PHIL 190 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Experience Sampling Method, Prefrontal Cortex, Stoicism
13 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Plato"s analogy: white (superego) v black horse (id) and the charioteer (ego) Buddha: elephant with the tiny rider: we can"t control the elephant unless the elephant lets u control him. The rider signifies the prefrontal cortex: makes decision, verbal reasoning ability. The mind is divided in many ways, but the division that really matters is between conscious/reasoned processes and automatic/implicit processes. These two parts are like a rider on the back of an elephant. The rider"s inability to control the elephant by force explains many puzzles about our mental life, particularly why we have such trouble with weakness of will. Learning how to train the elephant is the secret of self-improvement. Emotions have a much bigger weight over the mind and reason, therefore you must take much effort to change a way of life and create change in who we are.
