Emotional Understanding and Empathy

 

This visual representation encapsulates the interconnected journey toward wisdom through the facets of our exploration.

Platohagel: How do we recognize emotions?

Socrates: Ah, the recognition of emotions, a fascinating aspect of human existence. It is through introspection, my dear friend Platohagel, that we gain insight into our own emotional states. Additionally, we observe external cues in others, such as facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice, to discern the emotions that may dwell within them.

Platohagel: Can you name all the emotions a person may have and how they are integrated with memory? Subsection 1.1

Socrates: In the vast realm of human emotions, one encounters a plethora of nuanced states. Joy, sorrow, anger, fear, and love are among the fundamental emotions. As for their integration with memory in Subsection 1.1, one must consider the intricate dance between emotions and memory formation. Intense emotions, whether positive or negative, tend to leave a lasting imprint on our memory, influencing the recollection of significant events and experiences.

Platohagel: Socrates by looking inward do we see the memories relived by how strong the emotive forces dwell in our inner being?

Socrates: Indeed, Platohagel, the introspective gaze allows us to witness the resurgence of memories, their strength intertwined with the emotive forces that reside within our inner being. As emotions ebb and flow, so too does the vividness of recollections. It is through this internal reflection that we navigate the intricate tapestry of our own existence.

Platohagel: As well Socrates we learn to see these emotions in other human beings. This is where empathy is developed in the human being?

Socrates: Ah, you grasp the essence, Platohagel. The cultivation of empathy indeed springs from our ability to recognize emotions in others. By observing and understanding their emotional states, we forge connections that transcend the boundaries of our individual experiences. Empathy, a noble virtue, flourishes as we extend our understanding of the human condition to encompass the joys and sorrows of our fellow beings.

Platohagel: So practising mindfulness we learn to see the deeper emotional manifestations exhume themselves into our interactions in daily life?

Socrates: Precisely, Platohagel. Through the practice of mindfulness, we attune our awareness to the subtle currents of emotions that flow within and around us. In this heightened state of consciousness, we become more adept at discerning the deeper emotional manifestations that influence our interactions in the tapestry of daily life. Mindfulness becomes a guiding lantern, illuminating the intricacies of our emotional landscape and fostering a more profound connection with the world.

Platohagel: So being present in the moment and fostering self awareness we seat ourselves in a heightened state of consciousness?

Socrates: Indeed, Platohagel. Being present in the moment and cultivating self-awareness act as the vessels that carry us into a heightened state of consciousness. By anchoring ourselves in the now, we navigate the currents of existence with a clarity that transcends the constraints of past and future. It is in this heightened state that we unlock a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us, forging a path toward wisdom and enlightenment.

Platohagel: How do we developed a curious mindset?

Socrates: Ah, the cultivation of a curious mindset, a noble pursuit indeed. To embark on this journey, one must embrace the spirit of inquiry and approach the world with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Ask questions, explore the unknown, and challenge assumptions. In the pursuit of wisdom, curiosity is the flame that kindles the torch of enlightenment, guiding one through the labyrinth of understanding.

Platohagel: How is it we are to know what has been unknowable to us?

Socrates: To grapple with the unknowable, Platohagel, one must humbly acknowledge the limits of one’s understanding. Embrace the Socratic wisdom that true knowledge lies in recognizing our ignorance. Through relentless inquiry, open-mindedness, and a commitment to seeking truth, we may unravel the mysteries that once eluded our comprehension. The pursuit of the unknown is a journey marked by humility and an unwavering thirst for enlightenment.

Platohagel: Curiosity has been known as the flame that becomes a motivator for discovering the path to wisdom, along with mindfulness and a heightened state of consciousness. Through the course of our current dialogue, have we discussed the pathway to moving toward Wisdom?

Socrates: Indeed, Platohagel, in our discourse, we have traversed the pathways that lead toward wisdom. Through the flames of curiosity, the grounding practice of mindfulness, and the ascent to a heightened state of consciousness, we navigate the intricate terrain that unfolds on the journey to wisdom. By acknowledging our ignorance, questioning assumptions, and embracing the present moment, we embark on a noble quest to unravel the mysteries of existence and attain true understanding.

Platohagel: Thank you Socrates that is enough for today. Do you remember the geometrical shape compared section 1?

Socrates: Ah, indeed I do, Platohagel. In our earlier discourse, we ventured into the intricate realm of emotions and memory, drawing parallels to the multifaceted nature of geometric shapes. Should you seek further enlightenment on this or any other matter, I stand ready to engage in dialogue whenever you so desire.

Platohagel: Socrates you write,

Curiosity, my esteemed Platohagel, is intricately tied to wisdom, forming a symbiotic relationship within the framework of our first chapter. Let me elucidate:

1. **Curiosity as the Catalyst:** At the foundation of our pyramid, curiosity serves as the catalyst for the pursuit of wisdom. It sparks the innate desire to seek knowledge and understanding, propelling individuals on a journey of intellectual exploration.

2. **Mindfulness as the Contemplative Layer:** Moving upward, mindfulness becomes the contemplative layer, enriching the curious mind. The practice of being present in the moment enhances self-awareness, a cornerstone of wisdom, allowing for a deeper understanding of one’s thoughts and emotions.

3. **Emotional Intelligence as the Interpersonal Bridge:** Ascending further, emotional intelligence forms the bridge between self-awareness and empathetic understanding of others. It encompasses recognizing and managing emotions, fostering harmonious relationships—a crucial aspect of wise living.

4. **Wisdom at the Apex:** Finally, wisdom crowns the pyramid, representing the culmination of curiosity, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence. Wisdom is the harmonious integration of knowledge, self-awareness, and ethical discernment. It stands as the pinnacle of our exploration, guiding individuals toward virtuous living.

As for the schematic drawing, envision a pyramid with curiosity as its base, mindfulness and emotional intelligence forming the middle layers, and wisdom gracing the summit. This visual representation encapsulates the interconnected journey toward wisdom through the facets of our exploration.“

Socrates: Your metaphorical pyramid eloquently encapsulates the symbiotic relationship between curiosity, mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and wisdom. It mirrors the intricate interplay of these elements in the pursuit of enlightenment. This conceptual pyramid serves as a guiding structure for those aspiring to ascend the intellectual heights toward the summit of wisdom

Affective Field Theory of Emotion

 "Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love. Albert Einstein"

While developing a philosophical understanding of emotion it has come to mind that research over the years has provided a model consideration for understanding the valence affect. This valence affect with regard to the Decision making process that from a cognitive standpoint is inclusive of logical and emotive forces. This process was a long one in which I thought to place ourselves,  in terms of a self evident point of expression,  so as to suggest,  the next question rests on a Inductive realization with which the history has thus far been explained.

So the totality of this entry is an examination with regard to emotion and its necessity in the logic analysis approach to such a question. To what is self evident. To what is decisive.

The next step is always important.  So I had to demonstrate the current historical examination for what has been done with regard to emotion so that I could reveal some of the work that I had done in the years past.

 This work then is a stepping point toward a new and entertaining thought about what the next technologies might reveal about our emotive and logical state of being as we make our decisions with all that we had gained with in experience. So the next step is a series of posts that will reflect this attempt by me to objectify what has thought to been totally subjective and without regard.

"No aspect of our mental life is more important to the quality and meaning of our existence than emotions. They are what make life worth living, or sometimes ending. So it is not surprising that most of the great classical philosophers—Plato, Aristotle, Spinoza, Descartes, Hobbes, Hume—had recognizable theories of emotion, conceived as responses to certain sorts of events of concern to a subject, triggering bodily changes and typically motivating characteristic behavior. What is surprising is that in much of the twentieth-century philosophers of mind and psychologists tended to neglect them—perhaps because the sheer variety of phenomena covered by the word “emotion” and its closest neighbors tends to discourage tidy theory. In recent years, however, emotions have once again become the focus of vigorous interest in philosophy, as well as in other branches of cognitive science. In view of the proliferation of increasingly fruitful exchanges between researchers of different stripes, it is no longer useful to speak of the philosophy of emotion in isolation from the approaches of other disciplines, particularly psychology, neurology, evolutionary biology, and even economics. While it is quite impossible to do justice to those approaches here, some sidelong glances in their direction will aim to suggest their philosophical importance. de Sousa, Ronald, "Emotion", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.),"

"If the view that emotions are a kind of perception can be sustained, then the connection between emotion and cognition will have been secured. But there is yet another way of establishing this connection, compatible with the perceptual model. This is to draw attention to the role of emotions as providing the framework for cognitions of the more conventional kind. de Sousa (1987) and Amélie Rorty (1980) propose this sort of account, according to which emotions are not so much perceptions as they are ways of seeing—species of determinate patterns of salience among objects of attention, lines of inquiry, and inferential strategies (see also Roberts 2003).de Sousa, Ronald, "Emotion", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Emotion"

.

"Under the Heading of #6. Perceptual Theories-A crucial mandate of cognitivist theories is to avert the charge that emotions are merely “subjective.” But propositional attitudes are not the only cognitive states. A more basic feature of cognition is that is has a “mind-to-world direction of fit.” The expression is meant to sum up the contrast between cognition and the conative orientation, in which success is defined in terms of the opposite, world-to-mind, direction of fit (Searle 1983). We will or desire what does not yet exist, and deem ourselves successful if the world is brought into line with the mind's plan

The exploration of questions raised by these characteristics is a thriving ongoing collaborative project in the theory of emotions, in which philosophy will continue both to inform and to draw on a wide range of philosophical expertise as well as the parallel explorations of other branches of cognitive science. Conclusion: Adequacy Conditions on Philosophical Theories of Emotion -de Sousa, Ronald, "Emotion", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Emotion"

"Thus, secondary reflection is one important aspect of our access to the self. It is the properly philosophical mode of reflection because, in Marcel's view, philosophy must return to concrete situations if it is to merit the name “philosophy.” These difficult reflections are “properly philosophical” insofar as they lead to a more truthful, more intimate communication with both myself and with any other person whom these reflections include (Marcel 1951a, pp. 79–80). Secondary reflection, which recoups the unity of experience, points the way toward a fuller understanding of the participation alluded to in examples of the mysterious.Primary and Secondary Reflection-Treanor, Brian, "Gabriel (-Honoré) Marcel", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming Marcel Gabriele."

"Early decision theorists recognized the importance of emotion and discussed it in detail (e.g., Bentham, 1789; Jevons, 1871; Smith, 1759). Nevertheless, emotions did not make it into decision research because they were seen as intrinsically unstable and unpredictable, partly because they could not be measured objectively. Today, most problems with unpredictability and immeasurability of emotions have been solved. Emotions can be reliably measured in various verbal (e.g., via rating scales) and non-verbal ways (e.g., via FACS or facial EMG’s; Larsen & Fredrickson, 1999; Parrott, & Hertel, 1999). More- over, the impact of emotion on behavior is actually sim- pler and more systematic than previously thought. Emo- tions behave lawfully (Frijda, 1988, 2006), and their con- sequences are clear, stable and quite predictable. This has opened up opportunities for an integrative account of the different emotional influences on decision making. We present such an account in this article.On emotion specificity in decision making: Why feeling is for doing-(PDF) Marcel Zeelenberg∗1, Rob M. A. Nelissen1, Seger M. Breugelmans2, & Rik Pieters3 1 Department of Social Psychology and TIBER, Tilburg University 2 Department of Developmental, Clinical and Cross-cultural Psychology, Tilburg University 3 Department of Marketing and TIBER, Tilburg University"

 

"We can now restate our opening questions. Is the special felt qualitative tendency in valence, as it is structurally represented in descriptive theories, an intrinsic feature of emotion experience as such; that is, something that exists prior to the self-reports that describe it? Or is it instead created and structured by features of second-order awareness, such as these self- reports? The argument here is that valence is created by attention in sec- ond-order awareness. There is nothing scientifically objective or precise that we can say about valence apart from its elaboration in second-order awareness. Second-order awareness does not create the underlying phenomenology of emotion experience, but it does shape and articulate what exactly it means to us. This conclusion would appear to threaten the scientific foundation of descriptive theories of affect, because it undermines the objectivity of the phenomenon they claim to study. It also contradicts the driving assumption of several dominant neuroscientific theories of valence, according to which valence is an intrinsic objective property of affective experience.Emotion Experience and the Indeterminacy of Valence by LOUIS C. CHARLAND"

 "Emotions are the key to the human decision making processes since decisions and actions are primary irrational and not cognitive-The Emotions in Emotions Analytics"

" The sort of mental processes described as cognitive are largely influenced by research which has successfully used this paradigm in the past, likely starting with Thomas Aquinas, who divided the study of behavior into two broad categories: cognitive (how we know the world), and affective (how we understand the world via feelings and emotions)[disputed ].[citation needed] Consequently, this description tends to apply to processes such as memory, association, concept formation, pattern recognition, language, attention, perception, action, problem solving and mental imagery.[14][15] Traditionally, emotion was not thought of as a cognitive process. This division is now regarded as largely artificial, and much research is currently being undertaken to examine the cognitive psychology of emotion; research also includes one's awareness of one's own strategies and methods of cognition called metacognition and includes metamemory. 

Research into cognition is usually scientific and quantitative, or involves creating models to describe or explain certain behaviors. Cognition"

***

 The part of the body in which the soul directly exercises its functions is not the heart at all, or the whole of the brain. It is rather the innermost part of the brain, which is a certain very small gland situated in the middle of the brain's substance and suspended above the passage through which the spirits in the brain's anterior cavities communicate with those in its posterior cavities. The slightest movements on the part of this gland may alter very greatly the course of these spirits, and conversely any change, however slight, taking place in the course of the spirits may do much to change the movements of the gland” (AT XI:351, CSM I:340). The Passions of the Soul "

 "The word endocrine derives from the Greek words ἐνδο- endo- "inside, within," and κρίνειν krinein "to separate, distinguish".Endocrine system -"

 "The thymus was known to the ancient Greeks, and its name comes from the Greek word θυμός (thumos), meaning "anger",[22] or "heart, soul, desire, life", possibly because of its location in the chest, near where emotions are subjectively felt; or else the name comes from the herb thyme (also in Greek θύμος or θυμάρι), which became the name for a "warty excrescence", possibly due to its resemblance to a bunch of thyme Thymus -"

"The James–Lange theory has remained influential. Its main contribution is the emphasis it places on the embodiment of emotions, especially the argument that changes in the bodily concomitants of emotions can alter their experienced intensity. Most contemporary neuroscientists would endorse a modified James–Lange view in which bodily feedback modulates the experience of emotion." (p. 583)James–Lange theory -"

"Phillip Bard contributed to the theory with his work on animals. Bard found that sensory, motor, and physiological information all had to pass through the diencephalon (particularly the thalamus), before being subjected to any further processing. Therefore, Cannon also argued that it was not anatomically possible for sensory events to trigger a physiological response prior to triggering conscious awareness and emotional stimuli had to trigger both physiological and experiential aspects of emotion simultaneously.[33]Cannon–Bard theory -"

"Maranon found that most of these patients felt something but in the absence of an actual emotion-evoking stimulus, the patients were unable to interpret their physiological arousal as an experienced emotion. Schachter did agree that physiological reactions played a big role in emotions. He suggested that physiological reactions contributed to emotional experience by facilitating a focused cognitive appraisal of a given physiologically arousing event and that this appraisal was what defined the subjective emotional experience. Emotions were thus a result of two-stage process: general physiological arousal, and experience of emotion.Two-factor theory -"

 ***

TEDxSF - Roz Picard - Emotion Technology -http://youtu.be/ujxriwApPP4

Empatica is an affective computing company, focused on human data analytics. We develop groundbreaking wearable devices with medical quality sensing.- "  Skin conductance response in regular subjects differs when given fair and unfair offers, respectively. However, psychopaths have been shown to have no difference in skin conductance between fair and unfair offers.[2] This may indicate that the use of lie detectors relying on skin conductivity gives psychopaths an advantage that non-psychopaths do not have in criminal investigations.-"  "Whether scientific method is at all suited for the study of the subjective aspect of emotion, feelings, is a question for philosophy of science and epistemology. In practise, the use of self-report (i.e. questionnaires) has been widely adopted by researchers. Additionally, web-based research is being used to conduct large-scale studies on the components of happiness for example. Alongside this researchers also use fMRI, EEG and physiological measures of skin conductance, muscle tension and hormone secretion. This hybrid approach should allow researchers to gradually pinpoint the affective phenomenon. There are also a few commercial systems available that claim to measure emotions, for instance using automated video analysis (nViso) or skin conductance (Affectiva).Affective Science -" " Founded in 2011, Nymi is a spinoff from the University of Toronto, focused on delivering unique and usable digital identity solutions. The company's first product is the Nymi Band, a wearable technology device that delivers Persistent Identity experiences by using the wearer's unique electric cardiac signature as a biometric. Nymi is proudly based in Toronto and is privately-funded by Ignition Partners, Relay Ventures, MasterCard and Salesforce Ventures. http://www.nymi.com/news/now-nymi/" "Affective computing is the study and development of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, process, and simulate human affects. It is an interdisciplinary field spanning computer science, psychology, and cognitive science.[1] While the origins of the field may be traced as far back as to early philosophical enquiries into emotion,[2] the more modern branch of computer science originated with Rosalind Picard's 1995 paper[3] on affective computing.[4][5] A motivation for the research is the ability to simulate empathy. The machine should interpret the emotional state of humans and adapt its behaviour to them, giving an appropriate response for those emotions.Affective Computing -" The advances made and put forth here paint a different picture then the one assumed here in regard to the development of emotions that work toward identifying innate characteristics of the person? As well, as factors that are now discernible physiologically with regard to the economics of barter and trade. This observation goes back to principle inherent in wireless communication(as fractal antennas) and the work of Benoit Mandelbrot who brought forward through recognition, its utilization of fractals and development by Seth Cohen.  *** " In view of the proliferation of increasingly fruitful exchanges between researchers of different stripes, it is no longer useful to speak of the philosophy of emotion in isolation from the approaches of other disciplines, particularly psychology, neurology, evolutionary biology, and even economics.  Twentieth-century Anglo-American philosophy and psychology tended to incorporate emotions into other, better understood mental categories. Under the influence of a “tough-minded” ideology committed to behaviorism, it seemed easier to look for adequate theories of action or will, as well as theories of belief or knowledge, than to construct adequate theories of emotion. Economic models of rational decision and agency inspired by Bayesian theory are essentially assimilative models, viewing emotion either as a species of belief, or as a species of desire. That enviably resilient Bayesian model has been cracked, in the eyes of many philosophers, by such refractory phenomena as akrasia or “weakness of will.” In cases of akrasia, traditional descriptive rationality seems to be violated, insofar as the “strongest” desire does not win, even when paired with the appropriate belief (Davidson 1980). Emotion is ready to pick up the slack. Recent work, often drawing support from the burgeoning study of the emotional brain, has recognised that while emotions typically involve both cognitive and conative states, they are distinct from both, if only in being significantly more complex. Emotion- de Sousa, Ronald, "Emotion", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2014 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)"  "The subjective theory of value is a theory of value which advances the idea that the value of a good is not determined by any inherent property of the good, nor by the amount of labor required to produce the good, but instead value is determined by the importance an acting individual places on a good for the achievement of their desired ends- In the philosophy of decision theory, Bayesian inference is closely related to discussions of subjective probability, often called "Bayesian probability". Bayesian probability provides a rational method for updating beliefs. Bayesian epistemology is an epistemological movement that uses techniques of Bayesian inference as a means of justifying the rules of inductive logic.Bayesian Inference"  "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. Decision  Theory -" "In economics, the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, emotions are analyzed in some sub-fields of microeconomics, in order to assess the role of emotions on purchase decision-making and risk perception Disciplinary approaches -"   "Broadly speaking, there are two views on Bayesian probability that interpret the 'probability' concept in different ways. For objectivists, probability objectively measures the plausibility of propositions, i.e. the probability of a proposition corresponds to a reasonable belief everyone (even a "robot") sharing the same knowledge should share in accordance with the rules of Bayesian statistics, which can be justified by requirements of rationality and consistency.[2][5] Requirements of rationality and consistency are also important for subjectivists, for which the probability corresponds to a 'personal belief'.[6] For subjectivists however, rationality and consistency constrain the probabilities a subject may have, but allow for substantial variation within those constraints. The objective and subjective variants of Bayesian probability differ mainly in their interpretation and construction of the prior probability.Objective and subjective Bayesian probabilities -" *** "Contemporary analytic philosophers of mind generally use the term “belief” to refer to the attitude we have, roughly, whenever we take something to be the case or regard it as true. To believe something, in this sense, needn't involve actively reflecting on it: Of the vast number of things ordinary adults believe, only a few can be at the fore of the mind at any single time. Nor does the term “belief”, in standard philosophical usage, imply any uncertainty or any extended reflection about the matter in question (as it sometimes does in ordinary English usage). Many of the things we believe, in the relevant sense, are quite mundane: that we have heads, that it's the 21st century, that a coffee mug is on the desk. Forming beliefs is thus one of the most basic and important features of the mind, and the concept of belief plays a crucial role in both philosophy of mind and epistemology.Belief -"  Forming beliefs is thus one of the most basic and important features of the mind, and the concept of belief plays a crucial role in both philosophy of mind and epistemology. The “mind-body problem”, for example, so central to philosophy of mind, is in part the question of whether and how a purely physical organism can have beliefs. Much of epistemology revolves around questions about when and how our beliefs are justified or qualify as knowledge. Belief -  Nevertheless, many contemporary philosophers of science and analytic philosophers are strongly critical of Popper's philosophy of science.[14] Popper's mistrust of inductive reasoning has led to claims that he misrepresents scientific practice. Among the professional philosophers of science, the Popperian view has never been seriously preferred to probabilistic induction, which is the mainstream account of scientific reasoning.Falsifiability - See also: The Logic of Scientific Discovery (PDF)

Is Emotional Disconnect Desired?

If the heart was free from the impurities of sin, and therefore lighter than the feather, then the dead person could enter the eternal afterlife.

   I do not wish for you to embrace the Mythos of the times.  All be it,  that I would like you to consider any conversion process, as to lets say it as if you would Sonify, or,  to Colour the world with your emotions.

This is so as to see the space with which each shares,  as we choose to deal with our own Conscience. It was just a way of me trying to make sense of it all. It will need never mean anything to you if you cannot see it's abstractness as some "painted image of a universe."

That is to say, underlay the image of its stars,  as points distance from, in equilibrium with  a distance, for which we could hold as ourselves as stationary. To reflect then, on our memories.  Not to be pulled away by.  But wanting to try and make best use of. It can be the path of least resistance if one would like to call it that,  and to show,  a photons travel and influence betrayed by things lesser then the spirit with which Einstein slides. It could appear as Lensing if you wish.

The seat of the deceased's soul, his heart, was weighed on a balance against the feather of Ma'at.

 Your conscience,  is your truth,  and for you to have no conscience means you have no need for truth?

I do not ask you to make decisions irrationally, or belied with the darkest colours of your most haggard world. For it necessary to be measured in the time constraints of your perception as,  held in the darkest moments of your day. How much happier in spirit,  is the thought of time passing when you are truly happy. Pain reflected in a hand on a hot stove, that goes on for to long.

Forewarned to highlight and reflect in thought so as to say,

 According to Łobaczewski, all societies vacillate between "happy times," or times of prosperity, during which advanced psychological knowledge of psycho-pathological influence in the corridors of power is suppressed, and "unhappy times." During unhappy times, the intelligentsia and society at large can recover this specialized knowledge to resolve the social order along mentally healthier lines. It is to be noted that happy times do not imply morally advanced times, as Łobaczewski makes clear that this happiness or prosperity may well be premised on the oppression of a target group.

Without conscience, or,  without that truth, what value the emotional construct of memory induced that we can say we are without the memory of yesterday forever? That you would not reconsider,  so as to say something about tomorrow.  To be happy about the progress you have made. You see,  you have to have conscience in order to have truth, and truth,  in order to progress.

While I had presented the Vulcan fictional society we all know about in terms of it's fictional settings as a culture, I just wanted to ask the question in the title post above. It raises the idea that such desires could have asked us to eliminate this part of our inherent makeup, is to ask us how we may succeed.  We need to know somehow of our move to reason and logic alone.

 The earliest roots of emotional intelligence can be traced to Charles Darwin's work on the importance of emotional expression for survival and, second, adaptation.^[2] In the 1900s, even though traditional definitions of intelligence emphasized cognitive aspects such as memory and problem-solving, several influential researchers in the intelligence field of study had begun to recognize the importance of the non-cognitive aspects. For instance, as early as 1920, E.L. Thorndike used the term social intelligence to describe the skill of understanding and managing other people.^[3]

Is it possible to overcome the genetic makeup of our being to say that if we let the mind lead us in our reality observance, that it would require a dominance of genetic makeup to let evolution move to this outcome?

I have seen myself as using this medium of this blog expression to see that forefront in my mind is a subject that is leading,  that I'd have to wonder that maybe the result of genetic engineering of my own mind leads the way. Hold on a second.

Not to say it is who I am without empathetic value, is to suggest the development of psychopathy is as a result,  a good society.  But better to point out,  and  to understand how one cannot escape from what it is as already have predominant in our own make  up to say....we should do away with emotion.   In my view, not to think how fast we can react in any given situation without  a decision being made emotionally unburdened.

The data revealed that even the most complex, abstract emotions—those that require maturity, reflection, and world knowledge to appreciate—do involve our most advanced brain networks. However, they seem to get their punch—their motivational push—from activating basic biological regulatory structures in the most primitive parts of the brain, those responsible for monitoring functions like heart rate and breathing. In turn, the basic bodily changes induced during even the most complex emotions—e.g., our racing heart or clenched gut—are "felt" by sensory brain networks. When we talk of having a gut feeling that some action is right or wrong, we are not just speaking metaphorically.

 
So this disconnect with emotion is on my mind.  It is indeed true that I have labored to a degree to develop a  philosophical understanding that demonstrates what it is, is hidden in our own desires, can be made for the good,  and to allow ourselves to understand our choices do have consequences. That we can in some perspective trial,  examine our choices under such a paradigm to ask,  is this function a god send to do away with the understanding of the restrictions that can apply to us?

Ponerology is the name given by Polish psychiatrist Andrzej Łobaczewski to an interdisciplinary study of social issues.^[1] This discipline makes use of data from psychology, sociology, philosophy, and history to account for such phenomena as aggressive war, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and terrorism. The original theory and research was conducted by psychologists and psychiatrists working in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary in the years prior to the institution of Communism and in the works of Stefan Blachowski and Kazimierz Dąbrowski.^[2]

Łobaczewski adopted the term from the branch of theology dealing with the study of evil, derived from the Greek word poneros. According to Łobaczewski, all societies vacillate between "happy times," or times of prosperity, during which advanced psychological knowledge of psychopathological influence in the corridors of power is suppressed, and "unhappy times." During unhappy times, the intelligentsia and society at large can recover this specialized knowledge to resolve the social order along mentally healthier lines. It is to be noted that happy times do not imply morally advanced times, as Łobaczewski makes clear that this happiness or prosperity may well be premised on the oppression of a target group.

Łobaczewski defines many specific characteropathies, which Western psychology would likely refer to as character disorders, as paving the way for the ultimate rule of "essential psychopaths" in full-fledged pathocracy. This allegedly takes place when society is insufficiently guarded against the minority of such abnormal pathology ever-present in its midst (Łobaczewski asserts that the etiology is almost entirely bio-genetic.) He believes that they infiltrate an institution or state, prevailing moral values are perverted into their opposite, and a coded language not unlike Orwell's doublethink circulates into the mainstream, using paralogic and paramoralism in place of genuine logic and morality.

There are various identifiable stages of pathocracy described by Łobaczewski. Ultimately, each pathocracy is foredoomed because the root of healthy social morality, according to Łobaczewski, is contained in the congenital instinctive infrastructure in the vast majority of the population. While some in the normal population are more susceptible to pathocratic influence, and become its lackeys, the majority instinctively resist.

See Also:

• The Mask of Sanity

For You Men Out There

This post has been due in that one can learn so many things about ones perspective having been engaged with the realities. So it was with me that I was at a loss of how to deal with,  that my sweet wife gave me a book to read. It has been a source of comfort in that you get to understand the process that your own wife may be going through.

Men most certainly can come in all sizes that you quickly see how the differences between men and women shows itself as one reads. Men,  did you know you can get it too?  Ultimately, it is about listening to your wife.

Breast Cancer Husband

Marc Silver on Marc Silver:
I'm the author of BREAST CANCER HUSBAND: How to Help Your Wife (And Yourself) Through Diagnosis, Treatment, and Beyond, and a great believer in the motto of the breast cancer husband: "Shut up and listen." Really, it works for just about any husband.

 When Marsha was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, I wished I had a book to guide me through the difficult months ahead, because I had no clue what to do. In the spring of 2002, after Marsha finished her treatments, I began working on the proposal for BREAST CANCER HUSBAND. Even though many publishers told me that "men don't buy self-help books," I was sure this was one book that guys would buy–and if they didn't, their wives would buy it for them.

This book has been a constant reference guide for me.When at a loss of focus it helped bring the focus back.

In hind sight when talking with my wife we came to some conclusions about the process itself in that when ever she had to make a decision it should have been from having all the information available. By having it at   her finger tips further decisions could have been made better.  So an additional resource that helped was something your surgeon may make inclusive in your package for what decisions you make about the choices given.

Intelligent Patient Guide to Breast Cancer
5th edition, 2011.

by Ivo Olivotto, Karen Gelmon, David McCready and Urve Kuusk.  This book is available free of charge in the kit.  It can also be borrowed from the BC Cancer Agency Library or can be purchased at your local bookstore.

This is very important information and a woman can be inundated with a lot considering her feelings and bombardment of what she has to face. Here I put of importance the help of your Cancer Coordinator as to the help in clarifications as vital. Even as I sit trying to scoop as much info as I can, being impacted emotional as well one tends to miss questions as my wife did or just could not process.

We have reflected on this as wondering if we could have taped or recorded the conversation so as to get the full scope of the process your surgeon may reveal to you. So we saw this as a possible avenue you might want to take so you can go back an see exactly what was said. This might be useful.

Ruminations on Alchemy of Sir Isaac Newton

Newton's Translation of the Emerald Tablet

It is true without lying, certain and most true. That which is Below is like that which is Above and that which is Above is like that which is Below to do the miracles of the Only Thing. And as all things have been and arose from One by the mediation of One, so all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation. The Sun is its father; the Moon its mother; the Wind hath carried it in its belly; the Earth is its nurse. The father of all perfection in the whole world is here. Its force or power is entire if it be converted into Earth. Separate the Earth from the Fire, the subtle from the gross, sweetly with great industry. It ascends from the Earth to the Heavens and again it descends to the Earth and receives the force of things superior and inferior. By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world and thereby all obscurity shall fly from you. Its force is above all force, for it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing. So was the world created. From this are and do come admirable adaptations, whereof the process is here in this. Hence am I called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world. That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished and ended.

Don't you think it odd that given the times that while contribution from Sir Isaac Newton lead the way in terms of Optics and Gravitation that one could have been so mislead as to the study of an ancient enterprise.

The Alchemists attempted to perfect the One Thing of Hermes, what they called the First Matter, by using specific physical, psychological, and spiritual techniques that they describe in chemical terms and demonstrated in laboratory experiements. However, while the alchemists spoke in terms of chemcials, furaces , flasks, and beakers, they were really talking about the changes taking place within their own bodies, minds, and souls.2The Emerald Tablet, Dennis William Hauck, Chapter 10, Page 151

It is not to far a leap to see that intelligence could have been made up of other attributes that we might say Emotional Intelligence is worth a look. How would this compare to Silica Garden Illustrating Mineral "Vegetation" but to see it as growth in one form but analogically attributed to one owns neurological process inside? While this is matter constitution raised it has very fluid attributes to a intelligence system?

As a man I cannot say I can have ever overcome my emotions but I can be more aware of what is going on inside. How my views of the world can be circumspect, from a much higher realization.

How much more important my emotions play then in staying to the high road of decency and respect. How my emotions may be elevated to be inspired by others. How childish I can become by loosing my awareness of my responses.

The language of Alchemy is learning to see as if you are a POlymath about your life. It does not mean you do not suffer the emotional turmoils just that you realize it is okay to feel. To feel deeply.

What matter based realization can exist as we conjure up the mind to the responses we have experienced that we do not see the mixtures of the elements that go on inside? Shall all our responses be matter based in distinction, based on the lower realization of what can arise in human beings? The baser emotions of an ancient human being primal in nature while evolution shall see the rise of the machine?

So by definition and understanding of the Ruminations how is it a defeated man could have excelled so boldly as to have found "no hero" in front of him? No hero, but his determination to be  but "goal oriented." Not to have been overcome by this negative state, so as to loose his self in his understanding of life and his quest to be better?

People have had it wrong for a long time now, and hopefully this sheds a new light on one of our forefathers who gave us more then his science to consider. He was still a scientist in face of the problems he may of encountered psychologically.  He entered the cave and saw the shadows, but he knew there was so much more to his confinement of perspective that pushed himself to excel.

Rumination is usually defined as repetitively focusing on the symptoms of distress, and on its possible causes and consequences.^[1]. Extensive research on the effects of rumination, or the tendency to self-reflect, shows that the negative form of rumination interferes with people’s abilities to focus on problem-solving and results in dwelling on negative thoughts about past failures.^[2] Evidence from previous studies suggest that the negative implications of rumination are due to cognitive biases, such as memory and attentional biases, which predispose ruminators to selectively devote attention to negative stimuli ^[3] However, three forms of rumination were proposed by Mikulincer (1996): state rumination, action rumination, and task-irrelevant rumination. State Rumination involves dwelling on the consequences and feelings associated with the failure. Action rumination consists of task-oriented thought processes focused on goal-achievement and correction of mistakes. Task-irrelevant rumination utilizes events or people unassociated with the blocked goal to distract a person from the failure.^[4]

It is of great consequence that we can see the reasons why being in such a negative world does more harm by our engaging what may have been the realities of those who have seen  and experienced a Hell on Earth.  Soldiers who return home, Peace Officers who have no way to deal with the tragedies, or Fireman who saw the outcome of death by Fire?

What about you as an individual? How great the wall that can be set up that the view cannot let us see what is on the other side? It is of consequence that each of us will experience these things. The question is  will you accept that the emotions do exist within you that they have to be made aware of. That we cannot gloss over what is real inside to have have it accumulate?

So maybe in those times of Sir Isaac Newton they did not have psychology people to help you surmise the matter states of our convictions and realization as stepping off  points to the future?

The Flammarion woodcut. Flammarion's caption translates to "A medieval missionary tells that he has found the point where heaven and Earth meet..." "We all are of the citizens of the Sky" Camille Flammarion

The Melting Pot?


On the question of our societies then what value can be seen when it is not seen as part of the individual  developmental graces in conjuring up the humanistic values of our decency and respect of others?

	"Plato made clear that merit and not heredity defined the gold man and that gold could be found in all parts of society."

Plato prove that justice does not depend upon a chance, convention or upon external force. It is the right condition of the human soul by the very nature of man when seen in the fullness of his environment. It is in this way that Plato condemned the position taken by Glaucon that justice is something which is external. According to Plato, it is internal as it resides in the human soul. "It is now regarded as an inward grace and its understanding is shown to involve a study of the inner man." It is, therefore, natural and no artificial. It is therefore, not born of fear of the weak but of the longing of the human soul to do a duty according to its nature.

A just society must be governed by men of reason.Inventing a new social myth to replace the old. Socrates calls those who rule for the benefit of the whole society and not to it's detriment golden men: in his myth they rightfully govern the men of silver and bronze. This is the myth of metals(415a ff.) the centrepiece of a second accusation that has dogged Plato through the centuries. Plato made clear that merit and not heredity defined the gold man and that gold could be found in all parts of society. Nonetheless, Plato has never escaped the charge that he imposes upon society an elitist and authoritarian rule. The charge is pressed even though in Book IV Plato makes justice in the individual the condition of justice in society.--Pg 16, Para 2 and 3, of Plato the Republic Introduction by Richard W. Sterling and William C. Scott.

“ Man is the most composite of all creatures.... Well, as in the old burning of the Temple at Corinth, by the melting and intermixture of silver and gold and other metals a new compound more precious than any, called Corinthian brass, was formed; so in this continent,--asylum of all nations,--the energy of Irish, Germans, Swedes, Poles, and Cossacks, and all the European tribes,--of the Africans, and of the Polynesians,--will construct a new race, a new religion, a new state, a new literature, which will be as vigorous as the new Europe which came out of the smelting-pot of the Dark Ages, or that which earlier emerged from the Pelasgic and Etruscan barbarism.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson, describing American Culture as a melting pot in a journal entry, 1845

Undoubtedly we have no questions to ask which are unanswerable . We must trust the perfection of the creation so far, as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy. Every man's condition is a solution in hieroglyphic to those inquiries he would put. He acts it as life, before he apprehends it as truth. In like manner, nature is already, in its forms and tendencies, describing its own design. Let us interrogate the great apparition, that shines so peacefully around us. Let us inquire, to what end is nature? See: Nature by Emerson

In response to the trivial statements of what you might have heard and repeat without looking.Here's some support for the limited view you may share of the subject that carry's some weight. Of course even given the perspective of a scientist he did not have a full understanding of the subject?

The Errors & Animadversions of Honest Isaac Newton by Sheldon Lee Glashow ABSTRACT: Isaac Newton was my childhood hero. Along with Albert Einstein, he one of the greatest scientists ever, but Newton was no saint. He used his position to defame his competitors and rarely credited his colleagues.His arguments were sometimes false and contrived, his data were often fudged, and he exaggerated the accuracy of his calculations. Furthermore, his many religious works (mostly unpublished) were nonsensical or mystical, revealing him to be a creationist at heart. My talk offers a sampling of Newton’s many transgressions, social, scientific and religious.

The new book I am reading Gravity by Brian Clegg currently sheds more light on Newton youth and the life he lead.

Mirror Neurons

Neuroscientific evidence suggests that one basic entry point into understanding others' goals and feelings is the process of actively simulating in our own brain the actions we observe in others. This involves the firing of neurons that would be activated were we actually performing an action, although we are only observing it in someone else. Neurons performing mirroring functions have been directly observed in primates and other species, including birds. In humans, brain activity consistent with "mirroring" has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex and the inferior parietal cortex.

The data revealed that even the most complex, abstract emotions—those that require maturity, reflection, and world knowledge to appreciate—do involve our most advanced brain networks. However, they seem to get their punch—their motivational push—from activating basic biological regulatory structures in the most primitive parts of the brain, those responsible for monitoring functions like heart rate and breathing. In turn, the basic bodily changes induced during even the most complex emotions—e.g., our racing heart or clenched gut—are "felt" by sensory brain networks. When we talk of having a gut feeling that some action is right or wrong, we are not just speaking metaphorically.

So, I'm saying the mirror neuron system underlies the interface allowing you to rethink about issues like consciousness,representation of self,what separates you from other human beings,what allows you to empathize with other human beings,and also even things like the emergence of culture and civilization,which is unique to human beings. See: VS Ramachandran: The neurons that shaped civilization 

  How important is the environment in that we might see the development of the conditions of "specific types of neurons" when the color can dictate the type of neuron developed? Can we say that the color(emotion) is an emotive state that we might indeed create in the type of consciousness with which we meet the world. A consciousness that that sets the trains of thought given the reality of our own perceptions. Or,  perpetuated thought processes unravelled in a world of our own illusions?

In a nutshell, what Karim showed was that each time a memory is used, it has to be restored as a new memory in order to be accessible later. The old memory is either not there or is inaccessible. In short, your memory about something is only as good as your last memory about it. Joseph LeDoux

Psychology professor Karim Nader is helping sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder lessen debilitating symptoms—and in some cases, regain a normal life.Owen Egan See also: The Trauma Tamer See Also: Brain Storming IC: Why is this research so important? Karim Nader: There are a lot of implications. All psychopathological disorders, such as PTSD, epilepsy, obsessive compulsive disorders, or addiction—all these things have to do with your brain getting rewired in a way that is malfunctioning. Theoretically, we may be able to treat a lot of these psychopathologies. If you could block the re-storage of the circuit that causes the obsessive compulsion, then you might be able to reset a person to a level where they aren’t so obsessive. Or perhaps you can reset the circuit that has undergone epilepsy repeatedly so that you can increase the threshold for seizures. And there is some killer data showing that it’s possible to block the reconsolidation of drug cravings. The other reason why I think it is so striking is that it is so contrary to what has been the accepted view of memory for so long in the mainstream. My research caused everybody in the field to stop, turn around and go, “Whoa, where’d that come from?” Nobody’s really working on this issue, and the only reason I came up with this is because I wasn’t trained in memory. [Nader was originally researching fear.] It really caused a fundamental reconceptualization of a very basic and dogmatic field in neuroscience, which is very exciting. It is the first time in 100 years that people are starting to come up with new models of memory at the physiological level.

Part of the understanding for me is that in creating this environment for neural development the retention of memory has to have some emotive basis which arises from the ancient part of our brain in that it is associated with the heart response.



 Savas Dimopoulos

Here’s an analogy to understand this: imagine that our universe is a two-dimensional pool table, which you look down on from the third spatial dimension. When the billiard balls collide on the table, they scatter into new trajectories across the surface. But we also hear the click of sound as they impact: that’s collision energy being radiated into a third dimension above and beyond the surface. In this picture, the billiard balls are like protons and neutrons, and the sound wave behaves like the graviton. See: The Sound Of Billiard Balls

While these physiological processes are going on in our bodies the chemical responses of emotion trigger manifestations in the world outside of our bodies. Let us say consciousness exists "at the periphery of our bodies." What measure then to assess the realization that such manifestations internally are in the control of our manipulations of living experience? Are we then not caught in the throes of and are we not  machine like to think such associations could have ever been produced in a robot like being manufactured?

Of course this is a fictional representation above of what may resound within and according to the experiences we may have? The question is then how are memories retained? How do memories transmit through out our endocrinology system the nature of our experiences so that we see consciousness as a form of the expression through which we color our world?

The Colour of our Emotions

"The worst disease afflicting human kind is hardening of the categories." - Artist Bob Miller. Intuition

RBM: On Castaneda There are some people here who think that Castaneda's work maps quite well to [it]. Specifically, the nagual and NPMR are conceptual perfect matches, along with the tonal and PMR. Tom has used the metaphor of the warrior several times in these groups in a way that matched Castaneda's

I think a lot of us within a given generation would have been moved by this anthropological discourse on the shamanic knowledge that we can gain from such cultures.


 A Path with a Heart

I have told you that to choose a path you must be free from fear and ambition. The desire to learn is not ambition. It is our lot as men to want to know.

The path without a heart will turn against men and destroy them. It does not take much to die, and to seek death is to seek nothing.

 The artistic endeavour chosen to transmit knowledge and wisdom was a success in that we could take from it and find comparative points of view that could be shared in our own daily lives.

 It was this way for me in that the Tonal was significant formulation of a methodology toward transforming our emotive internal states to something that not only existed within but as a result existed outwardly as well. Helped to induce that connection.

True creativity often starts where language ends-Arthur Koestler

I mean you've exhausted all avenues to a certain problem? You have all this data and you can't just seem to get past the problem or how to move on.

Consciousness emerges when this primordial story-the story of a object causally changing the state of the body-can be told using the universal nonverbal vocabulary of body signals. The aparent self emerges as the feeling of a feeling. When the story is first told, sponataneously, without it ever being requested, and furthermore after that hwhen the story is repeated, knowledge about hwat the organism is living through automatically emerges as the answer to a question never asked. From that moment on, we begin to know.Pg 31, The Feeling of What Happens, by Antonio Damasio

Receptivity, as to gaining access to information, was as I had seen made a success by entrancing calmness(sitting by a river possibly....what brain state is most conducive in waves?) as an ideal to knowing that a solution can come. Secondly, knowing that you were connected to something much vaster then your own brain/consciousness?

How would this be possible? It is as if you ask the question to make way for a possible answer you see? For myself then it was about understanding how a connection could be made to the the heart, as to being open, and moving this idea from matters states( all our work and conclusions) to energy that was capable and transforming in the mind/consciousness.

Involution and Evolution

A "color of gravity" emotively held within the context of mind as a emotive force expressed through our endocrinology system. Retention of memories. Our pasts.

 While heavily connected to these emotions in memory states how could we transform our thinking mind but to recognized what we had retained and what we retain with it?

This was a informativeness process then of what was framed within the physical structure of our being/brain and the recognition of these matters states as conclusive and solidified ideals as to what would be contained in our attitudes and consequences in life??