Monday 1 January 2024

THE LADDER OF UNDERSTANDING

 MAKING BETTER SENSE OF WHAT WE EXPERIENCE
 
1. Homer (8th century BC), the poet who "has taught Greece" (Plato), shaped ancient Greek culture in terms of mythology.
 
2. Protagoras  (c. 490 BC – c. 420 BC) and the other sophists substitute the logos for the myth.
 
3. Socrates (c. 470–399 BC), through his methods of refutation and maieutics, leads from logos to aporia.
 
4. Aristotle (384–322 BC) begins the Metaphysics by surveying aporiai and develops from here his theoretical knowledge of the fundamental nature of reality.
 
5. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) in his Critique of Pure Reason establishes the limits as to just how far reason may legitimately proceed.

6. Silvio Ceccato (1914-1997) developed operational methodology ("Metodologia Operativa") as a way that leads to operational mindfulness: the awareness of HOW WE KNOW.

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How we act depends on how we understand what we experience (ourselves, society, the world, the universe, etc.). Mostly this understanding seems obvious to us, we do not feel the need to inquire into it. But then we cannot improve it! Fortunately wise men did that for us.

The "Ladder of Understanding" is a model of the steps that in the course of the centuries some wise men made for us in order to improve the human ability TO MAKE SENSE OF WHAT WE EXPERIENCE.

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Thursday 3 November 2022

LTW - Stress and Mindfulness

 Living in Two Worlds - STRESS & MINDFULNESS

Fig.1 LTW Model of stress
L= individual Logical world; A = Attentional system; P = shared Physical world

Under conditions of stress negative emotions and negative feelings dominate the individual logical world L. The energy equilibrium is disrupted (see Fig.1): energy increases in L (diagram eL/t) and decreases in the attentional system A (diagram eA/t).

World L takes the lead and directs attention to negative memories (past) or negative visions (future). Attention becomes less autonomous, its activity is more than usual under the control of world L.

Under these conditions the attentional system cannot fulfill its task to connect world L and world P in an equilibrated way. Thus world L partially loses connection with the physical world P and the viability check is partially skipped.

This isolation of world L and its higher negative energy leads to a further increase of stress and this to a higher disconnection between world L and P.

This is where despair and psychological impairments find the needed environment to emerge and grow, for example obsessive thoughts and other aspects of OCD.

Fortunately the attentional system A can reestablish the lost energy equilibrium and reconnect world L and P.

How? Simple: by MINDFULNESS MEDITATION [1]. Simple, but not easy!

Mindfulness meditation increases the energy of the attentional system, reduces the dominance of world L and reestablishes the equilibrium and the connection between world L and world P. 

This is how,  seen from the perspective of the knowledge theory of Operational Constructivism, mindfulness meditation achieves its effect of reducing stress, pain and illness.

Notes:

[1] Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990) Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. New York: Random House. Revised edition 2013.






Tuesday 2 August 2022

LTW - Emotions and feelings

 Living in Two Worlds - EMOTIONS & FEELINGS

This morning I woke up with the question: "where are emotions in the LTW model?". Good question, I thought ;-)

By the way, in terms of the LTW model, this question originated in the "passive thought" area:
==> it was not the result of a consciuos search for what may be missing in my model, nor the result of other active reflections.

My first idea for answering that question was to search for inspiration in some books I have in my library (see references). 

What I liked reading Luc Ciompi was the idea that every type of activity or experience contains emotional components as well as cognitive ones. What comes out as a result of the action or experience of an individual, are not simply cognitive but always more complex affective-cognitive structures [Ciompi, 1997, p. 47].

I further liked the definition by Antonio Damasio [1999, p. 50 ff], that emotions are complex patterns of bodily responses (biologically determined processes) as well as his distinction between emotions and feelings :
a) feeling = the private, mental experience of an emotion [Damasio 1999, p. 42]
b) emotion = the collection of chemical and neural responses (to an inducer), forming a pattern [Damasio 1999, p. 51]

What induces emotions? Regarding this topic I was not fully satisfied with the explanation given by Damasio [1999, p.56 ff]. The view proposed by Richard Lazarus seems to me more clear [Wikipedia 2022]. Lazarus considers that the inducer is a  "cognitive appraisal": the individual assesses an event or object cognitively, and this induces an emotion.

But I agree with Damasio that the inducers are shaped by development (different individuals) and culture (different societies): they shape what constitutes an inducer and they shape the expression of an emotion [Damasio 1999, p. 57].

The sequence of events which constitute an emotion (see Scherer's Component Process Model, [Scherer 2005]) can be represented in my LTW model as follows (see the event numbers in square brackets here and in Figure 1):

  • [1] cognitive appraisal: the assessment of an object or event happens in world 1, the logical world. It can happen both in its active side (conscious) or in its passive side (nonconscious). 
  • [2] bodily symptoms and expression: the appraisal induces some biological changes in the body (such as increased heart rate, pituitary adrenal response, etc.). The facial and vocal expression may change. The body is part of world 2, the shared physical world. 
  • [3] As next the individual can sense the emotion 
  • [4] As next the attentional system elaborates the emotion at mental level = the individual has a feeling (conscious or nonconscious) 
  • [5] Finally the individual may choose to react and how.

References:

  • Ciompi, L. 1997. Die emotionalen Grundlagen des Denkens. Entwurf einer fraktalen Affektlogik. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 
  • Damasio, A. 1999. The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness, San Diego: Harcourt. 
  • Scherer, K.R. (2005). "What are emotions? And how can they be measured?". Social Science Information. 44 (4): 693–727. 
  • Wikipedia, 2022. Emotion. Section: Cognitive Theories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion#Cognitive_theories





Monday 1 August 2022

LTW - Attentional subsystems

 Living in Two Worlds - ATTENTIONAL subsystems

  1. The integration of the two worlds in which we live into one single world is the product of a functional system of our brain: an ATTENTIONAL system (Ceccato's model)

  2. ATTENTION, conceived as a system that we can control (cybernetic system), is the system that we use:
    a) to control the shared PHYSICAL world
    b) to construct our individual LOGICAL world
     
  3. In the attentional system we can distinguish 4 subsystems:
    a) SENSORY subsystem and MOTOR subsystem that enable us to control the shared PHYSICAL world by coordinating sensory experiences (seeing, hearing) with motor actions (reaching, touching).
    b) SCHEMA system and EQUILIBRATION system by which we construct our individual LOGICAL world (see next)
     
  4. These four subsystems are under the control of the attentionl system (core system)

  5. The SCHEMA system includes the functions of
    a) schematisation: for constructing mental constructs by means of action schemata (see Piaget)
    b) assimilation (Piaget): for fitting new mental constructs into existing cognitive structures (networks of mental constructs)
     
  6. The EQUILIBRATION system includes the functions of
    a) evaluation: for assessing the consistency of our cognitive structures
    b) accomodation (Piaget): for adapting existing cognitive structures to new mental constructs, when there are inconsistencies, contradicitions etc.



Friday 29 July 2022

How do we know - the HOW

 HOW DO WE KNOW? – the HOW

Fig. 1 Peek-a-boo is a prime example of an object permanence test (Wikipedia, image by Cynthia-Griggs)

A friend asked me about my LTW project, what is it about?

I answered - like in the LTW onepager - that this project is about the question “how do we know?” … and I was surprised to notice that this question seemed unclear to her.

But in fact, it is not surprising at all. It is easy to think, for example, that knowledge comes from learning, from perception, etc.; then the answer to “how do we know?” would be “by learning”, “by perceiving”, etc. and this would seem so clear, that many people, like my friend, would not see why we need a project for answering that question.

As a consequence, the LTW project needs to start by explaining its leading question “How do we know?”

In this question the [How] is not about procedures (perceiving, learning, etc.) but about the mechanisms (functions, operations) of knowing which enable such procedures.

So the question is not “[By which procedures] do we know?” but “[By which mechanisms (functions, operations)] do we know?"

An example can be taken from Jean Piaget: object permanence. The child develops the ability to understand (to know), that when an object is covered by a blanked, it has not finished to exist. The object still exists, there, under the blanket.

Step by step this develops into the “understanding that objects exist and events occur in the world independently of one's own actions” (1).

This ability is a mechanism of knowing that the child acquires and it answers the question “How do we know?” in relation to the specific case of objects that suddenly disappear from our sight.

Notes:

(1) McLeod 2021, Object Permanence, https://www.simplypsychology.org/Object-Permanence.html

Wednesday 27 July 2022

Two-worlds model - detailed diagram

 TWO-WORLDS MODEL - detailed diagram

This diagram of the Two Worlds Model is more detailed: it presents WORLD 2, the individual LOGICAL world (experiential world) with the distinction of two main areas of thinking, ACTIVE & PASSIVE processes.

The elements combined in this diagram have been previously described, see:

14.07.2022 HOW WE KNOW: A TWO-WORLDS MODEL
http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/07/two-worlds-model-v2.html
 

16.07.2022 HOW WE KNOW: ACTIVE & PASSIVE PROCESSES
http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/07/active-and-passive-thought.html





Tuesday 26 July 2022

LTW Chronology

Living in Two Worlds - CHRONOLOGY of posts

update 02.08.2022 / 16.10.2022

  1. 18.04.2022 PEACE & MIND - FOR A MINDFUL PEACE
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/04/peace-and-mind.html

    We live in a physical environment (world 2), but while doing this we cannot avoid KNOWING world 2. So, how do we know world 2? By constructing world 1, an individual experiential world.

  2. 18.04.2022 TO KNOW HOW WE KNOW
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/04/to-know-how-we-know.html
    When knowing, do we "separate" forms from things (Aristotle)? Of course not! We "produce" forms (mental constructs) that we ADD to the "matter" of things.

  3. 20.04.2022 A SMALL ERROR FOR A MAN
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/04/small-error-for-man.html
    "Matter" BECOMES a definite things by means of "form", the essence of that thing. This essence is not there in "matter" ready to be taken: it is a product of the mind, a mental construct.

  4. 22.04.2022 FROM ARISTOTLE (350 BCE) TO KANT'S COPERNICAN REVOLUTION (1787) AND ITS 2 WORLDS (2022)
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/04/aristotle-kant-and-two-worlds.html
    If "Matter" BECOMES a definite things by means of "form", then we do not live only in one world (matter) but in two worlds (world of matter and world of form).

  5. 24.04.2022 TWO WORLDS - SLEEPING WHEN KNOWING?
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/04/sleeping-when-knowing.html
    We do not recognize that we live in two worlds, because we are not aware of what we do when knowing: we are like sleeping.

  6. 26.04.2022 SHARED PHYSICAL WORLD
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/04/shared-physical-world.html
    We are not aware that the matter of our shared physical world is "formally indefinite"

  7. 14.07.2022 HOW WE KNOW: A TWO-WORLDS MODEL
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/07/two-worlds-model-v2.html
    The world in which we live is the INTEGRATION of TWO WORLDS: a SHARED PHYSICAL world  and the INDIVIDUAL LOGICAL world (experiential world)

  8. 16.07.2022 HOW WE KNOW: ACTIVE & PASSIVE PROCESSES
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/07/active-and-passive-thought.html
    In world 2 (the individual LOGICAL world) the flow of thought is a continuous alternation of ACTIVE and PASSIVE thought.

  9. 21.07.2022 Living in Two Worlds (LTW) - Onepager
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/07/living-in-two-worlds-onepager.html
    The WHAT, WHY, HOW and WHO of my project "Living in Two Worlds".

  10. 26.07.2022 Living in Two Worlds - CHRONOLOGY of posts
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/07/ltw-chronology.html

  11. 27.07.2022 Two-worlds model - detailed diagram
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/07/two-worlds-model-detailed-diagram.html
    To the basic diagram I added here explicitely the distinction of the two main areas of thinking, ACTIVE & PASSIVE processes.

  12. 29.07.2022 How do we know - the HOW
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/07/how-do-we-know-how.html
    What does it mean to ask "How do we know?". What is here the "How"?

  13. 01.08.2022 LTW Attentional Subsystems
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/08/ltw-attentional-subsystems.html
    An introduction to the Attentional system by distinguishin four of its main subsystems: sensory system, motor system, schema system and equilibration system

  14. 02.08.2022 LTW Emotions and Feelings
    http://marco-bettoni.blogspot.com/2022/08/ltw-emotions-and-feelings.html
    A first attempt to answer the question "Where are emotions in the LTW model?"

  15. ... coming soon ;-)