change society's unacceptable status quo and bring about a better world. And we want to change the status quo of psychology, too. We challenge psychology's traditional focus on minor reform, because enhancing human welfare demands fundamental social change instead. Moreover, psychology itself has too often oppressed people rather than liberated them."
Developmental psychology
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_psychology - the scientific study of changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire lifespan. This field examines change across a broad range of topics including motor skills and other psycho-physiological processes; cognitive development involving areas such as problem solving, moral understanding, and conceptual understanding; language acquisition; social, personality, and emotional development; and self-concept and identity formation. Developmental psychology examines issues such as the extent of development through gradual accumulation of knowledge versus stage-like development—and the extent to which children are born with innate mental structures, versus learning through experience. Many researchers are interested in the interaction between personal characteristics, the individual's behavior, and environmental factors including social context, and their impact on development; others take a more narrowly-focused approach. Developmental psychology informs several applied fields, including: educational psychology, child psychopathology, and forensic developmental psychology. Developmental psychology complements several other basic research fields in psychology including social psychology, cognitive psychology, ecological psychology, and comparative psychology.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_systems_theory - (DST) is an overarching theoretical perspective on biological development, heredity, and evolution. It emphasizes the shared contributions of genes, environment, and epigenetic factors on developmental processes. DST, unlike conventional scientific theories, is not directly used to help make predictions for testing experimental results; instead, it is seen as a collection of philosophical, psychological, and scientific models of development and evolution. As a whole, these models argue the inadequacy of modern evolutionary views on the roles of genes and natural selection as the principle explanation of living structures. Developmental systems theory embraces a large range of positions that expand biological explanations of human development and hold modern evolutionary theory as a misconception of the nature of living processes.





  • Musical–rhythmic and harmonic
  • Visual–spatial
  • Verbal–linguistic
  • Logical–mathematical
  • Bodily–kinesthetic
  • Interpersonal
  • Intrapersonal
  • Naturalistic
  • Existential


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_stage_theories - theories that divide child development into distinct stages which are characterized by qualitative differences in behaviour. There are a number of different views about the way in which psychological and physical development proceed throughout the life span. In addition to individual differences in development, developmental psychologists generally agree that development occurs in an orderly way and in different areas simultaneously.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_proximal_development - often abbreviated ZPD, is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help. It is a concept introduced yet not fully developed by Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) during the last two years of his life. Also, many theorists are still applying it to their work today. Vygotsky's often-quoted definition of zone of proximal development presents it as "the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable peers. For example, two 8 yr. old children may be able to complete a task that an average 8 yr. old cannot do. Next, more difficult tasks are presented with very little assistance from an adult. In the end, both children were able to complete the task. However, the styles methods they chose depended on how far they were willing to stretch their thinking process."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_W._Graves - was a professor of psychology and originator of a theory of adult human development. He acknowledged that he was unable to answer the frequently-asked question as to who, from among the many competing psychology theorists, was ultimately "right" or "correct" with their model, since there were elements of truth and error in all of them, so created an epistemological theory that he hoped would reconcile the various approaches to human nature and questions about psychological maturity. Graves theorized that in response to the interaction of external conditions with internal neuronal systems, humans develop new bio-psycho-social coping systems to solve existential problems and cope with their worlds. These coping systems are dependent on evolving human culture and individual development, and they are manifested at the individual, societal, and species levels. He believed that tangible, emergent, self-assembling dynamic neuronal systems evolved in the human brain in response to evolving existential and social problems. He theorized "man's nature is not a set thing, that it is ever emergent, that it is an open system, not a closed system." This open-endedness set his approach apart from many of his contemporaries who sought a final state, a nirvana, or perfectibility in human nature.



Cognitive psychology
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_psychology - the study of mental processes such as "attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity and thinking." Much of the work derived from cognitive psychology has been integrated into various other modern disciplines of psychological study including educational psychology, social psychology, personality psychology, abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, and economics. Modern perspectives on cognitive psychology generally address cognition as a dual process theory, introduced by Jonathan Haidt in 2006, and expounded upon by Daniel Kahneman in 2011. Kahneman differentiated the two styles of processing more, calling them intuition and reasoning. Intuition (or system 1), similar to associative reasoning, was determined to be fast and automatic, usually with strong emotional bonds included in the reasoning process. Kahneman said that this kind of reasoning was based on formed habits and very difficult to change or manipulate. Reasoning (or system 2) was slower and much more volatile, being subject to conscious judgments and attitudes.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_restructuring - a psychotherapeutic process of learning to identify and dispute irrational or maladaptive thoughts known as cognitive distortions, such as all-or-nothing thinking (splitting), magical thinking, filtering, over-generalization, magnification, and emotional reasoning, which are commonly associated with many mental health disorders. Cognitive Restructuring (CR) employs many strategies, such as Socratic questioning, thought recording and guided imagery and is used in many types of therapies, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and rational emotive therapy (RET). A number of studies demonstrate considerable efficacy in using CR-based therapies.


Perceptual psychology
Self psychology
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_psychology - a school of psychoanalytic theory and therapy created by Heinz Kohut and developed in the United States at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. Self psychology explains psychopathology as being the result of disrupted or unmet developmental needs. Essential to understanding self psychology are the concepts of empathy, self-object, mirroring, idealising, alter ego/twinship and the tripolar self. Though self psychology also recognizes certain drives, conflicts and complexes present in Freudian psychodynamic theory, these are understood within a different framework.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(psychological_school) - refers to many schools of thought (for example, under psychotherapy) that, though extraordinarily different in their therapeutic techniques, are all connected by a common critique of previous standard approaches and by shared assumptions about the active constructive nature of human knowledge. In particular, the critique is aimed at the “associationist” postulate of empiricism, “by which the mind is conceived as a passive system that gathers its contents from its environment and, through the act of knowing, produces a copy of the order of reality. In contrast, constructivism is an epistemological premise grounded on the assertion that, in the act of knowing, it is the human mind that actively gives meaning and order to that reality to which it is responding”. The constructivist psychologies theorize about and investigate how human beings create systems for meaningfully understanding their worlds and experiences. In psychotherapy, for example, this frame could translate into a therapist asking questions that confront a client's world-view in an effort to expand his or her meaning making habits. The assumption here is that clients encounter problems not because life is inherently problematic or because they have a mental disease but because of the way they frame their problems, or the way people make sense of events that occur in their life.
Educational psychology
Environmental / ecological psychology
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_systems_theory - also called development in context or human ecology theory, identifies five environmental systems with which an individual interacts. This theory provides the framework from which community psychologists study the relationships with individuals' contexts within communities and the wider society. Ecological systems theory was developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner. 1979.
Positive psychology
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_psychology - A recent branch of psychology whose purpose is to use scientific understanding and effective interventions to aid to satisfactory normal life rather than merely treating mental illness. The "positive" branch complements, with no intention to replace or ignore, the traditional areas of psychology. By adding an important emphasis to use the scientific method to study and determine positive human development, this area of psychology fits well with the investigation of how human development can falter. This field brings attention to the possibility that focusing only on disorder could result in a partial, and limited, understanding of a person's condition.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_optimism - the idea that a talent for joy, like any other, can be cultivated. It is contrasted with learned helplessness. Learning optimism is done by consciously challenging any negative self talk.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_Strengths_and_Virtues - A handbook of human strengths and virtues, by Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman, represents the first attempt on the part of the research community to identify and classify the positive psychological traits of human beings. In the same way that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is used to assess and facilitate research on mental disorders, the CSV - first published in 2004 - is intended to provide a theoretical framework to assist in developing practical applications for positive psychology. The CSV identifies six classes of virtue (i.e., "core virtues"), made up of twenty-four measurable character strengths.
  • Wisdom and Knowledge: creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, perspective, innovation
  • Courage: bravery, persistence, integrity, vitality
  • Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence
  • Justice: citizenship, fairness, leadership
  • Temperance: forgiveness and mercy, humility, prudence, self control
  • Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality

"Paul Ekman: Well, I have some hesitation about [positive psychology] because I do not believe that - this is one of the things I got the Dalai Lama to change on - that any emotion is either positive or negative. I think that's an over-simplification. The humor that's used to ridicule is negative; there is forms of anger that can be very constructive. The issue is how to constructively enact any emotion, so I would be in favor of a constructive emotion movement. I think the positive psychology movement is an over-simplification of a more complex set of matters."

Industrial and organizational psychology
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_organizational_psychology - (also known as I–O psychology, occupational psychology, work psychology, WO psychology, IWO psychology and business psychology) is the scientific study of human behavior in the workplace and applies psychological theories and principles to organizations. I-O psychologists are trained in the scientist–practitioner model. I-O psychologists contribute to an organization's success by improving the performance, satisfaction, safety, health and well-being of its employees. An I–O psychologist conducts research on employee behaviors and attitudes, and how these can be improved through hiring practices, training programs, feedback, and management systems. I–O psychologists also help organizations and their employees transition among periods of change and organization development.
Integral psychology

affect + cognition + behaviour

To sort
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberation_psychology - liberation social psychology is an approach to psychology that aims to actively understand the psychology of oppressed and impoverished communities by conceptually and practically addressing the oppressive sociopolitical structure in which they exist. The central concepts of liberation psychology include: conscientization; realismo-crítico; de-ideologized reality; a coherently social orientation; the preferential option for the oppressed majorities, and methodological eclecticism.


Psychonetics

"A technological approach differs from a scientific approach in the sense that the former does not claim to develop explanations as long as there are reproducible steps that can be followed to reach a predictable result.

"In the case of psychological and cognitive research, the technological approach has its benefits because a human mind seems to be capable of producing many more experiences than it is capable of explaining.

"Explanations tend to assume the role of a censor, thus preventing experiencing phenomena that do not fit these particular explanations. Explanations could also conflict with existing ideologies such as governmental, cultural, individual or religious ideologies as well as with dominating scientific theories. Strict avoidance of unnecessary ideological (or rather, ontological) constructs allows such conflicts to be avoided."

"Will meditation is performed in a relaxed seated position with a straight back. The eyes are closed. The practitioner repeats two statements to himself or herself in his or her mind. The first statement is, "I am" (in the sense of "I exist"; "Я есмь"", Russian). The second statement is, "I am will" ("Я есть воля", Russian). The basic will meditation consists of three phases that are used in turn as the practitioner considers necessary.

"During the first phase of will meditation, a practitioner can feel the vocal muscles moving, hear the imaginary sound of the words and try to experience the meaning of each statement.

"During the second phase of will meditation, the vocal muscle movements are suppressed and the practitioner only hears the imaginary sound of the words and tries to catch the purely mental, non-verbal sensation of the meaning of each statement.

"During the third phase of will meditation, the imaginary sound of the words is also suppressed and the practitioner only experiences the pure mental sensations, the pure meanings of the two statements without verbalizing or imagining them in any manner. The third phase can be a challenge for beginners. With practice, however, experiencing pure meanings becomes easier and more natural.

"When performing will meditation, a practitioner cultivates a feeling that nothing is an excuse to stop will meditation. For example, a phone rings, someone knocks on the door, the house ignites on fire, aliens arrive, the apocalypse begins, or the sun becomes a supernova. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is an excuse to stop will meditation."



Psychosomatic

The academic forebear of the modern field of behavioral medicine and a part of the practice of consultation-liaison psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine integrates interdisciplinary evaluation and management involving diverse specialties including psychiatry, psychology, neurology, internal medicine, surgery, allergy, dermatology and psychoneuroimmunology. Clinical situations where mental processes act as a major factor affecting medical outcomes are areas where psychosomatic medicine has competence.

Psychiatry

  • Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders. These include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities. Utilizes research in the field of neuroscience, psychology, medicine, biology, biochemistry, and pharmacology, it has generally been considered a middle ground between neurology and psychology.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liaison_psychiatry - also known as consultative psychiatry or consultation-liaison psychiatry is the branch of psychiatry that specialises in the interface between medicine and psychiatry, usually taking place in a hospital or medical setting. The role of the consultation-liaison psychiatrist is to see patients with comorbid medical conditions at the request of the treating medical or surgical consultant or team. Liaison psychiatry has areas of overlap with other disciplines including psychosomatic medicine, health psychology and neuropsychiatry.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_medicine - an interdisciplinary field combining both medicine and psychology and is concerned with the integration of knowledge in the biological, behavioral, psychological, and social sciences relevant to health and illness. These sciences include epidemiology, anthropology, sociology, psychology, physiology, pharmacology, nutrition, neuroanatomy, endocrinology, and immunology. The term is often used interchangeably, and incorrectly, with health psychology. The practice of behavioral medicine encompasses health psychology, but also includes applied psychophysiological therapies such as biofeedback, hypnosis, and bio-behavioral therapy of physical disorders, aspects of occupational therapy, rehabilitation medicine, and physiatry, as well as preventive medicine. In contrast, health psychology represents a stronger emphasis specifically on psychology's role in both behavioral medicine and behavioral health.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmacokinetics - sometimes abbreviated as PK (from Ancient Greek pharmakon "drug" and kinetikos "moving, putting in motion"; see chemical kinetics), is a branch of pharmacology dedicated to determining the fate of substances administered externally to a living organism. The substances of interest include pharmaceutical agents, hormones, nutrients, and toxins. It attempts to discover the fate of a drug from the moment that it is administered up to the point at which it is completely eliminated from the body.


  • Cultural Psychiatry: a Critical Introduction - This course presents a critical introduction to theory and research in cultural psychiatry—the study of cultural influences on, and responses to, mental health problems. Topics include: an overview of the history of cultural psychiatry; conceptual problems and research methods for studying culture and context in mental health; somatization and bodily idioms of distress; dissociation of memory and identity; cultural variations in emotional experience; trauma and the social construction of diagnostic entities; culture and psychosis; the mental health of immigrants and refugees; the mental health of Indigenous peoples; systems of ritual and symbolic healing; models of mental health care for culturally diverse populations; globalization and the future of cultural psychiatry. This is a graduate level course that assumes basic knowledge of psychiatry, psychology and anthropology.



Drugs






  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamine_oxidase_inhibitor - MAOIs, are chemicals which inhibit the activity of the monoamine oxidase enzyme family. They have a long history of use as medications prescribed for the treatment of depression. They are particularly effective in treating atypical depression. They are also used in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease and several other disorders. Because of potentially lethal dietary and drug interactions, monoamine oxidase inhibitors have historically been reserved as a last line of treatment.









Anxiolytic

antianxiety


Counselling

Therapies

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoeducation - refers to the education offered to individuals with a mental health condition and their families to help empower them and deal with their condition in an optimal way. Frequently psychoeducational training involves individuals with schizophrenia, clinical depression, anxiety disorders, psychotic illnesses, eating disorders, and personality disorders, as well as patient training courses in the context of the treatment of physical illnesses. Family members are also included. A goal is for the consumer to understand and be better able to deal with the presented illness. Also, the patient's own capabilities, resources and coping skills are strengthened and used to contribute to their own health and wellbeing on a long-term basis.


Psychotherapy

Psychodynamics

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychodynamics - or dynamic psychology, an approach to psychology that emphasises systematic study of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior, feelings, and emotions and how they might relate to early experience, especially interested in the dynamic relations between conscious motivation and unconscious motivation. The term psychodynamics is also used by some to refer specifically to the psychoanalytical approach developed by Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) and his followers. Freud was inspired by the theory of thermodynamics and used the term psychodynamics to describe the processes of the mind as flows of psychological energy (libido) in an organically complex brain. In the treatment of psychological distress, psychodynamic psychotherapy tends to be a less intensive, once- or twice-weekly modality than the classical Freudian psychoanalysis treatment of 3-5 sessions per week. Psychodynamic therapies depend upon a theory of inner conflict, wherein repressed behaviours and emotions surface into the patient’s consciousness; generally, one conflict is subconscious.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychodynamic_psychotherapy - a form of depth psychology, the primary focus of which is to reveal the unconscious content of a client's psyche in an effort to alleviate psychic tension. In this way, it is similar to psychoanalysis. It also relies on the interpersonal relationship between client and therapist more than other forms of depth psychology. In terms of approach, this form of therapy uses psychoanalysis adapted to a less intensive style of working, usually at a frequency of once or twice per week. Principal theorists drawn upon are Freud, Klein and theorists of the object relations movement, e.g. Winnicott, Guntrip, and Bion. Some psychodynamic therapists also draw on Jung. It is a focus that has been used in individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, family therapy, and to understand and work with institutional and organizational contexts.

Depth psychology

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_psychology - coined by Eugen Bleuler to refer to psychoanalytic approaches to therapy and research that take the unconscious into account. The term has come to refer to the ongoing development of theories and therapies pioneered by Pierre Janet, William James, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung. Depth psychology explores the relationship between the conscious and the unconscious and includes both psychoanalysis and Jungian psychology. In practice, depth psychology seeks to explore underlying motives as an approach to various mental disorders, with the belief that the uncovering of these motives is intrinsically healing. It seeks the deep layers underlying behavioral and cognitive processes.

Psychoanalysis

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoanalysis - a set of psychological and psychotherapeutic theories and associated techniques, popularised by Sigmund Freud, and since then expanded and been revised, reformed and developed in different directions, initially by Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav Jung, and later neo-Freudians included Erich Fromm, Karen Horney, Harry Stack Sullivan and Jacques Lacan.

Under the broad umbrella of psychoanalysis there are at least 22 theoretical orientations regarding human mental development. The various approaches in treatment called "psychoanalysis" vary as much as the theories do. The term also refers to a method of analysing child development.

Freudian psychoanalysis refers to a specific type of treatment in which the "analysand" (analytic patient) verbally expresses his thoughts, including free associations, fantasies, and dreams, from which the analyst induces the unconscious conflicts causing the patient's symptoms and character problems, and interprets them for the patient to create insight for resolution of the problems. The analyst confronts and clarifies the patient's pathological defenses, wishes and guilt. Through the analysis of conflicts, including those contributing to resistance and those involving transference onto the analyst of distorted reactions, psychoanalytic treatment can hypothesize how patients unconsciously are their own worst enemies: how unconscious, symbolic reactions that have been stimulated by experience are causing symptoms.


On the between - "My advice would be, if you want to know what psychoanalysis is, go into these gaps and see what crazy and amazing and heartbreaking things people are up to, but good luck trying to define it. If pressed, I would define psychoanalysis as a disciplined journey into the between. ... The between is everywhere so that is easy enough. The tricky bit is disciplined journey."



Ego psychology

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_psychology - A school of psychoanalysis rooted in Sigmund Freud's structural id-ego-superego model of the mind. An individual interacts with the external world as well as responds to internal forces. Many psychoanalysts use a theoretical construct called the ego to explain how that is done through various ego functions. Adherents of ego psychology focus on the ego’s normal and pathological development, its management of libidinal and aggressive impulses, and its adaptation to reality.

Freud initially considered the ego to be a sense organ for perception of both external and internal stimuli. He thought of the ego as synonymous with consciousness and contrasted it with the repressed unconscious. By 1911, he referenced ego instincts for the first time in Formulations on the Two Principles of Mental Functioning and contrasted them with sexual instincts: ego instincts responded to the reality principle while sexual instincts obeyed the pleasure principle. He also introduced attention and memory as ego functions.



  • Ego - I, attention and preconscious, mediating self-control
  • Id - it, unconscious, the unorganized part of the personality structure that contains a human's basic, instinctual drives. Id is the only component of personality that is present from birth. It is the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses, particularly our sexual and aggressive drives. The id contains the libido, which is the primary source of instinctual force that is unresponsive to the demands of reality. The id acts according to the "pleasure principle"—the psychic force that motivates the tendency to seek immediate gratification of any impulse—defined as seeking to avoid pain or unpleasure (not 'displeasure') aroused by increases in instinctual tension.
  • Super-ego - The super-ego reflects the internalization of cultural rules, mainly taught by parents applying their guidance and influence. Freud developed his concept of the super-ego from an earlier combination of the ego ideal and the "special psychical agency which performs the task of seeing that narcissistic satisfaction from the ego ideal is ensured ... what we call our 'conscience'." For him "the installation of the super-ego can be described as a successful instance of identification with the parental agency," while as development proceeds "the super-ego also takes on the influence of those who have stepped into the place of parents — educators, teachers, people chosen as ideal models."
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_ideal - the inner image of oneself as one wants to become. Alternatively, "the Freudian notion of a perfect or ideal self housed in the superego," consisting of "the individual's conscious and unconscious images of what he would like to be, patterned after certain people whom...he regards as ideal." Freud considered that the ego ideal was the heir to the narcissism of childhood: the "ideal ego is now the target of the self-love which was enjoyed in childhood by the actual ego...is the substitute for the lost narcissism of his childhood." In the "New Introductory Lectures" [1933], it was as part of "this super-ego... the vehicle of the ego ideal by which the ego measures itself... precipitate of the old picture of the parents, the expression of admiration for the perfection which the child then attributed to them."

The ideal ego is a concept that has been particularly exploited in French psychoanalysis. Whereas Freud "seemed to use the terms indiscriminately... ideal ego or ego ideal," in the thirties 'Hermann Nunberg, following Freud, had introduced a split into this concept, making the Ideal-Ich genetically prior to the surmoi (superego). Thereafter Daniel Lagache developed the distinction, asserting with particular reference to adolescence that "the adolescent identifies him- or herself anew with the ideal ego and strives by this means to separate from the superego and the ego ideal."

Lacan for his part explored the concept in terms of the subject's "narcissistic identification... his ideal ego, that point at which he desires to gratify himself in himself." For Lacan, "the subject has to regulate the completion of what comes as... ideal ego — which is not the ego ideal — that is to say, to constitute himself in his imaginary reality."



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_principle - the ability of the mind to assess the reality of the external world, and to act upon it accordingly, as opposed to acting on the pleasure principle. Allowing the individual to defer (put off) instant gratification, the reality principle is the governing principle of the actions taken by the ego, after its slow development from a "pleasure-ego" into a "reality-ego": it may be compared to the triumph of reason over passion, head over heart, rational over emotional mind.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_elation - or "narcissistic coenaesthetic expansion"' were terms used by Béla Grunberger to highlight 'the narcissistic situation of the primal self in narcissistic union with the mother'. Narcissistic elation has also been used more widely to describe a variety of conditions, including states of being in love, of triumph, and of obtaining self-understanding.


Object relations theory

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_relations_theory - Suggests that the way people relate to others and situations in their adult lives is shaped by family experiences during infancy. For example, an adult who experienced neglect or abuse in infancy would expect similar behavior from others who remind them of the neglectful or abusive person from their past (often a parent). These images of people and events turn into Objects in the subconscious that the person carries into adulthood, and they are used by the subconscious to predict people's behavior in their social relationships and interactions.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Independent_Group_(psychoanalysis) - Independent or Middle Group of British analysts represents one of the three distinct sub-schools of the British Psychoanalytical Society, and 'developed what is known as the British independent perspective, which argued that the primary motivation of the child is object-seeking rather than drive gratification'.[1] The 'Independent group...is strongly associated with the concept of countertransference as well as with a seemingly pragmatic, anti-theoretical attitude to psychoanalysis'.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jointness_(psychodynamics) - a dynamic process representing an emotional system for attachment and for communication between separate individuals who jointly approach each other in a third, joint, virtual space. Jointness represents an encounter between mother and infant, psychotherapist and patient, or any partners experiencing simultaneously mutual intimacy, while concomitantly safeguarding separateness.

Psychosynthesis

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosynthesis - an approach to psychology that was developed by Roberto Assagioli who asserted that "the direct experience of the self, of pure self-awareness... - is true." Spiritual goals of "Self-Realization", and the "interindividual psychosynthesis" - of 'social integration...the harmonious integration of the individual into ever larger groups up to the "one humanity"' - were central to Assagioli's theory. Assagioli developed therapeutic methods beyond those found in psychoanalysis. Although the unconscious is an important part of his theory, Assagioli was careful to maintain a balance with rational, conscious therapeutical work. "If there is a 'psychoanalysis' there must also be a 'psychosynthesis which creates future events according to the same laws'".

In developing psychosynthesis, Assagioli agreed with Freud that healing childhood trauma and developing a healthy ego were necessary aims of psychotherapy, but held that human growth could not be limited to this alone. A student of philosophical and spiritual traditions of both East and West, Assagioli sought to address human growth as it proceeded beyond the norm of the well-functioning ego; he wished also to support the blossoming of human potential into what Abraham Maslow later termed self-actualization, and further still, into the spiritual or transpersonal dimensions of human experience as well.

In other words, Assagioli envisioned an approach to the human being which could address both the process of personal growth—of personality integration and self-actualization—as well as transpersonal development—that dimension glimpsed for example in peak experiences (Maslow) of inspired creativity, spiritual insight, and unitive states of consciousness. Psychosynthesis is therefore one of the earliest forerunners of both humanistic psychology and transpersonal psychology, even preceding Jung’s break with Freud by several years. Assagioli’s conception has an affinity with existential-humanistic psychology and other approaches which attempt to understand the nature of the healthy personality, personal responsibility and choice, and the actualization of the personal self; similarly, his conception is related to the field of transpersonal psychology, with its focus on higher states of consciousness, spirituality, and human experiencing beyond the individual self.

The principal aims and tasks of psychosynthesis are:

  • the elimination of the conflicts and obstacles, conscious and unconscious, that block [the complete and harmonious development of the human personality]
  • the use of active techniques to stimulate the psychic functions still weak and immature.

"Let us examine whether and how it is possible to solve this central problem of human life, to heal this fundamental infirmity of man. Let us see how he may free himself from this enslavement and achieve an harmonious inner integration, true Self-realization, and right relationships with others." Psychosynthesis includes a five-fold process of recognition, acceptance, co-ordination, integration, and synthesis of subpersonalities (little egos, or "degraded expressions of the archetypes of higher qualities") 'leads to the discovery of the Transpersonal Self, and the realization that that is the final truth of the person, not the subpersonalities'.

Analytical psychology

See also Myth

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung - Split with Freud and his obsession with libido, started analytical psychology, focused on individuation, the collective unconscious, archetypes and personality types, the wounded healer, synchronicity, unus mundus, etc.

"Often things that will help beautiful people are pretty fucking ugly."

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction#Abstraction_in_psychology - Carl Jung's definition of abstraction broadened its scope beyond the thinking process to include exactly four mutually exclusive, different complementary psychological functions: sensation, intuition, feeling, and thinking. Together they form a structural totality of the differentiating abstraction process.

"There is an abstract thinking, just as there is abstract feeling, sensation and intuition. Abstract thinking singles out the rational, logical qualities ... Abstract feeling does the same with ... its feeling-values. ... I put abstract feelings on the same level as abstract thoughts. ... Abstract sensation would be aesthetic as opposed to sensuous sensation and abstract intuition would be symbolic as opposed to fantastic intuition."

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona_(psychology) - the social face the individual presented to the world—"a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and on the other to conceal the true nature of the individual"


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wounded_healer - That an analyst is compelled to treat patients because the analyst himself is "wounded". The analyst is consciously aware of his own personal wounds. These wounds may be activated in certain situations especially if his analyzed wounds are similar to his own. The analyzed wounds affect the wounds of the analyst. The analyst either consciously or unconsciously passes this awareness back to his analyzed, causing an unconscious relationship to take place between analyst and analyzed.

Jung felt that depth psychology can be potentially dangerous, because the analyst is vulnerable to being infected by his analyzed's wounds by having his wounds reopened. To avoid this, the analyst must have an ongoing relationship with the unconscious, otherwise he or she could identify with the "healer archetype", and create an inflated ego.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unus_mundus - Latin for "one world", is the concept of an underlying unified reality from which everything emerges and to which everything returns. The idea was popularized in the 20th century by the Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung, though the term can be traced back to scholastics such as Duns Scotus and was taken up again in the 16th century by Gerhard Dorn, a student of the famous alchemist Paracelsus.


Archetypal psychology

Adlerian

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_psychology - or indivisibleof Viennese psychiatrist Alfred Adler, who shifted the grounds of psychological determinance from the Freudian sex and libido to one based on a holistic approach to the study of character and an individual evaluation of world and societal factors, involving combating or confronting three forces: societal, love-related, and vocational and based on theories of pre-adulthood development of a person. Adlerian psychology shows parallels with the humanistic psychology and has been extremely influential in later 20th century counselling and psychiatric strategies

Adler's conceptualization of the "Will to Power" focuses on the individual's creative power to change for the better. Adler argued for holism, viewing the individual holistically rather than reductively, the latter being the dominant lens for viewing human psychology. Adler was also among the first in psychology to argue in favor of feminism, and the female analyst, making the case that power dynamics between men and women (and associations with masculinity and femininity) are crucial to understanding human psychology (Connell, 1995). Adler is considered, along with Freud and Jung, to be one of the three founding figures of depth psychology, which emphasizes the unconscious and psychodynamics (Ellenberger, 1970; Ehrenwald, 1991); and thus to be one of the three great psychologist/philosophers of the twentieth century.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferiority_complex - a lack of self-worth, a doubt and uncertainty, and feelings of not measuring up to standards. It is often subconscious, and is thought to drive afflicted individuals to overcompensate, resulting either in spectacular achievement or extreme asocial behavior. The term was coined to indicate a lack of covert self-esteem. For many, it is developed through a combination of genetic personality characteristics and personal experiences. Stemming from the psychoanalytic branch of psychology, the idea first appeared among many of Sigmund Freud's works and later in the work of his colleague Carl Jung. Alfred Adler, founder of classical Adlerian psychology held that many neurotic symptoms could be traced to overcompensation for this feeling. The use of the term complex now is generally used to denote the group of emotionally toned ideas. Classical Adlerian psychology makes a distinction between primary and secondary inferiority feelings. A primary inferiority feeling is said to be rooted in the young child's original experience of weakness, helplessness and dependency. It can then be intensified by comparisons to siblings, romantic partners, and adults. A secondary inferiority feeling relates to an adult's experience of being unable to reach a subconscious, fictional final goal of subjective security and success to compensate for the inferiority feelings. The perceived distance from that goal would lead to a negative/depressed feeling that could then prompt the recall of the original inferiority feeling; this composite of inferiority feelings could be experienced as overwhelming. The goal invented to relieve the original, primary feeling of inferiority which actually causes the secondary feeling of inferiority is the "catch-22" of this dilemma. This vicious cycle is common in neurotic lifestyles.

Group psychotherapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_psychotherapy - in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. The term can legitimately refer to any form of psychotherapy when delivered in a group format, including Cognitive behavioural therapy or Interpersonal therapy, but it is usually applied to psychodynamic group therapy where the group context and group process is explicitly utilised as a mechanism of change by developing, exploring and examining interpersonal relationships within the group.

The broader concept of group therapy can be taken to include any helping process that takes place in a group, including support groups, skills training groups (such as anger management, mindfulness, relaxation training or social skills training), and psycho-education groups. The differences between psychodynamic groups, activity groups, support groups, problem-solving and psycoeducational groups are discussed by Montgomery (2002). Other, more specialised forms of group therapy would include non-verbal expressive therapies such as art therapy, dance therapy, or music therapy.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-groups - sometimes also referred to as sensitivity-training group, human relations training group or encounter group) is a form of group training where participants themselves (typically, between eight and 15 people) learn about themselves (and about small group processes in general) through their interaction with each other. They use feedback, problem solving, and role play to gain insights into themselves, others, and groups. The concept of encounter as "a meeting of two, eye to eye, face to face," was articulated by J.L. Moreno in Vienna in 1914-15, in his "Einladung zu Einer Begegnung" ("Invitation to an Encounter"), maturing into his psychodrama therapy. Carl Rogers reportedly described the T-group as "...the most significant social invention of the century."

Psychodrama

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychodrama - Developed in the early part of the 20th century, an action method, often used as a psychotherapy, in which clients use spontaneous dramatization, role playing and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives. Developed by Jacob L. Moreno, M.D. (1889–1974) psychodrama includes elements of theater, often conducted on a stage where props can be used. By closely recreating real-life situations, and acting them out in the present, clients have the opportunity to evaluate their behavior and more deeply understand a particular situation in their lives. Psychodrama may be used in a variety of clinical and community-based settings, and is most often utilized in a group scenario, in which each person in the group can become therapeutic agents for one another's scenes. Psychodrama is not, however, a form of group therapy, and is instead an individual psychotherapy that is executed from within a group. A psychodrama is best conducted and produced by a person trained in the method, called a psychodrama director.


Drama therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drama_therapy - (written dramatherapy in the UK) is the use of theatre techniques to facilitate personal growth and promote mental health. Dramatherapy is used in a wide variety of settings, including hospitals, schools, mental health centers, prisons, and businesses. Drama therapy, as a form of expressive arts therapy, (also known as expressive therapy), exists in many forms and can be applicable to individuals, couples, families, and various groups. Following from psychodrama, the field of therapy techniques using drama has expanded to allow many forms of theatrical interventions as therapy including role-play, theatre games, group-dynamic games, mime, puppetry, and other improvisational techniques.

Behaviour therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaviour_therapy - a broad term referring to psychotherapy, behavior analytical, or a combination of the two therapies. In its broadest sense, the methods focus on either just behaviors or in combination with thoughts and feelings that might be causing them. Those who practice behavior therapy tend to look more at specific, learned behaviors and how the environment has an impact on those behaviors. Those who practice behavior therapy are called behaviorists. They tend to look for treatment outcomes that are objectively measurable. Behavior therapy does not involve one specific method but it has a wide range of techniques that can be used to treat a person’s psychological problems.

Behavior therapy breaks down into three disciplines: applied behavior analysis (ABA), cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), and social learning theory. ABA focuses on operant conditioning in the form of positive reinforcement to modify behavior after conducting a Functional behavior assessment (FBA) and CBT focuses on the thoughts and feelings behind mental health conditions with treatment plans in psychotherapy to lessen the issue.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_psychotherapy - a type of psychotherapy from the behaviourism tradition, and one of two streams of thought (the other being cognitive psychotherapy) that have come together to produce cognitive behavioral therapy. Behavioral psychotherapy has a rich tradition in research and practice. From a purely behavioral perspective, behavior therapy has shown considerable success with clients from a variety of problems. Traditional behavior therapy draws from respondent conditioning and operant conditioning to solve client problems.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_analysis_(psychology) - the application of the laws of operant conditioning to establish the relationships between stimuli and responses using principles derived from the natural science of behavior analysis to determine the "reason", purpose or motivation for a behavior

Systematic desensitization

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systematic_desensitization - also known as graduated exposure therapy is a type of behavior therapy used in the field of psychology to help effectively overcome phobias and other anxiety disorders. More specifically, it is a form of counter conditioning, a type of Pavlovian therapy developed by South African psychiatrist, Joseph Wolpe. In the 1950s, Wolpe discovered that the cats of Wits University could overcome their fears through gradual and systematic exposure. The process of systematic desensitization occurs in three steps. The first step of systematic desensitization is the identification of an anxiety inducing stimulus hierarchy. The second step is the learning of relaxation or coping techniques. Once the individual has been taught these skills, he or she must use them in the third step to react towards and overcome situations in the established hierarchy of fears. The goal of this process is for the individual to learn how to cope with, and overcome the fear in each step of the hierarchy.

Applied behaviour analysis

Therapeutic behaviour management

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_behavior_management - a technology for creating a clinical environment that brings out the best in staff while generating the highest possible compliance outcomes for patients. The techniques and practices of TBM are derived from the field of applied behavior analysis, the term describing the scientific study of behavior.

Clinical behaviour analysis

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_behavior_analysis - Clinical behavior analysis represents a movement in behavior therapy away from cognitivism and back toward radical behaviorism and other forms of behaviorism, in particular functional analysis (psychology) and behavioral models of verbal behavior. This area includes acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training (CRAFT), behavioral activation (BA), Kohlenberg & Tsai's functional analytic psychotherapy, integrative behavioral couples therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy. These approaches are squarely within the applied behavior analysis tradition of behavior therapy.

Behavioural activation

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_activation - A third generation behavior therapy for treating depression. It is one of many functional analytic psychotherapies which are based on a Skinnerian psychological model of behavior change, generally referred to as applied behavior analysis. This area is also a part of what is called clinical behavior analysis (CBA) (see behavior therapy) and makes up one of the most effective practices in the professional practice of behavior analysis. The theory holds that not enough environmental reinforcement or too much environmental punishment can contribute to depression. The goal of the intervention is to increase environmental reinforcement and reduce punishment.

Integrative behavioural couples therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrative_behavioral_couples_therapy - Behavioral marital therapy, sometimes called behavioral couples therapy, has its origins in behaviorism and is a form of behavior therapy. The theory is rooted in social learning theory and behavior analysis. As a model, it is constantly being revised as new research presents.

Ericksonian therapy

Logotherapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logotherapy - developed by neurologist and psychiatrist Viktor Frankl. It is considered the "Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy" after Freud's psychoanalysis and Adler's individual psychology. Logotherapy is based on an existential analysis focusing on Kierkegaard's will to meaning as opposed to Adler's Nietzschean doctrine of will to power or Freud's will to pleasure. Rather than power or pleasure, logotherapy is founded upon the belief that it is the striving to find a meaning in one's life that is the primary, most powerful motivating and driving force in humans. A short introduction to this system is given in Frankl's most famous book, Man's Search for Meaning, in which he outlines how his theories helped him to survive his Holocaust experience and how that experience further developed and reinforced his theories.

Rollo May argued that logotherapy is, in essence, authoritarian. He suggested that Frankl’s therapy presents a plain solution to all of life’s problems, an assertion that would seem to undermine the complexity of human life itself. May contended that if a patient could not find his own meaning, Frankl would provide a goal for his patient. In effect, this would negate the patient’s personal responsibility, thus “diminish[ing] the patient as a person”. Frankl explicitly replied to May’s arguments through a written dialogue, sparked by Rabbi Reuven Bulka’s article “Is Logotherapy Authoritarian?”. Frankl responded that he combined the prescription of medication, if necessary, with logotherapy, to deal with the person's psychological and emotional reaction to the illness, and highlighted areas of freedom and responsibility, where the person is free to search and to find meaning.

Existential therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existential_therapy - a philosophical method of therapy that operates on the belief that inner conflict within a person is due to that individual's confrontation with the givens of existence. These givens, as noted by Irvin D. Yalom, are: the inevitability of death, freedom and its attendant responsibility, existential isolation (referring to phenomenology), and finally meaninglessness. These four givens, also referred to as ultimate concerns, form the body of existential psychotherapy and compose the framework in which a therapist conceptualizes a client's problem in order to develop a method of treatment. In the British School of Existential therapy (Cooper, 2003), these givens are seen as predictable tensions and paradoxes of the four dimensions of human existence, the physical, social, personal and spiritual realms (Umwelt, Mitwelt, Eigenwelt and Überwelt).

Person-centered therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person-centered_therapy - also known as person-centered psychotherapy, person-centered counseling, and Rogerian psychotherapy, formerly client-centered therapy, a form of talk-psychotherapy developed by psychologist Carl Rogers in the 1940s and 1950s. PCT, now considered a founding work in the humanistic school of psychotherapies, is a form of talk-psychotherapy developed by psychologist Carl Rogers in the 1940s and 1950s. The goal of PCT is to provide clients with an opportunity to develop a sense of self where they can realize how their attitudes, feelings and behavior are being negatively affected. Although this technique has been criticized by behaviorists for lacking structure and by psychoanalysts for actually providing a conditional relationship, it has proven to be an effective and popular treatment.

Rogers (1957; 1959) stated that there are six necessary and sufficient conditions required for therapeutic change:

  1. Therapist–client psychological contact: a relationship between client and therapist must exist, and it must be a relationship in which each person's perception of the other is important.
  2. Client incongruence: that incongruence exists between the client's experience and awareness.
  3. Therapist congruence, or genuineness: the therapist is congruent within the therapeutic relationship. The therapist is deeply involved him or herself — they are not "acting" — and they can draw on their own experiences (self-disclosure) to facilitate the relationship.
  4. Therapist unconditional positive regard (UPR): the therapist accepts the client unconditionally, without judgment, disapproval or approval. This facilitates increased self-regard in the client, as they can begin to become aware of experiences in which their view of self-worth was distorted by others.
  5. Therapist empathic understanding: the therapist experiences an empathic understanding of the client's internal frame of reference. Accurate empathy on the part of the therapist helps the client believe the therapist's unconditional love for them.
  6. Client perception: that the client perceives, to at least a minimal degree, the therapist's UPR and empathic understanding.

Three of these conditions have become known as the 'Core Conditions' 3, 4 and 5 (above).

Rogers asserted that the most important factor in successful therapy is the relational climate created by the therapist's attitude to their client. He specified three interrelated core conditions:

  • Congruence - the willingness to transparently relate to clients without hiding behind a professional or personal facade.
  • Unconditional positive regard - the therapist offers an acceptance and prizing for their client for who he or she is without conveying disapproving feelings, actions or characteristics and demonstrating a willingness to attentively listen without interruption, judgement or giving advice.
  • Empathy - the therapist communicates their desire to understand and appreciate their clients perspective.

Rogers believed that a therapist who embodies these three critical and reflexive attitudes will help liberate their client to more confidently express their true feelings without fear of judgement. To achieve this, the client-centered therapist carefully avoids directly challenging their client's way of communicating themselves in the session in order to enable a deeper exploration of the issues most intimate to them and free from external referencing. Rogers was not prescriptive in telling his clients what to do, but believed that the answers to the patients' questions were within the patient and not the therapist. Accordingly the therapists' role was to create a facilitative, empathic environment wherein the patient could discover the answers for him or herself.

Godfrey 'Geoff' T Barrett-Lennard (1998);

  • The organism behaves as an organised whole, responding to it's own, moving perceptual field
    • If we can see and understand someone's behaviour always as their best attempt to reach for what they think they need in the worlds as they see it, then we do not need to condemn, praise, judge or evaluate it in any way.
  • The human organism interacts with percieved ;outer; and ;inner' reality in the service of the actualising tendency
  • The organism develops an organismic valuing process
  • Differentiation is an important effort of the actualising tendency
  • The organism is always in motion

Humanistic

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanistic_psychology - a psychological perspective which rose to prominence in the mid-20th century in response to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory and B.F. Skinner's Behaviorism. With its roots running from Socrates through the Renaissance, this approach emphasizes an individual's inherent drive towards self-actualization and creativity. It typically holds that people are inherently good. It adopts a holistic approach to human existence and pays special attention to such phenomena as creativity, free will, and human potential. It encourages viewing ourselves as a "whole person" greater than the sum of our parts and encourages self exploration rather than the study of behavior in other people. Humanistic psychology acknowledges spiritual aspiration as an integral part of the human psyche. It is linked to the emerging field of transpersonal psychology.

Also part of the range of humanistic psychotherapy are concepts from depth therapy, holistic health, encounter groups, sensitivity training, marital and family therapies, body work, and the existential psychotherapy of Medard Boss. Most recently Compassionate Communication, the rebranding of Nonviolent Communication of Marshall Rosenberg seems to be the leading edge of innovation in this field because it is one of very few psychologies with both a simple and clear model of the human psyche and a simple and clear methodology, suitable for any two persons to address and resolve interpersonal conflict without expert intervention, a first in the field.


Somatic psychology

to merge to or from other bodywork info.

See Action#Bodywork, also Health


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_psychology - an interdisciplinary field involving the study of the body, somatic experience, and the embodied self, including therapeutic and holistic approaches to body. The word somatic comes from the ancient Greek root σωματ- somat- (body). The word psychology comes from the ancient Greek psyche (breath, soul hence mind) and -logia (study). Body Psychotherapy is a general branch of this subject, while Somatherapy, Eco-somatics and Dance therapy, for example, are specific branches of the subject. Somatic psychology is a field of study that bridges the Mind-body dichotomy.

While Pierre Janet can perhaps be considered the first Somatic Psychologist due to his extensive psychotherapeutic studies and writings with significant reference to the body (some of which pre-date Freud), it was actually Wilhelm Reich who was the first person to bring body awareness systematically into psychoanalysis, and also the first psychotherapist to touch clients physically, working with their bodies. Reich was a significant influence in the founding of Body Psychotherapy (or Somatic Psychology as it is often known in the USA & Australia) - though he called his early work "Character Analysis" and "Character-Analytic Vegetotherapy"). Several types of body-oriented psychotherapies trace their origins back to Reich, though there have been many subsequent developments and other influences (ref: entry on Body Psychotherapy and Somatic Psychology is of particular interest in trauma work.

There is increasing use of body-oriented therapeutic techniques within mainstream psychology (like EMDR and Mindfulness practice) and psychoanalysis has recognized the use of somatic resonance, embodied trauma, and similar concepts, for many years.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_psychotherapy - a branch of psychotherapy which applies basic principles of somatic psychology. It originated in the work of Pierre Janet, Sigmund Freud and particularly Wilhelm Reich who developed it as vegetotherapy.
  • www.wilhelmreichtrust.org/function_of_the_orgasm.pdf
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetotherapy - a form of Reichian psychotherapy that involves the physical manifestations of emotions. The fundamental text of vegetotherapy is Wilhelm Reich's Psychischer Kontakt und vegetative Strömung (1935), later included in the expanded edition of Reich's Character Analysis (1933 and 1949). The practice grew out of Reich's extension of psychoanalysis to cover what he called "character analysis," which involved alleviating a person's body armor and the character defenses that maintain an individual in a state of neurosis. Reich argued that “the feeling of unity of all body sensations ... increases with each new dissolution of an armor ring," leading ultimately to a merger with the autonomic functions of the body.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_Analysis - In the book, Reich argued that character structures were organizations of resistance with which individuals avoided facing their neuroses: different character structures - whether schizoid, oral, psychopathic, masochistic or rigid - were sustained biologically as body types by unconscious muscular contraction.


  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsa_Gindler - was a somatic bodywork pioneer in Germany. What Gindler had called Arbeit am Menschen (work on the human being) emphasised self-observation and growing understanding of one's individual physically related condition. Simple actions such as sitting, standing, walking etc. were explored, also in everyday situations. This became one of the bases of body psychotherapy since many of the most influential body psychotherapists studied with her or "Sensory Awareness" with Charlotte Selver at the Esalen Institute around 1962. Three other students of Gindler were Elsa Lindenberg, the partner of Wilhelm Reich and Laura Perls wife of Fritz Perls and Carola Speads.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lowen - was an American physician and psychotherapist. A student of Wilhelm Reich in the 1940s and early 1950s in New York, he developed bioenergetic analysis, a form of mind-body psychotherapy, with his then-colleague, John Pierrakos.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioenergetic_analysis - a form of body psychotherapy (body-oriented Reichian psychotherapy), based upon the work of Wilhelm Reich, but adding a number of innovations. These innovations include emphasis on the importance of "grounding" (i.e. being in strong contact with the ground through feet and legs) and on psychoanalytic theories such as transference, countertransference, dreams, slips of the tongue and Oedipal issues. It also places even greater emphasis on sexual fulfilment than Reichian psychotherapy. It was developed by Alexander Lowen and John Pierrakos, both patients and students of Reich. The idea behind current bioenergetic practice is that blocks to emotional expression and wellness are revealed and expressed in the body as chronic muscle tensions which are often subconscious. The blocks are treated by combining bioenergetically designed physical exercises, affective expressions and palpation of the muscular tensions.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Reichian_massage - a system based on theories developed by Wilhelm Reich. Practitioners locate and dissolve "holding patterns" (also called "body armoring"). Reich theorized that obstructions to orgone energy cause neuroses and most physical disorders. Muscular contractions (body armor) in various parts of the body manifest such blockages. In addition to strict Neo-Reichians, the work has provided the basis for further explorations both in the areas of Somatic Psychology and postural body therapies such as Rolfing and Postural Integration (PI).


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatics - Hanna's ideas were based on those of Hans Selye and Moshé Feldenkrais. He proposed that most people were afflicted by a phenomenon he called "Sensory-Motor Amnesia" in which the body's muscles had fogotten how to move freely. In the 1970s Hanna developed a trademarked therapy, "Hanna Somatic Education" to address this perceived problem by "retraining" the body.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatherapy - created by the writer Roberto Freire in the 1970s as a group therapy, based on the research of the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich. With the objective of freeing the individual to be more creative, the exercises in Soma work with the relationship between the body and emotions. Other essential ingredients in Soma are the studies of Antipsychiatry related to human communication and the Brazilian martial art / dance Capoeira Angola.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrative_Body_Psychotherapy - a psychotherapy that recognizes and treats the somatic (physical), psychological/emotional, and spiritual nature of a human being. It is based on the premise that the body, mind, and spirit are not separate, but rather integrated parts of a whole person. Every experience has a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspect, which manifests internally within the body, and externally in relationship to others.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensorimotor_psychotherapy - developed by Dr. Pat Ogden, is a comprehensive somatic psychotherapy method for healing the disconnect between body and mind that occurs as a result of trauma or attachment failure. Sensorimotor Psychotherapy® draws from somatic therapies, neuroscience, attachment theory, and cognitive approaches, as well as from the Hakomi Method. The first course in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy® was offered in the early 1980s.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatic_theory - theory of human social behavior based loosely on the somatic marker hypothesis of António Damásio, which proposes a mechanism by which emotional processes can guide (or bias) behavior, particularly decision-making, as well as the attachment theory of John Bowlby and the self psychology of Heinz Kohut, especially as consolidated by Allan Schore. It draws on various philosophical models from On the Genealogy of Morals of Friedrich Nietzsche through Martin Heidegger on das Man, Maurice Merleau-Ponty on the lived body, and Ludwig Wittgenstein on social practices to Michel Foucault on discipline, as well as theories of performativity emerging out of the speech act theory of J. L. Austin, especially as developed by Judith Butler and Shoshana Felman; some somatic theorists have also tied somaticity to performance in the schools of actor training developed by Konstantin Stanislavski and Bertolt Brecht.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strozzi_Institute




Gestalt theory

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt - a German word for form or shape, may refer to holism, the idea that natural systems and their properties should be viewed as wholes as well as their parts
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology - (German: Gestalt "shape, form") - also known as "Gestalt theory", of the Berlin School of experimental psychology. The central principle of gestalt psychology is that the mind forms a global whole with self-organizing tendencies. This principle maintains that the human mind considers objects in their entirety before, or in parallel with, perception of their individual parts; suggesting the whole is other than the sum of its parts. Gestalt psychology tries to understand the laws of our ability to acquire and maintain meaningful perceptions in an apparently chaotic world. Contrary to the behaviorist approach to understanding the elements of cognitive processes, gestalt psychologists sought to understand their organization (Carlson and Heth, 2010). The gestalt effect is the capability of our brain to generate whole forms, particularly with respect to the visual recognition of global figures instead of just collections of simpler and unrelated elements (points, lines, curves...). In psychology, gestaltism is often opposed to structuralism. The phrase "The whole is other than the sum of the parts" is often used when explaining gestalt theory, though there is a common mistranslation of Kurt Koffka's original phrase to "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts". Gestalt theory allows for the breakup of elements from the whole situation into what it really is.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principles_of_grouping - a set of principles in psychology, first proposed by Gestalt psychologists to account for the observation that humans naturally perceive objects as organized patterns and objects. Gestalt psychologists argued that these principles exist because the mind has an innate disposition to perceive patterns in the stimulus based on certain rules. These principles are organized into six categories: Proximity, Similarity, Closure, Good Continuation, Common Fate, and Good Form.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multistability - refers to systems that are neither stable nor totally instable, but that alternate between two or more mutually exclusive states over time. Multistable systems are very sensitive towards noise, initial condition and system parameter.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multistable_perception - a form of perceptual phenomena in which there are unpredictable sequences of spontaneous subjective changes. While usually associated with visual perception, such phenomena can be found for auditory and olfactory percepts.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_theory_(psychology) - a psychological theory which examines patterns of interaction between the individual and the total field, or environment. The concept first made its appearance in psychology with roots to the holistic perspective of Gestalt theories. It was developed by Kurt Lewin, a Gestalt psychologist, in the 1940s.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force-field_analysis - influential development in the field of social science. It provides a framework for looking at the factors (forces) that influence a situation, originally social situations. It looks at forces that are either driving movement toward a goal (helping forces) or blocking movement toward a goal (hindering forces). The principle, developed by Kurt Lewin, is a significant contribution to the fields of social science, psychology, social psychology, community psychology, organizational development, process management, and change management.

Gestalt therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_therapy - forged from various influences upon the lives of its founders during the times in which they lived, including: the new physics, Eastern religion, existential phenomenology, Gestalt psychology, psychoanalysis, experimental theatre, as well as systems theory and field theory. Gestalt therapy is not identical with Gestalt Psychology but Gestalt Psychology influenced the development of Gestalt therapy to a large extent. Gestalt therapy focuses on process (what is actually happening) over content (what is being talked about). The emphasis is on what is being done, thought, and felt at the present moment (the phenomenality of both client and therapist), rather than on what was, might be, could be, or should have been. Gestalt therapy is a method of awareness practice (also called "mindfulness" in other clinical domains), by which perceiving, feeling, and acting are understood to be conducive to interpreting, explaining, and conceptualizing (the hermeneutics of experience). This distinction between direct experience versus indirect or secondary interpretation is developed in the process of therapy. The client learns to become aware of what he or she is doing and that triggers the ability to risk a shift or change.
  • Guilt as unexpressed resentment
  • Anxiety as the difference between the now and the later. Reduce later to now, anxiety collapses.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_prayer - a 56-word statement by psychotherapist Fritz Perls that is taken as a classic expression of Gestalt therapy as way of life model of which Dr. Perls was a founder. The key idea of the statement is the focus on living in response to one's own needs, without projecting onto or taking introjects from others. This philosophy still attracts critics, generally arguing that interpersonal relationships require real, hard work to maintain. Supporters counter that an attitude of independence does not refute this, but rather encourages people to realize that relationships need not be founded on obligation or expectation.
I do my thing and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful.
If not, it can't be helped.
  • "Bonsai, gestalt, dharma. We all live our language and are captives of our language..." -- Alexander Shulgin [146]
  • PDF: Love, Admiration, or Saftey - A System of Gestalt Diagnosis of Borderline, Narcissistic, and Schizoid Adaptations that Focuses on What Is Figure for the Client Elinor Greenberg, Ph.D. New York Institute for Gestalt Therapy

Gestalt Practice

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_Practice - a contemporary form of personal exploration and integration developed by Dick Price at the Esalen Institute. The objective of the practice is to become more fully aware of the process of living within a unified field of body, mind, relationship, earth and spirit. Alan Watts, who was a mentor of Dick Price, suggested combining practices from the cultures of East and West. The writings of Nyanaponika Thera and the nearby presence of Zen Roshi Shunryu Suzuki were sources of Buddhist meditation practice for Dick Price. Gestalt Practice was the term he used to describe his combination of these Eastern and Western traditions. This term distinguished the practice Dick Price taught from both Gestalt therapy and Buddhist practice.

This form of awareness practice is different from Gestalt therapy, because it is not a “cure” for psychological symptoms, and it relies upon the interaction between two equal partners, namely an "initiator" of awareness work and a "reflector," rather than a patient and a therapist. Some aspects of Gestalt Practice are derived from the theory of Gestalt therapy. However, as Dick Price conceived of Gestalt Practice, if a "patient" wants to do Gestalt work with a "therapist" then they belong in Gestalt therapy. In keeping with this approach, eclectic techniques of meditation, physical exercise, environmentalism, contemplation and spiritual practice are incorporated into Gestalt Practice, along with some typical Gestalt awareness experiments borrowed from the Gestalt therapy model.

Gestalt Practice is an amalgam of awareness practices. Lao Tzu was one of the most significant Asian influences on Dick Price. Otherwise, the primary influences upon the development of Gestalt Practice were Fritz Perls, Wilhelm Reich, Alan Watts, Nyanaponika Thera, Shunryu Suzuki, Frederic Spiegelberg, Rajneesh, Joseph Campbell, Gregory Bateson, and Stanislav Grof, as well as many other scholars who were in residence at Esalen Institute during the two decades of Dick's leadership.

Dick Price worked with Fritz Perls for approximately four years at Esalen, between 1966 and 1970. Then Fritz told Dick that it was time for him to start teaching Gestalt on his own. Dick Price became impressed with the similarities between Gestalt and mindfulness meditation, which he used with insights from Eastern religions and altered state research to develop Gestalt Practice.

Gestalt practitioners teach mindfulness skills, using a wide variety of methods not limited by the psychotherapeutic model. All Gestalt Practice techniques emphasize experience over analysis. Besides the standard Gestalt exercises that characterized Gestalt therapy, Dick Price widened the approach by incorporating novel techniques from such disciplines as meditation, shamanism, compassion practice and spiritual contemplation. Thus, Gestalt Practice became a personalized form of consciousness exploration beyond the limits of psychotherapy. A partial list of the modalities used in Gestalt Practice includes the following:

Gestalt Practice work may involve the reporting of present awareness, and the integration of awareness through intrapsychic dialogue between aspects of personality. This kind of work, borrowed from Gestalt therapy, is often practiced as a shared experiment between two partners working together as a "dyad." Phenomenological techniques like these are based upon the belief that subjective experience is worthy of direct attention, without the interference of preexisting ideas or interpretations.

Somatic awareness may be the focus of Gestalt exercises. Awareness of breathing is emphasized because it promotes immediate experience of the body. Dramatic interventions, typical of Reichian Therapy or Bioenergetics, generally are not used in Gestalt Practice. However, an initiator’s awareness naturally may be directed toward areas of tension or holding. A scan of body feelings and sensations, similar to forms of Buddhist meditation can enhance awareness practice. And movement exercises such as T'ai chi ch'uan, Yoga, dance, art, hiking, chanting, singing and massage may be used to integrate awareness of the body.

Interpersonal relationship practices may be used in Gestalt Practice to clarify communications, improve relationship skills, and enhance empathy. A neutral moderator may assist with interpersonal encounters, although this is not necessary, in keeping with the Gestalt Practice principle of equality among participants. Dreamwork is a common Gestalt awareness practice, in which enactment and integration of dream elements are favored. An initiator of Gestalt dreamwork intentionally re-experiences their dream as if it were happening in the present. The initiator then assumes the role of various dream elements, and enters into a dialogue with whatever is encountered in the dream. This approach is borrowed from the Gestalt therapy model. However, in contrast to Gestalt therapy, alternative sources of dream interpretation, including intuitive experiences are welcomed in Gestalt Practice.

Meditation practices, derived from many different contemplative traditions, may be used by Gestalt practitioners. Buddhism provides many useful models for mindfulness and compassion practice; and some of these have been adapted to complement the objectives of Gestalt Practice. Taoism, as it was expressed by Lao Tzu in the Tao Te Ching, provides a non-judgmental backdrop for non-intervention with an initiator’s process, allowing whatever happens in a Gestalt work session to unfold naturally in the present moment. In addition, Taoism reinforces the reverence for nature that is typical of Gestalt Practice. These techniques, and many others beyond the ambit of therapy, are regularly used in Gestalt Practice - all with the same objectives of enhanced awareness, spiritual growth, and respect for the natural environment.

Gestalt theoretical psychotherapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_theoretical_psychotherapy - a method of psychotherapy based strictly on Gestalt psychology. It was developed by the German Gestalt psychologist and psychotherapist Hans-Jürgen P. Walter and his colleagues in Germany and Austria. Walter, a student of Gestalt psychologist Friedrich Hoeth, was influenced to form the core of his theoretical concept on the basis of the work of Gestalt theorists Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, Kurt Koffka, Kurt Lewin, and Wolfgang Metzger. Walter’s first publication of Gestalt theoretical psychotherapy came out in 1977 Gestalttheorie und Psychotherapie (Gestalt Theory and Psychotherapy), which is now on its third edition (1994).

One of the most striking characteristics of Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy is the key role of the epistemological grounding position of Gestalt theory (critical realism) and its applicability to the fundamental, theoretical, and practical problems in psychotherapy. In Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy this is closely bound up with the basic methodological approach (holistic, phenomenological, experimental) of Gestalt theory, its system theoretical approach, and its specific psychophysical and psychological approach. Gerhard Stemberger’s Diagnostics in Gestalt Theoretical Psychotherapy, provides insight into the concept and process of Gestalt theoretical psychotherapy.

The Gestalt theoretical psychotherapy therapeutic process is a relationship between two individuals in which both the therapist and client develop an egalitarian attitude. An egalitarian attitude is the concept that everyone is equal. The diagnostic process and the therapeutic process are inseparable to Gestalt theoretical psychotherapists. The therapist is responsible for supporting the client in discovering their specific and individual feelings and problems. Gestalt theoretical psychotherapists believe that an individual cannot be forced into doing things that are against the individual’s nature; therefore it is crucial for the therapist to adapt diagnostic exploration to the individual’s capabilities. The therapeutic process requires no strict or set schedule, and the speed of the process varies for each individual.

Primal therapy

Transpersonal

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transpersonal - a term used by different schools of philosophy and psychology in order to describe experiences and worldviews that extend beyond the personal level of the psyche, and beyond mundane worldly events. It has been defined as experiences "in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche or cosmos". The field of Transpersonal Psychiatry has defined the term as "development beyond conventional, personal or individual levels." It is related to the terminology of peak experience, altered states of consciousness, and spiritual experiences. The term has an early precedent in the writing of philosopher William James, but the origin of the term is mostly associated with the human potential movement of the 1960's, and the founders of the field of Transpersonal Psychology, Anthony Sutich, Abraham Maslow and Stanislav Grof.Note b In 1968 the term was selected by the founding editors of the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Abraham Maslow and Anthony Sutich, in order to represent a new area of psychological inquiry.
  • A Daniel Come To Judgement? Dennett and the Revisioning of Transpersonal Theory - Abstract: Transpersonal psychology first emerged as an academic discipline in the 1960s and has subsequently broadened into a range of transpersonal studies. Jorge Ferrer (2002) has called for a ‘revisioning’ of transpersonal theory, dethroning inner experience from its dominant role in defining and validating spiritual reality. In the current paradigm he detects a lingering Cartesianism, which subtly entrenches the very subject–object divide that transpersonalists seek to overcome. This paper outlines the development and current shape of the transpersonal movement, compares Ferrer’s epistemology with the heterophenomenology of Daniel Dennett, and speculates on the integration of the latter into transpersonal theory.


Exposure therapy


Focusing

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focusing - a psychotherapeutic process developed by psychotherapist Eugene Gendlin. It can be used in any kind of therapeutic situation, including peer-to-peer sessions. It involves holding a kind of open, non-judging attention to an internal knowing which is directly experienced but is not yet in words. Focusing can, among other things, be used to become clear on what one feels or wants, to obtain new insights about one's situation, and to stimulate change or healing of the situation. Focusing is set apart from other methods of inner awareness by three qualities: something called the "felt sense", a quality of engaged accepting attention, and a researched-based technique that facilitates change.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inner_Relationship_Focusing - Developed in the early 1980s, a process for emotional healing, and for accessing positive energy and insights for forward movement in one's life. In allowing all aspects of the personality to be held in acceptance and awareness, new insights and shifts can emerge and healing can occur.

Process-experiential therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process-experiential_therapy - also known as emotion-focused therapy, is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the formation of a relationship based on Carl Rogers' core conditions and then seeks to explore and resolve the client's affective problems. It merges client-centered, existential, and Gestalt approaches.

Emotionally focused therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotionally_focused_therapy - a short-term (8-20 sessions) structured psychotherapy approach to working with individuals, couples and families. It includes elements of experiential, person-centered, constructivist, and systems theory, but is firmly established in attachment theory. Emotionally focused therapy proposes that emotions themselves have an innately adaptive potential that, if activated, can help clients change problematic emotional states or unwanted self-experiences. Emotions themselves do not inhibit the therapeutic process, but people’s incapability to manage emotions and use them well is seen as the problem. Emotions are connected to our most essential needs. They rapidly alert us to when our body requires a certain stimulus.

Expressive therapy

  • expressive arts therapy
  • art therapy
  • dance therapy, also known as dance/movement therapy
  • drama therapy
  • psychodrama
  • music therapy
  • writing therapy, a term which may encompass journaling, poetry therapy, and bibliotherapy
  • Therapeutic Recreation
  • horticultural therapy


Adventure therapy

Rational emotive behaviour therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rational_emotive_behavior_therapy - previously called rational therapy and rational emotive therapy, is a comprehensive, active-directive, philosophically and empirically based psychotherapy which focuses on resolving emotional and behavioral problems and disturbances and enabling people to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. REBT was created and developed by the American psychotherapist and psychologist Albert Ellis who was inspired by many of the teachings of Asian, Greek, Roman and modern philosophers. REBT is one form of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and was first expounded by Ellis in the mid-1950s; development continued until his death in 2007.

Cognitive therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_therapy - A type of psychotherapy developed by American psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck, first expounded by Beck in the 1960s. Cognitive therapy is based on the cognitive model, which states that thoughts, feelings and behavior are all connected, and that individuals can move toward overcoming difficulties and meeting their goals by identifying and changing unhelpful or inaccurate thinking, problematic behavior, and distressing emotional responses. This involves the individual working collaboratively with the therapist to develop skills for testing and modifying beliefs, identifying distorted thinking, relating to others in different ways, and changing behaviors. A tailored cognitive case conceptualization is developed by the cognitive therapist as a roadmap to understand the individual's internal reality, select appropriate interventions and identify areas of distress.

Therapy may consist of testing the assumptions which one makes and looking for new information that could help shift the assumptions in a way that leads to different emotional or behavioral reactions. Change may begin by targeting thoughts (to change emotion and behavior), behavior (to change feelings and thoughts), or the individual's goals (by identifying thoughts, feelings or behavior that conflict with the goals). Beck initially focused on depression and developed a list of "errors" in thinking that he proposed could maintain depression, including arbitrary inference, selective abstraction, over-generalization, and magnification (of negatives) and minimization (of positives).

Cognitive-behavioural therapy

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy - a psychotherapeutic approach that addresses dysfunctional emotions, maladaptive behaviors and cognitive processes and contents through a number of goal-oriented, explicit systematic procedures. The name refers to behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, and to therapy based upon a combination of basic behavioral and cognitive principles and research. Most therapists working with patients dealing with anxiety and depression use a blend of cognitive and behavioral therapy. This technique acknowledges that there may be behaviors that cannot be controlled through rational thought. CBT is "problem focused" (undertaken for specific problems) and "action oriented" (therapist tries to assist the client in selecting specific strategies to help address those problems)

CBT is thought to be effective for the treatment of a variety of conditions, including mood, anxiety, personality, eating, substance abuse, tic, and psychotic disorders. Many CBT treatment programs for specific disorders have been evaluated for efficacy; the health-care trend of evidence-based treatment, where specific treatments for symptom-based diagnoses are recommended, has favored CBT over other approaches such as psychodynamic treatments. CBT was primarily developed through an integration of behavior therapy (the term "behavior modification" appears to have been first used by Edward Thorndike) with cognitive psychology research, first by Donald Meichenbaum and several other authors with the label of cognitive behavior modification in the late 1970s. This tradition thereafter merged with earlier work of a few clinicians, labeled as Cognitive Therapy (CT), developed first by Albert Ellis as Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) and later Aaron Beck.

Modern forms of CBT include a number of diverse but related techniques such as exposure therapy, stress inoculation training, cognitive processing therapy, cognitive therapy, relaxation training, dialectical behavior therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy.


Reality therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality_therapy - an approach to psychotherapy and counseling. Developed by William Glasser in the 1960s, RT differs from conventional psychiatry, psychoanalysis and medical model schools of psychotherapy in that it focuses on what Glasser calls psychiatry's three Rs: realism, responsibility, and right-and-wrong, rather than symptoms of mental disorders. Reality therapy maintains that the individual is suffering from a socially universal human condition rather than a mental illness. It is in the unsuccessful attainment of basic needs that a person's behavior moves away from the norm. Since fulfilling essential needs is part of a person's present life, reality therapy does not concern itself with a client's past. Neither does this type of therapy deal with unconscious mental processes. In these ways reality therapy is very different from other forms of psychotherapy.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness-based_cognitive_therapy - a psychological therapy designed to aid in preventing the relapse of depression, specifically in individuals with Major depressive disorder (MDD). It uses traditional Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) methods and adds in newer psychological strategies such as mindfulness and mindfulness meditation. This therapy was also created by Zindel Segal and Mark Williams, and was partially based on the mindfulness-based stress reduction program, developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The MBCT program is a group intervention that lasts eight weeks. During these eight weeks, there is a weekly course, which lasts two hours, and one day-long class after the fifth week. However, much of the practice is done outside of classes, where the participant uses guided meditations and attempts to cultivate mindfulness in their daily lives.

Hakomi

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakomi - a form of mindfulness-centered somatic psychotherapy developed by Ron Kurtz in the 1970s. The Hakomi Method combines Western psychology, systems theory, and body-centered techniques with the principles of mindfulness and nonviolence drawn from Eastern philosophy.

Hakomi is grounded in five principles:

  • mindfulness
  • nonviolence
  • organicity
  • unity
  • body-mind holism

Dialectical behavior therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectical_behavior_therapy - A therapy devised in the early 1990s, designed to help people change patterns of behavior that are not effective, such as self-harm, suicidal thinking and substance abuse. This approach works towards helping people increase their emotional and cognitive regulation by learning about the triggers that lead to reactive states and helping to assess which coping skills to apply in the sequence of events, thoughts, feelings and behaviors that lead to the undesired behavior. DBT assumes that people are doing the best that they can, but either are lacking the skills or are influenced by positive or negative reinforcement that interfere with one’s functioning. DBT is a form of psychotherapy that was originally developed by Marsha M. Linehan, a psychology researcher at the University of Washington, to treat people with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and chronically suicidal individuals.

Although, research on its effectiveness in treating other conditions has been extremely limited, DBT is now used in a variety of psychological treatments including treatment for traumatic brain injuries (TBI), eating disorders, and mood disorders. Scant research indicates that DBT might have some effect on patients who present varied symptoms and behaviors associated with spectrum mood disorders, including self-injury. Recent work also suggests its effectiveness with sexual abuse survivors and chemical dependency. DBT combines standard cognitive-behavioral techniques for emotion regulation and reality-testing with concepts of distress tolerance, acceptance, and mindful awareness largely derived from Buddhist meditative practice. DBT may be the first therapy that has been experimentally demonstrated to be generally effective in treating BPD.

"acceptance of life as it is, not as it is supposed to be; and the need to change, despite that reality and because of it"

"mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance and emotion regulation."

Being dialectical means:

  • Letting go of self-righteous indignation.
  • Letting go of “black and white”, “all or nothing” ways of seeing a situation.
  • Looking for what is “left out” of your understanding of a situation.
  • Finding a way to validate the other person’s point of view.
  • ™ Expanding your way of seeing things.
  • ™ Getting “unstuck” from standoffs and conflicts.
  • ™ Being more flexible and approachable.
  • ™ Avoiding assumptions and blaming.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_movement_desensitization_and_reprocessing - a psychotherapy developed by Francine Shapiro that emphasizes disturbing memories as the cause of psychopathology and alleviates the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). EMDR is used for individuals who have experienced severe trauma that remains unresolved. According to Shapiro, when a traumatic or distressing experience occurs, it may overwhelm normal cognitive and neurological coping mechanisms. The memory and associated stimuli are inadequately processed and stored in an isolated memory network. The goal of EMDR therapy is to process these distressing memories, reducing their lingering effects and allowing clients to develop more adaptive coping mechanisms. This is done in an eight-step protocol that includes having clients recall distressing images while receiving one of several types of bilateral sensory input, including side to side eye movements. The use of EMDR was originally developed to treat adults suffering from PTSD; however, it is also used to treat other conditions and children

Functional analytic psychotherapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_analytic_psychotherapy - Approach to clinical psychotherapy that uses a radical behaviorist position informed by B.F. Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior, created by Dr. Robert Kohlenberg and Dr. Mavis Tsai in 1991. It offers an interesting model of child development and personality development. This model held that verbal processes can be used to form a stable sense of who we are, through behavioral processes such as stimulus control. As such it represents an extension of Stephen Hayes attempt to incorporate behaviorism with clinical issues (although Hayes' approach utilized his own relational frame theory instead of Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior). Although sufficient for use alone, this approach is offered as something that may be practiced in addition to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

FAP focuses on in-session client–therapist interactions as the basis for clinical change. The basic FAP analysis utilizes what is called the clinically relevant behavior (CRB1), which is the client's presenting problem as presented in-session. Client in-session actions that improve their CRB1s are referred to as CRB2s. Client statements, or verbal behavior, about CRBs are referred to as CRB3s. The CRB3s, although based on Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior, are what most closely approximate CBT cognitions. In-session focus on client behavior approximates the psychoanalytic conception of the therapeutic alliance (which is psychoanalytic parlance containing transference and counter-transference issues).

Cognitive processing therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_processing_therapy - An adaptation of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), developed in the early 1990s and used by clinicians to help clients explore recovery from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related conditions. CPT typically consists of 12 sessions and has been shown to be effective in treating PTSD across a variety of populations, including combat veterans, sexual assault victims, and refugees. CPT can be provided in individual and group treatment formats. The theory behind CPT conceptualizes PTSD as a disorder of "non-recovery" in which erroneous beliefs about the causes and consequences of traumatic events produce strong negative emotions and prevent accurate processing of the trauma memory and natural emotions emanating from the event. A significant contributor to the interruption of natural recovery process is the ongoing use of avoidance as a coping strategy. By avoiding the trauma memory and situations that trigger reactions, people with PTSD limit their opportunities to process the traumatic experience and gain a more adaptive understanding. CPT incorporates trauma-specific cognitive techniques to help individuals with PTSD more accurately appraise these "stuck points" and progress toward recovery.

Cognitive analytic therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_analytic_therapy - (CAT) is a form of psychological therapy initially developed in the United Kingdom by Anthony Ryle around the turn of the millennium. CAT evolved as an integrative therapy based on ideas from cognitive and analytic therapies. It was originated when Anthony Ryle, a general practitioner and analytically trained psychotherapist, was undertaking research into psychotherapy practice using repertory grids. He found that the themes eventually addressed in analytic work were in fact present in transcripts from the very first sessions. However the slow, exploratory nature of traditional analytic therapy meant that these were not always addressed early and assertively, with the result that therapy, while effective, took a long time to produce results. He proposed a shorter, more active form of therapy which integrated elements from cognitive therapy practice (such as goal setting and Socratic questioning) into analytic practice.

The CAT practitioner aims to work with the patient to identify procedural sequences; chains of events, thoughts, emotions and motivations that explain how a target problem (for example self-harm) is established and maintained. In addition to the procedural sequence model, a second distinguishing feature of CAT is the use of reciprocal roles (RRs). These identify problems as occurring between people and not within the patient. RRs may be set up in early life and then be replayed in later life; for example someone who as a child felt neglected by parents perceived as abandoning might be vulnerable to feelings of abandonment in later life (or indeed neglect themselves).

Acceptance and commitment therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance_and_commitment_therapy - a form of clinical behavior analysis (CBA) used in psychotherapy. It is an empirically-based psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies mixed in different ways with commitment and behavior-change strategies, to increase psychological flexibility. The approach was originally called comprehensive distancing. It was developed in the late 1980s by Steven C. Hayes, Kelly G. Wilson, and Kirk Strosahl.

ACT is developed within a pragmatic philosophy called functional contextualism. ACT is based on relational frame theory (RFT), a comprehensive theory of language and cognition that is an offshoot of behavior analysis. ACT differs from traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in that rather than trying to teach people to better control their thoughts, feelings, sensations, memories and other private events, ACT teaches them to "just notice," accept, and embrace their private events, especially previously unwanted ones.

As a simple way to summarize the model, ACT views the core of many problems to be due to the concepts represented in the acronym, FEAR:

  • Fusion with your thoughts
  • Evaluation of experience
  • Avoidance of your experience
  • Reason-giving for your behavior

And the healthy alternative is to ACT:

  • Accept your reactions and be present
  • Choose a valued direction
  • Take action

Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyadic_developmental_psychotherapy - a psychotherapeutic treatment method for families that have children with symptoms of emotional disorders, including Complex Trauma and disorders of attachment. It was originally developed by psychologist Daniel Hughes as an intervention for children whose emotional distress resulted from earlier separation from familiar caregivers. Hughes cites attachment theory and particularly the work of John Bowlby as theoretical motivations for dyadic developmental psychotherapy. However, other sources for this approach may include the work of Stern, who referred to the attunement of parents to infants' communication of emotion and needs, and of Tronick, who discussed the process of communicative mismatch and repair, in which parent and infant make repeated efforts until communication is successful.

Dyadic developmental therapy principally involves creating a "playful, accepting, curious, and empathic" (PACE) environment in which the therapist attunes to the child's "subjective experiences" and reflects this back to the child by means of eye contact, facial expressions, gestures and movements, voice tone, timing and touch, "co-regulates" emotional affect and "co-constructs" an alternative autobiographical narrative with the child. Dyadic developmental psychotherapy also makes use of cognitive-behavioral strategies. The "dyad" referred to must eventually be the parent-child dyad. The active presence of the primary caregiver is preferred but not required.

Attention restoration theory

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_restoration_theory - (ART) asserts that people can concentrate better after spending time in nature, or even looking at scenes of nature. Natural environments abound with "soft fascinations" which a person can reflect upon in "effortless attention", such as clouds moving across the sky, leaves rustling in a breeze or water bubbling over rocks in a stream. The theory was developed by Rachel and Stephen Kaplan in the 1980s in their book The experience of nature: A psychological perspective, and has since been found by others to hold true in medical outcomes as well as intellectual task attention. Berman et al discuss the foundation of the Attention Restoration Theory (ART). "ART is based on past research showing the separation of attention into two components: involuntary attention, where attention is captured by inherently intriguing or important stimuli, and voluntary or directed attention, where attention is directed by cognitive-control processes."

Interoceptive exposure

Coherence therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coherence_therapy - a system of psychotherapy based in the theory that symptoms of mood, thought and behavior are produced coherently according to the person's current models of reality, most of which are implicit and unconscious. It was founded by Bruce Ecker and Laurel Hulley in the 1990s. It is currently considered among the most well respected postmodern/constructivist therapies.

The basis of coherence therapy is the principle of symptom coherence. This is the view that any response of the brain-mind-body system is an expression of coherent personal constructs and schemas, which are nonverbal, emotional, perceptual and somatic knowings, not verbal-cognitive beliefs. A therapy client’s presenting symptoms are understood as an activation and enactment of specific constructs. The process of coherence therapy is experiential rather than analytic, and in this regard is similar to Gestalt therapy, focusing or Hakomi. The aim is for the client to come into direct, emotional experience of the unconscious personal constructs producing an unwanted symptom and undergo a natural process of revising or dissolving these constructs, ending the existence of the symptom.

Transference focused psychotherapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transference_focused_psychotherapy - highly structured, twice-weekly modified psychodynamic treatment based on Otto Kernberg’s object relations model of borderline personality disorder. It views the individual with borderline personality organization (BPO) as holding unreconciled and contradictory internalized representations of self and significant others that are affectively charged. The defense against these contradictory internalized object relations leads to disturbed relationships with others and with self. The distorted perceptions of self, others, and associated affects are the focus of treatment as they emerge in the relationship with the therapist (transference). The treatment focuses on the integration of split off parts of self and object representations, and the consistent interpretation of these distorted perceptions is considered the mechanism of change.

TFP has been validated as an efficacious treatment for borderline personality disorder (BPD), though too few studies have been conducted to allow firm conclusions about its value. TFP is one of a number of treatments that may be useful in the treatment of BPD; however, only TFP has been shown to change how patients think about themselves in relationships.

Mentalization-based treatment

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentalization-based_treatment - a form of psychodynamic psychotherapy, developed and manualised by Peter Fonagy and Anthony Bateman. MBT was designed for individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), who suffer from disorganised attachment and allegedly failed to develop a mentalization capacity within the context of an attachment relationship. Fonagy and Bateman claim mentalization is the process by which we implicitly and explicitly interpret the actions of oneself and others as meaningful on the basis of intentional mental states. The object of treatment is that BPD patients increase mentalization capacity which should improve affect regulation and interpersonal relationships.

More recently, a range of Mentalization-Based treatments, using the "mentalizing stance" defined in MBT but directed at children (MBT-C), families (MBT-F) and adolescents (MBT-A, and for chaotic multi-problem youth, AMBIT (Adolescent Mentalization-Based Integrative Treatment)) has been under development by groups mainly gravitating around the Anna Freud Centre.





Compassionate focused therapy

  • Introducing compassion-focused therapy - Paul Gilbert. Shame and self-criticism are transdiagnostic problems. People who experience them may struggle to feel relieved, reassured or safe. Research suggests that a specialised affect regulation system (or systems) underpins feelings of reassurance, safeness and well-being. It is believed to have evolved with attachment systems and, in particular, the ability to register and respond with calming and a sense of well-being to being cared for.

In compassion-focused therapy it is hypothesised that this affect regulation system is poorly accessible in people with high shame and self-criticism, in whom the ‘threat’ affect regulation system dominates orientation to their inner and outer worlds. Compassion-focused therapy is an integrated and multimodal approach that draws from evolutionary, social, developmental and Buddhist psychology, and neuroscience. One of its key concerns is to use compassionate mind training to help people develop and work with experiences of inner warmth, safeness and soothing, via compassion and self-compassion.


Systems psychology

Systemic therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemic_therapy - form of psychotherapy which seeks to address people not on individual level, as had been the focus of earlier forms of therapy, but as people in relationship, dealing with the interactions of groups and their interactional patterns and dynamics.

Family therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_therapy - also referred to as couple and family therapy, marriage and family therapy, family systems therapy, and family counseling, is a branch of psychotherapy that works with families and couples in intimate relationships to nurture change and development. It tends to view change in terms of the systems of interaction between family members. It emphasizes family relationships as an important factor in psychological health.


Systems Centered Therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_Centered_Therapy - a particular form of group therapy based on the Theory of Living Human Systems developed by Dr. Yvonne Agazarian. The theory postulates that living human systems survive, develop, and transform from simple to complex through discriminating and integrating information. Corresponding to the small and rigorously defined set of concepts, SCT defines a set of methods, techniques and instruments. SCT practitioners use these with individuals, couples and groups to explore the experience of their differences and work with these to integrate them. Using the method of functional subgrouping, these living human systems increase their ability to see both sides of their issues and resolve them productively. The theory was first developed in Agazarian's 1997 book, Systems-Centered Therapy for Groups, and grew out of her earlier work in group psychotherapy under the influence of such figures as W. R. Bion and John Bowlby through the further input of the general systems theory of Ludwig von Bertalanffy.


Social Construction Therapy


  • Social Constructionism is a term used for introducing the awareness of how our ways of life are constantly socially developing and changing over time. The way we communicate with each other, how we get our needs met, how we organize ourselves, are all constructed relationally and are continually being redefined. This website discusses six approaches to therapy which can be called Social Construction Therapy. These include SFBT (Solution Focused Brief Therapy), Possibility Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Collaborative Therapy, Relational Transactional Analysis (Two-Person Psychology) and Social Therapy. The models presented on this website have a common understanding of our cultural conventions being connected with our human struggles. Social Construction Therapists decenter themselves in order to utilize collaborative conversational discourse as a way to generate new possibilities. Client and therapist co-create these possibilities so that a new adventure of living can be embarked by both. The therapist must be willing to change along with the client as the new exploration of the adventure unfolds.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(psychological_school) - critique is aimed at the “associationist” postulate of empiricism, “by which the mind is conceived as a passive system that gathers its contents from its environment and, through the act of knowing, produces a copy of the order of reality. In contrast, constructivism is an epistemological premise grounded on the assertion that, in the act of knowing, it is the human mind that actively gives meaning and order to that reality to which it is responding”.


Personal construct psychology

Personal construct theory


Solution focused brief therapy

Narrative therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_psychology - a viewpoint or a stance within psychology concerned with the "storied nature of human conduct" or in other words how human beings deal with experience by constructing stories and listening to the stories of others. Operating under the assumption that human activity and experience are filled with "meaning" and stories, rather than logical arguments or lawful formulations, narrative psychology is the study of how human beings construct stories to deal with experiences
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_therapy - a form of psychotherapy using narrative. It was initially developed during the 1970s and 1980s, largely by Australian Michael White and his friend and colleague, David Epston, of New Zealand. Their approach became prevalent in North America with the 1990 publication of their book, Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends, followed by numerous books and articles about previously unmanageable cases of anorexia nervosa, ADHD, schizophrenia, and many other problems. In 2007 White published Maps of Narrative Practice, a presentation of six kinds of key conversations.


Social therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Therapy - an activity-theoretic practice developed outside of academia at the East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy in New York. Its primary methodologists are cofounders of the East Side Institute, Fred Newman and Lois Holzman. In evolution since the late 1970s, the social therapeutic approach to human development and learning is informed by a variety of intellectual traditions especially the works of Karl Marx, Lev Vygotsky and Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Response-based therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response-based_therapy - a relatively new psychotherapeutic approach to treating psychological trauma resulting from violence, based on the theory that whenever people are treated badly, they resist. Incorporating elements of Solution focused brief therapy, Narrative therapy, and discourse analysis, it was first proposed by a Canadian family therapist and researcher, Dr. Allan Wade, in his 1997 article "Small Acts of Living: Everyday Resistance to Violence and Other Forms of Oppression."

Therapeutic methods of response-based therapy are based on two theoretical foundations: (1) That alongside accounts of violence in history, there exists an often-unrecognized parallel history of "determined, prudent, and creative resistance," and (2) language is frequently used in a manner that (a) conceals violence, (b) obscures and mitigates perpetrator responsibility, (c) conceals victims' resistance, and (d) blames or pathologizes victims. This second principle employs "discourse analysis" and is referred to in response based therapy as the "four discursive operations." This presupposition of resistance as a natural response to violence is used to engage clients in in-depth conversations about how they responded to specific acts of violence. Therapy consists of using language to (1) expose violence, (2) clarify perpetrators' responsibility, (3) elucidate and honor victims' resistance, and (4) contest victim blaming.


Relational frame theory

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_frame_theory - Relational frame theory (RFT) is a psychological theory of human language. It was developed largely through the efforts of Steven C. Hayes of University of Nevada, Reno and Dermot Barnes-Holmes of National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Relational Frame Theory argues that the building block of human language and higher cognition is 'relating', i.e. the human ability to create links between things. It can be contrasted with Associative Learning, which discusses how animals form links between stimuli in the form of the strength of associations in memory. However, Relational Frame Theory argues that natural human language typically specifies not just the strength of a link between stimuli but also the type of relation as well as the dimension along which they are to be related.

Relational frame theory focuses on how humans learn language (i.e., communication) through interactions with the environment and is based on a philosophical approach referred to as functional contextualism. Functional contextualism emphasizes the importance of predicting and influencing psychological events such as thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, by focusing on manipulable variables in the context in which these events occur. In RFT, functional contextualism is applied as a means for extending B.F. Skinner's radical behaviorism to account for the emergence of complex cognitive and language competencies and capabilities from more basic, precursor learning processes. 1957.


Transactional analysis

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transactional_analysis - TA to its adherents), is an integrative approach to the theory of psychology and psychotherapy that has elements of psychoanalytic, humanist and cognitive approaches. TA was first developed by Canadian-born US psychiatrist Eric Berne, starting in the late 1950s. TA is a neo-Freudian theory of personality. A primary difference between Berne and Freud is the former's treatment of the observable transactions known as "games". A number of books popularized TA in the general public but did little to gain acceptance in the conventional psychoanalytic community. TA is considered by its adherents to be a more user-friendly and accessible model than the conventional psychoanalytic model.

A number of modern-day TA practitioners emphasize the similarities with cognitive-behaviorist models while others emphasize different models. TA also differs to Freudian analysis in explaining that an individual's final emotional state is the result of inner dialogue between different parts of the psyche, as opposed to the Freudian hypothesis that imagery is the overriding determinant of inner emotional state. (For example, depression may be due to ongoing critical verbal messages from the inner Parent to the inner Child.) Berne believed that it is relatively easy to identify these inner dialogues and that the ability to do so is parentally suppressed in early childhood. Within the overarching framework of transactional analysis, more recent transactional analysts have developed several different and overlapping theories of Transactional Analysis: cognitive, behavioral, relational, redecision, integrative, constructivist, narrative, body-work, positive psychological, personality adaptational, self-reparenting, psychodynamic, and neuroconstructivist.

Interpersonal

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_psychoanalysis - based on the theories of American psychiatrist Harry Stack Sullivan (1892–1949). Sullivan believed that the details of a patient's interpersonal interactions with others can provide insight into the causes and cures of mental disorder. Current practitioners stress such features as the detailed description of clinical experience, the mutuality of the interpersonal process, and the not-knowing of the analyst. Along with other neo-Freudian practitioners of interpersonal psychoanalysis, such as Horney, Fromm, Thompson and Fromm-Reichman Sullivan repudiated Freudian drive theory. They, like Sullivan, also shared the interdisciplinary emphasis that was to be an important part of the legacy of interpersonal psychoanalysis, influencing counsellors, clergymen, social workers and more. Sullivan proposed that patients could keep certain aspects or components of their interpersonal relationships out of their awareness by a psychological behavior described as selective inattention - a term that has to a degree passed into common usage.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_psychotherapy - time-limited treatment that encourages the patient to regain control of mood and functioning typically lasting 12–16 weeks. IPT is based on the common factors of psychotherapy: a "treatment alliance in which the therapist empathically engages the patient, helps the patient to feel understood, arouses affect, presents a clear rationale and treatment ritual, and yields success experiences." Interpersonal therapy began in 1969 at Yale University, where Dr. Gerald Klerman was joined by Dr. Eugene Paykel from London to design a study to test the relative efficacy of an antidepressant alone and both with and without psychotherapy as maintenance treatment of ambulatory nonbipolar depression.

IPT takes structure from contemporary Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approaches in that it is time-limited and employs homework, structured interviews, and assessment tools. Yet the content of therapy was inspired by Harry Stack Sullivan's psychodynamic Interpersonal Theory (Sullivan, 1953, Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry). IPT focuses on a specific vulnerability to social stressors, such as differing role expectations in a dyadic relationship (Weissman, et al, 2007), but does include a personality theory or attempt to conceptualize or treat personality (Prochaska, 1984, Systems of Psychotherapy: A Transtheoretical Analysis). This makes IPT quite distinct from its psychodynamic influence, which is fundamentally a personality theory. Interpersonal Psychotherapy of Depression was developed in the New Haven-Boston Collaborative Depression Research Project by Gerald Klerman, MD, Myrna Weissman, PhD, and their colleagues for the treatment of ambulatory depressed, nonpsychotic, nonbipolar patients.


Relational psychoanalysis

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_psychoanalysis - a school of psychoanalysis in the United States that emphasizes the role of real and imagined relationships with others in mental disorder and psychotherapy. 'Relational psychoanalysis is a relatively new and evolving school of psychoanalytic thought considered by its founders to represent a "paradigm shift" in psychoanalysis'. Relational psychoanalysis began in the 1980s as an attempt to integrate interpersonal psychoanalysis's emphasis on the detailed exploration of interpersonal interactions with British object relations theory's ideas about the psychological importance of internalized relationships with other people. Relationalists argue that personality emerges from the matrix of early formative relationships with parents and other figures. Philosophically, relational psychoanalysis is closely allied with social constructionism.

Intersubjective psychoanalysis

  • Groupe d'étude sur l'intersubjectivité (GEI) - About intersubjectivity "Intersubjective systems theory is part of the continuing development of this new relational movement in psychoanalysis. It is based on a view of the human psyche and of the personal subjective experience as being essentially interactive and continually embedded in relationships. The therapeutic process is thus seen as being a co-constructed emotional dialogue which occurs at both verbal and non-verbal levels, and through which both therapist and patient attempt to explore the meanings of their shared experiences with the goal of understanding and transforming the patient's painful experiences.

From a clinical point of view, intersubjectivity theory is more a sensibility than a technical ability (Buirsky and Haglund, 2001), a sensibility to the inevitable interactions between the observer and the observed (Orange, Atwood and Stolorow, 1997). We are unable to perceive and understand the other's experience without the bias of our own subjective experience. We rather join the other in an intersubjective field in order to co-construct an understanding unique to the two people interacting: "… the therapist’s organization of experience interacts with that of the patient to form a unique and indissoluble psychological system" (Orange, Atwood & Stolorow, 1997, p.9)."

  • Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity (IPSS) was founded in 1987 as an organization of psychoanalytic clinicians and scholars committed to a program that offers clinical training and a broad theoretical background. The IPSS faculty, in addition to offering traditional psychoanalytic courses, has particular expertise and interest in contemporary self psychology, intersubjective systems theory, infant research, and relational psychoanalysis. Our Institute provides clinical training and educational seminars in psychoanalysis through various courses of study.

Brief therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brief_psychotherapy - an umbrella term for a variety of approaches to psychotherapy that emphasises (1) a focus on a specific problem and (2) direct intervention. In brief therapy, the therapist takes responsibility for working more pro-actively with the client in order to treat clinical and subjective conditions faster. It also emphasizes precise observation, utilization of natural resources, and temporary suspension of disbelief to consider new perspectives and multiple viewpoints.

"All brief therapies, not just brief psychodynamic psychotherapy (BPP), evolved from psychoanalytic roots. Freud reported on psychoanalytic therapies that lasted 1 week (Katherine), 7 weeks (Emmy von N), and 9 weeks (Lucie R) and the cure of Gustav Mahler's impotence in a single, 4-hour session (Breuer and Freud 1893–1895; Jones 1957). Freud's followers defined and formally introduced the key ingredients of brief therapy: increased therapist activity, a limit on the length of treatment and/or number of sessions, narrowed treatment focus, and restricted patient selection criteria. Today, research validates the efficacy of BPP, and practitioners are extending the reach of this approach by introducing innovative techniques such as block therapy (Davanloo 2004) and by treating new populations. For instance, Milrod et al. (2007) conducted the first randomized controlled trial of panic-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy in patients with panic disorder and found it to be effective."

Experiential dynamic therapy

Or experiential psychodynamic psychotherapy


Well known forms of EDT are: [148]

  • Affect Phobia Therapy (APT)
  • Intensive Short Term Dynamic Therapy (ISTDP)
  • Intensive Accelerated Experiential-Dynamic Psychotherapy (IEDP)
  • Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)
  • Accelerated Empathetic Therapy (AET)
  • Unified Model of Personality Guided Relational Therapy
  • Attachment-Based ISTDP
  • Dynamic Emotional Focused Therapy (DEFT).

Affect phobia therapy

  • Affect Phobia Therapy (APT) was developed by Leigh McCullough. When Leigh was diagnosed with ALS, she asked her Boston colleague, Kristin Osborn, to continue her work internationally. The model is based on the premise that internal conflicts about feelings underlie most psychologically-based disorders. These conflicts are seen as Affect Phobias: phobias about feelings. In the same way a person with external phobias would avoid bridges, a patient with an affect phobia avoids the experience and expression of certain feelings (e.g. anger or grief). APT integrates psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and experiential techniques, into a powerful whole that can increase the effectiveness of therapy and help it to proceed more rapidly.

Intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh_McCullough - pioneer of short-term dynamic psychotherapy (STDP). Her treatment model focused on the learned fears of experiencing certain emotions, or what she called affect phobias. This is an exceptionally clear and useful reformulation of psychodynamic conflicts in behavioral terms. For example, in case of a psychodynamic conflict between anger (or sexual desire, or grief, or closeness) and anxiety (or guilt, or shame); McCullough framed anger as an (internal) object that has learned (phobically) to activate anxiety. Thus in McCullough's reformulation, anger and anxiety do not stand against each other, as in an interpersonal conflict, but rather: anger activates anxiety, which then activates some defence mechanisms to avoid or inhibit the activation of anger. In terms of Freud's Id, ego and super-ego, the Id (anger) activates the super-ego (anxiety), which then activates the ego defences against the id.
  • Intensive Short-Term Psychotherapy (ISTDP) is an evidence-based form of therapy designed to help resolve emotional problems as rapidly as possible. It can be used as an effective treatment for people suffering with anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, self-destructive patterns of behaviour, or physical health problems that have a psychological origin. ISTDP is a specific Short Term Dynamic Therapy that comes from a group of therapeutic approaches known as Experiential Dynamic Therapies.

Both the CBT and ISTDP therapist call the thought into question, with the goal of ultimately liberating the patient. The difference is that the ISTDP therapist sees the faulty cognition as preventing access to the true, buried feelings, while the CBT therapist sees the faulty cognition as the cause of the painful emotions leading to the painful psychological state

Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy

Dynamic Deconstructive Psychotherapy

Started 2002

  • Dynamic Deconstructive Psychotherapy (DDP) is a 12- to 18-month, manual-driven treatment for adults with borderline personality disorder and other complex behavior problems, such as alcohol or drug dependence, self-harm, eating disorders, and recurrent suicide attempts. DDP combines elements of translational neuroscience, object relations theory, and deconstruction philosophy in an effort to help clients heal from a negative self-image and maladaptive processing of emotionally charged experiences. Neuroscience research suggests that individuals having complex behavior problems deactivate the regions of the brain responsible for verbalizing emotional experiences, attaining a sense of self, and differentiating self from other, and instead activate the regions of the brain contributing to hyperarousal and impulsivity.

DDP helps clients connect with their experiences and develop authentic and fulfilling connections with others. During weekly, 1-hour individually adapted sessions, clients discuss recent interpersonal experiences and label their emotions, while also reflecting upon their experiences in increasingly complex and realistic ways, to start the longer-term process of self-acceptance. Therapists must learn to recognize, understand, and make use of their own intense emotional reactions elicited by clients in order to foster recovery, avoid burnout, and provide novel experiences in the client-therapist relationship that support individuation and challenge clients' basic assumptions about themselves and others.

SUNY Upstate Medical University, Department of Psychiatry workshop;

  • Affect labelling? Helps reduce amygdala response.
  • Complete narrative? Include specific episode and RS-RO elements (responsive self, responsive other)

Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory

Cognitive phenomenological therapy

Good Psychiatric Management

STEPPS

STAIR/MPE

  • A Clinician's Guide to STAIR/MPE: Treatment for PTSD Related to Childhood Abuse - Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation plus Modified Prolonged Exposure (STAIR/MPE) is an evidence-based, 2-phase cognitive behavioral treatment designed to address these concerns. Specifically, this treatment targets PTSD symptoms, emotion-regulation deficits, and interpersonal difficulties. The purpose of this article is to describe the rationale for and clinical application of STAIR/MPE, detailing the essential clinical components and presenting relevant case examples.

Play therapy

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

Art therapy

Milieu therapy


Relationship counselling

Problem solving therapy

Psychedelic therapy

See also Drugs

Neuro-linguistic programming

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming - an approach to communication, personal development, and psychotherapy created by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in California, United States in the 1970s. Its creators claim a connection between the neurological processes ("neuro"), language ("linguistic") and behavioral patterns learned through experience ("programming") and that these can be changed to achieve specific goals in life.

Schema Therapy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schema_Therapy - was developed by Dr. Jeffrey E. Young for use in treatment of personality disorders and chronic Axis I disorders, such as when patients fail to respond or relapse after having been through other therapies (for example, traditional cognitive behavioral therapy). Schema Therapy is a newer, integrative psychotherapy combining theory and techniques from existing therapies, including cognitive behavioral therapy, psychoanalytic object relations, attachment Theory, and Gestalt therapy (Young, 2003, p. 6).

Strengths-centered Therapy

Motivational interviewing

Reparenting

Emotional Freedom Techniques

Polarity therapy

To sort





Light therapy

to sort



  • Fitting the Facts to the Narrative - "Be right all the time" is a worthy goal but impossible; "Try to be right all the time, but when wrong, get right as soon as you can" is the correct mindset.
  • The Worst - "The basic premise of the worst is that both ideas and material possessions should be tools that serve us, rather than things we live in service to. When that relationship with material possessions is inverted, such that we end up living in service to them, the result is consumerism. When that relationship with ideas is inverted, the result is ideology or religion."


  • placepatterns.org - "the objective here is to build an online knowledge resource and community for building and development: to store, showcase, and refine recipes/tools/patterns/examples of successful building and development."


  • Perlmonks: The path to mastery - "When you see the code of master Perl programmers you may be amazed at how few strokes of the keyboard they require to solve a problem completely. Many in error think that they should therefore constantly try to cram as much into as little room as possible. This is a misguided path. Instead strive to understand fully and completely the tool at hand. Explore exactly how it works and what it can do. In addition constantly learn how to build on what you and others have done before. Aim for clarity and comprehension, and mastery shall surely follow. This is a true path."









We

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_science - the study and interpretation of the experiences, activities, constructs, and artifacts associated with human beings. The study of the human sciences attempts to expand and enlighten the human being's knowledge of their existence, its interrelationship with other species and systems, and the development of artifacts to perpetuate the human expression and thought. It is the study of human phenomena. The study of the human experience is historical and current in nature. It requires the evaluation and interpretation of the historic human experience and the analysis of current human activity to gain an understanding of human phenomena and to project the outlines of human evolution. Human science is the objective, informed critique of human existence and how it relates to reality. Human science (also, humanistic social science, moral science and human sciences) refers to the investigation of human life and activities via a phenomenological methodology that acknowledges the validity of both sensory and psychological experience. It includes but is not necessarily limited to humanistic modes of inquiry within fields of the social sciences and humanities, including history, sociology, anthropology, and economics. Its use of an empirical methodology that encompasses psychological experience contrasts to the purely positivistic approach typical of the natural sciences which exclude all methods not based solely on sensory observations. Thus the term is often used to distinguish not only the content of a field of study from those of the natural sciences, but also its methodology.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanities - academic disciplines that study human culture. In Middle Ages, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the time. Today, the humanities are more frequently contrasted with natural, physical and sometimes social sciences as well as professional training.

The humanities use methods that are primarily critical, or speculative, and have a significant historical element—as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences. The humanities include ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, international relations and musicology. Areas that are sometimes regarded[by whom?] as social sciences and sometimes as humanities include history, archaeology, anthropology, area studies, communication studies, classical studies, law, politics, semiotics and linguistics.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisteswissenschaft - a set of human sciences such as philosophy, history, philology, social sciences, and sometimes even theology and jurisprudence, that are traditional in German universities. Most of its subject matter would come under the much larger humanities faculty in the typical English-speaking university, but it does not contain the arts.

Society


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_studies - the integrated study of the Social Sciences and Humanities to promote civic competence. Within the school program, social studies provides coordinated, systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as Anthropology, Archaeology, Economics, Geography, History, Law, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, and Sociology, as well as appropriate content from the humanities, mathematics, and natural sciences. The primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world.

Normally, Social Studies is divided into History and Geography when the student has reached sixth grade or near. Some American schools do not have separate classes on geography at the secondary level.







Anthropology





  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronisław_Malinowski - was a Polish anthropologist, one of the most important 20th-century anthropologists. He has been also referred to as a sociologist and ethnographer. Apart from fieldwork, Malinowski also challenged the claim to universality of Freud's theory of the Oedipus complex. He initiated a cross-cultural approach in Sex and Repression in Savage Society (1927) where he demonstrated that specific psychological complexes are not universal.



Sociology

er




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_representation - a stock of values, ideas, metaphors, beliefs, and practices that are shared among the members of groups and communities. Social Representations Theory is a body of theory within Social Psychology and Sociological social psychology. It has parallels in sociological theorizing such as Social Constructionism and Symbolic Interactionism, and is similar in some ways to mass consensus and Discursive Psychology.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociological_social_psychology - psychological sociology, is an area of sociology that focuses on social actions and on interrelations of personality, values, and mind with social structure and culture. Some of the major topics in this field are sociocultural change, social inequality and prejudice, leadership and intra-group behavior, social exchange, group conflict, impression formation and management, conversation structures, socialization, social constructionism, social norms and deviance, identity and roles, and emotional labor. The primary methods of data collection are sample surveys, field observations, vignette studies, field experiments, and controlled experiments.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytic_frame - a detailed sketch or outline of some social phenomenon, representing initial idea of a scientist analyzing this phenomenon. Charles C. Ragin defines it as one of the four building blocks of social research (the other three being ideas (social theories), evidence (data) and images (new ideas synthetised from existing data). Thus, analytic frames are used to elaborate on starting ideas and usually consist of a list of some key elements found in most of the analysed phenomena (for example, social movements).

Two specific types of analytic frames are case and aspect based frames. Framing by case refers to researchers using concepts to classify the phenomena they study, while framing by aspect refers to using concepts to characterize the phenomena. For example, a scientists describing a restaurant, a bus, a coffeehouse and a waiting room as a noninteraction places is assigning them into the same category, thus framing them by case. Framing by aspect is going further and differentiating between cases in a given category (how exactly is noninteraction achieved in those places, what forms of social interaction are permitted in those places, etc.).

Frames can be also divided into fixed, fluid, or flexible. Fixed frames don't change in later research states. They are common in quantitative research, and are used to test and prove or falsify a hypothesis. Flexible frames are common in comparative research, where they show which factors may be more relevant in specific research context, helping to explore the problem without making specific hypothesis. Fluid frames are used when researcher wants to limit the influence of the existing, more established theories; they are thus subject to much change and the researcher can use several frames switching between them depending on the gathered data. Fluid frames are most common in the qualitative research.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivism - the philosophy of science that information derived from logical and mathematical treatments and reports of sensory experience is the exclusive source of all authoritative knowledge, and that there is valid knowledge (truth) only in this derived knowledge. Verified data received from the senses are known as empirical evidence. Positivism holds that society, like the physical world, operates according to general laws. Introspective and intuitive knowledge is rejected. Although the positivist approach has been a recurrent theme in the history of western thought, the modern sense of the approach was developed by the philosopher and founding sociologist Auguste Comte in the early 19th century. Comte argued that, much as the physical world operates according to gravity and other absolute laws, so also does society.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-positivism - also known as interpretivism, is the belief in social science that the social realm may not be subject to the same methods of investigation as the natural world; that academics must reject empiricism and the scientific method in the conduct of social research. Antipositivists hold that researchers should focus on understanding the interpretations that social actions have for the people being studied.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-positivism - also called postempiricism) is a metatheoretical stance that critiques and amends positivism. While positivists believe that the researcher and the researched person are independent of each other, postpositivists accept that theories, background, knowledge and values of the researcher can influence what is observed. However, like positivists, postpositivists pursue objectivity by recognizing the possible effects of biases. Postpositivists believe that human knowledge is based not on unchallengeable, rock-solid foundations, but rather upon human conjectures. As human knowledge is thus unavoidably conjectural, the assertion of these conjectures is warranted, or more specifically, justified by a set of warrants, which can be modified or withdrawn in the light of further investigation. However, postpositivism is not a form of relativism, and generally retains the idea of objective truth.

Postpositivists believe that a reality exists, like positivists do, though they hold that it can be known only imperfectly and probabilistically.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnomethodology - approach to sociological inquiry on everyday methods that people use for the production of social order, documenting the methods and practices through which society's members make sense of their world.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_inequality - a condition where one category of people are attributed an unequal status in relation to other categories of people. This relationship is perpetuated and reinforced by a confluence of unequal relations in roles, functions, decisions, rights, and opportunities. As opposed to cultural inequality, which focuses on the individual decisions associated with these imbalances, structural inequality refers specifically to the inequalities that are systemically rooted in the normal operations of dominant social institutions, and can be divided into categories like residential segregation or healthcare, employment and educational discrimination.






Cultural Studies

Area studies

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_studies - interdisciplinary fields of research and scholarship pertaining to particular geographical, national/federal, or cultural regions. The term exists primarily as a general description for what are, in the practice of scholarship, many heterogeneous fields of research, encompassing both the social sciences and the humanities. Typical area studies programs involve history, political science, sociology, cultural studies, languages, geography, literature, and related disciplines. In contrast to cultural studies, area studies often include diaspora and emigration from the area.

Communication studies

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_studies - an academic field that deals with processes of human communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols to create meaning. The discipline encompasses a range of topics, from face-to-face conversation to mass media outlets such as television broadcasting. Communication studies also examines how messages are interpreted through the political, cultural, economic, semiotic, hermeneutic, and social dimensions of their contexts.

=== to sort






History


Philosophy

to move









to sort;



"there's enough old wisdom to counter the other half of old wisdom" - approx. anon.?



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytic_philosophy - or analytical philosophy, can refer to: A broad philosophical tradition characterized by an emphasis on clarity and argument (often achieved via modern formal logic and analysis of language) and a respect for the natural sciences, or the more specific set of developments of early 20th-century philosophy that were the historical antecedents of the broad sense: e.g., the work of Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, G. E. Moore, Gottlob Frege, and logical positivists.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologism - a generic type of position in philosophy according to which psychology plays a central role in grounding or explaining some other, non-psychological type of fact or law. The most common types of psychologism are logical psychologism and mathematical psychologism.



Plato




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augoeides - an obscure term meaning "luminous body" and thought to refer to the planets. Aleister Crowley considered the term to refer to the Holy Guardian Angel of Abramelin; the Atman of Hinduism the Daemon of the ancient Greeks. Robert Lomas associates the term with the Higher Self or soul of the individual

Kant



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomothetic_and_idiographic - terms used by Kantian philosopher Wilhelm Windelband to describe two distinct approaches to knowledge, each one corresponding to a different intellectual tendency, and each one corresponding to a different branch of academe. Nomothetic is based on what Kant described as a tendency to generalize, and is typical for the natural sciences. It describes the effort to derive laws that explain objective phenomena in general. Idiographic is based on what Kant described as a tendency to specify, and is typical for the humanities. It describes the effort to understand the meaning of contingent, unique, and often subjective phenomena.


Kierkegaard

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Søren_Kierkegaard - Danish philosopher, theologian, poet, social critic and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on organized religion, Christendom, morality, ethics, psychology and the philosophy of religion, displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony and parables. Much of his philosophical work deals with the issues of how one lives as a "single individual", giving priority to concrete human reality over abstract thinking and highlighting the importance of personal choice and commitment. He was a fierce critic of idealist intellectuals and philosophers of his time, such as Swedenborg, Hegel, Goethe, Fichte, Schelling, Schlegel and Hans Christian Andersen.

Karl Marx

See also Politics#Communism

Ludwig Wittgenstein

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractatus_Logico-Philosophicus - the only book-length philosophical work published by the German-Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein in his lifetime. It was an ambitious project – to identify the relationship between language and reality and to define the limits of science



Merleau-Ponty

Literary criticism


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeneutics - initially applied to the interpretation, or exegesis, of scripture. includes both verbal and nonverbal communication as well as semiotics, presuppositions, and preunderstandings. Hermeneutic consistency refers to the analysis of texts to achieve a coherent explanation of them. Philosophical hermeneutics refers primarily to the theory of knowledge initiated by Martin Heidegger and developed by Hans-Georg Gadamer in his work Truth and Method. It sometimes refers to the theories of Paul Ricoeur.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textual_scholarship - an umbrella term for disciplines that deal with describing, transcribing, editing or annotating texts and physical documents. Textual research is mainly historically oriented. Textual scholars study, for instance, how writing practices and printing technology has developed, how a certain writer has written and revised his or her texts, how literary documents have been edited, the history of reading culture, as well as censorship and the authenticity of texts. The subjects, methods and theoretical backgrounds of textual research vary widely, but what they have in common is an interest in the genesis and derivation of texts and textual variation in these practices.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_reading - the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of text. Such a reading places great emphasis on the single particular over the general, paying close attention to individual words, syntax, and the order in which sentences and ideas unfold as they are read.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philology - the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary criticism, history, and linguistics. It is more commonly defined as the study of literary texts and written records, the establishment of their authenticity and their original form, and the determination of their meaning.

Because of its focus on historical development (diachronic analysis), philology came to be used as a term contrasting with linguistics. This is due to a 20th-century development triggered by Ferdinand de Saussure's insistence on the importance of synchronic analysis, and the later emergence of structuralism and Chomskyan linguistics with its emphasis on syntax.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_criticism - also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of literary criticism that investigates the origins of ancient text in order to understand "the world behind the text". The primary goal of historical criticism is to ascertain the text's primitive or original meaning in its original historical context and its literal sense or sensus literalis historicus. The secondary goal seeks to establish a reconstruction of the historical situation of the author and recipients of the text. This may be accomplished by reconstructing the true nature of the events which the text describes. An ancient text may also serve as a document, record or source for reconstructing the ancient past which may also serve as a chief interest to the historical critic. In regard to Semitic biblical interpretation, the historical critic would be able to interpret the literature of Israel as well as the history of Israel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_criticism - In 18th century Biblical criticism, the term "higher criticism" was commonly used in mainstream scholarship in contrast with "lower criticism". In the 21st century, historical criticism is the more commonly used term for higher criticism, while textual criticism is more common than the loose expression "lower criticism".

Historical criticism began in the 17th century and gained popular recognition in the 19th and 20th centuries. The perspective of the early historical critic was rooted in Protestant reformation ideology, inasmuch as their approach to biblical studies was free from the influence of traditional interpretation. Where historical investigation was unavailable, historical criticism rested on philosophical and theological interpretation. With each passing century, historical criticism became refined into various methodologies used today: source criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism, tradition criticism, canonical criticism, and related methodologies.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textual_criticism - or lower criticism, a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of transcription errors in texts, both manuscripts and printed books. Ancient scribes made alterations when copying manuscripts by hand. Given a manuscript copy, several or many copies, but not the original document, the textual critic might seek to reconstruct the original text (the archetype or autograph) as closely as possible. The same processes can be used to attempt to reconstruct intermediate versions, or recensions, of a document's transcription history. The ultimate objective of the textual critic's work is the production of a "critical edition" containing a text most closely approximating the original.



Critical theory

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_theory - examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism. This has led to the very literal use of 'critical theory' as an umbrella term to describe any theory founded upon critique.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_educational_theory - focuses on the connections between the researcher and the other person or subject where the lives of action researchers are inextricable linked in a profound manner with the individuals and communities involved in the subject of study. LET is a critical theory and emancipatory action research approach which seeks the dialectic in its approach, not debate and battles of [discourse].

Walter Benjamin

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Benjamin - a German Jewish philosopher and cultural critic. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, historical materialism, and Jewish mysticism, Benjamin made enduring and influential contributions to aesthetic theory, literary criticism, and Western Marxism. He was associated with the Frankfurt School, and also maintained formative friendships with thinkers such as Marxist playwright Bertolt Brecht and Kabbalah scholar Gershom Scholem. He was also related by marriage to German political theorist Hannah Arendt through her first marriage to his cousin, Günther Anders. Benjamin's major work as a literary critic included essays on Baudelaire, Goethe, Kafka, Kraus, Leskov, Proust, Walser, and translation theory. He also made major translations into German of the Tableaux Parisiens section of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal and parts of Proust's À la recherche du temps perdu. Among Benjamin's best known works are the essays "The Task of the Translator" (1923) and "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1936).

General semantics

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_semantics - a program begun in the 1920s that seeks to regulate the evaluative operations performed in the human brain. After partial launches under the names "human engineering" and "humanology", Polish-American originator Alfred Korzybski[2] (1879–1950) fully launched the program as "general semantics" in 1933 with the publication of Science and Sanity: An Introduction to Non-Aristotelian Systems and General Semantics.

Non-Aristotelianism: According to general semantics, the content of all knowledge is structure, so that language (in general) and science and mathematics (in particular) can provide people with a structural 'map' of empirical facts, but there can be no 'identity', only structural similarity, between the language (map) and the empirical facts as lived through and observed by people as humans-in-environments (including doctrinal and linguistic environments).

Time binding: The human ability to pass information and knowledge from one generation to the next. Korzybski claimed this to be a unique capacity, separating people from animals. This distinctly human ability for one generation to start where a previous generation left off, is a consequence of the uniquely human ability to move to higher and higher levels of abstraction without limit. Animals may have multiple levels of abstraction, but their abstractions must stop at some finite upper limit; this is not so for humans: humans can have 'knowledge about knowledge','knowledge about knowledge about knowledge', etc., without any upper limit.

Non-elementalism and non-additivity: The refusal to separate verbally what cannot be separated empirically, and the refusal to regard such verbal splits as evidence that the 'things' that are verbally split bear an additive relation to one another. For example, space-time cannot empirically be split into 'space' + 'time', a conscious organism (including humans) cannot be split into 'body' + 'mind', etc., therefore, people should never speak of 'space' and 'time' or 'mind' and 'body' in isolation, but always use the terms space-time or mind-body (or other organism-as-a-whole terms).

Infinite-valued determinism: General semantics regards the problem of 'indeterminism vs. determinism' as the failure of pre-modern epistemologies to formulate the issue properly as the failure to consider or include all factors relevant to a particular prediction, and failure to adjust our languages and linguistic structures to empirical facts. General semantics resolves the issue in favor of determinism of a special kind called 'infinite-valued' determinism which always allows for the possibility that relevant 'causal' factors may be 'left out' at any given date, resulting in, if the issue is not understood at that date, 'indeterminism', which simply indicates that our ability to predict events has broken down, not that the world is 'indeterministic'.

The influence of Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle, and of early operationalists and pragmatists such as Charles Sanders Peirce, is particularly clear in the foundational ideas of general semantics. Korzybski himself acknowledged many of these influences. The concept of "silence on the objective level" attributed to Korzybski and his insistence on consciousness of abstracting are parallel to some central ideas in Zen Buddhism. L. Ron Hubbard is widely believed to have used the theory in his creation of Dianetics and later to have incorporated it into Scientology, and acknowledges this in several texts; the first of these two movements in turn introduced general semantics to a wider audience in the early 1950s, including popular science fiction writer A. E. van Vogt, personal growth theorist Harvey Jackins and his movement Re-evaluation Counseling and movements like Gestalt therapy.

General semantics has survived most profoundly in the cognitive therapies that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. Albert Ellis (1913–2007), who developed Rational emotive behavior therapy, acknowledged influence from general semantics and delivered the Alfred Korzybski Memorial Lecture in 1991. The Bruges (Belgium) center for Solution Focused Therapy operates under the name Korzybski Institute Training and Research Center.[42] George Kelly, founder of Personal Construct Psychology, was influenced by general semantics. Frederick Perls and Paul Goodman, founders of Gestalt therapy are said to have been influenced by Korzybski.


Game theory

Situationist



Jacques Lacan

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacanianism - is the study of, and development of, the ideas and theories of the dissident French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. Beginning as a commentary on the writings of Freud, Lacanianism developed into a new psychoanalytic theory of humankind, and spawned a world-wide movement of its own. Fredric Jameson has argued that "Lacan's work must be read as presupposing the entire content of classical Freudianism, otherwise it would simply be another philosophy or intellectual system".
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacanian_movement
  • No Subject - an encylopedia of Lacanian psychoanalysis


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objet_petit_a - object little-a) stands for the unattainable object of desire. It is sometimes called the object cause of desire. Lacan always insisted that the term should remain untranslated, "thus acquiring the status of an algebraic sign." (Écrits). 'The "a" in question stands for "autre" (other), the concept having been developed out of the Freudian "object" and Lacan's own exploitation of "otherness."

As a body of thought, Lacanianism began to make its way into the English-speaking world from the sixties onwards, influencing film theory, feminist thought, and psychoanalytic criticism, as well as politics and social sciences, primarily through the concepts of the Imaginary and the Symbolic. As the role of the real and of jouissance in opposing structure became more widely recognised, however, so too Lacanianism developed as a tool for the exploration of the divided subject of postmodernity.

  • Lacan’s Reasoning of the Subject - At the time of the structuralist reduction of the subject to the mere effect of structure, Lacan tends to preserve the concept of the subject. Despite that fact, Lacan does not directly follow up on the modern thought of the subject. It is the Cartesian cogito that is for him the foundation and object of criticism. With regards to the Cartesian cogito, Lacan finds disputable the selffounding of “I” in the act of its thinking. He claims that, even if we allow for the possibility of self-certitude arising from the consciousness itself, the question of how “I” can be conceived in this act remains unanswered. The part of the Cartesian subject that Lacan does adopt is the formation of the subject in the act of doubting. When considered in this context, Freud’s procedure is Cartesian for Lacan, since Freud places special emphasis on doubting in the speech of the analysed in order to be able to conceive his unconscious. For Lacan, the subject is a split subject – a subject that is split by its Symbolic constitution into the imaginary ego and the subject of the unconscious. The discourse of the Symbolic has the constitution of a signifying chain, so the subject in the Symbolic is also reduced to the signifier. The meaning of the subject of the signifier does not encompass the subject of the unconscious, so the subject is alienated from its subject of the unconscious. The splitting that occurred within the subject by its subjection to the signifying constitution of the Other has repercussion on the subject’s perception as well. In the act of perception the subject is split, since the objects are perceived by the ego, the subject of the signifier, and desired by the subject of the unconscious.



Post-structuralism

Jean Baudrillard

Foucault

Deleuze

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhizome_(philosophy) - a philosophical concept developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in their Capitalism and Schizophrenia (1972–1980) project. It is what Deleuze calls an "image of thought", based on the botanical rhizome, that apprehends multiplicities, using the terms "rhizome" and "rhizomatic" to describe theory and research that allows for multiple, non-hierarchical entry and exit points in data representation and interpretation. In A Thousand Plateaus, they oppose it to an arborescent conception of knowledge, which works with dualist categories and binary choices. A rhizome works with planar and trans-species connections, while an arborescent model works with vertical and linear connections.

Guattari

Derrida

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Différance - a French term coined by Jacques Derrida, deliberately homophonous with the word "différence". Différance plays on the fact that the French word différer means both "to defer" and "to differ." The 〈a〉 of différance is a deliberate misspelling of différence, though the two are pronounced identically. This highlights the fact that its written form is not heard, and serves to further subvert the traditional privileging of speech over writing (see archi-writing), as well as the distinction between the sensible and the intelligible. Derrida developed the concept of différance deeper in the course of an argument against the phenomenology of Husserl, who sought a rigorous analysis of the role of memory and perception in our understanding of sequential items such as music or language. Derrida's approach argues that because the perceiver's mental state is constantly in a state of flux and differs from one re-reading to the next, a general theory describing this phenomenon is unachievable.
  • synchronic - context
  • diachronic - origin

Douglas Hofstadter


Media studies

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambient_awareness - a term used by social scientists to describe a new form of peripheral social awareness. This awareness is propagated from relatively constant contact with one's friends and colleagues via social networking platforms on the Internet. Some examples of social networking websites are Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Blogger, delicious.com, etc. The term essentially defines the sort of omnipresent knowledge one experiences by being a regular user of these media outlets that allow a constant connection with one's social circle.
  • Technological or Media Determinism
    • "Chandler’s web essay explores the concept and history of technological determinism, which he defines as ‘seek[ing] to explain social and historical phenomena in terms of one principal or determining factor’ - technology. Chandler calls this theory ‘reductive’, and points out that as a way of understanding social phenomena, reductionism is often criticised as being overly simplistic. This is especially the case when determinists become ‘technocentric’ - ‘trying to account for almost everything in terms of technology'. He introduces concepts such as ‘reification’; ‘autonomy’; and ‘universalism’, as elements of technological determinism. Importantly for our purposes, he also indicates how we can identify when a determinist position is being taken, even if an author or speaker doesn’t make it explicit: "The assumptions of technological determinism can usually be easily spotted in frequent references to the 'impact' of technological 'revolutions' which 'led to' or 'brought about', 'inevitable', 'far reaching', 'effects', or 'consequences' or assertions about what 'will be' happening 'sooner than we think' 'whether we like it or not'." The resources below contain some language like this, and you will probably start to notice it elsewhere. The relationship between technological determinism and utopian and dystopian accounts is one we’d like you to consider and discuss as you engage in the readings and films during the rest of this week and next week."
  • http://www.mediapolis.org.uk/
  • http://www.academia.edu/3425545/Media_Life
    • "The media life perspective offers a prediction and explanation of increasingly invisi- ble media; it sustains a theoretical argument as that proposed by Friedrich Kittler (2009),aiming to resolve ontology’s hostility to media. As Kittler argues, ‘philosophy … has been necessarily unable to conceive of media as media’, in that the relation betweenobserver and the observed as for example expressed in writing, audio or video recordingsis generally not considered to be of influence to the work of the philosopher. This blind-ness to the structuring role of media in lived experience not only considers but moves beyond technical media – while acknowledging how significant the medium may be tothe message – to address the essential nature of media as the invisible interlocutor of people’s lives. In today’s media culture, where people increasingly move through theworld (more or less deliberately) assembling a deeply individualized media system – in other words: living in their own personal information spaaaaaace – such a viewpoint can formthe basis of investigation and understanding of everyday life.

Žižek

Other modernity

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-industrial_society - the stage of society's development when the service sector generates more wealth than the manufacturing sector of the economy. The concept was popularized by Daniel Bell, and is closely related to similar sociological theoretical constructs such as post-fordism, information society, knowledge economy, post-industrial economy, liquid modernity, and network society. They all can be used in economics or other social science disciplines as a general theoretical backdrop in research design.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflexive_modernization - launched by a joint effort of three of the leading European sociologists — Anthony Giddens, Ulrich Beck and Scott Lash. The introduction of this concept served a double purpose: to reassess sociology as a science of the present (moving beyond the early 20thC conceptual framework); and to provide a counterbalance to the postmodernist paradigm offering a re-constructive view alongside deconstruction. The concept built upon previous notions such as post-industrial society (Daniel Bell) and postmaterial society, but stresses how in reflexive modernization, modernity directs its attention to the process of modernization itself.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-postmodernism - Consensus on what makes up an epoch can hardly be achieved while that epoch is still in its early stages. However, a common positive theme of current attempts to define post-postmodernism is that faith, trust, dialogue, performance and sincerity can work to transcend postmodern irony. The following definitions, which vary widely in depth, focus and scope, are listed in the chronological order of their appearance.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamodernism - a set of developments in philosophy, aesthetics, and culture which are emerging from and reacting to postmodernism. One definition characterizes metamodernism as mediations between aspects of both modernism and postmodernism. Metamodernism is similar to post-postmodernism.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metanarrative - in critical theory and particularly in postmodernism is a narrative about narratives of historical meaning, experience or knowledge, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (as yet unrealized) master idea. The term was brought into prominence by Jean-François Lyotard in 1984, with his claim that the postmodern was characterised precisely by a mistrust of the grand narratives (Progress, Enlightenment emancipation, Marxism) that had formed an essential part of modernity. Lyotard is describing a global condition - skepticism towards metanarratives in postmodernity - or prescribing such skepticism - his critics pointing out the awkward fact for a descriptive viewpoint that clearly meta-narratives continue to play a major role in the current (postmodern) world. Critics have also argued that, in so far as one of Lyotard's targets was Science, he was mistaken in thinking science relies on a grand narrative for social and epistemic validation, rather than upon the accumulation of many lesser narrative successes.

Hubert Dreyfus

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_Dreyfus - an American philosopher and professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. His main interests include phenomenology, existentialism and the philosophy of both psychology and literature, as well as the philosophical implications of artificial intelligence. Dreyfus is known for his exegesis of Martin Heidegger, which critics labeled "Dreydegger".

Communicative action



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicative_action - The theory of communicative action is a critical project which reconstructs a concept of reason which is not grounded in instrumental or objectivistic terms, but rather in an emancipatory communicative act. This reconstruction proposes "human action and understanding can be fruitfully analysed as having a linguistic structure", and each utterance relies upon the anticipation of freedom from unnecessary domination. These linguistic structures of communication can be used to establish a normative understanding of society. This conception of society is used "to make possible a conceptualization of the social-life context that is tailored to the paradoxes of modernity."
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicative_rationality - Communicative rationality, or communicative reason, is a theory or set of theories which describes human rationality as a necessary outcome of successful communication. In particular, it is tied to the philosophy of Karl-Otto Apel, Jürgen Habermas, and their program of universal pragmatics, along with its related theories such as those on discourse ethics and rational reconstruction. This view of reason is concerned with clarifying the norms and procedures by which agreement can be reached, and is therefore a view of reason as a form of public justification. According to the theory of communicative rationality, the potential for certain kinds of reason is inherent in communication itself. Building from this, Habermas has tried to formalize that potential in explicit terms. According to Habermas, the phenomena that need to be accounted for by the theory are the "intuitively mastered rules for reaching an understanding and conducting argumentation", possessed by subjects who are capable of speech and action. The goal is to transform this implicit "know-how" into explicit "know-that", i.e. knowledge, about how we conduct ourselves in the realm of "moral-practical" reasoning. The result of the theory is a conception of reason that Habermas sees as doing justice to the most important trends in twentieth century philosophy, while escaping the relativism which characterizes postmodernism, and also providing necessary standards for critical evaluation.


Digital literacies

See Digital literacy


Training

Skills <-> Literacies

  • Attention
  • Participation
  • Cooperation
  • Critical consumption (crap detection)
  • Network awareness

Information architecture;

  • Profiles
  • Groups
  • Assets
  • Information
  • Links and tags
  • Information
  • Products, services


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6UKWozzVRM

https://www.reddit.com/r/youtubehaiku/comments/33rs10/haiku_the_memer/

Politics

See Politics


Organisation

See also Organisation

Networks

See also Organising#Collaboration

Integral theory

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral_(spirituality) - Integral is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in philosophy, psychology, spirituality, and many other areas regarding a comprehensive synthesizing transdisciplinary framework or multidimensional perspective to a given field. The term is often combined with others such as approach, consciousness, culture, paradigm, philosophy, society, theory, and worldview. Major themes of this range of philosophies and teachings include a synthesis of science and religion, evolutionary spirituality, and holistic programs of development for the body, mind, soul, and spirit.

In some versions of integral spirituality, integration is seen to necessarily include the three domains of self, culture, and nature. Integral thinkers draw inspiration from the work of Sri Aurobindo, Don Beck, Jean Gebser, Robert Kegan, Ken Wilber, and others. Some individuals affiliated with integral spirituality have claimed that there exists a loosely-defined "Integral movement". Others, however, have disagreed. Whatever its status as a "movement", there are a variety of religious organizations, think tanks, conferences, workshops, and publications in the US and internationally that use the term integral.

Integral thought is claimed to provide "a new understanding of how evolution affects the development of consciousness and culture." It includes areas such as business, education, medicine, spirituality, sports, psychology and psychotherapy. The idea of the evolution of consciousness has also become a central theme in much of integral theory. According to the Integral Transformative Practice website, integral means "dealing with the body, mind, heart, and soul."

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral_theory - a philosophy with origins in the work of Sri Aurobindo and Jean Gebser, and promoted by Ken Wilber, seeks a synthesis of the best of pre-modern, modern, and postmodern reality. It is portrayed as a "theory of everything," and offers an approach "to draw together an already existing number of separate paradigms into an interrelated network of approaches that are mutually enriching." It has been applied by scholar-practitioners in 35 distinct academic and professional domains as varied as organizational management and art. It initially started as a theoretical transpersonal psychology that attempted to synthesize Western and non-Western understandings of consciousness with notions of biological, mental, and divine evolution. Wilber has since distanced himself from transpersonal psychology and Integral Theory has turned into an emerging field of academic discourse and research focused on the complex interactions of ontology, epistemology, and methodology. However, there is ongoing discussion surrounding its standing in academia. Integral Theory has been applied in a variety of different domains: integral art, integral ecology, integral economics, integral politics, integral psychology, integral spirituality, and many others. Researchers have also developed applications in areas such as leadership, coaching, and organization development.
Practices


"The Integral view leads to an entirely new approach to metaphysics that is actually post-metaphysics, in that it requires none of the traditional baggage of metaphysics (such as postulating the existence of pre-existing ontological structures of a Platonic, archetypal, Patanjali, or YogacharaBuddhist variety), and yet it can generate those structures if needed (as I will try to demonstrate later). This Integral Post-Metaphysics replaces perceptions with perspectives, and thus re-defines the manifest realm as the realm of perspectives, not things nor events nor structures nor processes nor systems nor vasanas nor archetypes nor dharmas, because all of those are perspectives before they are anything else, and cannot be adopted or even stated without first assuming a perspective."

"Integral Methodological Pluralism is one way of handling those difficult issues. It explicitly finds room for premodern truths, modern truths, and postmodern truths, all in an integral framework not of conclusions, but of perspectives and methodologies. Moreover, it doesn’t “cheat” by watering down the various truths in such a horrid way that they are hardly recognizable. It takes all of those truths more or less as it finds them. The only thing it alters is their claim to absoluteness, and any scaffolding (and metaphysics) meant to justify that unjustifiable claim. Moreover, in ways we will return to later (when this will make more sense to an introductory reader), Integral Methodological Pluralism can reconstruct the important truths ofthe contemplative traditions but without the metaphysical systems that would not survive modernist and postmodernist critiques, elements it turns out they don’t really need, anyway.

Newer metaphors;

  • Lines = streams
  • Levels = waves.
Quadrants


"The quadrants are the inside and the outside view (or perspective) of the individual and the collective. ... We often refer to any event as a holon — a 'whole/part', or a whole that is a part of other wholes ... If you imagine any of the phenomena (or holons) in the various quadrants, you can look at them from their own inside or outside. This gives you 8 primordial perspectives ... We inhabit these 8 spaces, these zones, these life worlds, as practical realities. Each of these zones is not just a perspective, but an action,an injunction,a concrete set of actions in a real world zone. Each injunction brings forth or discloses the phenomena that are apprehended through the various perspectives. The "address" of a holon in the AQAL matrix as address = altitude + perspective, where altitude means degree of development and perspective means the perspective or quadrant it is in."

  • UL - singular interior - i - subjective - introspection, phenomenology / structuralism, hetrophenomenology, psychology, etc.
  • UR - singular exterior - we - objective - autopoiesis (cognitive science) / empiricism, neurophysiology, etc.
  • LL - plural interior - it - intersubjective - hermenutics / anthropology, ethnomethodology, etc.
  • LR - plural exterior - its - interobjective - social autopoiesis / systems theory


to sort

Spiral Dynamics

to sort

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structuralism - argued that human culture may be understood by means of a structure—modeled on language (i.e., structural linguistics)—that differs from concrete reality and from abstract ideas—a "third order" that mediates between the two






  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_constructionism - theory of knowledge of the fields of both Sociology and Communication that examines the development of jointly constructed understandings of the world. It assumes that understanding, significance, and meaning are developed not separately within the individual, but in coordination with other human beings. The elements most important to the theory are (a) the assumption that human beings rationalize their experience by creating a model of the social world and how it functions and, (b) that language is the most essential system through which humans construct reality



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_theory - the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for analyzing literature. However, literary scholarship since the 19th century often includes—in addition to, or even instead of literary theory in the strict sense—considerations of intellectual history, moral philosophy, social prophecy, and other interdisciplinary themes which are of relevance to the way humans interpret meaning. In humanities in modern academia, the latter style of scholarship is an outgrowth of critical theory and is often called simply "theory." As a consequence, the word "theory" has become an umbrella term for a variety of scholarly approaches to reading texts. Many of these approaches are informed by various strands of Continental philosophy and sociology.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narratology - refers to both the theory and the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception. While in principle the word may refer to any systematic study of narrative, in practice its usage is rather more restricted.[citation needed] It is an anglicisation of French narratologie, coined by Tzvetan Todorov (Grammaire du Décaméron, 1969). Narratology is applied retrospectively as well to work predating its coinage. Its theoretical lineage is traceable to Aristotle (Poetics) but modern narratology is agreed to have begun with the Russian Formalists, particularly Vladimir Propp (Morphology of the Folktale, 1928).


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intertextuality - the shaping of a text's meaning by another text. Intertextual figures include: allusion, quotation, calque, plagiarism, translation, pastiche and parody. An example of intertextuality is an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another. The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed and transformed many times since it was coined by poststructuralist Julia Kristeva in 1966. As philosopher William Irwin wrote, the term “has come to have almost as many meanings as users, from those faithful to Kristeva’s original vision to those who simply use it as a stylish way of talking about allusion and influence.”





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramaturgy_(sociology) - a sociological perspective starting from symbolic interactionism and commonly used in microsociological accounts of social interaction in everyday life, a theatrical metaphor in defining the method in which one human being presents itself to another based on cultural values, norms, and expectations


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_turn - predominantly describes a movement beginning in the early 1970s among scholars in the humanities and social sciences to make culture the focus of contemporary debates; it also describes a shift in emphasis toward meaning and away from a positivist epistemology. The cultural turn is described in 2005 by Lynette Spillman and Mark D. Jacobs as "one of the most influential trends in the humanities and social sciences in the last generation."[1] A prominent historiographer argues that the cultural turn involved a “wide array of new theoretical impulses coming from fields formerly peripheral to the social sciences,”[2] especially post-structuralism, cultural studies, literary criticism, and various forms of linguistic analysis, which emphasized “the causal and socially constitutive role of cultural processes and systems of signification.”



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standpoint_theory - a postmodern method for analyzing inter-subjective discourses. This body of work concerns the ways that authority is rooted in individuals' knowledge (their perspectives), and the power that such authority exerts.

Standpoint theory's most important concept is that an individual's own perspectives are shaped by his or her social and political experiences. Standpoints are multifaceted rather than essentializing: while Hispanic women may generally share some perspectives, particularly with regard to ethnicity or sex, they are not defined solely by their participation in these categories. The amalgamation of a person's many experienced dimensions form a standpoint--a point of view--through which that individual sees and understands the world.

Standpoint theorists emphasize the utility of a naturalistic, or everyday experiential, concept of knowing (i.e., epistemology). One's standpoint (whether reflexively considered or not) shapes which concepts are intelligible, which claims are heard and understood by whom, which features of the world are perceptually salient, which reasons are understood to be relevant and forceful, and which conclusions credible.

Standpoint theory supports what feminist theorist Sandra Harding calls strong objectivity, or the notion that the perspectives of marginalized and/or oppressed individuals can help to create more objective accounts of the world. Through the outsider-within phenomenon, these individuals are placed in a unique position to point to patterns of behavior that those immersed in the dominant group culture are unable to recognize. Standpoint theory gives voice to the marginalized groups by allowing them to challenge the status quo as the outsider within. The status quo representing the dominant white male position of privilege.

The predominant culture in which all groups exist is not experienced in the same way by all persons or groups. The views of those who belong to groups with more social power are validated more than those in marginalized groups. Those in marginalized groups must learn to be bicultural, or to "pass" in the dominant culture to survive, even though that perspective is not their own. For persons of color, in an effort to help organizations achieve their diversity initiatives, there is an expectation that they will check their color at the door in order to assimilate into the existing culture and discursive practices.

Intersectionality

underdone



  • Transformative Paradigm - Mixed Methods and Social Justice - The transformative paradigm with its associated philosophical assumptions provides a framework for addressing inequality and injustice in society using culturally competent, mixed methods strategies. The recognition that realities are constructed and shaped by social, political, cultural, economic, and racial/ethnic values indicates that power and privilege are important determinants of which reality will be privileged in a research context.

Humanism

Edinburgh

Scotland

UK

Europe

Social sites

Education


Feminism




Articles

Race

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racialization - the processes of ascribing ethnic or racial identities to a relationship, social practice, or group that did not identify itself as such. Racialization and ethnicization is often born out of the interaction of a group with a group that it dominates and ascribes identity for the purpose of continued domination. While it is often born out of domination, the racialized and ethnicized group often gradually identifies with and even embraces the ascribed identity and thus becomes a self-ascribed race or ethnicity. These processes have been common across the history of imperialism, nationalism, and racial and ethnic hierarchies.



Queer


  • The Qouch is the Queer Psychoanalysis Society’s publishing platform. We are a network of scholars, writers, and students invested in researching and promoting psychoanalytic methodologies for the study of queer culture and identity. By “queer” we do not limit our scope to gay and lesbian culture, but instead we aim to broaden the concept of queer to encompass all non-normative social practices. We recognize the role that innovations in psychoanalytic theory has played in the development and theorization of queer identity over the course of the past century, from Freud’s concept of polymorphous perversity that posits all subjects begin in a pre-hetero/homo queer state to Lacan’s split subject for whom there is no natural complimentarity between the object and the aim of desire in the symbolic. Our network aims to bring attention to new work in the fields of psychoanalysis and queer theory and to encourage their cross-pollination through communication across disciplines. The Queer Psychoanalysis Society does not endorse any one methodology over others, nor do we adhere dogmatically to every psychoanalytic principle. Rather, we believe that all methodologies should be held to a critical lens and that a constructive discourse woven out of multiple perspectives will expand the horizons of psychoanalytic and queer inquiry.

LGBT




GSM = gender and sexual minorities


Non-binary


Trans / gender



BDSM

Porn


Death

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charnel_ground - in concrete terms, is an above-ground site for the putrefaction of bodies, generally human, where formerly living tissue is left to decompose uncovered. understood as a polysemy and metaphor, it must be emphasized that holy people as part of their sadhana and natural spiritual evolution grappling with death, impermanence and transition, full of profound transpersonal significance, representing the 'death of ego'
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aghori


Death Cafe

to do away with an merge with above section

to sort

See also Organisation, Economics



  • It’s okay to say “I Don’t Know” - I started asking questions. The more I asked, the more I would keep asking. Asking questions helped me get answers in minutes and not hours or days. Asking questions made me more productive. Eventually, I grew to very comfortably saying “I don’t know…” to anyone from the UPS guy at the front door to the CEO. “I don’t know… but I will find out.”
  • Zen & the art of startup advice - There is a self-contracting mantra that I keep in the back of my mind. The goal is to remind myself of the shades of grey, of the inherent contradictions in any situation, and to smooth out the roller-coaster of emotions, emotions which are just as dangerous when things are going well as they are when things are going poorly. The mantra goes something like this: "Things are much worse than they seem, also, things are much better than they seem."


  • Xenopsychology - Robert A. Freitas Jr., Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact, Vol. 104, April 1984, pp 41-53


Nonverbal

to move

See also Mind#Emotions, Mind#Somatic


Ethics

  • The Role of Conscious Reasoning and Intuition in Moral Judgment - Testing Three Principles of Harm - Fiery Cushman, Liane Young, and Marc Hauser - Psychology, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Biological Anthropology, Harvard University. Is moral judgement accomplished by intuition or conscious reasoning? An answer demands a detailed account of the moral principles in question. We investigated three principles that guide moral judgments: (a) Harm caused by action is worse than harm caused by omission, (b) harm intended as the means to a goal is worse than harm foreseen as the side effect of a goal, and (c) harm involving physical contact with the victim is worse than harm involving no physical contact. Asking whether these principles are invoked to explain moral judgments, we found that subjects generally appealed to the first and third principles in their justifications, but not to the second. This finding has significance for methods and theories of moral psychology: The moral principles used in judgment must be directly compared with those articulated in justification, and doing so shows that some moral principles are available to conscious reasoning whereas others are not.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_psychology - field of study in both philosophy and psychology. Some use the term "moral psychology" relatively narrowly to refer to the study of moral development. However, others tend to use the term more broadly to include any topics at the intersection of ethics, psychology, and philosophy of mind. Some of the main topics of the field are moral judgment, moral reasoning, moral responsibility, moral development, moral diversity, moral character (especially as related to virtue ethics), altruism, psychological egoism, moral luck, and moral disagreement.





(Graham Clark) "You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." [M. Cole]




There is a quite interesting book where the author (John Day) shares an inside view about the OSI committees back in the 70's and 80's, and its endless discussions: "Patterns in Network Architecture: A Return to Fundamentals" [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hairy_ball_theorem


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_skepticism - class of metaethical theories all members of which entail that no one has any moral knowledge. Many moral skeptics also make the stronger, modal, claim that moral knowledge is impossible. Moral skepticism is particularly opposed to moral realism: the view that there are knowable, objective moral truths.

Cognitivism

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_realism - the position that ethical sentences express propositions that refer to objective features of the world (that is, features independent of subjective opinion), some of which propositions may be true to the extent that they report those features accurately. This makes moral realism a non-nihilist form of ethical cognitivism with an ontological orientation, standing in opposition to all forms of moral anti-realism and moral skepticism, including ethical subjectivism (which denies that moral propositions refer to objective facts), error theory (which denies that any moral propositions are true); and non-cognitivism (which denies that moral sentences express propositions at all). Within moral realism, the two main subdivisions are ethical naturalism and ethical non-naturalism.








to sort into;

Normative ethics

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normative_ethics - The study of ethical action. It is the branch of philosophical ethics that investigates the set of questions that arise when considering how one ought to act, morally speaking. Normative ethics is distinct from meta-ethics because it examines standards for the rightness and wrongness of actions, while meta-ethics studies the meaning of moral language and the metaphysics of moral facts. Normative ethics is also distinct from descriptive ethics, as the latter is an empirical investigation of people’s moral beliefs. To put it another way, descriptive ethics would be concerned with determining what proportion of people believe that killing is always wrong, while normative ethics is concerned with whether it is correct to hold such a belief. Hence, normative ethics is sometimes called prescriptive, rather than descriptive. However, on certain versions of the meta-ethical view called moral realism, moral facts are both descriptive and prescriptive at the same time. Most traditional moral theories rest on principles that determine whether an action is right or wrong. Classical theories in this vein include utilitarianism, Kantianism, and some forms of contractarianism. These theories mainly offered overarching moral principles to use to resolve difficult moral decisions.


Virtue ethics
Hedonism
Stoicism


  • PTypes - This website is dedicated to the study and practice of Stoicism. Grant Sterling.



Epicureanism
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicureanism - A system of philosophy based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Following Aristippus—about whom very little is known—Epicurus believed that what he called "pleasure" is the greatest good, but the way to attain such pleasure is to live modestly and to gain knowledge of the workings of the world and the limits of one's desires. This led one to attain a state of tranquility (ataraxia) and freedom from fear, as well as absence of bodily pain (aponia). The combination of these two states is supposed to constitute happiness in its highest form. Although Epicureanism is a form of hedonism, insofar as it declares pleasure to be the sole intrinsic good, its conception of absence of pain as the greatest pleasure and its advocacy of a simple life make it different from "hedonism" as it is commonly understood.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrapharmakos - Epicurus' (341 BC, Samos – 270 BC, Athens) recipe for leading the happiest possible life. The "tetrapharmakos" was originally a compound of four drugs (wax, tallow, pitch and resin); the word has been used metaphorically by Epicurus and his disciples to refer to the four remedies for healing the soul.
Don't fear god,
Don't worry about death;
What is good is easy to get, and
What is terrible is easy to endure
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metakosmia - the relatively empty spaces in the infinite void where worlds had not been formed by the joining together of the atoms through their endless motion. Epicurus held that the metakosmia were the abode of the gods, whom he considered to be immortal and blissful living beings made of atoms.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_rerum_natura - (On the Nature of Things) is a first-century BC didactic poem by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius (c. 99 BC – c. 55 BC) with the goal of explaining Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. The poem, written in some 7,400 dactylic hexameters, is divided into six untitled books, and explores Epicurean physics through richly poetic language and metaphors. Lucretius presents the principles of atomism; the nature of the mind and soul; explanations of sensation and thought; the development of the world and its phenomena; and explains a variety of celestial and terrestrial phenomena. The universe described in the poem operates according to these physical principles, guided by fortuna, "chance," and not the divine intervention of the traditional Roman deities.
  • On the Nature of Things - Full Audiobook
Deontological
Consequentialism
Utilitarianism
Atruism
Egoism
Pragmatic
Care
  • Relation, Virtue, and Relational Virtue: Three Concepts of Caring - This essay breaks new ground in defending the view that contemporary care-based ethics and early Confucian ethics share some important common ground. Luo also introduces the notion of relational virtue in an attempt to bridge a conceptual gap between relational caring ethics and agent-based virtue ethics, and to make the connections between the ethics of care and Confucian ethics philosophically clearer and more defensible.
Role

Applied ethics

Descriptive ethics

Argumentation ethics

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argumentation_ethics - Argumentation ethics is a libertarian political theory first described in 1988 by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, a Professor Emeritus with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas College of Business and Ludwig von Mises Institute Senior Fellow. Hoppe says his theory proves that arguing for any political position other than libertarian anarchism is logically inconsistent. He describes his argument as a strictly logical, value-free consequence of sound deductive reasoning. Responses have come mainly from Hoppe's Mises Institute colleagues, among whom the argument's reception has been mixed.

Hoppe states that his theory is an a priori, value-free praxeological argument for deontological libertarian ethics. Argumentation ethics asserts the non-aggression principle is a presupposition of every argument and so cannot be logically denied during an argument. Argumentation ethics draws on ideas from Jürgen Habermas's and Karl-Otto Apel's discourse ethics, from Misesian praxeology and from the political philosophy of Murray Rothbard.

Hoppe first notes that when two parties are in conflict with one another, they can choose to resolve the conflict by engaging in violence, or engaging in argumentation. In the event that they choose to engage in argumentation, Hoppe asserts that the parties have implicitly rejected violence as a way to resolve their conflict. He therefore concludes that non-violence is an underlying norm (Grundnorm) of argumentation that is accepted by both parties.

Hoppe states that because both parties propound propositions in the course of argumentation, and because argumentation presupposes various norms including non-violence, the act of propounding a proposition that negates the presupposed propositions of argumentation is a logical contradiction between one's actions and one's words (this is called a performative contradiction). Specifically, to argue that violence should be used to resolve conflicts (instead of argumentation) is a performative contradiction.

Nonviolence


Its

See also Maths

Systems

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking - sometimes used as a broad catch-all heading for the process of understanding how systems behave, interact with their environment and influence each other. The term is also used more narrowly as a heading for thinking about social organisations, be they natural or designed, healthy or unhealthy. Often the focus is on a government or business organisation that is viewed as containing people, processes and technologies.

Systems thinking has been applied to problem solving, by viewing "problems" as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific parts, outcomes or events and potentially contributing to further development of unintended consequences. Systems thinking is not one thing but a set of habits or practices within a framework that is based on the belief that the component parts of a system can best be understood in the context of relationships with each other and with other systems, rather than in isolation. Systems thinking focuses on cyclical rather than linear cause and effect.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_science - an interdisciplinary field that studies the nature of complex systems in nature, society, and science itself. It aims to develop interdisciplinary foundations that are applicable in a variety of areas, such as engineering, biology, medicine, and social sciences. Systems science covers formal sciences such as complex systems, cybernetics, dynamical systems theory, and systems theory, and applications in the field of the natural and social sciences and engineering, such as control theory, operations research, social systems theory, systems biology, systems dynamics, systems ecology, systems engineering and systems psychology.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopoiesis - (from Greek αὐτo- (auto-), meaning "self", and ποίησις (poiesis), meaning "creation, production") refers to a system capable of reproducing and maintaining itself. The term was introduced in 1972 by Chilean biologists Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela to define the self-maintaining chemistry of living cells.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_psychology - a branch of both theoretical psychology and applied psychology that studies human behaviour and experience in complex systems. It is inspired by systems theory and systems thinking, and based on the theoretical work of Roger Barker, Gregory Bateson, Humberto Maturana and others. Groups and individuals are considered as systems in homeostasis. Alternative terms here are "systemic psychology", "systems behavior", and "systems-based psychology".
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeostasis - the property of a system in which variables are regulated so that internal conditions remain stable and relatively constant. Examples of homeostasis include the regulation of temperature and the balance between acidity and alkalinity (pH). It is a process that maintains the stability of the human body's internal environment in response to changes in external conditions. The concept was described by Claude Bernard in 1865 and the word was coined by Walter Bradford Cannon in 1926, 1929 and 1932. Although the term was originally used to refer to processes within living organisms, it is frequently applied to automatic control systems such as thermostats. Homeostasis requires a sensor to detect changes in the condition to be regulated, an effector mechanism that can vary that condition; and a negative feedback connection between the two.

















Technology

See also Language, Media, New media, Open social, Organisation

See Digital literacy

General







Support

See also Distros#Repair

Blogging


Business

Law


Speculative

Futurist

futurist philosophy proper isn't properly relational, heh



The abolitionist project is hugely ambitious but technically feasible. It is also instrumentally rational and morally urgent. The metabolic pathways of pain and malaise evolved because they served the fitness of our genes in the ancestral environment. They will be replaced by a different sort of neural architecture - a motivational system based on heritable gradients of bliss. States of sublime well-being are destined to become the genetically pre-programmed norm of mental health. It is predicted that the world's last unpleasant experience will be a precisely dateable event.

Two hundred years ago, powerful synthetic pain-killers and surgical anesthetics were unknown. The notion that physical pain could be banished from most people's lives would have seemed absurd. Today most of us in the developed world take its routine absence for granted. The prospect that what we describe as psychological pain, too, could be banished is equally counter-intuitive. The feasibility of its abolition turns its deliberate retention into an issue of social policy and ethical choice.

  • BLTC RESEARCH was founded in 1995 to promote paradise-engineering. We are dedicated to an ambitious global technology project. BLTC seek to abolish the biological substrates of suffering. Not just in humans, but in all sentient life.

to sort



cu


blergh

Seee also Organisation

Spirituality, mysticism and esoteric

to sort and integrate with above!!

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality - Traditionally spirituality has been defined as a process of personal transformation in accordance with religious ideals. Since the 19th century spirituality is often separated from religion, and has become more oriented on subjective experience and psychological growth. It may refer to almost any kind of meaningful activity or blissful experience, but without a single, widely-agreed definition.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_formation -the growth and development of the whole person by an intentional focus on one’s spiritual and interior life, interactions with others in ordinary life, and spiritual practices (prayer, the study of scripture, fasting, simplicity, solitude, confession, worship, etc.).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_evolution - the philosophical, theological, esoteric or spiritual idea that nature and human beings and/or human culture evolve, extending from the established cosmological pattern or ascent, or in accordance with certain pre-established potentials. It is synonymous with "higher evolution", a term used to differentiate psychological, mental, or spiritual evolution from the "lower" or biological evolution of physical form.

The concept of spiritual evolution is also complemented by the idea of a creative impulse in human beings, known as epigenesis.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_direction - the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine, or to learn and grow in their own personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of his or her encounters of the divine, or how he or she is experiencing spiritual issues. The director listens and asks questions to assist the directee in his or her process of reflection and spiritual growth. Spiritual direction develops a deeper relationship with the spiritual aspect of being human. It is not psychotherapy, counseling, or financial planning.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_(philosophy) - the concept of an unconditional reality which transcends limited, conditional, everyday existence. It is sometimes used as an alternate term for "God" or "the Divine" especially, but by no means exclusively, by those who feel that the term "God" lends itself too easily to anthropomorphic presumptions. The concept of The Absolute may or may not (depending on one's specific doctrine) possess discrete will, intelligence, awareness, or a personal nature. It is sometimes conceived of as the source through which all being emanates.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panpsychism - the view that mind or soul (Greek: ψυχή) is a universal feature of all things, and the primordial feature from which all others are derived. The panpsychist sees him or herself as a mind in a world of minds.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anima_mundi - world soul (Greek: ψυχὴ κόσμου, Latin: anima mundi) is, according to several systems of thought, an intrinsic connection between all living things on the planet, which relates to our world in much the same way as the soul is connected to the human body. The idea originated with Plato and was an important component of most Neoplatonic systems:

Therefore, we may consequently state that: this world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence ... a single visible living entity containing all other living entities, which by their nature are all related. The Stoics believed it to be the only vital force in the universe. Similar concepts also hold in systems of eastern philosophy in the Brahman-Atman of Hinduism, the Buddha-Nature in Mahayana Buddhism, and in the School of Yin-Yang, Taoism, and Neo-Confucianism as qi. Other resemblances can be found in the thoughts of hermetic philosophers like Paracelsus, and by Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz, Friedrich Schelling and in Hegel's Geist ("Spirit"/"Mind"). There are also similarities with ideas developed since the 1960s by Gaia theorists such as James Lovelock.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheism - the belief that the universe (or nature as the totality of everything) is identical with divinity, or that everything composes an all-encompassing, immanent God. Pantheists thus do not believe in a distinct personal or anthropomorphic god. Some Eastern religions are considered to be pantheistically inclined. Pantheism was popularized in the West as both a theology and philosophy based on the work of the 17th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza, whose book Ethics was an answer to Descartes' famous dualist theory that the body and spirit are separate.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_mind - the universal higher consciousness or source of being in some forms of esoteric or New Thought and spiritual philosophy. It may be considered synonymous with the subjective mind or it may be referred to in the context of creative visualization, usually with religious or spiritual themes. The word originally derived from Hegel.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_consciousness - book written by Richard Maurice Bucke, a Canadian psychiatrist. In this book, he explored the concept of Cosmic Consciousness, which he defined as "a higher form of consciousness than that possessed by the ordinary man.". "This consciousness shows the cosmos to consist not of dead matter governed by unconscious, rigid, and unintending law; it shows it on the contrary as entirely immaterial, entirely spiritual and entirely alive; it shows that death is an absurdity, that everyone and everything has eternal life; it shows that the universe is God and that God is the universe, and that no evil ever did or ever will enter into it; a great deal of this is, of course, from the point of view of self consciousness, absurd; it is nevertheless undoubtedly true."
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transtheistic - coined by philosopher Paul Tillich or Indologist Heinrich Zimmer, referring to a system of thought or religious philosophy which is neither theistic, nor atheistic, but is beyond them. Zimmer applies the term to the theological system of Jainism, which is theistic in the limited sense that the gods exist, but become irrelevant as they are transcended by moksha (that is, a system which is not non-theistic, but in which the gods are not the highest spiritual instance). Zimmer (1953, p. 182) uses the term to describe the position of the Tirthankaras having passed "beyond the godly governors of the natural order".

The term has more recently also been applied to Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta and the Bhakti movement.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perennial_philosophy - also referred to as Perennialism, is a perspective within the philosophy of religion which views each of the world’s religious traditions as sharing a single, universal truth on which the foundation of all religious knowledge and doctrine has grown. The term philosophia perennis was first used by Agostino Steuco (1497–1548), drawing on the neo-Platonic philosophy of Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–94). In the early 19th century this idea was popularised by the Transcendentalists. By the end of the 19th century it was further popularized by the Theosophical Society, under the name of "Wisdom-Religion" or "Ancient Wisdom". In the 20th century it was popularized in the English speaking world through Aldous Huxley's book The Perennial Philosophy as well as the strands of thought which culminated in the New Age movement.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soteriology - is the study of religious doctrines of salvation. Salvation theory occupies a place of special significance and importance in many religions. In the academic field of religious studies, soteriology is understood by scholars as representing a key theme in a number of different religions and is often studied in a comparative context; that is, comparing various ideas about what salvation is and how it is obtained. Broadly speaking, religious traditions have either fallen into the category of advocating universal salvation, in which believers hold a generally optimistic view that humanity as whole will eventually receive a positive afterlife free of suffering (this is commonly held by Buddhists and Jews, for example), or advocating special salvation, in which believers hold a generally pessimistic view that the vast majority of humanity will either be destroyed forever or will be condemned to eternal torment with only a small few finding eternal peace (this is traditionally held in Christianity).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncretism - is the combining of different, often seemingly contradictory beliefs, while melding practices of various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merger and analogizing of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths. Syncretism also occurs commonly in expressions of arts and culture (known as eclecticism) as well as politics (syncretic politics).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendentalism - a religious and philosophical movement that was developed during the late 1820s and 1830s in the Eastern region of the United States as a protest against the general state of spirituality and, in particular, the state of intellectualism at Harvard University and the doctrine of the Unitarian church taught at Harvard Divinity School. Among the transcendentalists' core beliefs was the inherent goodness of both people and nature. Transcendentalists believe that society and its institutions—particularly organized religion and political parties—ultimately corrupt the purity of the individual. They have faith that people are at their best when truly "self-reliant" and independent. It is only from such real individuals that true community could be formed.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualism - a belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living. Spiritism, a branch of Spiritualism developed by Allan Kardec and today found mostly in continental Europe and Latin America, especially Brazil, has emphasised reincarnation. Spiritualism developed and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in English-speaking countries. By 1897, it was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes. The religion flourished for a half century without canonical texts or formal organization, attaining cohesion through periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings, and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums. Many prominent Spiritualists were women, and like most Spiritualists, supported causes such as the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage. By the late 1880s the credibility of the informal movement had weakened due to accusations of fraud being perpetrated by mediums, and formal Spiritualist organizations began to appear. Spiritualism is currently practiced primarily through various denominational Spiritualist churches in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom.


The contemporary interest in the empirical research of mysticism can be traced to Stace’s (Stace, 1960) demarcation of the phenomenological characteristics of mystical experiences (Hood, 1975). In Stace’s conceptualization, mystical experiences had five characteristics (Hood, 1985, p.176):

1. The mystical experience is noetic. The person having the experience perceives it as a valid source of knowledge and not just a subjective experience. 2. The mystical experience is ineffable, it cannot simply be described in words. 3. The mystical experience is holy. While this is the religious aspect of the experience it is not necessarily expressed in any particular theological terms. 4. The mystical experience is profound yet enjoyable and characterized by positive affect. 5. The mystical experience is paradoxical. It defies logic. Further analysis of reported mystical experiences suggests that the one essential feature of mysticism is an experience of unity (Hood, 1985). The experience of unity involves a process of ego loss and is generally expressed in one of three ways (Hood, 1 976a). The ego is absorbed into that which transcends it, or an inward process by which the ego gains pure awareness of self, or a combination of the two.









Myth






Animism

Shamanism

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_shamanism - used to designate a particular version of shamanism practiced in Mongolia and Siberia which incorporates rituals and traditions from Buddhism. "Yellow" indicates Buddhism in Mongolia, since most Buddhists there belong to what is called the "Yellow sect" of Tibetan Buddhism, whose members wear yellow hats during services.[1] The term also serves to distinguish it from a form of shamanism not influenced by Buddhism (according to its adherents), called "black shamanism"



Early

to resort

Zoroastrianism

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism - also called Zarathustraism, Mazdaism and Magianism, is an ancient Iranian religion and a religious philosophy. Zoroastrianism arose in the eastern region of the ancient Persian Empire, when the religious philosopher Zoroaster simplified the pantheon of early Iranian gods into two opposing forces: Spenta Mainyu (Progressive mentality) and Angra Mainyu (Destructive Mentality) under the one God, Ahura Mazda (Illuminating Wisdom). Zoroaster's ideas led to a formal religion bearing his name by about the 6th century BCE and have influenced other later religions including Judaism, Gnosticism, Christianity and Islam.

Greek mythology

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Olympians - major deities of the Greek pantheon, commonly considered to be Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes and either Hestia, or Dionysus. Hades and Persephone were sometimes included as part of the twelve Olympians (primarily due to the influence of the Eleusinian Mysteries), although in general Hades was excluded, because he resided permanently in the underworld and never visited Olympus. The Olympians mostly included members of the third generation of the Greeks gods, descending from the Titans.

Eastern


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sramana - a non-Vedic Indian religious movement parallel to but separate from the historical Vedic religion. The Śramaṇa tradition gave rise to Yoga, Jainism, Buddhism, and some nāstika schools of Hinduism such as Cārvāka and Ājīvika, and also popular concepts in all major Indian religions such as saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death) and moksha (liberation from that cycle).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana - used in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. It leads to moksha, liberation from samsara, or release from a state of suffering, after an often lengthy period of bhāvanā or sādhanā.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Āstika_and_nāstika - technical terms in Hinduism used to classify philosophical schools and persons, according to whether they accept the authority of the Vedas as supreme revealed scriptures, or not, respectively. Similar to the orthodox/heterodox distinction in the West.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sūtra - a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a text in Hinduism or Buddhism. The Pali form of the word, sutta is used exclusively to refer to the scriptures of the early Pali Canon, the only texts recognized by Theravada Buddhism as canonical.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtamangala - a sacred suite of Eight Auspicious Signs endemic to a number of Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. The symbols or "symbolic attributes" are yidam and teaching tools. Not only do these attributes, these energetic signatures, point to qualities of enlightened mindstream, but they are the investiture that ornaments these enlightened "qualities"
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sādhanā - "a means of accomplishing something", an ego-transcending spiritual practice, found in Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and Muslim practices that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sādhu - a religious ascetic or holy person, dedicated to achieving mokṣa (liberation), the fourth and final aśrama (stage of life), through meditation and contemplation of brahman. the vast majority of sādhus are yogīs, not all yogīs are sādhus.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahimsa - meaning 'to not injure'. The word is derived from the Sanskrit root hiṃs – to strike; hiṃsā is injury or harm, a-hiṃsā is the opposite of this, i.e. cause no injury, do no harm. Ahimsa is also referred to as nonviolence, and it applies to all living beings including animals according to many Indian religions. Ahimsa is one of the cardinal virtues and an important tenet of major Indian religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism). Ahimsa is a multidimensional concept, inspired by the premise that all living beings have the spark of the divine spiritual energy, to hurt another being is to hurt oneself. Ahimsa has also been related to the notion that any violence has karmic consequences. While ancient scholars of Hinduism pioneered and over time perfected the principles of Ahimsa, the concept reached an extraordinary status in the ethical philosophy of Jainism. Most popularly, Mahatma Gandhi strongly believed in the principle of ahimsa.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vāsanā - a behavioural tendency or karmic imprint which influences the present behaviour of a person. It is a technical term in Dharmic Traditions, particularly Buddhist philosophy and Advaita Vedanta.


Hindu

See also Activities#Yoga

Texts


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhammasattha - the Pali name of a genre of literature found in the Indianized kingdoms of Western Indochina (modern Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Thailand, and Yunnan). historically related to Hindu dharmaśāstra literature, although they are very significantly influenced by the Theravada Buddhist traditions and literature of Southeast Asia.

Denominations

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pramana - Ancient and medieval Indian texts identify six pramanas as correct means of accurate knowledge and to truths: Pratyakṣa (perception), Anumāṇa (inference), Upamāṇa (comparison and analogy), Arthāpatti (postulation, derivation from circumstances), Anupalabdi (non-perception, negative/cognitive proof) and Śabda (word, testimony of past or present reliable experts). Each of these are further categorized in terms of conditionality, completeness, confidence and possibility of error, by each school of Indian philosophies.

The various schools of Indian philosophies vary on how many of these six are epistemically reliable and valid means to knowledge. For example, Carvaka school of Hinduism holds that only one (perception) is a reliable source of knowledge, Buddhism holds two (perception, inference) are valid means, Jainism holds three (perception, inference and testimony), while Mimamsa and Advaita Vedanta schools of Hinduism hold all six are useful and can be reliable means to knowledge. The various schools of Indian philosophy have debated whether one of the six forms of pramana can be derived from other, and the relative uniqueness of each. For example, Buddhism considers Buddha and other "valid persons", "valid scriptures" and "valid minds" as indisputable, but that such testimony is a form of perception and inference pramanas. The science and study of Pramanas is called Nyaya.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Āstika_and_nāstika - Āstika (Sanskrit: आस्तिक āstika; "it exists") and Nāstika (नास्तिक, nāstika; "it doesn't exist") are technical terms in Hinduism used to classify philosophical schools and persons, according to whether they accept the authority of the Vedas as supreme revealed scriptures, or not, respectively. By this definition, Nyāyá, Vaiśeṣika, Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā and Vedānta are classified as āstika schools; and some schools like Cārvāka, Ājīvika, Jainism and Buddhism are considered nāstika. The distinction is similar to the orthodox/heterodox distinction in the West.

Vedic

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhita - literally means "put together, joined, union" and "a methodically, rule-based combination of text or verses". Samhita also refer to the most ancient layer of text in the Vedas, consisting of mantras, hymns, prayers, litanies and benedictions.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda - a compound of "praise, verse" and veda "knowledge", is a sacred Indo-Aryan collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns still being used in India. It is counted among the four canonical sacred texts (śruti) of Hinduism known as the Vedas. It is one of the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language. Philological and linguistic evidence indicate that the Rigveda was composed in the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, most likely between c. 1500–1200 BCE, though a wider approximation of c. 1700–1100 BCE has also been given.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaveda - consists of a collection (samhita) of hymns, portions of hymns, and detached verses, all but 75 taken from the Sakala Sakha of the Rigveda, the other 75 belong to the Bashkala Sakha, to be sung, using specifically indicated melodies called Samagana, by Udgatar priests at sacrifices in which the juice of the Soma plant, clarified and mixed with milk and other ingredients, is offered in libation to various deities.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yajurveda - a tatpurusa compound of yajus "sacrificial formula" and veda "knowledge") is one of the four canonical texts of Hinduism, the Vedas. Estimated to have been mostly composed c. 1200 or 1000 BC, the Yajurveda Samhita, or "compilation", contains the liturgy (mantras) needed to perform the sacrifices of the historical Vedic religion, and the added Brahmana and Śrautasutra add information on the interpretation and on the details of their performance.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atharvaveda - The Atharvaveda, while undoubtedly belonging to the core Vedic corpus, in some ways represents an independent parallel tradition to that of the Rigveda and Yajurveda. The Atharvaveda is less predominant than other Vedas, as it is little used in solemn (Shrauta) ritual. The largely silent Brahmin priest observes the procedures of the ritual and "heals" it with two mantras and pouring of ghee when a mistake occurs.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhi - a Vedic Sanskrit word that means the intellectual faculty and the power to "form and retain concepts, reason, discern, judge, comprehend, understand". In Samkhya and yogic philosophy both the mind and the ego are forms in the realm of nature (prakriti) that have emerged into materiality as a function of the three gunas through a misapprehension of purusha (the consciousness-essence of the jivatman). Discriminative in nature (बुद्धि निश्चयात्मिका चित्त-वृत्ति), buddhi is that which is able to discern truth (satya) from falsehood and thereby to make wisdom possible.

Buddhi contrasts from manas which means "mind", and ahamkara which means "ego, I-sense in egotism".


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yajna - a ritual of offerings accompanied by chanting of Vedic and offering and sublimating the havana sámagri (herbal preparations) in the fire


Cosmology and gods

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purusha - In some lineages of Hinduism, Purusha (Sanskrit puruṣa, पुरुष "man, cosmic man", in Sutra literature also called puṃs "man") is the "Self" which pervades the universe. The Vedic divinities are interpretations of the many facets of Purusha. According to the Rigvedic Purusha sukta, Purusha was dismembered by the devas—his mind is the Moon, his eyes are the Sun, and his breath is the wind.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimurti - creation, maintenance, and destruction personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver and Shiva the destroyer or transformer.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manusmṛti - also known as Mānava-Dharmaśāstra मानवधर्मशास्त्र), is the most important and earliest metrical work of the Dharmaśāstra textual tradition of Hinduism. The text presents itself as a discourse given by Manu, the progenitor of mankind to a group of seers, or rishis, who beseech him to tell them the "law of all the social classes" (1.2). Manu became the standard point of reference for all future Dharmaśāstras that followed it. According to Hindu tradition, the Manu smruti records the words of Brahma.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahma - is the Hindu god (deva) of creation and one of the Trimūrti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahmā Purāņa, he is the father of Manu, and from Manu all human beings are descended. In the Rāmāyaņa and the Mahābhārata, he is often referred to as the progenitor or great grandsire of all human beings. He is not to be confused with the Supreme Cosmic Spirit in Hindu Vedānta philosophy known as Brahman, which is genderless. As per Hindu tradition, Vedas never were created by anyone. It always existed from time immemorial.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daksha - one of the sons of Lord Brahma, who, after creating the ten Manas Putras, created Daksha, Dharama, Kamadeva and Agni from his right thumb, chest, heart and eyebrows respectively. Besides his noble birth, Daksa was a great king. Pictures show him as a rotund and obese man with a stocky body, protruding belly, and muscular with the head of an ibex-like creature with spiral horns.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aditi - mother of the gods (devamatar) and all twelve zodiacal spirits from whose cosmic matrix the heavenly bodies were born. As celestial mother of every existing form and being, the synthesis of all things, she is associated with space (akasa) and with mystic speech (Vāc). She may be seen as a feminized form of Brahma and associated with the primal substance (mulaprakriti) in Vedanta. She is mentioned nearly 80 times in the Rigveda: the verse "Daksha sprang from Aditi and Aditi from Daksha" is seen by Theosophists as a reference to "the eternal cyclic re-birth of the same divine Essence" and divine wisdom. In contrast, the Puranas, such as the Shiva Purana and the Bhagavata Purana, suggest that Aditi is wife of sage Kashyap and gave birth to the Adityas such as Indra, Surya, and also Vamana.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu - the Supreme God of Vaishnavism, one of the three main sects of Hinduism. Vishnu is also known as Narayana and Hari. Lakshmi is the wife of Vishnu. The Vishnu Sahasranama declares Vishnu as Paramatman (supreme soul) and Parameshwara (supreme God). It describes Vishnu as the all-pervading essence of all beings, the master of—and beyond—the past, present and future, the creator and destroyer of all existences, one who supports, preserves, sustains and governs the universe and originates and develops all elements within.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardhanarishvara - composite androgynous form of the Hindu god Shiva and his consort Parvati, representing the synthesis of masculine and feminine energies of the universe, (Purusha and Prakriti) and illustrates how Shakti, the female principle of God, is inseparable from (or the same as, according to some interpretations) Shiva, the male principle of God


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devi - Sanskrit root-word of Divine, its related masculine term is Deva. Devi is synonymous with Shakti, the female aspect of the divine, as conceptualized by the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. She is the female counterpart without whom the male aspect, which represents consciousness or discrimination, remains impotent and void. Goddess worship is an integral part of Hinduism.

Devi is, quintessentially, the core form of every Hindu Goddess. As the female manifestation of the supreme lord, she is also called Prakriti, as she balances out the male aspect of the divine addressed Purusha. Devi or Durga is the supreme Being in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism, while in the Smartha tradition, she is one of the five primary forms of God. In other Hindu traditions of Shaivism and Vaishnavism, Devi embodies the active energy and power of male deities (Purushas), such as Vishnu in Vaishnavism or Shiva in Shaivism. Vishnu's shakti counterpart is called Lakshmi, with Parvati being the female shakti of Shiva.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali - also known as Kālikā (Sanskrit: कालिका), is the Hindu goddess associated with empowerment, shakti. She is the fierce aspect of the goddess Durga (Parvati). The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death: Shiva. Since Shiva is called Kāla— the eternal time — the name of Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" (as in "time has come"). Hence, Kāli is the Goddess of Time and Change. Although sometimes presented as dark and violent, her earliest incarnation as a figure of annihilation of evil forces still has some influence. Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman. She is also revered as Bhavatārini (literally "redeemer of the universe").
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrikas - (Matrika singular, Sanskrit: mātṝkā, मातृका "mother"), also called Matara (Sanskrit: mātaraḥ plural, मातरः) and Matri (mātṛ, मातृ singular), is a group of Hindu goddesses who are always depicted together. Since they are usually depicted as a heptad, they are called Saptamatrika(s) (Sanskrit: saptamātṝkāh, सप्तमातृका:, "seven mothers"): Brahmani, Vaishnavi, Maheshvari, Indrani, Kaumari, Varahi and Chamunda or Narasimhi. However, they may sometimes be eight (Ashtamatrika(s): ashtamātṝkāh, अष्टमातृका:, "eight mothers"). Whereas in South India, Saptamatrika worship is prevalent, the Ashtamatrika are vener

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  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramatman - the Absolute Atman or Supreme Soul or Spirit (also known as Supersoul or Oversoul) in Vedanta and Yoga, the “Primordial Self” or the “Self Beyond” who is spiritually practically identical with the Absolute, identical with Brahman. Selflessness is the attribute of Paramatman, where all personality/individuality vanishes.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ātman_(Hinduism) - 'inner-self' or 'soul', the true self of an individual beyond identification with phenomena, the essence of an individual. In order to attain salvation (liberation), a human being must acquire self-knowledge (atma jnana), which is to realize that one's true self (Ātman) is identical with the transcendent self Brahman
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahman - "the unchanging reality amidst and beyond the world", which "cannot be exactly defined", Brahman is conceived as Atman, personal god, impersonal absolute or Para Brahman, or in various combinations of these qualities depending on the philosophical school.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satcitananda - "being, consciousness, bliss", is a description of the subjective experience of Brahman, sublimely blissful experience of the boundless, pure consciousness is a glimpse of ultimate reality



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti - literally meaning "portion, share", from the root bhaj- "to partake in, to receive one's share") refers to religious devotion of a devotee in the worship of the divine. Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Iṣṭa-devatā.

Bhakti can be used of either tradition of Hindu monotheism, Shaivaism or Vaishnavism. While bhakti as designating a religious path is already a central concept in the Bhagavad Gita, it rises to importance in the medieval history of Hinduism, where the Bhakti movement saw a rapid growth of bhakti beginning in Southern India with the Vaisnava Alvars (6th-9th century CE) and Saiva Nayanars (5th-10th century CE), who spread bhakti poetry and devotion throughout India by the 12th-18th century CE.

The Bhagavata Purana is text associated with the Bhakti movement which elaborates the concept of bhakti as found in the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhakti movement reached North India in the Delhi Sultanate and throughout the Mughal era contributed significantly to the characteristics of Hinduism as the religion of the general population under the rule of a Muslim elite. After their encounter with the expanding Islam religion, Bhakti proponents—who were traditionally called "saints"—"elaborated egalitarian doctrine that transcended the caste system and encouraged individuals to seek personal union with the divine." Its influence also spread to other religions during this period, and became an integral aspect of Hindu culture and society in the modern era.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prana - the Sanskrit word for "life force"; in yoga, Indian medicine, and martial arts, the term refers to a cosmic energy believed to come from the sun and connecting the elements of the universe. The universal principle of energy or force, responsible for the body's life, heat and maintenance, prana is the sum total of all energy that is manifest in the universe. This life energy, prana (प्राण), has been vividly invoked and described in Vedas. In Ayurveda, tantra and Tibetan medicine "praṇā vāyu" is the basic vāyu (wind, air) from which all the other vāyus arise. It is analogous to qi.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadi_(yoga) - are the channels through which, in traditional Indian medicine and spiritual science, the energies of the subtle body are said to flow. They connect at special points of intensity called chakras.







  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishnavism - focused on the veneration of Vishnu. Vaishnavites, or the followers of the Vishnu, lead a way of life promoting monotheism, which gives importance to Vishnu and his ten incarnations.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaitanya_Mahaprabhu - a Hindu monk and social reformer from 16th century India. A native of Nabadwip in Bengal, he promoted the worship of God, in his tradition known by the name Krishna. He is venerated by followers of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._C._Bhaktivedanta_Swami_Prabhupada - was a Gaudiya Vaishnava spiritual teacher (guru) and the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the "Hare Krishna Movement". His mission was to propagate Gaudiya Vaishnavism, a school of Vaishnavite Hinduism that had been taught to him by his guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, throughout the world.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakrishna - was an Indian mystic during 19th-century. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda. He is also referred to as "Paramahamsa" by his devotees, as such he is popularly known as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.



Goals in life;

Chakras

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajna - end of duality, balancing the higher and lower selves and trusting inner guidance, access of intuition, visual consciousness, clarity on an intuitive level.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anahata - complex emotions, compassion, tenderness, unconditional love for the self and others, equilibrium, rejection and well-being, circulation, passion, devotion

Āstika

6 orthodox Hindu/Indian schools of thought

As used in Hindu philosophy the differentiation between āstika and nāstika does not refer to theism or atheism. The terms often, but not always, relate to accepting Vedic literature as an authority, particularly on their teachings on Self (Soul). The Veda and Hinduism do not subscribe to or include the concept of an almighty that is separate from oneself i.e. there is no concept of 'god' as in the Christian or Islamic sense. As N. N. Bhattacharyya writes:

The followers of Tantra were often branded as Nāstika by the political proponents of the Vedic tradition. The term Nāstika does not denote an atheist since the Veda presents a godless system with no singular almighty being or multiple almighty beings. It is applied only to those who do not believe in the Vedas. The Sāṃkhyas and Mīmāṃsakas do not believe in God, but they believe in the Vedas and hence they are not Nāstikas. The Buddhists, Jains, and Cārvākas do not believe in the Vedas; hence they are Nāstikas.

Samkhya

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya - It is described as the rationalist school of Indian philosophy. It is most related to the Yoga school of Hinduism, and its rationalism was influential on other schools of Indian philosophies. An enumerationist philosophy whose epistemology accepted three of six Pramanas as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge. These included Pratyakṣa (perception), Anumāṇa (inference) and Sabda (Āptavacana, word/testimony of reliable sources).

Samkhya is strongly dualist. Sāmkhya philosophy regards the universe as consisting of two realities; Puruṣa (consciousness) and prakriti (matter). Jiva (a living being) is that state in which puruṣa is bonded to prakriti in some form.] This fusion, state the Samkhya scholars, led to the emergence of buddhi (“spiritual awareness”) and ahankara (individualized ego consciousness, “I-maker”). The universe is described by this school as one created by Purusa-Prakriti entities infused with various permutations and combinations of variously enumerated elements, senses, feelings, activity and mind. During the state of imbalance, one of more constituents overwhelm the others, creating a form of bondage, particularly of the mind. The end of this imbalance, bondage is called liberation, or moksha by Samkhya school of Hinduism.

The existence of God or supreme being is not directly asserted, nor considered relevant by the Samkhya philosophers. Sāṃkhya denies the final cause of Ishvara (God). While Samkhya school of Hinduism considers the Vedas as a reliable source of knowledge, it is an atheistic philosophy according to Paul Deussen and other scholars. A key difference between Samkhya and Yoga schools, state scholars, is that Yoga school of Hinduism accepts a "personal, yet essentially inactive, deity" or "personal god".

Samkhya is known for its theory of gunas (qualities, innate tendencies). Guna, it states, are of three types: Sattva being good, compassionate, illuminating, positive, and constructive; Rajas guna is one of activity, chaotic, passion, impulsive, potentially good or bad; and Tamas being the quality of darkness, ignorance, destructive, lethargic, negative. Everything, all life forms and human beings, state Samkhya scholars, have these three gunas, but in different proportions. The interplay of these gunas defines the character of someone or something, of nature and determines the progress of life. The Samkhya theory of gunas was widely discussed, developed and refined by various schools of Indian philosophies including Buddhism. Samkhya's philosophical treatises also influenced the development of various theories of Hindu ethics.

Darkness, dissolution, death, destruction, ignorance, sloth, and resistance

Action, change, mutation; passion, excitement; birth, creation, generation.

Purity, goodness. For an object or food to be sattvic, it must be uncontaminated and should not spread evil or disease in the world. On the contrary its presence must purify the surroundings.

Mīmāṃsā

Vaisheshika

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaisheshika - espouses a form of atomism, that the reality is composed of four substances (earth, water, air, fire). Each of these four are of two types, explains Ganeri, atomic (paramāṇu) and composite. An atom is that which is indestructible (anitya), indivisible, and has a special kind of dimension, called “small” (aṇu). A composite is that which is divisible into atoms. Whatever human beings perceive is composite, and even the smallest perceptible thing, namely, a fleck of dust, has parts, which are therefore invisible. The Vaiśeṣikas visualized the smallest composite thing as a “triad” (tryaṇuka) with three parts, each part with a “dyad” (dyaṇuka). Vaiśeṣikas believed that a dyad has two parts, each of which is an atom. Size, form, truths and everything that human beings experience as a whole is a function of atoms, their number and their spatial arrangements.

Vaisheshika postulated that what one experiences is derived from dravya (substance: a function of atoms, their number and their spatial arrangements), guna (quality), karma (activity), samanya (commonness), vishesha (particularity) and samavaya (inherence, inseparable connectedness of everything).

Nyaya

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyaya - In its metaphysics, Nyaya school is closer to Vaisheshika school of Hinduism than others. It holds that human suffering results from mistakes/defects produced by activity under wrong knowledge (notions and ignorance). Moksha (liberation), it states, is gained through right knowledge. This premise led Nyaya to concern itself with epistemology, that is the reliable means to gain correct knowledge and to remove wrong notions. False knowledge is not merely ignorance to Naiyayikas, it includes delusion. Correct knowledge is discovering and overcoming one's delusions, and understanding true nature of soul, self and reality.

Naiyayika scholars approached philosophy as a form of direct realism, stating that anything that really exists is in principle humanly knowable. To them, correct knowledge and understanding is different than simple, reflexive cognition; it requires Anuvyavasaya (अनुव्यवसाय, cross-examination of cognition, reflective cognition of what one thinks one knows).[10] An influential collection of texts on logic and reason is the Nyayasutras, written by Aksapada Gautama about 2nd century CE.

Nyaya school shares some of its methodology and human suffering foundations with Buddhism. A key difference between the two, however, is that while Buddhism considers the question of whether or not there is a soul or self to be unfathomable; Nyaya school like other schools of Hinduism believe that there is a soul and self. Liberation is considered a state of removal of ignorance, wrong knowledge, the gain of correct knowledge and unimpeded continuation of self.

Vedanta

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedanta - literally translates to "the conclusion of Vedas," and originally referred to the Upanishads, a collection of foundational texts in Hinduism (considered the last appendix or final layer of the Vedic canon). By the 8th century, it came to mean all philosophical traditions concerned with interpreting the three basic texts of Hinduist philosophy, namely the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.

Yoga

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddha - refers to a Siddha Guru who can by way of Shaktipat initiate disciples into Yoga, may broadly refer to Siddhars, Naths, Ascetics, Sadhus, or Yogis and vice versa because they all practice the Sādhanā concept.
Varieties


  • Yoga Meditation Index - This site is devoted to presenting the ancient Self-Realization path of the Tradition of the Himalayan masters in simple, understandable and beneficial ways, while not compromising quality or depth. The goal of our sadhana or practices is the highest Joy that comes from the Realization in direct experience of the center of consciousness, the Self, the Atman or Purusha, which is one and the same with the Absolute Reality. This Self-Realization comes through Yoga meditation of the Yoga Sutras, the contemplative insight of Advaita Vedanta, and the intense devotion of Samaya Sri Vidya Tantra, the three of which complement one another like fingers on a hand. We employ the classical approaches of Raja, Jnana, Karma, and Bhakti Yoga, as well as Hatha, Kriya, Kundalini, Laya, Mantra, Nada, Siddha, and Tantra Yoga. Meditation, contemplation, mantra and prayer finally converge into a unified force directed towards the final stage, piercing the pearl of wisdom called bindu, leading to the Absolute.




Three yogas
Rāja / ashtanga yoga

documented after and influenced by Buddhism

Yamas

First limb, don'ts

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamas - and its complement, niyamas, represent a series of "right living" or ethical rules within Hinduism and Yoga. They are a form of moral imperatives, commandments, rules or goals. The five Yamas of Patañjali's classical yoga system are commitments that affect the yogi's relations with others. The five Niyamas of Patañjali's classical yoga system are personal obligations to live well.

Ten yamas are codified as "the restraints" in numerous scriptures including the Śāṇḍilya and Vārāha Upanishads, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Svātmārāma, and the Tirumantiram of Tirumular. Patañjali lists only five yamas in his Yoga Sūtras.

Niyama

Second limb, dos

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niyama - literally means positive duties or observances. In Indian traditions, particularly Yoga, niyamas are recommended activities and habits for healthy living, spiritual enlightenment and liberated state of existence. It has multiple meanings depending on context in Hinduism. In Buddhism, the term extends to the determinations of nature, as in the Buddhist niyama dhammas. In Pāli the spelling niyāma is often used.
Asanas

Third limb, body position, originally identified as a mastery of sitting still



Beginners:

Advanced Beginners:

  • Virasana (Hero or Heroine Pose)
  • Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose)
  • Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations)
  • Vrksasana (Tree Pose)
  • Utthita Trikonasana (Extended Triangle Pose)
  • Utthita Parsvakonasana (Extended Side Angle Pose)
  • Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose)
  • Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand)
  • Ardha Navasana (Half Boat Pose)
  • Ustrasana (Camel Pose)
  • Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose)
  • Salabhasana (Locust Pose)
  • Makrasana (Crocodile Pose)
  • Salamba Sarvangasana (Supported Shoulderstand)
  • Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose)
  • Janu Sirsasana (Head-to-Knee Forward Bend)
  • Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend)
  • Marichyasana III (Marichi's Pose, Variation III)
  • Savasana (Corpse Pose)
Pranayama

Fourth limb, breath

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maipayat - Originally recorded late in the Vedic period, in conjunction with Vedanta, and Yoga, is done working from a full-deep yogic breathing, by initiating set movement patterns that nurture creativity and feeds the body with breath energy. Similar exercises are taught in t'ai chi although Maipayat exercises more fluid movements while attempting to align the chakras.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ujjayi_breath - or spinal breath, chakra activation breath, employed in a variety of Taoist and Yoga practices. In relation to Yoga, it is sometimes called "the ocean breath". Unlike some other forms of pranayama, the ujjayi breath is typically done in association with asana practice. Ujjayi is a diaphragmatic breath, which first fills the lower belly (activating the first and second chakras), rises to the lower rib cage (the third and fourth chakras), and finally moves into the upper chest and throat. The technique is very similar to the three-part Tu-Na breathing found in Taoist Qigong practice. Inhalation and exhalation are both done through the nose. The "ocean sound" is created by moving the glottis as air passes in and out. As the throat passage is narrowed so, too, is the airway, the passage of air through which creates a "rushing" sound. The length and speed of the breath is controlled by the diaphragm, the strengthening of which is, in part, the purpose of ujjayi. The inhalations and exhalations are equal in duration, and are controlled in a manner that causes no distress to the practitioner.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_breathing - Expanding the abdomen while breathing out through the nose, and then compressing it while inhaling via the mouth - the opposite of what an abdomen would do during natural, instinctive breathing
Pratyahara

Fifth limb, 'withdrawal of the senses', a bridge between the bahiranga (external) aspects of yoga and the antaranga (internal) yoga

Dhāraṇā

Sixth limb

The meditator or the meditator's meta-awareness is conscious of meditating (that is, is conscious of the act of meditation) on an object, and of his or her own self, which is concentrating on the object


Dhyana (meditation)

Seventh limb

Samādhi (concentration)

Eighth limb

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samādhi - also called samāpatti, in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools refers to a state of meditative consciousness. It is a meditative absorption or trance, attained by the practice of dhyāna. In samādhi the mind becomes still. It is a state of being totally aware of the present moment; a one-pointedness of mind.

In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samāpatti - In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, samāpatti is discussed as the universal form of the Yoga called samprajñāta-samadhi, or savikalpa samadhi, followed by asamprajñāta-samadhi, or nirvikalpa samadhi. It has as its prerequisite the annihilation of all (non-sattvic) modifications (vṛtti) of consciousness (citta).
Practices
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kriya - commonly refers to a "completed action", technique or practice within a yoga discipline meant to achieve a specific result, or bodymovement flowing from kundalini
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyāsa - denotes a flowing, dynamic form of yoga, connected to breath or pranayama in which yoga and mudra transitions are embodied as linkages within and between asana.
Mantra


Mudra


Yantra
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yantra - the Sanskrit word for a mystical diagram, especially diagrams or amulets supposed to possess occult powers in astrological or magical benefits in the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions. Traditionally such symbols are used in Eastern mysticism to balance the mind or focus it on spiritual concepts. The act of wearing, depicting, enacting and/or concentrating on a yantra is held to have spiritual or astrological or magical benefits in the Tantric traditions of the Indian religions.


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  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashrama_(stage) - one of four stages in an age-based social system as laid out in the Manu Smriti and later Classical Sanskrit texts. The ashrama system of life was an attempt to institutionalize Sramana ideals within the Brahmanical social structure
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sannyasa - practiced by Sannyasi is the life stage of the self realized ascetic within the Hindu system of philosophy of four age-based life stages known as ashrams. It is the topmost and final stage of the ashram system and is traditionally taken by men or women over fifty or by young Brahmacharis who wish to renounce worldly and materialistic pursuits and dedicate their lives to spiritual pursuits. People in this stage of life develop vairāgya, or a state of dispassion and detachment from material life, renouncing worldly thoughts and desires in order to spend the remainder of their lives in spiritual contemplation. A member of the sannyasa order is known as a sannyasi (male) or "sannyasini" (female).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smarta_Tradition - also spelt as Smartha, is an orthodox Hindu "family tradition" or sect composed of Brahmins, c.q. "[a] certain category of brahmins", which follows Panchayatana. The term Smārta is used to denote a specific, specialized category of Brahmins, who specialize in the smriti, c.q. who hold the smriti as the most authoritative texts.
Pranava yoga


Nada yoga
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nāda_yoga - an ancient Indian metaphysical system. It is both a philosophical system, a medicine, and- as the name suggests- a form of yoga. The system's theoretical and practical aspects are based on the premise that the entire cosmos and all that exists in the cosmos, including human beings, consists of sound vibrations, called nāda. This concept holds that it is the sound energy in motion rather than of matter and particles which form the building blocks of the cosmos. Nāda yoga is also a way to approach with reverence and respond to sound. Sound and music is in this context, something more than just the sensory properties and sources of sensuous pleasure, sound and music is considered also to play the role as a potential medium to achieve a deeper unity with both the outer and the inner cosmos.
  • Nada Bindu Upanishad
  • Shurangama Sutra - often spelled Shurangama Sutra or Surangama Sutra in English, is a Mahayana sutra and one of the main texts used in the Chán school in Chinese Buddhism. In the Surangama Sutra, Avalokitesvara says that he attained enlightenment through concentration on the subtle inner sound. The Buddha then praises Avalokitesvara and says that this is the supreme way to go.
Sanyasa yoga
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanyasa_yoga - in Hindu astrology are the peculiar planetary situations or combinations seen in certain horoscopes that indicate Sanyasa i.e. renunciation of worldly material life by persons born with those yogas. Sanyasa yogas are also known as Pravrajya yogas.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Yoga Yajnavalkya
Trul khor
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trul_khor - "magical movement instrument, channels and inner breath currents"), known in short as Trul khor "magical instrument" or "magic circle" (adhisāra) is a Vajrayana discipline which includes pranayama and body postures (asanas). From the perspective of Dzogchen, the mind is merely vāyu "breath" in the body. Thus working with vāyu and the body is paramount, while meditation on the other hand is considered contrived and conceptual.

Namkhai Norbu, a prominent exponent of trul khor, prefers to use the Sanskrit equivalent term, Yantra Yoga, when writing in English. Trul khor derives from the instructions of the Indian mahasiddhas who founded Vajrayana.

Trul khor traditionally consists of 108 movements, including bodily movements (or dynamic asanas), incantations (or mantras), pranayama and visualizations. The flow or vinyāsa of movements are likened to prayer beads. Trul khor asanas are depicted on the walls of the Dalai Lama's summer temple of Lukhang.

Six Yogas of Naropa
Hatha yoga
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirumalai_Krishnamacharya - was an Indian yoga teacher, ayurvedic healer and scholar. Often referred to as "The Father of Modern Yoga,"[3][4][5] Krishnamacharya is widely regarded as one of the most influential yoga teachers of the 20th century and is credited with the revival of hatha yoga.
Kriya yoga
Integral yoga
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral_yoga - 1921, purna yoga, intended to harmonize the paths of karma, jnana, and bhakti yoga as described in the Bhagavad Gita, can also be considered a synthesis between Vedanta and Tantra, and even between Eastern and Western approaches to spirituality.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate_zone - refers to what is described as a spiritually dangerous and misleading transitional spiritual and pseudospiritual region between the ordinary consciousness and true spiritual realisation. Paul Brunton also uses the term, correlates the term intermediate zone with a perilous and deceptive psychological region also given various other names in mystical literature, such as the astral plane, the hall of illusion, and so on. Prior to Aurobindo's use of the term, a similar conception, termed "astral intoxication", was described by the Theosophist W. Q. Judge.
Vihangamyoga
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vihangamyoga - Vihangam Yoga Organization is an NGO and a pioneer in yoga and advance meditation training, aiming at uplifting the human life in all aspects. The organization was established in the year 1924 by His Holiness Sadguru Sadafaldeo Ji Maharaj who discovered this wonderful meditation technique after 17 year of strenuous meditation practice. Today, under the holy guidance of present Sadguru His Holiness Shri Swatantradeo Ji Maharaj, Vihangam Yoga has reached around 35 nations with hundreds of Ashrams and has transformed the lives of more than 5 million disciples belonging to different races, Re
Kundalini yoga
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundalini_yoga - also laya yoga, based on a 1935 treatise by Sivananda Saraswati, influenced by the tantra and shakta, involves regular practice of meditation, pranayama, chanting mantra and yoga asana


Siddha Yoga
Ashtanga vinyasa
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtanga_vinyasa_yoga - 1948, style codified by K. Pattabhi Jois, often promoted as a modern-day form of classical Indian yoga. named after the eight limbs (Ashtanga, Sanskrit for "eight-limbed") of yoga mentioned in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Videos:

Bihar School of Yoga
Ananda yoga
Sivananda yoga
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sivananda_yoga - 1960s - after teachings of Swami Sivananda, is a non-proprietary form of hatha yoga in which the training focuses on preserving the health and wellness of the practitioner. Sivananda Yoga teachers are all graduates of the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Course,[3] and students widely range in age and degrees of ability. Unlike Ashtanga vinyasa yoga's more athletic program involving Bandhas, Sivananda training revolves around frequent relaxation, and emphasizes full, yogic breathing.
Sahaja Yoga
Bikram yoga
Iyengar Yoga
Jivamukti Yoga
Dru yoga
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dru_yoga - either be a centuries-old Indian tradition, or a proprietary style by the spiritual and charitable organisation Life Foundation and its guru Dr. Mansukh Patel
Surat Shabd Yoga
Hot yoga
Laughter yoga
Chair Yoga
to sort




Other

Hindu nāstika

Heterodox schools of thought

  • Cārvāka
  • Ājīvika
  • Jainism
  • Buddhism
Cārvāka
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cārvāka - also known as Lokāyata, is a heterodox system of Indian philosophy that assumes various forms of materialism, philosophical skepticism and religious indifference.
Ājīvika
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ājīvika - Ajivika or Ajivaka, literally means "living" in Sanskrit, was a heterodox system of ancient Indian philosophy and an ascetic movement of the Mahajanapada period in the Indian subcontinent. Ājīvika was primarily a heterodox Indian (Nāstika) system. The Ājīvikas may simply have been a more loosely-organized group of wandering ascetics (shramanas or sannyasins). Thought to be contemporaneous to other early Indian nāstika philosophical schools of thought, such as Cārvāka, Jainism and Buddhism.
Jainism

See #Jainism

Buddhism

See #Buddhism

Tantra

A tradition within many traditions.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantras - "Looms" or "Weavings") refers to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions rooted in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. Although Buddhist and Hindu Tantra have many similarities from the outside, they do have some clear distinctions.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaula - a type of Hindu tantrism reckoned by Gavin Flood to derive from Kapalika or "shmashāna asceticism", and to divide into northern, eastern, southern and western schools across the subcontinent. The Kaula tradition is sometimes more simply divided into two main branches, Purva Kaula and Uttara Kaula. The Kaula lineage is closely linked to the Siddha and Nātha traditions.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_Shaivism - a group of nondualist Tantric Shaiva traditions from Kashmir that originated in the second half of the first millennium. The term is most often being used to refer to Trika, also called Pratyabhijña, but also includes the earlier schools of Kapulika and its subschool of the Kaulas, and the Krama school. The goal of Kashmir Shaivism is to recognize one's already existing identity with Shiva, the deity who represents Universal Consciousness. It is categorized by various scholars as monistic idealism, absolute idealism, theistic monism, realistic idealism, transcendental physicalism or concrete monism


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diksha - translated as a "preparation or consecration for a religious ceremony", is giving of a mantra or an initiation by the guru in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Diksa is given in a one-to-one ceremony, and typically includes the taking on of a serious spiritual discipline. The word is derived from the Sanskrit root dā ("to give") plus kṣi ("to destroy") or alternately from the verb root dīkṣ ("to consecrate"). When the mind of the guru and the disciple become one, then we say that the disciple has been initiated by the guru.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganachakra - Sanskrit: गणचक्र gamacakra "gathering circle". a generic term for various tantric assemblies or feasts, in which practitioners meet to chant mantra, enact mudra, make votive offerings and practice various tantric rituals as part of a sādhanā, or spiritual practice. The ganachakra often comprises a sacramental meal and festivities such as dancing; the feast generally consisting of materials that were considered forbidden or taboo in medieval India, where the tantric movement arose. As a tantric practice, forms of gaṇacakra are practiced today in Hinduism, Bön and Vajrayāna Buddhism.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maithuna - a Sanskrit term used in Tantra most often translated as sexual union in a ritual context. It is the most important of the five makara and constitutes the main part of the Grand Ritual of Tantra variously known as Panchamakara, Panchatattva, and Tattva Chakra.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahasiddha - a term for someone who embodies and cultivates the "siddhi of perfection". They are a certain type of yogin/yogini recognized in Vajrayana Buddhism. Mahasiddhas were tantric practitioners, or tantrikas, who had sufficient empowerments and teachings to act as a guru or tantric master. A siddha is an individual who, through the practice of sadhana, attains the realization of siddhis, psychic and spiritual abilities and powers. Their historical influence throughout the Indic and Himalayan region was vast, and they reached mythic proportions as codified in their songs of realization and hagiographies, or namthar, many of which have been preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. The Mahasiddhas are the founders of Vajrayana traditions and lineages, such as Dzogchen and Mahamudra.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakini - The Sanskrit term is likely related to the term for drumming, while the Tibetan term means "sky goer" and may have originated in the Sanskrit khecara, a term from the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra. Dakinis are often represented as consorts in Yab-Yum representations. The masculine form of the word is ḍāka, which is usually translated into Tibetan as pawo "hero" (Wylie: dpa' bo). The dakini (and the daka) appeared in medieval legends in North India (such as in the Bhagavata Purana, Brahma Purana, Markandeya Purana and Kathasaritsagara) as a demon in the train of Kali who feeds on human flesh. They are comparable to malevolent or vengeful female spirits, deities, imps or fairies in other cultures, such as the Persian peri. As a key tantric figure, the dakini does appear in Tangmi; the dakini figure disseminated into Japanese culture from Shingon Buddhism, evolving into the dakini-ten ("ten" means "deva" in Japanese), becoming linked to the kitsune iconography. The dakini appears in a Vajrayana formulation of the Three Jewels' Buddhist refuge formula, known as the Three Roots. Most commonly she appears as the dharmapala, alongside a guru and yidam. The dakini, in her various guises, serves as each of the Three Roots. She may be a human guru, a vajra master who transmits the Vajrayana teachings to her disciples and joins them in samaya commitments. The wisdom dakini may be a yidam, a meditational deity; female deity yogas such as Vajrayogini are common in Tibetan Buddhism. Or she may be a protector; the wisdom dakinis have special power and responsibility to protect the integrity of oral transmissions"



Buddhist tantra - nine fold;

Shinto

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shintoism - the indigenous religion of Japan and the people of Japan. It is defined as an action-centred religion, focused on ritual practices to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present-day Japan and its ancient past. Founded in 660 BC according to Japanese mythology, Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified "Shinto religion", but rather to a collection of native beliefs and mythology. Shinto today is a term that applies to the religion of public shrines devoted to the worship of a multitude of gods (kami), suited to various purposes such as war memorials and
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miko - a Shinto term of Japan, indicating a shrine (jinja) maiden or a supplementary priestess who was once likely seen as a shaman but in modern Japanese culture is understood to be an institutionalized role in daily shrine life, trained to perform tasks, ranging from sacred cleansing to performing the Kagura, a sacred dance.

Confucianism

Buddhism

  • w:Buddhism - sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE

See also Activities#Meditation

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda - First cousin, one of the principal disciples and a devout attendant of the Buddha. The name means 'bliss' in Pali, Sanskrit as well as other Indian languages.






Dharma / dhamma

  • The state of Nature as it is (yathā bhūta)
  • The Laws of Nature considered both collectively and individually.
  • The teaching of the Buddha as an exposition of the Natural Law applied to the problem of human suffering.
  • A phenomenon and/or its properties.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmacakra - lit. "Wheel of Dharma" or "Wheel of Law"), is one of the Ashtamangala symbols that has represented dharma, the Buddha's teaching of the path to Nirvana, since the early period of Indian Buddhism.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhipakkhiyādhammā - are qualities (dhammā) conducive or related to (pakkhiya) awakening (bodhi). In the Pali commentaries, the term bodhipakkhiyā dhammā is used to refer to seven sets of such qualities regularly mentioned by the Buddha throughout the Pali Canon. Within these seven sets of Enlightenment qualities, there is a total of thirty-seven individual qualities (sattatiṃsa bodhipakkhiyā dhammā). These seven sets of qualities are recognized by both Theravadan and Mahayanan Buddhists as complementary facets of the Buddhist Path to Enlightenment.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_truths_doctrine - differentiates between two levels of truth (satya) in Buddhist discourse: relative or commonsensical truth, and absolute or ultimate truth. In Tibetan Buddhism ultimate truth is synonymous with emptiness.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saṃsāra_(Buddhism) - the beginning-less cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence and dying again. Samsara is considered to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful, perpetuated by desire and avidya (ignorance), and the resulting karma. Rebirths occur in six realms of existence, namely three good realms (heavenly, demi-god, human) and three evil realms (animal, ghosts, hellish). Samsara ends if a person attains nirvana, the "blowing out" of the desires and the gaining of true insight into impermanence and non-self reality.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhavacakra - a symbolic representation of saṃsāra (or cyclic existence) found on the outside walls of Tibetan Buddhist temples and monasteries in the Indo-Tibetan region. In the Mahayana Buddhism, it is believed that the drawing was designed by the Buddha himself in order to help ordinary people understand Buddhist teachings. The bhavacakra is popularly referred to as the wheel of life, and may also be glossed as wheel of cyclic existence or wheel of becoming.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangha - a word in Pali and Sanskrit meaning "association", "assembly," "company" or "community" and most commonly refers in Buddhism to the monastic community of ordained Buddhist monks or nuns. The Sangha also includes laymen and laywomen who are personally dedicated to the discipline of Dharma-Vinaya.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupa#Symbolism - "The shape of the stupa represents the Buddha, crowned and sitting in meditation posture on a lion throne. His crown is the top of the spire; his head is the square at the spire's base; his body is the vase shape; his legs are the four steps of the lower terrace; and the base is his throne.

Although not described in any Tibetan text on stupa symbolism, the stupa may represent the five purified elements:

  • The square base represents earth
  • The hemispherical dome/vase represents water
  • The conical spire represents fire
  • The upper lotus parasol and the crescent moon represents air
  • The sun and the dissolving point represents the element of space


Dependent origination

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratītyasamutpāda - commonly translated as dependent origination or dependent arising, states that all dharmas ("things") arise in dependence upon other dharmas: "if this exists, that exists; if this ceases to exist, that also ceases to exist." It is a pragmatic teaching, which is applied to dukkha and the cessation of dukkha.

The term is also used to refer to the twelve links of dependent origination, which describes the chain of causes which result in rebirth. By reverting the chain, liberation from rebirth can be attained. In the Tibetan Gelugpa school, pratītyasamutpāda is complementary to the concept of śūnyatā "emptiness," which means that no dharma has an existence of its own, and that there is no such "thing" as an "ultimate truth" or "ultimate reality."

Three Marks Of Existance

  • Impermanence (anicca)
  • Dissatisfaction or suffering (dukkha)
  • Non-self (anattā)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impermanence - one of the essential doctrines or three marks of existence in Buddhism. The term expresses the Buddhist notion that all of conditioned existence, without exception, is transient, or in a constant state of flux. The mutability of life, that time passes on no matter what happens, is an important aspect of impermanence. The Pali word anicca literally means "inconstant", and arises from a synthesis of two separate words, 'Nicca' and the "privative particle" 'a'. Where the word 'Nicca' refers to the concept of continuity and permanence, 'Anicca' refers to its exact opposite; the absence of permanence and continuity.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Śūnyatā - emptiness, voidness, openness, spaciousness, vacuity, is a Buddhist concept which has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context. In Theravada Buddhism, suññatā often refers to the not-self (Pāli: anatta, Sanskrit: anātman) nature of the five aggregates of experience and the six sense spheres. Suññatā is also often used to refer to a meditative state or experience.

Four Noble Truths

  1. The truth of dukkha (suffering, anxiety, stress, unsatisfactoriness)
  2. The truth of the origin of dukkha
  3. The truth of the cessation of dukkha
  4. The truth of the path leading to the cessation of dukkha
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukkha - first noble truth is the truth of dukkha, commonly translated as "suffering", "anxiety", "stress", or "unsatisfactoriness". The principle of dukkha is one of the most important concepts in the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha is reputed to have said: "I have taught one thing and one thing only, dukkha and the cessation of dukkha."
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samudaya_sacca - the second of the four noble truths within Buddhist tradition. It refers to the origin or causes of dukkha (suffering). "it is this craving which leads to re-becoming, accompanied by delight and lust, seeking delight here and there; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for becoming, craving for disbecoming"
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirodha_sacca - the third of the four noble truths within Buddhist tradition. Nirodha means "cessation" or "extinction", and sacca means "truth" or "reality". Thus, nirodha sacca is typically translated as the "truth of cessation" or "truth of the cessation of suffering." It refers specifically to the cessation of dukkha (suffering) and its causes; the experience of this cessation is referred to as nirvana.



"In a chapter in an edited volume on the role of culture in depression, Gananath Obeyesekere begins by quoting from Brown and Harris’s influential 1978 study on the social origins of depression in women: The immediate response to loss of an important source of positive value is likely to be a sense of hopelessness, accompanied by a gamut of feelings, ranging from distress, from depression, and shame to anger. Feelings of hopelessness will not always be restricted to the provoking incident—large or small. It may lead to thoughts about the hopelessness of one’s life in general. It is such generalization of hopelessness that we believe forms the central core of depressive disorder. (Brown & Harris, 1978, p. 235)"

"This statement sounds strange to me, a Buddhist, for if it was placed in the context ofSri Lanka, I would say that we are not dealing with a depressive but a good Buddhist. The Buddhist would take one further step in generalization: it is not simply the general hopelessness of one’s own lot; that hopelessness lies in the nature of the world,and salvation lies in understanding and overcoming that hopelessness"

i.e. an alternate valence to a perceived metaphysic of 'nothing' and that the universe ultimately doesn't give a shit, similar to part of the balance of the existential metaphysic.

(opposed to 'everything' and the intersubjective and relational connectedness of the human condition/nature and reality)

"One might want to quibble with Obeyesekere; one might demand more evidence — both psychological and ethnographic — for the similarities he sees between good Sri Lankan Buddhists and American depressives. Do Sri Lankan Buddhists really aspire to a state that we would associate with depression? Or is the very idea of depression so culturally and historically constructed as to mitigate its cross-cultural utility? However one parses these issues, on purely doctrinal grounds Obeyesekere has a point: early Buddhist sutras in general, and Therav�ada teachings in particular, hold that (1) to live is to suffer, (2) the only genuine remedy to suffering is escape from samsara (the phenomenal world) altogether, and (3) escape requires, among other things, abandoning hope that happiness in this world is possible."

Threefold Training

  • higher virtue (adhisīla-sikkhā)
  • higher mind (adhicitta-sikkhā)
  • higher wisdom (adhipaññā-sikkhā)
Threefold Partition Eightfold Path Method of Practice
VIRTUE Right Speech Five Laymen Vows
Right Action
Right Livelihood
MIND Right Effort Dwelling in the four jhanas (meditation)
Right Mindfulness
Right Concentration
WISDOM Right View Knowing Four Noble Truths
Right Intention

"And are the three aggregates [of virtue, concentration, & discernment] included under the noble eightfold path, lady, or is the noble eightfold path included under the three aggregates?"

"The three aggregates [not the sense aggregates] are not included under the noble eightfold path, friend Visakha, but the noble eightfold path is included under the three aggregates. Right speech, right action, & right livelihood come under the aggregate of virtue. Right effort, right mindfulness, & right concentration come under the aggregate of concentration. Right view & right resolve come under the aggregate of discernment."

-- Culavedalla Sutta: The Shorter Set of Questions-and-Answers

Noble Eightfold Path

Ariyo aṭṭhaṅgika maggo [188]


All eight elements of the Path begin with the word samyañc (in Sanskrit) or sammā (in Pāli) which means "right, proper, as it ought to be, best, wholesome). The Buddhist texts contrast samma with its opposite miccha.


Wisdom (Sanskrit: prajñā, Pāli: paññā)

  • 1. Wholesome view (understanding the four noble truths) (9. Superior wholesome knowledge)
  • 2. Wholesome intention (10. Superior wholesome liberation)

Ethical conduct (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla)

  • 3. Wholesome speech
  • 4. Wholesome action
  • 5. Wholesome livelihood

Concentration (Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi)

  • 6. Wholesome effort
  • 7. Wholesome mindfulness
  • 8. Wholesome concentration


"Is the noble eightfold path fabricated/conditioned or unfabricated/unconditioned?"

"The noble eightfold path is fabricated/conditioned."

Only nibbana is unconditioned

-- Culavedalla Sutta: The Shorter Set of Questions-and-Answers



  • Yoga: The Other Eightfold Path (Part I of II) - Buddhism teaches the Noble Eightfold Path to liberation (enlightenment and nirvana). It was so popular in India that centuries later the seer (rishi) Patanjali collected yoga sutras (aphorisms or pithy sayings) to explain the higher purpose of the path of yoga ("union" with the ultimate). The Buddha had done much to revivify the Vedic knowledge, but he himself rejected ancient India's sacred texts as sacrosanct and authoritative. The Buddha did not promote Vedic Brahmanism but promoted a rebellion against the corrupt temple priest practices of the old establishment.


Wholesome view

Sanskrit/Pāli: samyak-dṛṣṭi / sammā-diṭṭhi

First / ninth truth

Wholesome resolve

Sanskrit/Pāli: samyak-saṃkalpa / sammā sankappa

Second / tenth truth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path#Right_resolve

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niyama - literally means positive duties or observances. In Indian traditions, particularly Yoga, niyamas are recommended activities and habits for healthy living, spiritual enlightenment and liberated state of existence. It has multiple meanings depending on context in Hinduism. In Buddhism, the term extends to the determinations of nature, as in the Buddhist niyama dhammas. In Pāli the spelling niyāma is often used.
Wholesome speech

Sanskrit/Pāli: samyag-vāc / sammā-vācā

Third truth



Wholesome action

Sanskrit/Pāli: samyak-karmānta / sammā-kammanta

Fourth truth

Wholesome livelihood

Sanskrit/Pāli: samyag-ājīva / sammā-ājīva

Fifth truth


Wholesome effort

Sanskrit/Pāli: samyag-vyāyāma / sammā-vāyāma

Sixth truth


Wholesome mindfulness (sati)

Seventh truth

See #Mindfulness


Wholesome concentration (Samādhi)

Eighth truth

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samādhi - also called samāpatti, in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools refers to a state of meditative consciousness. It is a meditative absorption or trance, attained by the practice of dhyāna. In samādhi the mind becomes still. It is a state of being totally aware of the present moment; a one-pointedness of mind.

In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path.

In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali.


"And what is right concentration? Herein a monk aloof from sense desires, aloof from unwholesome thoughts, attains to and abides in the first meditative absorption (jhana) which is detachment-born and accompanied by applied thought, sustained thought, joy, and bliss.

"By allaying applied and sustained thought he attains to, and abides in the second jhana which is inner tranquillity, which is unification (of the mind), devoid of applied and sustained thought, and which has joy and bliss.

"By detachment from joy he dwells in equanimity, mindful, and with clear comprehension and enjoys bliss in body, and attains to and abides in the third jhana which the noble ones (ariyas) call: 'Dwelling in equanimity, mindfulness, and bliss.'

"By giving up of bliss and suffering, by the disappearance already of joy and sorrow, he attains to, and abides in the fourth jhana, which is neither suffering nor bliss, and which is the purity of equanimity-mindfulness. This is called right concentration."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samāpatti - Samāpatti stands for correct (samyag) acquisition (āpatti) of Truth. It is a form of alaukika-pratyakṣa (extraordinary perception) forming thus a legitimate part of the perceptual (pratyakṣa]] instruments of adequate knowledge (pramāṇa). In Buddhism, samapatti refers to the eight jhanas.

Twelve Nidānas

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Nidānas - "cause, foundation, source or origin", an application of the Buddhist concept of pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination). They identify the origin of dukkha (suffering) to be in avijja (ignorance).
  1. Ignorance (Pali: Avijjā)
  2. Mental fermentations/volitions (Pali: Saṅkhāra Sanskrit: Saṃskāra)
  3. Status consciousness (Pali: Viññāṇa)
  4. "Name" and "Form" (Pali: Nāmarūpa)
  5. The six senses (Pali: Saḷāyatana)
  6. Contact (Pali: Phassa)
  7. Feelings (Pali: Vedanā)
  8. Cravings/longings/desires (Pali: Taṇhā)
  9. Clinging to (Pali: Upādāna)
  10. Generation of factors for rebirth (Pali: Bhava)
  11. Birth (Pali: Jāti)
  12. All the sufferings (Pali: Jarāmaraṇa)


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avidya_(Buddhism) - commonly translated as "ignorance" or "delusion". It can be defined as not understanding the full meaning and implication of the four noble truths or as a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of reality.

Ignorance (avijja) is actually identical in nature with the unwholesome root "delusion" (moha). When the Buddha speaks in a psychological context about mental factors, he generally uses the word "delusion"; when he speaks about the causal basis of samsara, he uses the word "ignorance" (avijja)

Avidyā is identified within the Buddhist teachings as follows:

  • The first link in the twelve links of dependent origination.
  • One of the three poisons within the Mahayana Buddhist tradition.
  • One of the six root kleshas within the Mahayana Abhidharma teachings
  • One of the ten fetters in the Theravada tradition
  • Equivalent to moha within the Theravada Abhidharma teachings
  • Within the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, avidya is typically symbolized by a person who is blind or wearing a blindfold.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saṅkhāra - or saṃskāra, is a term figuring prominently in the teaching of the Buddha. The word means 'that which has been put together' and 'that which puts together'. In the first (passive) sense, saṅkhāra refers to conditioned phenomena generally but specifically to all mental "dispositions". These are called 'volitional formations' both because they are formed as a result of volition and because they are causes for the arising of future volitional actions. English translations for saṅkhāra in the first sense of the word include 'conditioned things,' 'determinations,' 'fabrications' and 'formations' (or, particularly when referring to mental processes, 'volitional formations').
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijñāna - translated as "consciousness," "life force," "mind, or "discernment." In the Pāli Canon's Sutta Pitaka's first four nikāyas, viññāṇa is one of three overlapping Pali terms used to refer to the mind, the others being manas and citta. Each is used in the generic and non-technical sense of "mind" in general, but the three are sometimes used in sequence to refer to one's mental processes as a whole.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namarupa - refer to constituent processes of the human being: nāma is typically considered to refer to psychological elements of the human person, while Rūpa refers to the physical. The Buddhist nāma and rūpa are mutually dependent, and not separable; as nāmarūpa, they designate an individual being. "And what [monks] is name-&-form? Feeling, perception, intention, contact, & attention: This is called name. The four great elements, and the form dependent on the four great elements: This is called form. This name & this form are, [monks], called name-&-form." Elsewhere in the Pali Canon, nāmarūpa is used synonymously with the five aggregates.
  1. Eye and Vision
  2. Ear and Hearing
  3. Nose and Olfaction
  4. Tongue and Taste
  5. Skin and Touch
  6. Mind and Thought
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparśa - translated as "contact", "touching", "sensation", "sense impression", etc. It is defined as the coming together of three factors: the sense organ, the sense object, and sense consciousness (vijnana).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedanā - translated as either "feeling" or "sensation." In general, vedanā refers to the pleasant, unpleasant and neutral sensations that occur when our internal sense organs come into contact with external sense objects and the associated consciousness. craving for and attachment to vedanā leads to suffering; reciprocally, concentrated awareness and clear comprehension of vedanā can lead to Enlightenment and the extinction of the causes of suffering.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upādāna - the Sanskrit and Pāli word for "clinging," "attachment" or "grasping", although the literal meaning is "fuel." Upādāna and taṇhā are seen as the two primary causes of suffering. The cessation of clinging leads to Nirvana.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhava - 'status of being, a subjective becoming, states of mind', from भू bhū, 'to become', is often translated as 'feeling, emotion, mood, devotional state of mind'. In Buddhist thought, bhāva denotes the continuity of life and death, including reincarnation, and the maturation arising therefrom. In the bhakti traditions, bhāva denotes the mood of ecstasy, self-surrender, and channelling of emotional energies that is induced by the maturation of devotion to one's ishtadeva (object of devotion).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarāmaraṇa - Sanskrit and Pāli for "old age" (jarā) and "death" (maraṇa), associated with the inevitable end-of-life suffering of all beings prior to their rebirth within saṃsāra (cyclic existence).

Kleshas

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleshas_(Buddhism) - mental states that cloud the mind and manifest in unwholesome actions. Kleshas include states of mind such as anxiety, fear, anger, jealousy, desire, depression, etc. Contemporary translators use a variety of English words to translate the term kleshas, such as: afflictions, defilements, destructive emotions, disturbing emotions, negative emotions, mind poisons, etc. In the contemporary Mahayana and Theravada Buddhist traditions, the three kleshas of ignorance, attachment, and aversion are identified as the root or source of all other kleshas.
  • Ignorance, confusion, bewilderment, delusion - moha/avidyā
  • Attachment, desire, passion, greed - rāga/lobha
  • Aversion, anger, aggression, hatred - dveṣa/dosa
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moha_(Buddhism) - a fundamental ignorance of the nature of reality, and in Mahayana tradition, a dumbfounded state of not knowing what to do – a state of being deeply clouded, in which the mind is not clear

In the Mahayana tradition, the five main kleshas are referred to as the five poisons (Sanskrit: pañca kleśaviṣa; Tibetan-Wylie: dug lnga). The five poisons consist of the three poisons with two additional poisons: pride and jealousy.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irshya - translated as "jealousy" or "envy". It is defined as a state of mind in which one is highly agitated to obtain wealth and honor for oneself, but unable to bear the excellence of others.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Māna - translated as "pride", "arrogance", or "conceit". It is defined as an inflated mind that makes whatever is suitable, such as wealth or learning, to be the foundation of pride. It creates the basis for disrespecting others and for the occurrence of suffering.

Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra lists approximately 50 kleshas.

Fetters

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetter_(Buddhism) - mental chain or bond (Pāli: samyojana, saŋyojana, saññojana) shackles a sentient being to saṃsāra, the cycle of lives with dukkha. By cutting through all fetters, one attains nibbāna (Pali; Skt.: nirvāṇa).
  1. belief in a self (Pali: sakkāya-diṭṭhi)
  2. doubt or uncertainty, especially about the teachings (vicikicchā)
  3. attachment to rites and rituals (sīlabbata-parāmāsa)
  4. sensual desire (kāmacchando)
  5. ill will (vyāpādo or byāpādo)
  6. lust for material existence, lust for material rebirth (rūparāgo)
  7. lust for immaterial existence, lust for rebirth in a formless realm (arūparāgo)
  8. conceit (māna)
  9. restlessness (uddhacca)
  10. ignorance (avijjā)


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asava - Āsava is a Pali term (Sanskrit: Āśrava) translated as inflow, influx, influence; mental bias or canker, cankers that keep one bound to the world of samsāra; used particularly in Jainism and Buddhism.

According to De Silva: "The āsavas which are mentioned frequently are kāmāsava, bhavāsava, diṭṭhāsava and avijjāsava. Horner translates these as the cankers of sense-pleasure, becoming, false views and ignorance. The word canker suggests something that corrodes or corrupts slowly. These figurative meanings perhaps describe facets of the concept of āsava: kept long in storage, oozing out, taint, corroding, etc"


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skandha - or khandhas (Pāḷi), aggregates in English, are the five functions or aspects that constitute the sentient being: matter, sensation, perception, mental formations and consciousness. The Buddha teaches that nothing among them is really "I" or "mine". In the Theravada tradition, suffering arises when one identifies with or clings to an aggregate. Suffering is extinguished by relinquishing attachments to aggregates. The Mahayana tradition further puts forth that ultimate freedom is realized by deeply penetrating the nature of all aggregates as intrinsically empty of independent existence.

Six temprements

  • Carita
  • Lustful temperament (raga carita)
  • Hateful temperament (dosa carita)
  • Ignorant temperament (moha carita)
  • Devout temperament (saddhā carita)
  • Intellectual temperament (buddhi carita)
  • Discursive temperament (vitakka carita).

Five hinderances

  • Sensory desire (kāmacchanda): the particular type of wanting that seeks for happiness through the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and physical feeling.
  • Ill-will (vyāpāda; also spelled byāpāda): all kinds of thought related to wanting to reject, feelings of hostility, resentment, hatred and bitterness.
  • Sloth-torpor (thīna-middha): heaviness of body and dullness of mind which drag one down into disabling inertia and thick depression.
  • Restlessness-worry (uddhacca-kukkucca): the inability to calm the mind.
  • Doubt (vicikicchā): lack of conviction or trust.

Samana

  • Pūraṇa Kassapa - Amoralism: denies any reward or punishment for either good or bad deeds.
  • Makkhali Gosāla Fatalism: we are powerless; suffering is pre-destined.
  • Ajita Kesakambalī Materialism: with death, all is annihilated.
  • Pakudha Kaccāyana Eternalism: Matter, pleasure, pain and the soul are eternal and do not interact.
  • Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta Restraint: be endowed with, cleansed by and suffused with the avoidance of all evil.
  • Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta Agnosticism: "I don't think so. I don't think in that way or otherwise. I don't think not or not not." Suspension of judgement.

Enlightenment

some there multiple fast and slow paths, steps and stages to /full/ enlightenment.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_enlightenment - in Theravada Buddhism are are Sotapanna, Sakadagami, Anāgāmi, and Arahat, four aspirants progressive stages culminating in full enlightenment. The Buddha referred to people who are at one of these four stages as noble people (ariya-puggala) and the community of such persons as the noble sangha (ariya-sangha). The teaching of the four stages of enlightenment is a central element of the early Buddhist schools, including the Theravada school of Buddhism, which still survives.


The 4 supermundane paths (magga) and the 4 supermundane fruitions (phala) of these paths, 4 pairs:

  1. The one realizing the path of Stream-winning (sotāpattimagga).
  2. The one realizing the fruition of Stream-winning (sotāpattiphala).
  3. The one realizing the path of Once-return (sakadāgāmimagga).
  4. The one realizing the fruition of Once-return (sakadāgāmiphala).
  5. The one realizing the path of Non-return (anāgāmimagga).
  6. The one realizing the fruition of Non-return (anāgāmiphala).
  7. The one realizing the path of Holiness (arahatta-magga).
  8. The one realizing the fruition of Holiness (arahatta-phala).


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotāpanna - or "stream-winner" is a person who has eradicated the first three fetters (sanyojanas) of the mind, namely self-view (or identity), clinging to rites and rituals, and skeptical doubt.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakadagami - "returning once" or "once-returner," is a partially enlightened person, who has cut off the first three chains with which the ordinary mind is bound, and significantly weakened the fourth and fifth.


  • Sakkāya-diṭṭhi: Belief in atmān or self
  • Sīlabbata-parāmāsa: Attachment to rites and rituals
  • Vicikicchā: Skeptical doubt
  • Kāma-rāga: Sensuous craving
  • Byāpāda: ill will

The fetters from which an anāgāmi is not yet free are:

  • Rūparāga: Craving for fine-material existence (the first 4 jhanas)
  • Arūparāga: Craving for immaterial existence (the last 4 jhanas)
  • Māna: Conceit
  • Uddhacca: Restlessness
  • Avijjā: Ignorance

Kāmarāga and Byāpāda, which they are free from, can also be interpreted as craving for becoming and non-becoming, respectively. Anāgāmis are at an intermediate stage between sakadagamis and arahants. Arahants enjoy complete freedom from the ten fetters. An anāgāmi's mind is very pure.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arhat - a "perfected person" who has attained nirvana. In other Buddhist traditions the term has also been used for people far advanced along the path of Enlightenment, but who may not have reached full Buddhahood. Mahāyāna Buddhists are urged to take up the path of a bodhisattva, and to not fall back to the level of arhats and śrāvakas. The arhats, or at least the senior arhats, came to be widely regarded as "moving beyond the state of personal freedom to join the Bodhisattva enterprise in their own way".



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhi - the understanding possessed by a Buddha regarding the true nature of things. It is traditionally translated into English with the word enlightenment, although its literal meaning is closer to "awakening." The verbal root "budh" means to awaken. Bodhi is presented in the Nikayas as knowledge of the causal mechanism by which beings incarnate into material form and experience suffering. Although its most common usage is in the context of Buddhism, the term buddhi is also used in other Indian philosophies and traditions.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhisattva - an enlightenment (bodhi) being (sattva). Traditionally, a bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.

Practice


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradual_training - The Buddha sometimes described the practice (patipatti) of his teaching as the gradual training (Pali: anupubbasikkhā) because the eightfold path involves a process of mind-body transformation that unfolds over a sometimes lengthy period.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anupubbikathā - In Theravada Buddhism, anupubbikathā or ānupubbikathā (Pali) – variously translated as "gradual discourse," "gradual instruction," "progressive instruction," and "step-by-step talk" – is a method by which the Buddha taught the Dhamma to suitably receptive lay people. In this approach, the Four Noble Truths are the consummate teaching. The common formula is: Generosity (dāna), Virtue (sīla), Heaven (sagga), Danger of sensual pleasure (kāmānaṃ ādīnava), Renunciation (nekkhamma), The Four Noble Truths (cattāri ariya-saccāni)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upaya - "expedient means", "pedagogy", term used in Mahayana Buddhism to refer to an aspect of guidance along the Buddhist Paths to liberation where a conscious, voluntary action is driven by an incomplete reasoning around its direction.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pariṇāmanā Devanāgarī: "transformation; bringing to full development". Tibetan: bsngo ba, "dedication". Sanskrit: Pariṇāmana, "bringing to full development" and "turning of things destined for the community", or a kind of worship (to Amitābha's merit), or "changing into", "transformation" or "concluding", may be rendered in English as "merit transference" though in common parlance it is rendered as "dedication". The Pariṇāmanā or 'dedication' is a standard part of Buddhist spiritual discipline or practice where the practitioner's accumulation of merit (Sanskrit puṇya) is transferred to all sentient beings.

Three Jewels


Five Precepts

"There are these five gifts, five great gifts — original, long-standing, traditional, ancient, unadulterated, unadulterated from the beginning — that are not open to suspicion, will never be open to suspicion, and are unfaulted by knowledgeable contemplatives & brahmans. Which five?

  1. I undertake the training rule to abstain from killing. Pāṇātipātā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.
  2. I undertake the training rule to abstain from taking what is not given. Adinnādānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.
  3. I undertake the training rule to avoid sexual misconduct. Kāmesumicchācāra veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.
  4. I undertake the training rule to abstain from false speech. Musāvādā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi.
  5. I undertake the training rule to abstain from misconduct through intoxication.

"There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones, abandoning and abstaining, in doing so, gives freedom from danger, freedom from animosity, freedom from oppression to limitless numbers of beings. In giving freedom from danger, freedom from animosity, freedom from oppression to limitless numbers of beings, he gains a share in limitless freedom from danger, freedom from animosity, and freedom from oppression. This is the first gift, the first great gift — original, long-standing, traditional, ancient, unadulterated, unadulterated from the beginning — that is not open to suspicion, will never be open to suspicion, and is unfaulted by knowledgeable contemplatives & brahmans...

Pāramitā

In the Pāli canon's Buddhavaṃsa the Ten Perfections (dasa pāramiyo) are (original terms in Pāli):

  1. Dāna pāramī : generosity, giving of oneself
  2. Sīla pāramī : virtue, morality, proper conduct
  3. Nekkhamma pāramī : renunciation
  4. Paññā pāramī : transcendental wisdom, insight
  5. Viriya (also spelled vīriya) pāramī : energy, diligence, vigour, effort
  6. Khanti pāramī : patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance
  7. Sacca pāramī : truthfulness, honesty
  8. Adhiṭṭhāna (adhitthana) pāramī : determination, resolution
  9. Mettā pāramī : loving-kindness
  10. Upekkhā (also spelled upekhā) pāramī : equanimity, serenity

Brahmavihara

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmavihara - (sublime attitudes, lit. "abodes of brahma") are a series of four Buddhist virtues and the meditation practices made to cultivate them. They are also known as the four immeasurables (Sanskrit: apramāṇa, Pāli: appamaññā). It contains a number of recollections or recitations that promote the development of mettā through virtuous characteristics and meditation. The discourse identifies fifteen moral qualities and conditions conducive to the development of mettā. These include such qualities as being non-deceptive (uju), sincere (suju), easy to correct (suvaco), gentle (mudu) and without arrogance (anatimānī).

The meditator is instructed to radiate out to all beings in all directions the mental states of:

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mettā - loving-kindness or benevolence
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karuṇā - compassion
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudita - empathetic joy / compersion
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upekkha - equanimity

Satipatthana

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satipatthana - the Pāli word for the Buddhist concept of the foundations of mindfulness. The corresponding word in Sanskrit (Skt.) is smṛtyupasthāna and in Chinese it is ‘mindfulness-place’ (念處).

The four foundations of mindfulness (Pāli cattāro satipaṭṭhānā) are four practices set out in the Satipatthana Sutta for attaining and maintaining moment-by-moment mindfulness and are fundamental techniques in Buddhist meditation.

The four foundations of mindfulness are:

  • mindfulness of the body;
  • mindfulness of feelings or sensations (vedanā);
  • mindfulness of mind or consciousness (citta); and
  • mindfulness of mental phenomena or mental objects (dhammā).

The Buddha referred to the four foundations for establishing mindfulness as a "direct" or "one-way path" to the realisation of nirvana. These practices continue to be recognized, taught, and practiced as key techniques for achieving the benefits of mindfulness, especially in modern Theravadan Buddhism and in the Vipassana or Insight Meditation Movement.

Four Right Exertions

Four Bases

  • Intention or purpose or desire or zeal (chanda)
  • Effort or energy or will (viriya)
  • Consciousness or mind or thoughts (citta)
  • Investigation or discrimination (vīmaṃsā)

Five Faculties

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indriya - the Sanskrit and Pali term for physical strength or ability in general, and for the five senses more specifically. In Buddhism, the term refers to multiple intrapsychic processes and is generally translated as "faculty" or, in specific contexts, as "spiritual faculty" or "controlling principle."[1] The term literally means "belonging to Indra," chief deity in the Rig Veda and lord of Tāvatiṃsa heaven, hence connoting supremacy, dominance and control, attested in the general meaning of "power, strength" from the Rigveda.

In Buddhism, depending on the context, indriya traditionally refers to one of the following groups of faculties: the 5 spiritual faculties the 5 or 6 sensory faculties the 22 phenomenological faculties

Five Strengths

  • Faith (saddha) - controls doubt
  • Energy/Effort/Persistence (viriya) – controls laziness
  • Mindfulness (sati); - controls heedlessness
  • Concentration (samādhi) - controls distraction
  • Wisdom/Discernment (pañña, prajña) – controls ignorance

Seven Factors of Enlightenment

  • Mindfulness (sati) i.e. to recognize the dhammas (phenomena or reality, two ways one can translate "dhamma").
  • Investigation (dhamma vicaya) of dhammas.
  • Energy (viriya) also determination
  • Joy or rapture (pīti)
  • Relaxation or tranquility (passaddhi) of both body and mind
  • Concentration (samādhi) a calm, one-pointed state of concentration of mind
  • Equanimity (upekkha), to be fully aware of all phenomena without being lustful or averse towards them.

Early

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Buddhism - can refer to two distinct periods: Pre-sectarian Buddhism, which refers to the Teachings and monastic organization and structure, founded by Gautama Buddha. The Early Buddhist schools, into which pre-sectarian Buddhism split (without formal schisms, in the sense of Vinaya).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikaya_Buddhism - coined by Dr. Masatoshi Nagatomi, in order to find a more acceptable (less derogatory) term than Hinayana to refer to the early Buddhist schools. Examples of these schools are pre-sectarian Buddhism and the early Buddhist schools. Some scholars use the term as excluding pre-sectarian Buddhism.

Texts

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhāran_Buddhist_Texts - the oldest Buddhist manuscripts yet discovered, dating from about the 1st century CE, including a Dhammapada, discourses of Buddha (for example the Rhinoceros Horn Sutra), Avadanas and Purvayogas, commentaries and Abhidharma texts.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pāli_Canon - standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It was composed in North India, and preserved orally until it was committed to writing during the Fourth Buddhist Council in Sri Lanka in 29 BCE, approximately four hundred and fifty four years after the death of Gautama Buddha



Sutta Pitaka
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digha_Nikaya - the "long" discourses, includes The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness, The Fruits of the Contemplative Life, and The Buddha's Last Days. There are 34 long suttas in this nikaya.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhammacakkappavattana_Sutta - "The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma", considered to be a record of the first teaching given by the Buddha after he attained enlightenment. The main topic of this sutta is the Four Noble Truths, which are the central teachings of Buddhism that provide a unifying theme, or conceptual framework, for all of Buddhist thought. This sutta also introduces the Buddhist concepts of the middle way, impermanence, and dependent origination.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khuddaka_Nikaya - the "minor collection", a heterogeneous mix of sermons, doctrines, and poetry attributed to the Buddha and his disciples. The contents vary somewhat between editions. The Thai edition includes 1-15 below, the Sinhalese edition 1-17 and the Burmese edition 1-18.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khuddakapatha - The collection is composed of the following nine discourses: "Going for Refuge" (Saranattayam), "Ten Precepts" (Dasasikkhapadam), "Thirty-two Parts [of the Body]" (Dvattimsakaro), "Novice's Questions" (Kumarapanha), "Discourse on Blessings" (Mangala Sutta), "Discourse on Treasures" (Ratana Sutta), "[Hungry Shades] Outside the Wall Chapter" (Tirokutta Sutta), "Reserve Fund Chapter" (Nidhikanda Sutta) and "Discourse on Lovingkindess" (Metta Sutta). The Khuddakapatha is considered a late addition to the Pali Canon, collecting discourses all but one of which is found elsewhere in the Pali Canon.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udana - translated "inspired utterances". The book comprises 80 such utterances, most in verse, each preceded by a narrative giving the context in which the Buddha utters it.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutta_Nipata - literally, "Suttas falling down", thought to originate from before the Buddha's parinibbana, consist largely of verse, though some also contain some prose. It is divided into five sections
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros_Sutra - Sutta Nipata's first chapter, a very early Buddhist text advocating the merit of solitary asceticism for pursuing enlightenment (as opposed to practicing as a householder or in a community of monks or nuns).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimanavatthu - Pali for "Vimana Stories". The Vimanavatthu is an anthology of 85 short stories written in verse. The stories are similar to each other in that each of them describes the life and deeds of a character who has attained residence in a heavenly mansion, the "Vimana", due to his/her meritorious deeds.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petavatthu - composed of 51 verse narratives describing specifically how the effects of bad acts can lead to rebirth into the unhappy world of petas (ghosts) in the doctrine of karma. It gives prominence to the doctrine that giving alms to monks may benefit the ghosts of one's relatives (see Ancestor worship).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theragatha - a collection of short poems supposedly recited by early members of the Buddhist sangha. Many of the verses of the Theragatha concern the attempts of monks to overcome the temptations of Mara. It consists of 264 poems, organized into 21 chapters. Notable texts from the Theragatha include the eighth poem of chapter sixteen, consisting of verses recited by the reformed killer Angulimala, and the third poem of chapter seventeen, in which the Buddha's cousin and retainer Ananda mourns the passing of his master.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therigatha - a collection of short poems supposedly recited by early members of the Buddhist sangha in India around 600 BC. It consists of 73 poems organized into 16 chapters. It is the earliest known collection of women's literature.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jataka_tales - stories that tell about the previous lives of the Buddha, in both human and animal form. The future Buddha may appear in them as a king, an outcast, a god, an elephant—but, in whatever form, he exhibits some virtue that the tale thereby inculcates.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apadāna - consists of about 600 poems (between 589 and 603 in different editions), mostly biographical stories of monks and nuns. Many of the stories of monks and nuns are expansions of, or otherwise related to, verses presented in the Theragatha and Therigatha as having been spoken by senior members of the early Sangha.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cariyapitaka - a short verse work that includes thirty-five accounts of the Buddha's former lives (similar to Jataka tales) when he as a bodhisattva exhibited behaviors known as "perfections," prerequisites to buddhahood. This canonical text, along with the Apadana and Buddhavamsa, is believed to be a late addition to the Pali Canon and has been described as "hagiographical.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nettipakarana - the nature of the Netti is a matter of some disagreement among scholars. The translator, supported by Professor George Bond of Northwestern University,[1] holds that it is a guide to help those who already understand the teaching present it to others. However, A. K. Warder, Professor Emeritus of Sanskrit at the University of Toronto, disagrees, maintaining that it covers all aspects of interpretation, not just this.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milinda_Panha - purports to record a dialogue in which the Indo-Greek king Menander I (Pali Milinda) of Bactria, who reigned in the 2nd century BCE, poses questions on Buddhism to the sage Nāgasena.


Vinaya Pitaka
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinaya_Pitaka - It was compiled at the First Council shortly after the Buddha's death, and recited by Upali, with little later addition. Most of the different versions are fairly similar, most scholars consider most of the Vinaya to be fairly early, that is, dating from before the separation of schools.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinaya - The Vinaya (a word in Pāli as well as in Sanskrit, with literal meaning 'leading out', 'education', 'discipline') is the regulatory framework for the Buddhist monastic community, or sangha, based on the canonical texts called Vinaya Pitaka. The teachings of the Buddha, or Buddhadharma can be divided into two broad categories: 'Dharma' or doctrine, and 'Vinaya', or discipline. Another term for Buddhism is dharmavinaya. Extant vinaya texts include the Theravāda Vinaya, Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya, Mahīśāsaka Vinaya, Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, Sarvāstivāda Vinaya, and the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya.
Abhidhamma Pitaka
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhidhamma_Pitaka - ancient (3rd century BCE and later) Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic and scientific reworkings of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist Sutras, according to schematic classifications. The Abhidhamma works do not contain systematic philosophical treatises, but summaries or abstract and systematic lists. According to the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Abhidhamma started as an elaboration of the teachings of the suttas, but later developed independent doctrines. The literal translation of the term Abhidharma is unclear. Two possibilities are most commonly given: abhi - higher or special + dharma- teaching, philosophy, thus making Abhidharma the "higher teachings", and abhi - about + dharma of the teaching, translating it instead as "about the teaching" or even "metateaching". In the West, the Abhidhamma has generally been considered the core of what is referred to as "Buddhist Psychology".

Schools

  • vāda holding the semantic field: "doctrine", "teachings"

Under the influence of materials from the Theravāda school, some western historians have tended to see the Mahāsāṃghikas as a lax, breakaway group. However, the account by the Mahāsāṃghika school itself saw the Sthaviras as being the breakaway group which was attempting to modify the original Vinaya.

The Sautrāntika differed from their parent school, the Sarvāstivādins on matters of ontology. While the Sarvāstivādin abhidharma described a complex system in which past, present, and future phenomena are all held to have some form of their own existence, the Sautrāntika subscribed to a doctrine of "extreme momentariness" that held that only the present moment existed. They seem to have regarded the Sarvāstivādin position as a violation of the basic Buddhist principle of impermanence). The Sarvāstivādin abhidharma also broke down human experience in terms of a variety of underlying phenomena (a view similar to that held by the modern Theravadin abhidhamma); the Sautrāntika believed that experience could not be differentiated in this manner.

They used the concept of an āśraya (substrate, refuge) to explain the continuity of consciousness through rebirth, whereas the Pudgalavādins and Vātsiputrīyins posited a pudgala (a 'personal entity' distinct from the five skandha), and where non-Buddhist Indian philosophy typically referred to an ātman.[citation needed] Vasubandhu, one of the Indian monastic scholars primarily responsible for articulating the doctrines of the Yogācāra school, was sympathetic to the Sautrāntika on many doctrinal issues, and wrote critiques of the Vaibhāṣika tradition from a Sautrāntika perspective.

No separate monastic code specific to the Sautrāntika has been found, nor is the existence of any such separate disciplinary code evidenced in other texts; this indicates that they were likely only a doctrinal division within the Sarvāstivādin school.


"One camp refused to rank the concept of person as a truth on the ultimate level. This group inspired what eventually became the classic Theravada position on this issue: that the "person" was simply a conventional designation for the five aggregates. However, the other camp — who developed into the Pudgalavadin (Personalist) school — said that the person was neither a ultimate truth nor a mere conventional designation, neither identical with nor totally separate from the five aggregates. This special meaning of person, they said, was required to account for three things: the cohesion of a person's identity in this lifetime (one person's memories, for instance, cannot become another person's memories); the unitary nature of rebirth (one person cannot be reborn in several places at once); and the fact that, with the cessation of the khandhas at the death of an arahant, he/she is said to attain the Further Shore. However, after that moment, they said, nothing further could be said about the person, for that was as far as the concept's descriptive powers could go. As might be imagined, the first group accused the second group of denying the concept of anatta, or not-self; whereas the second group accused the first of being unable to account for the truths that they said their concept of person explained. Both groups, however, found that their positions entangled them in philosophical difficulties that have never been successfully resolved."


Yanas

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yana_(Buddhism) - refers to a mode, method or approach to spiritual practice in Buddhism, and in particular to divisions of various schools of Buddhism according to their type of practice in relation to the realization of emptiness.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutrayana - Indo-Tibetan three-fold classification of yanas. Theravada ("Hinayana"), Mahayana, and Vajrayana. The third yana, Vajrayana, comprises Tantrayana and Dzogchen.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinayana - is a Sanskrit term literally meaning: the "Smaller Vehicle", applied to the Śrāvakayāna, the Buddhist path followed by a śrāvaka who wishes to become an arhat. The term appeared around the 1st or 2nd century. Hīnayāna is often contrasted with Mahāyāna, which means the "Great Vehicle." The Hinayana or Small Vehicle is defined by Kalu Rinpoche as follows: "The Small Vehicle is based on becoming aware of the fact that all we experience in samsara is marked by suffering. Being aware of this engenders the will to rid ourselves of this suffering, to liberate ourselves on an individual level, and to attain happiness. We are moved by our own interest. Renunciation and perseverance allow us to attain our goal." The Chinese monk Yijing who visited India in the 7th century, distinguishes Mahāyāna from Hīnayāna as follows: Both adopt one and the same Vinaya, and they have in common the prohibitions of the five offenses, and also the practice of the Four Noble Truths. Those who venerate the bodhisattvas and read the Mahāyāna sūtras are called the Mahāyānists, while those who do not perform these are called the Hīnayānists.

Maha Stupa at Thotlakonda Monastic Complex initially flourished as an early Buddhist school of Hinayana and later developed as one among the Theravada Schools of Buddhism, which witnessed peak activity during 2nd Century BCE, in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India The term was widely used in the past by Western scholars to cover "the earliest system of Buddhist doctrine" as the Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary (Oxford, 1899) put it.[4] It has been used as a synonym for the Theravada tradition, which continues as the main form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia, but some scholars deny that the term included Theravada Buddhism. In 1950 the World Fellowship of Buddhists declared that the term Hīnayana should not be used when referring to any form of Buddhism existing today.

India

Theravada

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada - (Pali, literally "school of the elder monks") is a branch of Buddhism that uses the teaching of the Pāli Canon, a collection of the oldest recorded Buddhist texts, as its doctrinal core, but also includes a rich diversity of traditions and practices that have developed over its long history of interactions with various cultures and communities. It is the dominant form of religion in Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Burma, and is practiced by minority groups in Vietnam, Bangladesh, and China. In addition, the diaspora of all of these groups as well as converts around the world practice Theravāda Buddhism.

Theravadin accounts of its own origins mention that it received the teachings that were agreed upon during the putative Third Buddhist council under the patronage of the Indian Emperor Ashoka around 250 BCE. These teachings were known as the Vibhajjavada. Emperor Ashoka is supposed to have assisted in purifying the sangha by expelling monks who failed to agree to the terms of Third Council. Later, the Vibhajjavādins in turn is said to have split into four groups: the Mahīśāsaka, Kāśyapīya, Dharmaguptaka, and the Tāmraparṇīya.

Sri Lanka

Mahayana

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana - originated in India, and some scholars believe that it was initially associated with one of the oldest historical branches of Buddhism, the Mahāsāṃghika. The largest school of Buddhism today
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prajnaparamita - means "the Perfection of (Transcendent) Wisdom.", indispensable elements of the Bodhisattva Path, elucidated and described in the genre of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, which vary widely in length and exhaustiveness. The Prajñāpāramitā sūtras suggest that all things including oneself, appear as thoughtforms (conceptual constructs)
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatamsaka_Sutra - one of the most influential Mahayana sutras of East Asian Buddhism. The title is rendered in English as Flower Garland Sutra, Flower Adornment Sutra, or Flower Ornament Scripture. describes a cosmos of infinite realms upon realms, mutually containing one another. The vision expressed in this work was the foundation for the creation of the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism, which was characterized by a philosophy of interpenetration.




  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Sutra - Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra, one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sūtras, and the basis on which the Tiantai and Nichiren schools of Buddhism were established.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinayana - "Smaller Vehicle", applied to the Śrāvakayāna, the Buddhist path followed by a śrāvaka who wishes to become an arhat. The term appeared around the 1st or 2nd century. Hīnayāna is often contrasted with Mahāyāna, which means the "Great Vehicle."
Bodhisattva
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhūmi_(Buddhism) - the ten stages on the Mahayana bodhisattva's path of awakening. The Sanskrit term bhūmi literally means "ground" or "foundation". Each stage represents a level of attainment, and serves as a basis for the next one. Each level marks a definite advancement in one's training, that is accompanied by progressively greater power and wisdom.

Madhyamaka

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madhyamaka - refers primarily to a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of philosophy founded by Nāgārjuna. According to Madhyamaka all phenomena are śūnya, empty, of "substance" or "essence" (svabhāva) or inherent existence, because they are dependently co-arisen. But this "emptiness" itself is also "empty": it does not have an existence on its own, nor does it refer to a transcendental reality beyond or above phenomenal reality.

Himalayan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_Buddhism - a term used to collectively refer to the Buddhist schools of Tibet, Bhutan, and regions of Nepal, and those practiced in the Indian Himalayan regions of Ladakh, Himachel Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachel Pradesh. There are four main, and several smaller, sects of Buddhism which were centred in Tibet but spread to the surrounding Himalayan regions:

  • Nyingma
  • Sakya
  • Kagyu
  • Geluk

The Newar Buddhism of Nepal, which was centred in the Kathmandu valley, is older than Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism drew many teachings, particularly Vajarayana teachings, from Newar Buddhism as well as teachings from Indian Buddhism

All these Buddhist traditions are closely related historically and all include practices of both the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism. The Buddhism of Mongolia is part of the same cultural milieu, although Mongolia is not in the Himalayan region.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padmasambhava - also known as the Second Buddha, was a sage guru from northwestern Classical India (modern-day Swat Valley, Pakistan). Padmasambhava is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Tibet, Bhutan and neighboring countries in the 8th century AD.

Vajrayana

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vajrayana - also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Way or Thunderbolt Way. The Lama and the Guru yoga are central in this system. Vajrayāna is a complex and multifaceted system of Buddhist thought and practice which evolved over several centuries. According to Vajrayāna scriptures, the term Vajrayāna refers to one of three vehicles or routes to enlightenment, the other two being the Śrāvakayāna (also known as the Hīnayāna) and Mahāyāna. Note that Hinayāna (or Nikaya) is not to be confused with Theravada (a practice lineage), although it is sometimes equated to it.

Founded by Indian Mahāsiddhas, Vajrayāna subscribes to Buddhist tantric literature.


The three divisions of the Outer Tantras are:

  • Kriyatantra or kriyayoga- the first of the outer tantras, and places a special emphasis on ritual actions, such as ritual bathing, and ritual 'magic' to perform rites of pacification, increase and wrath. The empowerments required are the simple vase empowerment and crown empowerment. The emphasis of this level of tantra is on obtaining the siddhis, which are then used for the benefit of all beings, causing the accumulation of merit.

The deities of kriyayoga are split into 3 families;

  • The highest Tathagata (buddha) family,
  • The middling Padma (lotus) family,
  • The lowest Vajra (thunderbolt) family.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogatantra - emphasizes the inner yoga meditation of method and wisdom; or alternatively, because based on knowledge and understanding of all aspects of the profound ultimate truth and the vast relative truth, it emphasizes contemplation that inseparably unites these two truths.


A different division is used by the Nyingma or Ancient Translation school which has nine yanas, a list made by combining the first type of three yanas, and adding the six classes of tantras. Kriyayoga, Charyayoga and Yogatantra are called the Outer Tantras, while Anuttarayogatantra is divided into Three Inner Tantras, which correspond to the:


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayoga - one visualizes oneself as the divinity with consort. "All manifestation, thoughts and appearances are considered to be the sacred aspects of the divinities within relative truth," in the words of Tulku Thondup. By visualizing all phenomena as the deities of the mandala of buddhahood, in the development stage, all appearances are purified.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_stage - visualizes a meditational deity (yidam) or refuge tree before themselves in front generation, or as themselves in self generation, to engender an alteration to their perception and/or experience of the appearance aspect of reality
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anuyoga - emphasis shifts away from external visualization toward the completion stage, in which one meditates on the inner or subtle body with its primary energy centres (chakras), and its prana (winds or subtle energies), nadis (the inner pathways along which one's energy travels), and bindu (the consciousness). In anuyoga, all appearances are seen as the three great mandalas, and reality is understood as the deities and their pure lands.
  • Atiyoga' or Dzogchen - The analogy given by Dzogchen masters is that one's nature is like a mirror which reflects with complete openness but is not affected by the reflections, or like a crystal ball that takes on the colour of the material on which it is placed without itself being changed. The knowledge that ensues from recognizing this mirror-like clarity (which cannot be found by searching nor identified) is what Dzogchenpas refer to as rigpa.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anuttarayoga_Tantra - often translated as Unexcelled Yoga Tantra or Highest Yoga Tantra, is a term used in Tibetan Buddhism in the categorization of esoteric tantric Indian Buddhist texts that constitute part of the Kangyur, or the 'translated words of the Buddha' in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. In the highest class of tantra, two stages of practice are distinguished. Details of these practices are normally only explained to practitioners by their teachers after receiving an initiation or 'permission to practice'. In some Buddhist tantras, both stages can be practiced simultaneously, whereas in others, one first actualizes the generation stage before continuing with the completion stage practices.


Fourfold division - The best-known classification is by the Gelug, Sakya, and Kagyu schools, the so-called Sarma or New Translation schools of Tibetan Buddhism. They divide the Tantras into four hierarchical categories:

  • Kriyayoga, action tantra, which emphasizes ritual;
  • Charyayoga, performance tantra, which emphasizes meditation;
  • Yogatantra, yoga tantra;
  • Anuttarayogatantra, highest yoga tantra, which is further divided into "mother", "father" and "non-dual" tantras.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lung_(Tibetan_Buddhism) - means wind or breath. It is a key concept in the Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and has a variety of meanings. Lung is a concept that's particularly important to understandings of the subtle body and the Three Vajras (body, speech and mind). Tibetan medicine practitioner Dr Tamdin Sither Bradley provides a summary:

"The general description of rLung is that it is a subtle flow of energy and out of the five elements (air, fire, water, earth and space) it is most closely connected with air. However it is not simply the air which we breathe or the wind in our stomachs, it goes much deeper than that. rLung is like a horse and the mind is the rider, if there is something wrong with the horse the rider will not be able to ride properly. Its description is that it is rough, light, cool, thin, hard, movable. The general function of rLung is to help growth, movement of the body, exhalation and inhalation and to aid the function of mind, speech and body. rLung helps to separate in our stomachs what we eat into nutrients and waste products. However its most important function is to carry the movements of mind, speech and body. The nature of rLung is both hot and cold."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahavairocana_Tantra - an important Vajrayana Buddhist text. It is also known as the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Tantra, or more fully as the Mahāvairocana Abhisaṃbodhi Vikurvita Adhiṣṭhāna Tantra. In Tibet it is considered to be a member of the Carya class of tantras. In Japan where it is known as the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, it is one of two central texts in the Shingon school, along with the Vajrasekhara Sutra. Both are also part of the Tendai school.



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahamudra - "a ritual hand-gesture, one of a sequence of 'seals' in Tantric practice, the nature of reality as emptiness, a meditation procedure focusing on the nature of Mind, an innate blissful gnosis cognizing emptiness nondually, or the supreme attainment of buddhahood at the culmination of the Tantric path."
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing-out_instruction - said to be the direct introduction to the nature of mind in the Tibetan Buddhist lineages of Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen. In these traditions, a "root guru" (S. mūlaguru, Wylie: rtsa-ba'i bla-ma, pronounced "tsawey lama") is the master who gives the "pointing-out instruction" in such a way that the disciple successfully recognizes the "nature of mind." The tradition of conferring such instructions outside of the context of formal abhiṣeka (empowerment) is unique to the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages. Whether or not such instructions are valid without the formal abhiṣeka has historically been a point of contention with the more conservative Gelug and Sakya lineages. The pointing-out instruction is often equated with the "fourth" or ghanta abhiṣeka of more formal vajrayana empowerment.


  • The Berzin Archives is a collection of translations and teachings by Dr. Alexander Berzin primarily on the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Covering the areas of sutra, tantra, Kalachakra, dzogchen, and mahamudra meditation, the Archives presents material from all five Tibetan traditions: Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, Gelug, and Bon, as well as comparisons with Theravada Buddhism and Islam. Also featured are Tibetan astrology and medicine, Shambhala, and Buddhist history.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer_flag - a colorful rectangular cloth, often found strung along mountain ridges and peaks high in the Himalayas. They are used to bless the surrounding countryside and for other purposes. Prayer flags are believed to have originated with Bon, which predated Buddhism in Tibet. In Bon, shamanistic Bonpo used primary-colored plain flags in healing ceremonies in Nepal. They are unknown in other branches of Buddhism. Traditional prayer flags include woodblock-printed text and images.



  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yidam - a type of deity associated with tantric or Vajrayana Buddhism said to be manifestations of Buddhahood or enlightened mind. During personal meditation (sādhana) practice, the yogi identifies their own form, attributes and mind with those of a yidam for the purpose of transformation. Yidam is sometimes translated by the terms "meditational deity" or "tutelary deity". Examples of yidams include the meditation deities Chakrasamvara, Kalachakra, Hevajra, Yamantaka, and Vajrayogini, all of whom have a distinctive iconography, mandala, mantra, rites of invocation and practice.

In Vajrayana, the yidam is one of the three roots of the "inner" refuge formula and is also the key element of Deity yoga since the 'deity' in the yoga is the yidam.

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahasiddha - maha meaning "great" and siddha meaning "adept", a certain type of yogin/yogini recognized in Vajrayana Buddhism, founders of Vajrayana traditions and lineages, such as Dzogchen and Mahamudra.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empowerment_(Vajrayana) - a ritual in Vajrayana which initiates a student into a particular tantric deity practice. The Tibetan word for this is wang (Skt. abhiṣeka; Tib. དབང་, wang; Wyl. dbang), which literally translates to power. The Sanskrit term for this is abhiseka which literally translates to sprinkling or bathing or anointing. A tantric practice is not considered effective or as effective until a qualified master has transmitted the corresponding power of the practice directly to the student. This may also refer to introducing the student to the mandala of the deity.
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardo - means literally "intermediate state"—also translated as "transitional state" or "in-between state" or "liminal state". In Sanskrit the concept has the name antarabhāva. It is a concept which arose soon after the Buddha's passing, with a number of earlier Buddhist groups accepting the existence of such an intermediate state, while other schools rejected it.

Used loosely, the term "bardo" refers to the state of existence intermediate between two lives on earth. According to Tibetan tradition, after death and before one's next birth, when one's consciousness is not connected with a physical body, one experiences a variety of phenomena. These usually follow a particular sequence of degeneration from, just after death, the clearest experiences of reality of which one is spiritually capable, and then proceeding to terrifying hallucinations that arise from the impulses of one's previous unskillful actions. For the prepared and appropriately trained individuals the bardo offers a state of great opportunity for liberation, since transcendental insight may arise with the direct experience of reality, while for others it can become a place of danger as the karmically created hallucinations can impel one into a less than desirable rebirth.

The term bardo can also be used metaphorically to describe times when our usual way of life becomes suspended, as, for example, during a period of illness or during a meditation retreat. Such times can prove fruitful for spiritual progress because external constraints diminish. However, they can also present challenges because our less skillful impulses may come to the foreground, just as in the sidpa bardo.

Tibetan




  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Buddhist_canon - a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to sutrayana texts from Early Buddhist (mostly Sarvastivada) and Mahayana sources, the Tibetan canon includes tantric texts. The Tibetan Canon underwent a final compilation in the 14th century by Buton Rinchen Drub (1290–1364).

The Tibetans did not have a formally arranged Mahayana canon and so devised their own scheme which divided texts into two broad categories:

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangyur (Wylie: bka'-'gyur) or "Translated Words", consists of works supposed to have been said by the Buddha himself. All texts presumably have a Sanskrit original, although in many cases the Tibetan text was translated from Chinese or other languages.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengyur (Wylie: bstan-'gyur) or "Translated Treatises", is the section to which were assigned commentaries, treatises and abhidharma works (both Mahayana and non-Mahayana). The Tengyur contains 3626 texts in 224 Volumes.


  • Nyingma—the teachings of the kama, terma and pure vision traditions within the Nyingma School of Ancient Translations, which had come down in an aural lineage transmitted by countless learned and accomplished masters, all thanks to the kindness of Khenpo Shantarakshita, Guru Padmasambhava and the Dharma-King Trisong Deutsen.
  • Kadam—the divine teachings of the Old and New Kadam traditions, founded by the incomparable and glorious Lord Jowo Atisha and further developed through the magnificent efforts of Lobsang Drakpa, who was Manjushri in person.
  • Lamdré/Sakya—the essential instructions of the 'Path with its Result' (Tib. Lamdré), the heart-essence of the mahasiddha Virupa, which came down to the glorious Sakyapa founders and their heirs, and were then passed on by the various lineages including those of Sakya, Ngor and Tsar (Wyl. sa ngor tsar gsum).
  • Marpa Kagyü—the four streams of teachings within the Kagyü tradition that stems from Marpa, Milarepa and Gampopa, and branched into the four major and eight minor Kagyü lineages.
  • Shangpa Kagyü—the golden doctrine of the dakini Niguma from the glorious Shangpa Kagyü, which comes from the learned and accomplished Khyungpo Naljor.
  • Kalachakra/'Six Branch Practice of Vajrayoga' (Tib. Jordruk; Wyl. sbyor drug)—the 'Six-Branched Application', which emphasizes the Vajra Yoga of the perfection stage of the splendid Kalachakra, and which came to Tibet from the noble Dharma-kings of India and others such as Kalapada in early, intermediate and later phases, and developed into seventeen traditions, which were then brought together and passed on by the renunciate Tukjé Tsöndru and others.
  • Shyijé and Chö—the noble teachings of the 'Pacifying of Suffering' Tradition coming from Padampa Sangyé together with the profound teachings on the objects of severance, or Chö, which were passed on by Machik Lapdrön and others.
  • 'Approach and Accomplishment of the Three Vajras'—the teachings bestowed on the mahasiddha Orgyenpa Rinchen Pal by the mother of the buddhas, Vajrayogini herself.

Note: the Jonang and Gelug schools are not part of this list because they formed within Tibet.


Terma
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terma_(religion) - key Tibetan Buddhist and Bön teachings, which the tradition holds were originally esoterically hidden by various adepts such as Padmasambhava and his consorts in the 8th century for future discovery at auspicious times by other adepts, known as tertöns. As such, they represent a tradition of continuing revelation in Buddhism. The majority of terma teachings are tantric in nature, although there are notable exceptions. 'Treasure.' 1) The transmission through concealed treasures hidden, mainly by Guru Rinpoche and Yeshe Tsogyal, to be discovered at the proper time by a 'tertön,' a treasure revealer, for the benefit of future disciples. It is one of the two chief traditions of the Nyingma School, the other being 'Kama.' This tradition is said to continue even long after the Vinaya of the Buddha has disappeared. 2) Concealed treasures of many different kinds, including texts, ritual objects, relics, and natural objects.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardo_Thodol - Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State, Tibetan Book of the Dead, a funerary text. The Tibetan text describes, and is intended to guide one through, the experiences that the consciousness has after death, during the interval between death and the next rebirth. This interval is known in Tibetan as the bardo. The text also includes chapters on the signs of death, and rituals to undertake when death is closing in, or has taken place.
Nyingma school
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyingma - a name emerging in the 11th century, the sole Ngagyur or "old translation" school is often equated as originating with the widespread introduction of Buddhism to Tibet around the turn of the 8th century. The oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Ngagyur (Tibetan: སྔ་འགྱུར།, Wylie: snga 'gyur, "school of the ancient translations" or "old school"). The Tibetan alphabet and grammar was actually created for this endeavour.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semde - the "Mind series"; this category contains the earliest (proto) Dzogchen teachings. Tradition attributes them to Padmasmabhava and his consorts, and dates them to the 8th century, but they first appeared in the 9th century, written by Tibetans
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menngagde- the series of secret Oral Instructions, which also reflects the developments of the 11th-14th centuries; this series has overshadowed the other two, and is in effect the only one practiced nowadays.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigpa - the "self-reflexive awareness that cognizes Buddha-nature." It has also come to mean the "pristine awareness" that is the fundamental ground itself.
Sarma
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarma_(Tibetan_Buddhism) - "new translation" schools include the three newer of the four main schools, comprising the following traditions and their sub-branches with their roots in the 11th century. primarily follows Tantric teachings (Vajrayāna) which were translated into Tibetan during the second diffusion of the Buddha Dharma into Tibet (diffusing the so-called New Tantras).
Kagyu school
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kagyu - Sarma school. Due to the Kagyu tradition's particularly strong emphasis on guru devotion and guru yoga, and the personal transmission of esoteric instructions (dam ngag or man ngag) from master to disciple, the early Kagyu tradition soon gave rise to a bewildering number of independent sub-schools or sub-sects centered around individual charismatic Kagyu teachers and their lineages. These lineages are hereditary as well as mindstream emanation in nature.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_Kagyu - probably the largest and certainly the most widely practiced lineage within the Kagyu school. The central teaching of the Karma Kagyu is the doctrine of Mahamudra, also known as the "Great Seal". Within the Karma Kagyu, meditative practice is almost invariably presented in a progressive manner. Early practice includes Shamatha meditation (calm abiding; single-pointedness), introduction to Buddhist history and philosophy, and initiation into the lower Tantras - classically across the Yidams (deities) Avalokiteshvara (Tibetan Chenrezik), Tara and Amitabha Buddha. This is followed by Ngondro (the practice of the Four Extraordinary Foundations) and Vipassana meditation. During the traditional three-year retreat, retreatants usually focus their practice on the Six Yogas of Naropa. At the Anuttarayogatantra level of practice, the principal Yidams of the lineage are Vajravarahi, Hevajra and Chakrasamvara. While one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Karma Kagyu is its emphasis on meditative practice, all forms and levels of Buddhist history and philosophy are also taught, most notably the Shentong branch of Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka philosophy.
  • http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Kagyü - one of the four main traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The Kagyü tradition is one of the ‘Sarma’ or ‘new’ schools that mainly follow the tantras translated during the later transmission of the Buddhadharma to Tibet around the 11th century. Often called ‘the Practice Lineage’, the Kagyü tradition places great emphasis on intensive meditation practice, and on guru yoga, the power of devotion and the transmission from master to disciple. Apart from Tibet and all across the Himalayan regions, the Kagyü tradition has a very strong following in South East Asia and Malaysia, and has long since taken root in the West.
Sakya school
Jonang
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonang - traced to early 12th century master Yumo Mikyo Dorje, but became much wider known with the help of Dolpopa Sherab Gyeltsen, a monk originally trained in the Sakya school. The Jonang school was widely thought to have become extinct in the late 17th century at the hands of the Fifth Dalai Lama who forcibly annexed the Jonang monasteries to his Gelug school, declaring them heretical. Recently, however, it was discovered that some remote Jonang monasteries escaped this fate and have continued practicing uninterrupted to this day.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chöd - "Cutting Through the Ego,", the practice is based on the Prajñāpāramitā or "Perfection of Wisdom" sutras which expound the "emptiness", combined with specific meditation methods and tantric ritual. The chod practitioner seeks to tap the power of fear through activities such as rituals set in graveyards, and visualisation of offering their bodies in a tantric feast in order to put their understanding of emptiness to the ultimate test.
Gelug school
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalai_Lama - a monk of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa. The 14th and current Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso. The Dalai Lama is considered to be the successor in a line of tulkus who are believed to be incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. The name is a combination of the Mongolic word dalai meaning "ocean" and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ (bla-ma) meaning "guru, teacher, mentor". The Tibetan word "lama" corresponds to the better known Sanskrit word "guru". For certain periods between the 17th century and 1962, the Gelug school managed the Tibetan government, which administered portions of Tibet from Lhasa.

The title "Dalai Lama" was first bestowed by the Mongolian ruler Altan Khan upon Sonam Gyatso in 1578. Since the time of Genghis Khan, only people who were of his royal lineage were allowed to rule Mongolia. This frustrated many would-be rulers who were not of this line. Altan Khan was the most destructive of these usurpers. He perceived that through the Buddhist faith he could gain legitimacy by claiming to be a reincarnation of Khublai Khaan. Altan Khan chose the Gelug order of Tibetan Buddhism (founded by Tsongkhapa, 1357-1419). In 1577 he invited the leader of this order, Sonam Gyatsho, to come to Mongolia and teach his people. Sonam Gyatsho proclaimed Altan Khan to be the reincarnation of Kublai Khan, and in return, Altan Khan gave the title Dalai Lama to Sonam Gyatsho. Altan Khan posthumously awarded the title to his two predecessors, making Sonam Gyatsho the 3rd Dalai Lama.

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Dalai_Lama - Gendun Gyatso Palzangpo, also Gendun Gyatso. renaissance, non-violence. He was a renowned scholar and composer of mystical poetry, who traveled widely to extend Gelugpa influence, and became abbot of the largest Gelugpa monastery, Drepung, which from this time on was closely associated with the Dalai Lamas. According to Sumpa Khenpo, the great Gelug scholar, he also studied some Nyingma-pa tantric doctrines.
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3rd_Dalai_Lama - the first to be created Dalai Lama, although the title was retrospectively given to his two predecessors. studied at Drepung Monastery and became its abbot. His reputation spread quickly and the monks at Sera Monastery also recognised him as their abbot. According to Sumpa Khenpo, the great Gelug scholar, he also studied some Nyingmapa tantric doctrines. When one of Tibet's kings, who had been supported by the Kagyupa, died in 1564, Sonam Gyatso presided over his funeral. His political power, and that of the Gelugpas, became dominant in Tibet by the 1570s.
  • domestically –
    • by the end of centuries of civil wars which had originally ensued upon the disintegration of the Tibetan empire following the assassination of King Langdarma in 842 (CE), and
  • in terms of foreign policy –
    • by the formal establishment of friendly diplomatic relations with China's imperial court during the formative years of the Qing Dynasty, and
    • by his meeting with early European explorers of Tibet, and
    • his military expeditions against Bhutan and the war against Ladakh.
  • lacked armies from this era-ish

Pure Land

East Asia


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiền_uyển_tập_anh - a Chinese-language Vietnamese Buddhist biographical text dating to 1337.[1][2][3][4] It connects the history of Buddhism in Vietnam with China and has aspects of a Dharma transmission text modelled on The Transmission of the Lamp genre.

Central Asia

Chinese

During the early period of Chinese Buddhism, the Indian early Buddhist schools recognized as important, and whose texts were studied, were the Dharmaguptakas, Mahīśāsakas, Kāśyapīyas, Sarvāstivādins, and the Mahāsāṃghikas. The Dharmaguptakas made more efforts than any other sect to spread Buddhism outside India, to areas such as Iran, Central Asia, and China, and they had great success in doing so. Therefore, most countries which adopted Buddhism from China, also adopted the Dharmaguptaka vinaya and ordination lineage for bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs.

Tiantai

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiantai - An important school of Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, revering the Lotus Sutra as the highest teaching in Buddhism. In Japan the school is known as Tendai-shū, in Korea it is known as Cheontae, and in Vietnam it is called Thiên Thai tông. Unlike earlier schools of Chinese Buddhism, the Tiantai school was entirely of Chinese origin. The schools of Buddhism that had existed in China prior to the emergence of the Tiantai are generally believed to represent direct transplantations from India, with little modification to their basic doctrines and methods. However, Tiantai grew and flourished as a natively Chinese Buddhist school under the 4th patriarch, Zhiyi, who developed a hierarchy of Buddhist sutras that asserted the Lotus Sutra as the supreme teaching, as well as a system of meditation and practices around it.

After Zhiyi, Tiantai was eclipsed for a time by newer schools such as the East Asian Yogācāra and Huayan schools, until the 6th patriarch Zhanran who revived the school and defended its doctrine against rival schools. The debates between the Faxiang school and the Tiantai school concerning the notion of universal Buddhahood were particularly heated, with the Faxiang school asserting that different beings had different natures and therefore would reach different states of Enlightenment, while the Tiantai school argued in favor of the Lotus Sutra teaching of Buddhahood for all beings. Over time, the Tiantai school became doctrinally broad, able to absorb and give rise to other movements within Buddhism, though without any formal structure. The tradition emphasized both scriptural study and meditative practice, and taught the rapid attainment of Buddhahood through observing the mind.

The Five Periods are five periods in the life of the Buddha in which he delivered different teachings, aimed at different audiences with a different level of understanding:

  • The Period of Avatamsaka. During twenty-one days after his Enlightenment, the buddha delivered the Avatamsaka Sutra.
  • The Period of Agamas. During twelve years, the Buddha preached the Agamas for the Nihayana, including the Four Noble Truths and dependent origination.
  • The Period of Vaipulya. During eight years, the Buddha delivered the Mahayana teachings, such as the Vimalakirti Sutra, the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra, the Suvarnaprabhasa Sutra and other Mahayana sutras.
  • The Period of Prajna. During twenty-two years, the Buddha explained emptiness in the Prajnaparamita-sutras.
  • The Period of Dharma-pundarik and Nirvana. In the last eight years, the Buddha preached the doctrine of the One Buddha Vehicle, and delivered the Lotus Sutra and the Nirvana Sutra just before his death.

The Eight Teachings consist of the Four Doctrines, and the Fourfold Methods.

  • Four Doctrines
    • Tripitaka Teaching: the Sutra, Vinaya and Abhidhamma, in which the basic teachings are explained
    • Shared Teaching: the teaching of emptiness
    • Distinctive Teaching: aimed at the Bodhisattva
    • Perfect Teaching - the Chinese teachings of the Lotus Sutra and the Avatamsaka Sutra
  • Fourfold Methods
    • Gradual Teaching, for those with medium or inferior abilities
    • Sudden Teaching, the Distinctive Teachings and the Complete Teaching for those with superior abilities
    • Secret Teaching, teachings which are transmitted without the recipient being aware of it
    • Variable Teaching, no fixed teaching, but various teachings for various persons and circumstances


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huayan_school - a tradition of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy that first flourished in China during the Tang dynasty. It is based on the Avatamsaka Sutra (Chinese: 華嚴經; pinyin: Huáyán jīng) and on a lengthy Chinese interpretation of it, the Huáyán lùn (Chinese: 華嚴論. The name Flower Garland is meant to suggest the crowning glory of profound understanding. The Huayan School is known as Hwaeom in Korea and Kegon in Japan.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Dharmadhātu
    • 'Shih' is a rendering of the character 事 which holds the semantic field: "matter", "phenomenon", "event". It may be understood as the 'realm' (Sanskrit: dhātu) of all matters and phenomena. All dharmas are seen as particular separate events.
    • The Dharmadhātu of 'Li'(Chinese: 理法界; "li fajie"). 'Li' is a rendering of the character 理 which holds the semantic field: "principle", "law", "noumenon". This 'realm' (Sanskrit: dhātu) may be understood as that of principles. It has been referred to as "the realm of the one principle". The "one principle" being qualified as śūnyatā (Sanskrit). All events are an expression of the absolute.
    • The Dharmadhātu of Non-obstruction of 'Li' against 'Shih' (Chinese: 理事無礙法界; "lishi wuai fajie"). This 'realm' (Sanskrit: dhātu) has been rendered into English as "the realm of non-obstruction between principle and phenomena". Events and essence interpenetrate.
    • The Dharmadhātu of the Non-obstruction of 'Shih' and 'Shih' (Chinese: 事事無礙法界; "shishi wuai fajie"). This 'realm' (Sanskrit: dhātu) has been rendered into English as "the realm of non-obstruction between phenomena". All events interpenetrate.
  • Dushun (Chinese: 杜順; Wade–Giles: Tu-Shun), responsible for the establishment of Huayan studies as a distinct field;
  • Zhiyan (Chinese: 智儼; Wade–Giles: Chih-yen), considered to have established the basic doctrines of the sect;
  • Fazang (Chinese: 法藏; Wade–Giles: Fa-tsang), considered to have rationalized the doctrine for greater acceptance by society;
  • Chengguan (Chinese: 澄觀; Wade–Giles: Ch'eng-kuan), together with Zongmi, are understood to have further developed and transformed the teachings
  • Guifeng Zongmi (Chinese: 圭峰宗密; Wade–Giles: Kuei-feng Tsung-mi), who is simultaneous a patriarch of the Chinese Chán tradition.

Yogācāra

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogacara - influential school of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing phenomenology and ontology through the interior lens of meditative and yogic practices. Associated with Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism in about the 4th century CE, but also included non-Mahayana practitioners of the Dârstântika school.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asanga
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandhinirmocana_Sutra - Sūtra of the Explanation of the Profound Secrets is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text that is classified as belonging to the Yogācāra school of Buddhism. This sūtra was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese four times, the most complete and reliable of which is typically considered to be that of Xuanzang. It also was translated into Tibetan.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Consciousnesses - a classification developed in the tradition of the Yogacara school of Buddhism. They enumerate the five senses, supplemented by the mind, defilements of the mind, and finally the fundamental store-house consciousness, which is the basis of the other seven.


"For myself, each morning I try to do (or intend to do, it doesn’t always work out that way!) a comprehensive practice that is called the Wheel of Awareness. This WoA practice was created to integrate consciousness as it differentiates and then links a wide array of elements of being aware. Within the metaphoric hub is the sense of knowing; within the rim is that which is known—such as the first five senses, the sixth sense of the sensations from the interior of the body, the seventh sense of our mental life of emotions and thoughts, and even an eighth sense of our relations to people and the planet. Moving a spoke of attention from hub to rim around the various elements of the rim enables hub and rim to be differentiated and then linked. This is how consciousness can be integrated."

Nichiren

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nichiren_Buddhism - based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren (1222–1282). Nichiren Buddhism is generally noted for its focus on the Lotus Sutra and an attendant belief that all people have an innate Buddha nature and are therefore inherently capable of attaining enlightenment in their current form and present lifetime


Chán

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma - a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century CE. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Ch'an to China, and regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. According to Chinese legend, he also began the physical training of the Shaolin monks that led to the creation of Shaolin Kung Fu.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Chán - (from Sanskrit dhyāna, meaning "meditation") is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming dominant during the Tang and Song dynasties. After the Song, Chán more or less fused with the Pure Land school. From China, Chán spread south to Vietnam and east to Korea (where it is known as Seon) and, in the 13th century, to Japan, where it became known as Zen. The Chán/Zen tradition became the best-known instance of Buddhism in the Western World.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laṅkāvatāra_Sūtra - draws upon the concepts and doctrines of Yogācāra and Buddha-nature. The most important doctrine issuing from the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra is that of the primacy of consciousness (Skt. vijñāna) and the teaching of consciousness as the only reality. In the sūtra, the Buddha asserts that all the objects of the world, and the names and forms of experience, are merely manifestations of the mind:



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Mountain_Teaching - The East Mountain community was a specialized meditation training centre. The establishment of a community in one location was a change from the wandering lives of Bodhiharma and Huike and their followers. It fitted better into the Chinese society, which highly valued community-oriented behaviour, instead of solitary practice. An important aspect of the East Mountain Teachings was its nonreliance on a single sutra or a single set of sutras for its doctrinal foundation as was done by most of the other Buddhist sects of the time. The East Mountain School incorporated both the Lankavatara Sutra and the Mahaprajnaparamita Sutras.

The view of the mind in the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (Chinese: Ta-ch'eng ch'i-hsin lun) also had a significant import on the doctrinal development of the East Mountain Teaching.: In the words of the Awakening of Faith — which summarizes the essentials of Mahayana — self and world, mind and suchness, are integrally one. Everything is a carrier of that a priori enlightenment; all incipient enlightenment is predicated on it. The mystery of existence is, then, not, "How may we overcome alienation?" The challenge is, rather, "Why do we think we are lost in the first place?"


Zen

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sōtō - the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, imported in the 13th century by Dōgen Zenji, who studied Caodong Buddhism.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rinzai_school - Rinzai Zen is marked by the emphasis it places on kensho ("seeing one's true nature") as the gateway to authentic Buddhist practice, and for its insistence on many years of exhaustive post-kensho training to embody the free functioning of wisdom within the activities of daily life. Training focuses on zazen (seated meditation), kōan, and samu (physical work done with mindfulness).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ōbaku - established in 1661 by a small faction of masters from China and their Japanese students at Manpuku-ji in Uji, Japan. "Insofar as the Ōbaku belonged to the Rinzai tradition, zazen and kōan practice were made part of daily life, but ritual was also accorded a place of considerable importance."


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kōan - is a story, dialogue, question, or statement, which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and test a student's progress in Zen practice.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samu_(Zen) - refers to physical work that is done with mindfulness as a simple, practical and spiritual practice. Samu might include activities such as cleaning, cooking, gardening, or chopping wood. Samu is a way to bring mindfulness into everyday life as well as to get things done. Samu is popular in Zen monasteries, particularly as a means of maintaining the monastery and as practicing mindfulness. "If you consider quietude right and activity wrong, then this is seeking the real aspect by destroying the worldly aspect, seeking nirvana, the peace of extinction, apart from birth and death. When you like quiet and hate activity, this is the time to apply effort. Suddenly when in the midst of activity, you topple the sense of quietude-that power surpasses quietistic meditation [seated meditation] by a million billion times." -Dahui Zonggao
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Tou - Korean: hwadu, Japanese: wato, a form of Buddhist meditation common in the teachings of Chinese Chán and Korean Seon. Hua Tou can be translated as 'word head', 'head of speech' or 'point beyond which speech exhausts itself'. A Hua Tou can be a short phrase that is used as a subject of meditation to focus the mind. Hua Tou are based on the encounter-dialogues and koans of the interactions between past masters and students, but are shorter phrases than koans. The Hua Tou method was invented by the Chinese Zen master Dahui Zonggao (1089 – 1163) who was a member of the Linji school. Hua Tou practice does not use regular interviews and question and answer sessions between student and teacher (dokusan). According to Dahui, Hua Tou is also a form of meditation that "can be carried out by laymen in the midst of their daily activities."
  • "What is it?"
  • "What is this?"
  • "Who is repeating the Buddha’s name?"
  • "Who is dragging this corpse around?" (popularized by Hsu Yun)
  • "Who am I?"
  • "What was my Original face before my father and mother were born?"
  • "What is Mu?"

Huaijang entered the room and bowed to Huineng. Huineng asked: “Where do you come from?”. “I came from Mount Sung”, replied Huaijang. “What is this and how did it get here?” demanded Huineng. Huaijang could not answer and remained speechless. He practised for many years until he understood. He went to see Huineng to tell him about his breakthrough. Huineng asked: “What is this?” Huaijang replied: “To say it is like something is not to the point. But still it can be cultivated”. 

A monk once asked Jo ju, "Does a dog have Buddha-nature?"
Jo Ju answered, "Mu!"(No)

1. Buddha said everything has Buddha-nature. Jo Ju said a dog has no Buddha-nature. Which one is correct?

2. Jo Ju said, "Mu!" What does this mean?

3. I ask you, does a dog have Buddha-nature?

Commentary: Silence is better than holiness, so opening your mouth is a big mistake. But if you use this mistake to save all beings, this is Zen.
  • PDF: Go Straight - A collection of Dharma Talks by Teachers of the Kwan Um School of Zen
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Equanimity - Book of Equanimity or Book of Serenity (Japanese: Shōyōroku) is a collection of 100 koans compiled in the early 12th century by the Chinese Chán master Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091-1157). Along with The Gateless Gate, the Book of Equanimity is considered one of the two primary compilations of Zen dialogue.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Cliff_Record - is a collection of Chán Buddhist koans originally compiled in China during the Song dynasty in 1125 (宋宣和七年) and then expanded into its present form by the Chán master Yuanwu Keqin (圜悟克勤 1063 – 1135). The book includes Yuanwu's annotations and commentary on Xuedou Zhongxian's (雪竇重顯 980 – 1052) collection 100 Verses on Old Cases 《頌古百則》 — a compilation of 100 koans. Xuedou selected 82 of these from the Jingde Chuandeng Lu 《景德傳燈錄》 (Jingde era Record of the Transmission of the Lamp), with the remainder selected from the Yunmen Guanglu 《雲門廣録》 (Extensive Record of Yunmen Wenyan (864 – 949).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gateless_Gate - a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen master Wumen Hui-k'ai (無門慧開)(1183–1260) (Japanese: Mumon Ekai). The common theme of the koans of the Wumen Guan and of Wumen's comments is the inquiry and introspection of dualistic conceptualization. Each koan epitomizes one or more of the polarities of consciousness that act like an obstacle or wall to the insight. The student is challenged to transcend the polarity that the koan represents and demonstrate or show that transcendence to the Zen teacher.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_Zen_Stories - a 1919 compilation of Zen koans including 19th and early 20th century anecdotes compiled by Nyogen Senzaki, and a translation of Shasekishū, written in the 13th century by Japanese Zen master Mujū (無住) (literally, "non-dweller").

Western

Buddhist modernism

Critical Buddhism

Integral Buddhism

Open source

to sort

"People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar." -Thich Nhat Hanh

"You can only lose what you cling to." -Buddha


Third/middle path/way differs from certain existential values. to rethink.



Daniel P Brown;



Tao

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagua - are eight trigrams used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each line either "broken" or "unbroken," representing yin or yang, respectively. Due to their tripartite structure, they are often referred to as "trigrams" in English.

The trigrams are related to taiji philosophy, taijiquan and the wu xing, or "five elements". The relationships between the trigrams are represented in two arrangements, the Primordial (先天八卦), "Earlier Heaven" or "Fuxi" bagua (伏羲八卦), and the Manifested (後天八卦), "Later Heaven," or "King Wen" bagua. The trigrams have correspondences in astronomy, astrology, geography, geomancy, anatomy, the family, and elsewhere.

The ancient Chinese classic I Ching (Pinyin:Yi Jing) consists of the 64 possible pairs of trigrams (called "hexagrams") and commentary on them.

Judaism


Christianity



  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charism - in general denotes any good gift that flows from God's love to humans. The word can also mean any of the spiritual graces and qualifications granted to every Christian to perform his or her task in the Church. In the narrowest sense, it is a theological term for the extraordinary graces given to individual Christians for the good of others. These extraordinary spiritual gifts, often termed "charismatic gifts", are the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, increased faith, the gifts of healing, the gift of miracles, prophecy, the discerning of spirits, diverse kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). To these are added the gifts of apostles, prophets, teachers, helps (connected to service of the poor and sick), and governments (or leadership ability) which are connected with certain offices in the Church. These gifts are given by the Holy Spirit to individuals, but their purpose is to build up the entire Church. The charismata in this narrowest sense are distinguished from the graces given for personal sanctification, such as the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit.


Manichaeism

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manichaeism - a major religion that was founded by the Iranian prophet Mani (in Persian: مانی, Syriac: ܡܐܢܝ, Latin: Manichaeus or Manes) (c. 216–276 AD) in the Sasanian Empire. Manichaeism taught an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process which takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light whence it came. Its beliefs were based on local Mesopotamian gnostic and religious movements.

Manichaeism was quickly successful and spread far through the Aramaic-Syriac speaking regions. It thrived between the third and seventh centuries, and at its height was one of the most widespread religions in the world. Manichaean churches and scriptures existed as far east as China and as far west as the Roman Empire. It was briefly the main rival to Christianity in the competition to replace classical paganism. Manichaeism survived longer in the east than in the west, and it appears to have finally faded away after the 14th century in southern China, contemporary to the decline in China of the Church of the East – see Ming Dynasty. While most of Mani's original writings have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived.

Turkic

Tengri

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengri - Tengri was the chief deity worshipped by the ruling class of the Central Asian steppe peoples in 6th to 9th centuries (Turkic peoples, Mongols and Hungarians). It lost its importance when the Uighuric kagans proclaimed Manichaeism the state religion in the 8th century.

Jainism

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jain_philosophy - the oldest Indian philosophy that separates body (matter) from the soul (consciousness) completely. Jain philosophy deals with reality, cosmology, epistemology (study of knowledge) and Vitalism. The concept of non-injury or ahiṃsā lies at the core of Jain philosophy. Jain philosophy attempts to explain the rationale of being and existence, the nature of the Universe and its constituents, the nature of bondage and the means to achieve liberation.



The seven tattva, truths or fundamental principles that constitute reality, are:

  1. jīva- the soul which is characterized by consciousness
  2. ajīva- the non-soul
  3. āsrava (influx)- inflow of auspicious and evil karmic matter into the soul.
  4. bandha (bondage)- mutual intermingling of the soul and karmas.
  5. samvara (stoppage)- obstruction of the inflow of karmic matter into the soul.
  6. nirjara (gradual dissociation)- separation or falling off of part of karmic matter from the soul.
  7. mokṣha (liberation)- complete annihilation of all karmic matter (bound with any particular soul).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samvara - one of the tattva or the fundamental reality of the world as per the Jain philosophy. It means stoppage—the stoppage of the influx of the material karmas into the soul consciousness. The karmic process in Jainism is based on seven truths or fundamental principles (tattva) of Jainism which explain the human predicament. Out that the seven, the four—influx (āsrava), bondage (bandha), stoppage (saṃvara) and release (nirjarā)—pertain to the karmic process.

Samvara or stoppage of karmic influx is achieved through practice of:

  1. Three guptis or three controls of mind, speech and body
  2. Five samitis or observing carefulness in movement, speaking, eating, placing objects and disposing refuse.
  3. Ten dharmas or observation of good acts like – forgiveness, humility, straightforwardness, contentment, truthfulness, self-control, penance, renunciation, non-attachment and continence.
  4. Anuprekshas or meditation on the truths of this universe.
  5. Pariṣahajaya, that is, a man on moral path must develop a perfectly patient and unperturbed attitude in the midst of trying and difficult circumstances.
  6. Cāritra, that is, endeavour to remain in steady spiritual practices.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism_and_non-creationism - Jainism does not support belief in a creator deity. According to Jain doctrine, the universe and its constituents—soul, matter, space, time, and principles of motion—have always existed. All the constituents and actions are governed by universal natural laws. It is not possible to create matter out of nothing and hence the sum total of matter in the universe remains the same (similar to law of conservation of mass). Jain text claims that the universe consists of Jiva (life force or souls), and Ajiva (lifeless objects).Similarly, the soul of each living being is unique and uncreated and has existed since beginningless time.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirthankara - a human being who helps in achieving liberation and enlightenment as an arihant. According to Jain scriptures, that which helps one to cross the great ocean of worldly life is a tīrtha “ford” and a person who fills that role is a tīrthaṅkara “ford-maker”. Tīrthaṅkaras achieve liberation and enlightenment by destroying their constraining (karmas) and becoming role models and leaders for those seeking spiritual guidance. They also seek Kevala Jnana, a state of permanent, perpetual, absolute knowledge of the Soul; it is the precursor to final liberation from the cycle of birth and death.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arihant_(Jainism) - a step before becoming siddha. Arihants destroyed all gathi karma and live on until they reach the siddha status. Arihant is not a synonym for tirthankara, which refers specifically to certain arihants who have certain karmas that enable them to become spiritual leaders. defeated anger, ego, deception, and greed - inner enemies or kashayas responsible for the perpetuation of ignorance. When that happens, the person has destroyed the four ghati karmas, namely Gyanavarniya (knowledge blocking) Karma, Darshanavarniya (perception blocking) Karma, Mohniya (passion causing) Karma and Antaraya "obstacle-causing" karma.

Yazidi

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yazidi - Kurdish-speaking people who adhere to a branch of Iranian religions that blends elements of Mithraism, pre-Islamic Mesopotamian/Assyrian religious traditions, Christianity and Islam.

Sikhism

Islam

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dervish - someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity. In this respect, Dervishes are most similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barzakh - In Sufism, the or Barzakh or Alam-e-Araf, is not only where the human soul resides after death but it is also a place that the soul can visit during sleep and meditation. Major Scholar, Ibn 'Arabi, defines Barzakh as the intermediate realm or "isthmus". It is between the World of Corporeal Bodies and the World of Spirits, and is a means of contact between the two worlds. Without it, there would be no contact between the two and both would cease to exist. It is described as simple and luminous, like the World of Spirits, but also able to take on many different forms just like the World of Corporeal Bodies can. In broader terms Barzakh, “is anything that separates two things”. It has been described as the dream world in which the dreamer is in both life and death.


Paganism



Norse

Folklore

Theosophy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy - refers to systems of esoteric philosophy concerning, or investigation seeking direct knowledge of, presumed mysteries of being and nature, particularly concerning the nature of divinity. Theosophy is considered a part of the broader field of esotericism, referring to hidden knowledge or wisdom that offers the individual enlightenment and salvation. The theosophist seeks to understand the mysteries of the universe and the bonds that unite the universe, humanity, and the divine. The goal of theosophy is to explore the origin of divinity and humanity, and the world. From investigation of those topics, theosophists try to discover a coherent description of the purpose and origin of the universe.


Hermeticism

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kybalion - a 1908 book claiming to be the essence of the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, published anonymously by a group or person under the pseudonym of "the Three Initiates".


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theurgy - the practice of rituals, sometimes seen as magical in nature, performed with the intention of invoking the action or evoking the presence of one or more gods, especially with the goal of uniting with the divine, achieving henosis, and perfecting oneself.

Rosicrucianism

Orders

Tarot

Magick

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceremonial_magic - or ritual magic, also referred to as high magic and as learned magic in some cases, is a broad term used in the context of Hermeticism or Western esotericism to encompass a wide variety of long, elaborate, and complex rituals of magic. It is named as such because the works included are characterized by ceremony and myriad necessary accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an extension of ritual magic, and in most cases synonymous with it. Popularized by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, it draws on such schools of philosophical and occult thought as Hermetic Qabalah, Enochian magic, Thelema, and the magic of various grimoires.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apotropaic_magic - intended to "turn away" harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye. "Apotropaic" observances may also be practiced out of vague superstition or out of tradition, as in good luck charm (perhaps some token on a charm bracelet), amulets, or gestures such as fingers crossed or knocking on wood. The Greeks made offerings to the Averting Gods, chthonic deities and heroes who grant safety and deflect evil.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_magic - the attempt to bind the passions of another, or to capture them as a sex object through magical means rather than through direct activity. It can be implemented in a variety of ways, such as written spells, dolls, charms, amulets, potions, or different rituals.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimoire - a textbook of magic. Such books typically include instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination and also how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, and demons.


Witchcraft

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunning_folk - Folk healers, in England also known as cunning folk or (more rarely) as white witches are practitioners of folk medicine, folk magic, and divination within the context of the various traditions of folklore in Christian Europe (from at least the 15th up until at least the early 20th century).
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Discoverie_of_Witchcraft - a partially sceptical book published by the English gentleman Reginald Scot in 1584, intended as an exposé of medieval witchcraft. It contains a small section intended to show how the public was fooled by charlatans, which is considered the first published material on magic. Scot believed that the prosecution of those accused of witchcraft was irrational and un-Christian, and he held the Roman Church responsible. Popular belief held that all obtainable copies were burned on the accession of James I in 1603.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_the_Horseman%27s_Word - was a fraternal secret society that operated in Scotland from the eighteenth through to the twentieth century. Its members were drawn from those who worked with horses, including horse trainers, blacksmiths and ploughmen, and involved the teaching of magical rituals designed to provide the practitioner with the ability to control both horses and women. It also acted as a form of trade union, aiming to gain better rights for its members. The initiation rituals into the society incorporated a number of elements such as reading passages from the Bible backwards, and the secrets included Masonic-style oaths, gestures, passwords and handshakes. Like the similar societies of the Miller's Word and the Toadsmen, they were believed to have practiced witchcraft. In East Anglia, horsemen with these powers were sometimes called Horse Witches.


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_witchcraft - used to refer to a variety of contemporary forms of witchcraft. Pagan studies scholar Ethan Doyle White described it as "a broad movement of aligned magico-religious groups who reject any relation to Gardnerianism and the wider Wiccan movement, claiming older, more "traditional" roots. Although typically united by a shared aesthetic rooted in European folklore, the Traditional Craft contains within its ranks a rich and varied array of occult groups, from those who follow a contemporary Pagan path that is suspiciously similar to Wicca to those who adhere to Luciferianism".

Thelema

Wicca

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca - Wicca (English pronunciation: /ˈwɪkə/) is a modern pagan, witchcraft religion. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and it was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant. It draws upon a diverse set of ancient pagan and 20th century hermetic motifs for its theological structure and ritual practice. The word witch derives from Middle English wicche, Old English wicce (/ˈwɪttʃe/) (feminine) "witch" and wicca (/ˈwɪttʃɑ/) (masculine) "wizzard".

Wicca is a diverse religion with no central authority or figure defining it. It is divided into various lineages and denominations, referred to as traditions, each with its own organisational structure and level of centralisation. Due to its decentralized nature, there is some disagreement over what actually constitutes Wicca. Some traditions, collectively referred to as British Traditional Wicca, strictly follow the initiatory lineage of Gardner and consider the term Wicca to apply only to such lineaged traditions, while other eclectic traditions do not.

Wicca is typically duotheistic, worshipping a god and goddess traditionally viewed as a mother goddess and horned god. These two deities are sometimes viewed as facets of a greater pantheistic godhead. However, beliefs range from hard polytheism to even monotheism. Wiccan celebration follows approximately eight seasonally based festivals known as Sabbats. An unattributed statement known as the Wiccan Rede is the traditional basis of Wiccan morality. Wicca often involves the ritual practice of magic, though it is not always necessary.

Chaos


"The transmutation of the mind to magical consciousness has often been called the Great Work. It has a far-reaching purpose leading eventually to the discovery of the True Will. Even a slight ability to change oneself is more valuable than any power over the external universe. Metamorphosis is anexercise in willed restructuring of the mind.

"All attempts to reorganize the mind involve a duality between conditions as they are and the preferred condition. Thus it is impossible to cultivate any virtue like spontaneity, joy, pious, pride, grace, or omnipotence without involving oneself in more conventionality, sorrow, guilt, sin, and impotence in the process. Religions are founded on the fallacy that one can or ought to have one without the other. High magic recognizes the dualistic condition but does not care whether life is bittersweet or sweet and sour; rather it seeks to achieve any arbitrary perceptual perspective at will.

"Any state of mind might arbitrarily be chosen as an objective for transmutation, but there is a specific virtue to the ones given. The first is an antidote to the imbalance and possible madness of the magical trance. The second is a specific against obsession with the magical practices in the third section. They are:

1) Laughter/Laughter 2) Non-attachment/Non-disinterest.

"Attaining these states of mind is accomplished by a process of ongoing meditation. One tries to enter into the spirit of the condition whenever possible and to think about the desired result at other times. By this method, a strong new mental habit can be established.

"Consider laughter: it is the highest emotion, for it can contain any of the others from ecstacy to grief. It has no opposite. Crying is merely an underdeveloped form of it which cleanses the eyes and summons assistance to infants. Laughter is the only tenable attitude in a universe which is a joke played upon itself.

"The trick is to see that joke played out even in the neutral and ghastly events which surround one. It is not for us to question the universe's apparent lack of taste. Seek the emotion of laughter at what delights and amuses, seek it in whatever is neutral or meaningless, seek it even in what is horrific and revolting. Though it may be forced at first, one can learn to smile inwardly at all things.

"Non-attachment/Non-disinterest best describes the magical condition of acting without lust of result. It is very difficult for humans to decide on something and then to do it purely for its own sake. Yet it is precisely this ability which is required to execute magical acts. Only single-pointed awareness will do. Attachment is to be understood both in the positive and negative sense, for aversion is its other face. Attachment to any attribute of oneself, one's personality, one's ambitions, one's relationships or sensory experiences — or equally,aversion to any of these — will prove limiting.

"On the other hand, it is fatal to lose interest in these things for they are one's symbolic system or magical reality. Rather, one is attempting to touch the sensitive parts of one's reality more lightly in order to deny the spoiling hand of grasping desire and boredom. Thereby one may gain enough freedom to act magically.

"In addition to these two meditations there is a third, more active, form of metamorphosis, and this involves one's everyday habits. However innocuous they might seem, habits in thought word, and deed are the anchor of the personality. The magician aims to pull up that anchor and cast himself free on the seas of chaos.

"To proceed, select any minor habit at random and delete it from your behavior: at the same adopt any new habit atrandom. The choices should not involve anything of spiritual, egocentric, or emotional significance, nor should you select anything with any possibility of failure. By persisting with such simple beginnings you become capable of virtually anything.

"All works of metamorphosis should be committed to the magical diary."

Bahá'í Faith

Austin Osman Spare

New Thought

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Thought - a spiritual movement, sometimes classed as a Christian denomination, which developed in the United States in the 19th century, following the teachings of Phineas Quimby. promotes the ideas that Infinite Intelligence, or God, is everywhere, spirit is the totality of real things, true human selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, sickness originates in the mind, and "right thinking" has a healing effect. Although New Thought is neither monolithic nor doctrinaire, in general, modern-day adherents of New Thought believe that God or Infinite Intelligence is "supreme, universal, and everlasting", that divinity dwells within each person, that all people are spiritual beings, that "the highest spiritual principle [is] loving one another unconditionally... and teaching and healing one another", and that "our mental states are carried forward into manifestation and become our experience in daily living". The New Thought movement originated in the early 19th century, and survives to the current day in the form of a loosely allied group of religious denominations, authors, philosophers, and individuals who share a set of beliefs concerning metaphysics, positive thinking, the law of attraction, healing, life force, creative visualization, and personal power.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Science - Science of Mind was established in 1927 by Ernest Holmes (1887–1960) and is a spiritual, philosophical and metaphysical religious movement within the New Thought movement. In general, the term "Science of Mind" applies to the teachings, while the term "Religious Science" applies to the organizations. However, adherents often use the terms interchangeably. In his book, The Science of Mind, Ernest Holmes stated "Religious Science is a correlation of laws of science, opinions of philosophy, and revelations of religion applied to human needs and the aspirations of man." He also stated that Religious Science/Science of Mind (RS/SOM) is not based on any "authority" of established beliefs, but rather on "what it can accomplish" for the people who practice it.

The RS/SOM teaching generally incorporates idealistic and panentheistic philosophies. RS/SOM teaches that all beings are expressions of and part of Infinite Intelligence, also known as Spirit, Christ Consciousness, or God. It teaches that, because God is all there is in the universe (not just present in Heaven, or in assigned deities, as believed by traditional teachings), Its power can be used by all humans to the extent that they recognize and align themselves with Its presence. Ernest Holmes said "God is not ... a person, but a Universal Presence ... already in our own soul, already operating through our own consciousness."

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_prayer - a form of prayer or a metaphysical technique that is focused on a positive outcome rather than a negative situation. For example, a person who is experiencing some form of illness would focus the prayer on the desired state of perfect health and affirm this desired intention "as if already happened" rather than identifying the illness and then asking God for help to eliminate it.

Anthroposophy

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education - a humanistic approach to pedagogy based on the educational philosophy of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. The first Waldorf school was founded in 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany. At present there are 1,039 independent Waldorf schools, 2,000 kindergartens and 646 centers for special education, located in 60 countries. There are also Waldorf-based state schools, charter schools and academies, and homeschooling environments.

Brahma Kumaris

Attunement

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attunement - a form of energy medicine originally developed by Lloyd Arthur Meeker (1907 – 1954) and his colleagues. Meeker taught and practiced Attunement as a central feature of his spiritual teaching and ministry, Emissaries of Divine Light. Attunement is taught as a personal spiritual practice and as a healing modality offered through the hands. Emissaries of Divine Light believe that Attunement is a pivotal factor in the conscious evolution of humanity. Like Qigong, Reiki and Therapeutic touch Attunement is a putative practice as defined by the United States National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), lacking published scientific study of its effectiveness. Attunement practitioners and clients rely on personal and anecdotal experience to confirm its validity.

Vera Stanley Adler


Alan Watts



Joseph Campbell

Alan Moore

Radical Faeries

Satanism

Diamond Approach

Discordianism

SubGenius

Theopoetics

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theopoetics - an interdisciplinary field of study that combines elements of poetic analysis, process theology, narrative theology, and postmodern philosophy. Originally developed by Stanley Hopper and David Leroy Miller in 1960s and furthered significantly by Amos Wilder with his 1976 text, Theopoetic: Theology and the Religious Imagination. Theopoetics suggests that instead of trying to develop a “scientific” theory of God, as Systematic Theology attempts, theologians should instead try to find God through poetic articulations of their lived (“embodied”) experiences. It asks theologians to accept reality as a legitimate source of divine revelation and suggests that both the divine and the real are mysterious — that is, irreducible to literalist dogmas or scientific proofs. Theopoetics makes significant use of “radical” and “ontological” metaphor to create a more fluid and less stringent referent for the Divine. One of the functions of theopoetics is to recalibrate theological perspectives, suggesting that theology can be more akin to poetry than physics. It belies the logical assertion of the Principle of Bivalence and stands in contrast to some rigid Biblical hermeneutics that suggest that each passage of scripture has only one, usually teleological, interpretation.

Don Miguel Ruiz

The Four Agreements:

“1. Be Impeccable With Your Word - Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.”

Falun Gong

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falun_Gong - Falun Dafa (literally, "Dharma Wheel Practice" or "Law Wheel Practice") is a Chinese spiritual practice that combines meditation and qigong exercises with a moral philosophy centered on the tenets of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance (Chinese: 真、善、忍). The practice emphasizes morality and the cultivation of virtue, and identifies as a qigong practice of the Buddhist school, though its teachings also incorporate elements drawn from Taoist traditions. Through moral rectitude and the practice of meditation, practitioners of Falun Gong aspire to better health and, ultimately, spiritual enlightenment.

Other







The Celestine Prophecy

Drew Dellinger

Russell Brand

Atheism


Personality types

other;


  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G_factor_(psychometrics) - a construct developed in psychometric investigations of cognitive abilities. It is a variable that summarizes positive correlations among different cognitive tasks, reflecting the fact that an individual's performance at one type of cognitive task tends to be comparable to his or her performance at other kinds of cognitive tasks. The g factor typically accounts for 40 to 50 percent of the between-individual variance in IQ test performance, and IQ scores are frequently regarded as estimates of individuals' standing on the g factor. The terms IQ, general intelligence, general cognitive ability, general mental ability, or simply intelligence are often used interchangeably to refer to the common core shared by cognitive tests.



Psychological Types

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Wonderlic test

Socionics

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socionics_(typology) - in psychology and sociology, is a theory of information processing and personality type, distinguished by its information model of the psyche (called "Model A") and a model of interpersonal relations. It incorporates Carl Jung's work on Psychological Types with Antoni Kępiński's theory of information metabolism.

Keirsey Temperament Sorter

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Please_Understand_Me - a psychology book written by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates which focuses on the classification and categorization of which links human behaviourial patterns to four temperaments and sixteen character types.

Interaction Styles

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interaction_Styles - groupings of the 16 types of the MBTI instrument of psychometrics and Jungian psychology. The Interaction Styles model was developed by Linda Berens, PhD, founder of the Temperament Research Institute. This model builds on David Keirsey's Temperament model and its subcategories, and is based on observable behavior patterns that are quite similar to David Merrill's "Social Styles" and William Moulton Marston's DiSC theory.

Big Five

Jungian Type

Enneagrams


Other

Audio

Video

authenti* Why You Should Rather Die Than Miss A Day In The Gymon work ethic

"Let me find and use metaphors to help me understand the world around me and give me the strength to get rid of them when it's apparent they no longer work"

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