In Thought and Language Lev Vygotsky theorized that thought actually develops from speech. A child will utilize words for social interactions, but only gradually internalizes these words as inner speech capable of expressing complex thoughts. An inner world only emerges over time and repetition, growing from interactions in the outer world.
Attachment runs a similar course. The child looks to the actions of a guardian and develops an opinion about the world, eventually adopting a world view somewhere between disorganized and secure. When these attachments are internalized they seem to color every thought and belief.
For some people, emotions rarely enter into this inner world. Language and attachment certainly play a role in this. A person with ambivalent attachments will likely discuss emotions infrequently, leading them to never learn to effectively label or differentiate emotions. Conversely, a person with secure attachments will have experiences validating and discriminating emotions, ultimately leading to a vibrant inner emotional life. And indeed, those with more secure attachments and better emotional discrimination show greater emotional regulation.
Increasingly, the ability to self-regulate seems to be a function of relationships. Students learn better in study groups. Exercisors stick with their programs longer when they have a partner. Discussing emotions increases emotional regulation. Secure attachments also increase emotional regulation.
It is interesting that mindfulness is also associated with increases in self-regulation. Mindful practices increase emotional regulation and executive functions. It is as if being present-minded and non-judgementaly aware taps into the same mental circuitry as our social interactions. Perhaps learning to be mindful is synonymous with learning to be your own best friend.,
1.31.2012
Sing in Me, Muse
A spell fell over all as the words weaved through the crowd, spinning and sweeping; the teller slowly fading from the forefront, the tale forging ahead, filling the space between their ears, engulfing awareness, the muse taking flesh, forming a hero bright and true: one to dwell among them; one to struggle and overcome; one to sacrifice and save; one to, in the end, ascend and leave everything finally changed. Eventually, the spell broken, the people returned to their beautiful ordinary lives.
Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story...
Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story...
1.17.2012
Raising the Sun
“Clung to a ball that was hung in the sky; hurled into orbit - there you are.”
“Verge of a Miracle” a song by Rich Mullins
Raising the Emotions
Death: HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE FALLING ANGELS MEET RISING APES.
According to Barbara Fredrickson’s well-known broaden-and-build theory, positive emotions open up our awareness, allowing us to develop our cognitive processes. Abraham Maslow postulated that our positive emotions are also tied up in our peak experiences - a moment when we feel intense feelings of well-being and unity. While these models are useful for explaining behavior and cognition, the real trick is in intentionally producing positive emotions. Creating and observing rituals is an effective means of creating the feelings that support a happy life.
Jonathan Haidt discusses the role of positive emotions, such as joy, awe and elevation, in producing peak experiences. He explains that certain emotions are capable of overriding the parts of the brain that produce our sense of individuality and when intense enough, these feelings are characterized by a sense of unity with something outside of ourselves, be it God, humanity, or nature. Observation of moral or natural beauty and sacred truths are important sources of these emotions. George Vaillant echoes Haidt’s endorsement of peak experiences in “Spiritual Evolution.” He asserts that positive emotions not only broaden and build, but also produce feelings of spirituality and mystical illumination that unite us with both humanity and the universe. Vaillant, while comparing religion and spirituality, identifies ritual as a reliable source of positive emotion and community building.
Restorative Nature
Death: STARS EXPLODE, WORLDS COLLIDE, THERE’S HARDLY ANYWHERE IN THE UNIVERSE WHERE HUMANS CAN LIVE WITHOUT BEING FROZEN OR FRIED, AND YET YOU BELIEVE THAT A BED IS A NORMAL THING.
Folk wisdom has long suggested that nature has a restorative effect on health. When research began to emerge supporting this idea, many ecologists and psychologists began to recommend that people and communities take the time to relax or explore in natural surroundings. Nature outings, or even simple visits to parks and gardens, can make for a health-promoting weekly or monthly ritual. This call for visiting, sustaining, and creating green environments in our technologically minded society has been taken up by the field of ecopsychology. This burgeoning branch of psychology takes seriously the biophilia hypothesis (humans are hardwired to connect with nature and other living systems) in researching the natural environments that promote well-being. Daniel Stokolz, a social ecologist, in a review of positive psychology, criticizes the lack of a framework for considering the contextual factors of well-being. Some people have suggested that positive psychologists and ecopsychologists would do well to learn from each other on a regular basis (see Iris Bloom’s article).
Richard Louv, a journalist, has popularized many of the ideas stemming from ecopsychology. In “The Nature Principle,” he bemoans the nature-deficit-disorder of our digitally obsessed society. He describes research into the power of nature to reduce stress, restore well-being, and build character, eventually concluding that a purposeful spiritual and physical connection to nature will ultimately lead to a more fulfilling life.
Reviving a Ritual
Death: IT IS THE MOST AMAZING TALENT... A VERY SPECIAL KIND OF STUPIDITY. YOU THINK THAT THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS INSIDE YOUR HEADS.
Jonathan Haidt suggests the value of recognizing and respecting the sacred within life. George Vaillant encourages exploration into spiritual and traditional practices. Richard Louv call for us to reconnect with nature. There are boundless possibilities for applying this advice to promote both positive emotions and peak experiences through ritual and nature. At the risk of being presumptuous, I would like to recommend one that has little empirical, though great historical, backing.
Celebrate the seasons. The solstices and equinoxes go by largely unnoticed in our society. However, these days provide an excellent opportunity to feel the rhythms of nature, to value the cycles of life, and to appreciate the natural phenomena that allow life to exist on this planet. Richard Heinberg wrote “Celebrate the Solstice” to offer a history of the seasonal festivals that occurred on these days and to encourage people to revive these rituals. He states, “The recovery of the ancient seasonal festivals is more than a symbolic gesture. It can be a meaningful way of reminding ourselves of the natural order of things... [These festivals] are times when we return to the simple truths at the heart of life.” I encourage you to infuse these days with meaning again by developing life-affirming seasonal rituals. I have a hunch that in so doing you will also develop a stronger connection with the madly spinning orbs that daily support your life.
Death: NO... THE SUN WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN... A MERE BALL OF FLAMING GAS WOULD HAVE ILLUMINATED THE WORLD.
“Hogfather” a novel by Terry Pratchett
“Verge of a Miracle” a song by Rich Mullins
Raising the Emotions
Death: HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE FALLING ANGELS MEET RISING APES.
According to Barbara Fredrickson’s well-known broaden-and-build theory, positive emotions open up our awareness, allowing us to develop our cognitive processes. Abraham Maslow postulated that our positive emotions are also tied up in our peak experiences - a moment when we feel intense feelings of well-being and unity. While these models are useful for explaining behavior and cognition, the real trick is in intentionally producing positive emotions. Creating and observing rituals is an effective means of creating the feelings that support a happy life.
Jonathan Haidt discusses the role of positive emotions, such as joy, awe and elevation, in producing peak experiences. He explains that certain emotions are capable of overriding the parts of the brain that produce our sense of individuality and when intense enough, these feelings are characterized by a sense of unity with something outside of ourselves, be it God, humanity, or nature. Observation of moral or natural beauty and sacred truths are important sources of these emotions. George Vaillant echoes Haidt’s endorsement of peak experiences in “Spiritual Evolution.” He asserts that positive emotions not only broaden and build, but also produce feelings of spirituality and mystical illumination that unite us with both humanity and the universe. Vaillant, while comparing religion and spirituality, identifies ritual as a reliable source of positive emotion and community building.
Restorative Nature
Death: STARS EXPLODE, WORLDS COLLIDE, THERE’S HARDLY ANYWHERE IN THE UNIVERSE WHERE HUMANS CAN LIVE WITHOUT BEING FROZEN OR FRIED, AND YET YOU BELIEVE THAT A BED IS A NORMAL THING.
Folk wisdom has long suggested that nature has a restorative effect on health. When research began to emerge supporting this idea, many ecologists and psychologists began to recommend that people and communities take the time to relax or explore in natural surroundings. Nature outings, or even simple visits to parks and gardens, can make for a health-promoting weekly or monthly ritual. This call for visiting, sustaining, and creating green environments in our technologically minded society has been taken up by the field of ecopsychology. This burgeoning branch of psychology takes seriously the biophilia hypothesis (humans are hardwired to connect with nature and other living systems) in researching the natural environments that promote well-being. Daniel Stokolz, a social ecologist, in a review of positive psychology, criticizes the lack of a framework for considering the contextual factors of well-being. Some people have suggested that positive psychologists and ecopsychologists would do well to learn from each other on a regular basis (see Iris Bloom’s article).
Richard Louv, a journalist, has popularized many of the ideas stemming from ecopsychology. In “The Nature Principle,” he bemoans the nature-deficit-disorder of our digitally obsessed society. He describes research into the power of nature to reduce stress, restore well-being, and build character, eventually concluding that a purposeful spiritual and physical connection to nature will ultimately lead to a more fulfilling life.
Reviving a Ritual
Death: IT IS THE MOST AMAZING TALENT... A VERY SPECIAL KIND OF STUPIDITY. YOU THINK THAT THE WHOLE UNIVERSE IS INSIDE YOUR HEADS.
Jonathan Haidt suggests the value of recognizing and respecting the sacred within life. George Vaillant encourages exploration into spiritual and traditional practices. Richard Louv call for us to reconnect with nature. There are boundless possibilities for applying this advice to promote both positive emotions and peak experiences through ritual and nature. At the risk of being presumptuous, I would like to recommend one that has little empirical, though great historical, backing.
Celebrate the seasons. The solstices and equinoxes go by largely unnoticed in our society. However, these days provide an excellent opportunity to feel the rhythms of nature, to value the cycles of life, and to appreciate the natural phenomena that allow life to exist on this planet. Richard Heinberg wrote “Celebrate the Solstice” to offer a history of the seasonal festivals that occurred on these days and to encourage people to revive these rituals. He states, “The recovery of the ancient seasonal festivals is more than a symbolic gesture. It can be a meaningful way of reminding ourselves of the natural order of things... [These festivals] are times when we return to the simple truths at the heart of life.” I encourage you to infuse these days with meaning again by developing life-affirming seasonal rituals. I have a hunch that in so doing you will also develop a stronger connection with the madly spinning orbs that daily support your life.
Death: NO... THE SUN WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN... A MERE BALL OF FLAMING GAS WOULD HAVE ILLUMINATED THE WORLD.
“Hogfather” a novel by Terry Pratchett
12.21.2011
Practicing Hope
Beliefs
I teach at a charter school which has recently adopted three core beliefs: [1] success breeds success, [2] all students can and deserve to perform at high levels, [3] the staff controls the conditions of success. Over the years of “sharing” these convictions, I have become well-acquainted with the limited impact that these written beliefs have on actual behavior. Despite these core beliefs, I have also repeatedly observed the tendency to assign the blame for the poor performance of students to a lack of motivation. The difficulty is that both beliefs are true. People can enter into a spiral of success or failure, and motivation often is the driving force.
Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is basic to the human condition, though people often become less intrinsically motivated as they age (due to external social factors). For example, my ten-month-old spends hours everyday practicing her basic motor skills: she picks up and throws toys, she climbs on anything possible, and she walks even though crawling is still much faster. Presumably, she does all this for the shear joy of the task, and not out of the hope for future gains. This image stands in stark contrast to some of my students, who always inquire whether a particular skill or definition will show up on the test, and what they can do to raise their grade in class.
I teach at a charter school which has recently adopted three core beliefs: [1] success breeds success, [2] all students can and deserve to perform at high levels, [3] the staff controls the conditions of success. Over the years of “sharing” these convictions, I have become well-acquainted with the limited impact that these written beliefs have on actual behavior. Despite these core beliefs, I have also repeatedly observed the tendency to assign the blame for the poor performance of students to a lack of motivation. The difficulty is that both beliefs are true. People can enter into a spiral of success or failure, and motivation often is the driving force.
Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is basic to the human condition, though people often become less intrinsically motivated as they age (due to external social factors). For example, my ten-month-old spends hours everyday practicing her basic motor skills: she picks up and throws toys, she climbs on anything possible, and she walks even though crawling is still much faster. Presumably, she does all this for the shear joy of the task, and not out of the hope for future gains. This image stands in stark contrast to some of my students, who always inquire whether a particular skill or definition will show up on the test, and what they can do to raise their grade in class.
12.07.2011
Stories and Societies
Reflection Theory
Imagine an anthropologist attempting to understand the lifestyle of the ancient Babylonians. She might begin by digging up artifacts at an excavation site, and drawing conclusions from what is found. The clay pot suggests that they cooked in ovens, and the drawings on it suggests a culture that values the arts. Now imagine that she found a book of Babylonian myths that were translatable. She reads these stories with interest, feeling like she is getting a first hand glimpse into the lifestyle of the ancients.
If we accept her ability to read a story to better understand a society, then we accept reflection theory. This theory postulates that literature reflects the society that birthed it.
Imagine an anthropologist attempting to understand the lifestyle of the ancient Babylonians. She might begin by digging up artifacts at an excavation site, and drawing conclusions from what is found. The clay pot suggests that they cooked in ovens, and the drawings on it suggests a culture that values the arts. Now imagine that she found a book of Babylonian myths that were translatable. She reads these stories with interest, feeling like she is getting a first hand glimpse into the lifestyle of the ancients.
If we accept her ability to read a story to better understand a society, then we accept reflection theory. This theory postulates that literature reflects the society that birthed it.
12.04.2011
Short-Circuiting the Brain
Emotions move us. What happens when we feel them strongly? Do we just move quicker?
Jonathan Haidt, a psychology professor at University of Virginia, researched the emotion that is the opposite of disgust (which causes us to withdraw and is usually caused by things associated with blood or poo). He came to term the emotion "elevation", which is the goose-bumps we get when we observe or participate in a great moral act. One thing I found intriguing was that when this emotion is most intense it can temporarily disable the part of the brain that monitors our physical boundaries (where our bits and pieces are in space), which causes the person to lose their sense of self and feel as if they have been absorbed into humanity and are intimately connected to all of mankind. Let's call this state ONENESS and define it as an intense feeling of elevation that causes us to lose our sense of self (and time?) so that we can become completely involved with humanity.
Jonathan Haidt, a psychology professor at University of Virginia, researched the emotion that is the opposite of disgust (which causes us to withdraw and is usually caused by things associated with blood or poo). He came to term the emotion "elevation", which is the goose-bumps we get when we observe or participate in a great moral act. One thing I found intriguing was that when this emotion is most intense it can temporarily disable the part of the brain that monitors our physical boundaries (where our bits and pieces are in space), which causes the person to lose their sense of self and feel as if they have been absorbed into humanity and are intimately connected to all of mankind. Let's call this state ONENESS and define it as an intense feeling of elevation that causes us to lose our sense of self (and time?) so that we can become completely involved with humanity.
12.01.2011
Learning and Emotion
Interest is an emotion. I don't think people tend to think of it as such. We say "such and such" is interesting, as if interest is something inherent to that thing. But some people find that thing interesting, others find it boring, some find it infuriating, others saddening. Whatever the case, that thing is sparking an emotion, and our emotions move us. Sadness moves you to change your environment, anger moves you to attack, boredom moves you to find an alternate activity, and interest moves you to explore.
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