The saying, “just do it,” is an oversimplification and deserves to be critiqued, semantically unpacked, examined more closely, which is what this blog piece aims to do. (Please forgive my pedantry. One of my goals is to promote imagination, spontaneity, play. Another goal is to promote critical thinking, reflection. It might seem that these two […]
Of course this is a vast field, but here are some observations. I was chatting with a friend who’s in the mental health field and he noted his difficulty with religion; but at the same time, seemed to be a little interested in spirituality. He mentioned John Bowlby, a psychoanalyst interested in the dynamics of […]
One of the more important dimensions of psychology operates not so much in the mind of the individual but rather in the interpersonal field. (This is perhaps why it was missed by the psychoanalysts.) One pioneer, Dr. Jacob L. Moreno, in the 1930s, noticed this dynamic and tried to find ways of measuring it. It’s […]
In a number of contexts—“new age,” psychology, consciousness studies, spirituality—the term “ego” has been used as if it’s a problem. There are several meanings of “ego” and it may be worthwhile considering these.
First, the word is Latin for “I” and is attributed by the English translators of Freud’s writings to that part of the psyche […]
This conclusion in the song, “The Hokey Pokey,” addresses the existential and widespread question: What is it all about? What is the purpose of the Cosmos? What is God’s purpose for Humanity? What is the Meaning of my life?
Happily, I have an answer. I’m not saying it’s the right answer, or the final answer, but […]
For many people it doesn’t take that much rational coordination to sustain a viable philosophy of life. Such a system can be sufficiently developed and maintained using a limited number of relatively self-evident platitudes and general social norms, loosely assembled and supported by one’s peer group. Interestingly, all that is needed is the illusion of […]
In the June 7, 2010 issue of the New Yorker on page 21 there is an article about whether college is really cost effective. My attention was caught by the statement that skills appropriate to the workplace include the ability to “resolve conflict and negotiate,” “cooperate with others,” and “listen actively.” What strikes me here […]
I was reading a humor book in which one of the themes is the two-column list of what “he said” and what he really thought but would not say—or how that phrase might be covering a more mundane or less favorable reality. There are other lists of she said and what she meant; or what […]
In the June 7, 2010 issue of the New Yorker on page 21 there is an article about whether college is really cost-effective. My attention was caught by the statement that skills appropriate to the workplace include the ability to “resolve conflict and negotiate,” “cooperate with others,” and “listen actively.” What strikes me here […]
Epistemology is that branch of philosophy that inquires into the problem of how we know what we know. Can some of what we think we know be illusions or errors? How could that be? Can Truth be known? Reality?
The first point here is that most people seem to buy into the idea that truth exists, […]
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