PSYCH 3BA3 Lecture Notes - Amygdala, Wu Wei, Psoriasis
29 Jan 2014
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LECTURE 2 PSYCH 3BA3
Positive States of Mind and Being
January 9, 10, 14, 16, 21, 23, 24, 28 2014
East vs. West
−Material world unpleasant; to be transcended
oAgreed upon by both traditions
oMisery, sin
oGoal should be to transcend and rise above unpleasantness, in order to achieve the “good life”
oWest – transcendence mostly after death
From the Christian tradition
Little opportunity in the world, until death
Mostly, the good life cannot be lived until death (small exceptions)
Religion and philosophy was very separate – philosophers and theologians had very separate thoughts
oEast – transcendence possible during life
Afterlife did not have much emphasis
No difference between philosophy and religion; eg/ Buddhist philosophy is the Buddhist religion
−Philosophy and religion separate in West, intertwined in the East
−East says more about psychology; fused and largely inseparable
oHinduism is not only religious – also a psychology
oBuddhism is very big in human psychology; human thought, meditation are apart of psychology
−Fate more in our hands in Eastern thought
oWest – largely under the influence of Christianity, we see our fate and ability to transcend circumstances is out of our hands, but the gift of
God
oEast – fate and psychology is seen to be in our hands; there are things we can do; not under control of all-seeing, all-knowing power; we
can alter our circumstances as we live them
Reason why Buddhist has made its way to the West; it is about change
−Hedonia vs. Eudaimonia present in both
oViews of human happiness
oHedonic Tradition – repeated in Western psychology and philosophy; we live to experience pleasure (subjective emotional experience)
oEudaimonia Tradition – comes from Aristotle; we live to experience fulfillment, self development, sense of oneness with the world around
us; seen in East and West
Much more apparent in the East than Hedonic
Aristippus and Hedonism
−Our ultimate goal is pleasure
−Present pleasures should not be deferred for the sake of future pleasures
oFreud’s idea of the id
−We should control, not be controlled by, our pleasures
oRationally pursue pleasure
oFreud’s idea of the ego – constrains the id
−Pleasure includes mental pleasure, love, friendship, moral contentment; virtuous conduct, music etc
oFreud discusses this in sublimation – redirect needs into socially acceptable objects
oModern – only think about sensual pleasures
Aristotle and the Good Life
−Happiness, the Good Life, is pursued for its own sake and cannot be improved
−Eudaimonia – life of virtue; good life is the end of all things
−Moral Virtue – subordinate sensual appetites to reason
oAcquired by practice, not part of human nature
Can become morally virtuous by behaviour in a moral virtuous way; by practice
May behave in moral virtuous way and not enjoy it; but once it is practiced, it becomes a common practice that is enjoyed;
repetitive experience leads us to become morally virtuous
−Intellectual Virtue – wisdom, understanding
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LECTURE 2 PSYCH 3BA3
oKnowing how things work, how to apply knowledge, how the world really is
oAcquired by teaching; we learn to have wisdom through teaching
oSchools were founded to teach these things
oAcademics stems from Plato’s school
Hinduism (East)
−The goal of life is ultimate self-knowledge and self-betterment
oAbout psychology; to know self completely; to fulfill set of talents, abilities and skills – same as Humanist ideas
−Worlds oldest religious tradition; people do not know when it began
−Out of Hinduism did Buddhism came
−Partial understanding and good works improves our position when reincarnated
oSeldom come to full understanding of ourselves in a given life
oIf full self understanding is not achieved, we are born again in another life – good and bad deeds determines the form that one is
reincarnated as
oGood karma – actions that improve status in next life
−We lose touch with our true Self due to involvement with our physical self and its search for happiness
oSimilar to Maslow – we cant reach self-actualization until we rise above D-motives
oLeave aside lusts of the body in order to reach self-understanding
−Be achieving awareness of our true Self and ultimate reality (Brahman), we are liberated from unhappiness and reincarnation
Confucianism (East)
−Chinese; Confucian is Latinized version of founder’s name
−Must attain virtue and morality
−Five virtues central to a moral life (each related to other people, not selves):
oHumanity – benevolence, charity, love
oPropriety – sensitivity to others; etiquette; respecting traditions that others expect, melding to expectations of others
Western focuses heavily on independence; not being concerned about what others think
Eastern traditions are very concerned with groups; how do we relate to others
oDuty – appropriate treatment of others
How do we meet the roles given by society?
oWisdom
Not the same as knowledge – is the application of knowledge to the solution of problems; the correct understanding of how
things are (world, people)
Important for self understanding
Education is highly valued in Chinese Societies
oHonesty
Accepting responsibility for what one does; dealing with others openly and honestly
−Not as strong regarding self development – emphasizes contribution to society, which is what self development is to Confucians
Taoism (East)
−Impacts on Humanists, Maslow
−Striving is vain and counterproductive
oMaslow took from this – don’t want to be working with things, want to work with the natural flow
−One should follow the natural flow of events and be spontaneous in ones actions (wu-wei)
−Naturalness and spontaneity in life is the most important goal; humanity, justice, temperance, and propriety must be practiced without effort
oMaslow discussed effortlessness, doing something without working at it; natural and spontaneous actions – have to work to get to the point
of effortlessness, but eventually should come to be natural
−“Without form there is no desire; without desire there is tranquility. In this way, all things should be at peace”
oLimit desire of physical things can relax if not constantly lusting and wanting thing
−Problem is the desire of physical things, not the actual physical thing
oEchoes Western religions – Christianity; the lust for money is the root of all evil
Buddhism
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LECTURE 2 PSYCH 3BA3
−Has had the greatest impact on western thinking, psychology and practices (i.e. mindful meditation)
−Most influential in the West
oMaslow
Brought Buddhist and Eastern ideas into his theories
oDalai Lama
14th
High profile in the West
Leader of Tibetan Buddhist; exiled from Tibet to Northern India
Meets with Political leaders and scientists; has an interest in Western neuroscience
Mindfulness – how much neuroscience has been focused on this phenomenon; how does the brain change when we do mindful
meditation
−Ignore non-Western Language
oIn promoting ideas, languages were used that were not considered scientific in the West
−Siddhartha Gautama; 6t century BCE
oBuddha = enlightened one; became Buddha later in life
oAlmost the same time as other religious figures arose
oSon of a royal family, was not allowed to leave the grounds to avoid the woes of life
oCame of age to take over control, he went on a trip, he saw pain, suffering, disease, dirt and was horrified – could not imagine how these
things could exist
oLeft his inheritance to try to come to understanding of why the woes of life occurred
oWhile meditating under a tree, he became enlightened and went on to teach what life is all about
oSprang from the Hindu tradition – much of Buddhism reflects Hinduism
−Buddha as a cognitive psychologist
oSpoke of human psychology as the way we think and feel about the world
oThe good life in terms of ways we think
−Human problems arise from the was we think – precursor to Bandura and Mischel
−Buddhist practices like cognitive therapy
oI.e. mindful meditation
oChanges in the way we think, interpret things around us
oHave been incorporated into cognitive therapies
−Eight-Fold Path = “Middle Way” between indulgence and asceticism; like Aristotle
−The Nature of “Things”
oFixed, unchanging things are an illusion:
Sensation vs. perception
There is nothing that is fixed in the world; some things change quickly or slowly
Fixed self is an illusion – we are constantly changing
oEverything is a changing and ephemeral process: Bandura and Mischel
oEverything interconnected in a web of cause and conditions
The butterfly effects in chaos theory
•Chaos theory; butterfly theory – butterfly flaps its wings, half way across the world tornado occurs, but would not
have, had the butterfly not flapped its wings
Our presence here is conditioned
Things we do now, has a tremendous impact
−Buddhism and Physics
oThere is no fixed, unchanging center that we call the self – constantly shifting
oQuantum Theory – matter does not exist until observed
Buddhism corresponds well with quantum physics – objects do not exist until we object them
•He presence of any small (microscopic) object – there are only probabilities of objects; only when we observe the
objet does it appear
•Objects can appear out of no where, randomly out of the vacuum, then vanish quickly – counter intuitive to how we
see the macro world, however, it is the basis of many electronic devices
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