| Psycho - Epistemology |
psy"cho - e·pis"te·mol'o·gy (sí ko ï pï stë mó logee) n. : the study of man's cognitive processes from the aspect of the interaction between Man's conscious mind and the automatic functions of Man's subconscious.
e·pis"te·mol'o·gy (ï pï stë mó logee) n. : the study of the qualities, basic constitution, and limits of knowledge; the study of the validity of study
sci'ence (sí ë nss) n. : a set of rules and methods for the pursuit of knowledge; objective epistemology
phi·los'o·phy () n. : the science of reality, existence, causality, truth, and the nature of Mankind
i"de·ol'o·gy () n. : the philosophy of social and political doctrine, governing the association of men
per'·cept () n. : a mental impression of something perceived by the senses, viewed as the basic component in the formation of concepts
con'·cept () n. : a mental formation representing the essence of an item or process (a mental template for the stored data bits which represent a specific instance of an item or process)
con'text () n. : that which surrounds, and gives meaning to, something else (conceptualization creates the growing mental context which consist of more and larger concepts)
cau·sal'i·ty () n. : the principle of, or relationship between, cause and effect
This is an essential
discussion, and I have been stalled at this point in the writing. How do I
explain the mind's operation to a person with little background in computer
programming or the handling of data by memory? It is dry and may be difficult, but it will
explain the working of the human mind in such a manner as to facilitate an
understanding of the two types of human behavior in our world; the rational and
the irrational. It will
set the foundation for understanding a universal human ethical standard and the
moral failures in our educational and
judicial systems. Differentiating between the rational and irrational is
paramount. I must discuss the mental processes involved in what we call thought, to adequately
define the rational and irrational. The following contains a summary of
the process which is explained in greater detail in one of the appendices.
Further explanation using computer programming as an example, can be found in
"Conceptualization", located in this appendix:
"Appendix B: The Evolution of Mankind - Conceptualiztion"
Knowledge is conceptualization. When we
perceive an item, we seldom store the definitions of the structure or
spatial relations into memory.
Our brains analyze the perception, comparing it to the existing conceptual
context of our minds. When there is a match, the brain recognizes the
item. Let us use a table as an example. When the mind sees a table
it simply recognizes a table (a legged item of furniture used as a platform) and stores items such as the height, length, width, color, and so
on. The mind does not store the definitions of the structure or how they
are spatially related (a legged item of furniture used as a platform). Such relations are already established in the concept
"Table". One's awareness is linked to the conceptual
context of the mind. For instance, not all individuals have the same
concept for the object we call a table. An example would be my concept of
a table and an antique dealer's concept of a table. The antique dealer and I examine a very
old table that was constructed over a century ago. I see an old table
about three feet tall, that is stained with a dark color and appears to have
sustained many small dents and scratches. The antique dealer sees a work
of the nineteenth century Dutch immigrants that settled a certain part of
Pennsylvania late in the century. By the mark on the underside of the
table he recognizes the table as the work of one man. He now knows the
table intimately. The designs marking the legs and adorning the edges all
are committed quickly and easily to his memory. He has an extensive
conceptual context for the designs alone. It takes little more
memory for him than me. Just a few extra data bits, to fill his extensive
concept "Table". The antique dealer is far more aware of tables than I
am. Because of his larger concept, he will remember the table in much
better detail. Regarding tables, the conceptual context of his mind has increased his
awareness. When he sees a table he is aware immediately of far more
information. Have you been paying attention during your life? Studying
reality with the tools of math and science, building your conceptual context and
increasing your awareness?
Or have you focused upon other people, leaving your conceptual context
disorganized and your awareness limited? How can anyone, that does not
understand the simplest of scientific concepts, expect to understand the epitome
of life on Earth, called Mankind?
The concept "Table" is very
different than the memory of any one specific table. The concept holds the
idea of what a table is. Each concept does contain a few default
bits of data. When I mention the word table, your mind creates an image of
a table. As I define the table further, your mind alters the imagined
table to more closely conform to the table being described. Your mind is
imagining an instance of a table that you have never perceived. Was
the table you first imagined a coffee table or a dinning room table? It
probably resembled the table that was responsible for your mind's original creation of
the concept "Table". Have you ever imagined everyday items, to
see what default values are contained within your mind? What do they tell
us about the mind? When your mind remembers a table that you once had
perceived, it uses the concept of table and fills in descriptive data bits from
your memory of the table. It recreates the instance. This
remembered table is the reconstruction of the instance data bits that
have been stored. Remembering an object and imagining an object, are the
same mechanism. Remembering an object is accomplished by filling a concept
with the data bits stored in memory, while imagination uses data bits given by
another source. Once the mind imagines, it can remember the imagination by
storing the data bits. There are many table instances stored in your
memory, but there is only one concept "Table". When we remember or imagine a table, we
use data bits formed together to fill the template of the concept. This
creates the image, much like a "paint by numbers" form. The lines
without the numbers are the concept. The numbers can vary. The
numbers are the data bits, and when these bits vary, they create differently colored
pictures. The same picture, but differently colored. Each instance of
the concept table is different from the others, but each is a table. The
instance data is stored as numerical values. A table is three
feet tall. Both of our concepts for a "table" have a data bit
field which contains a value for the height of the table. We both enter a
value of 3 in that field. The 3 means nothing unless the Standard of
Value used to create it is
known. In the "paint by numbers" example, we must know which
color is represented by each number. The list of colors next to their
corresponding numbers is a "Standard of Value". Our minds must evaluate the height of the table by comparing it to
a "Standard of Value". In this case we used the English Standard of Measure for
length which is calibrated in feet and inches. There is a purpose to using
universally accepted standards. Without them, communication through description would
be nearly impossible. There would have to be an exchange of information that
would allow a conversion between Standards of Value, and each mind would have to decode
and convert every adjective and value describing any concept. This is why communication
requires a common language or standard. There is no way to express
concepts or define instances without a common language.
Our mind must continually evaluate ... everything. Its purpose is to judge the value of anything and
everything it perceives,
so that it may recognize each perception and create the data bits necessary to form an instance of a
concept. Conceptualization is the root process of our mind. Our mind
is "wired" to continually judge value and search for similarity and
correlation. The mind's search for similarity is identified as recognition and
imagination. Perception is judgment of value. These processes are responsible for
the creation of the mental context. The mental context of each individual
is what makes all of us unique. Our mental context is our self. Our mental context is our
"soul".
Our perception and our imagination are both dependent upon the conceptual
context of our mind. Interestingly, awareness and imagination are linked
tightly together. Each becomes more effective as the number of concepts
increases, and these concepts are integrated and subsumed into each other by
imagination. Imagination originally creates the concepts to fit the data
flow. Our mental context strives to mirror reality. While imagining or remembering, we are not fully aware
of our immediate surroundings. While keenly aware of our surroundings, we
are not imagining or remembering. This link gave rise to the mind's
ability to engage in ignorance. When our mind wishes to avoid an
unpleasant truth, it tends to engage in imagination
simultaneously. It loses focus of perception and conceptualization, becoming
a blur. Children have the most rapidly growing mental context, and it is
common for their attention to dissolve into "daydreaming".
Adults, most often, will split their attention between imagination and
perception to hold conceptualization away. They will invariably do so when
watching entertainment that has little basis in reality. I call this the suspension of reality. It is the mode of
operation that our mind moves toward whenever it is not volitionally focused. The current
trends in television and video entertainment require us to "suspend
reality." Those practiced at the volitional focus of the mind cannot
watch the silly irrational episodes without great irritation. Volitional
focus of the mind becomes habit forming. The more it is focused, the
greater the individual's self-esteem grows and the more curious the individual
becomes about reality. To such a person,
reality is incredibly awesome and inspiring. Many individuals only focus
their minds momentarily. To them, reality seems drab and boring. They much
prefer the spastic irrational episodes, which requires their minds to be blurred,
and reality suspended. This too is a habit. Too much of this will create the misery known most often as
guilt. The instinct which creates this emotion is called the conscience, and it is the uniquely human instinct
of the mind. When an individual feels "guilty", it is because
they have engaged to long in ignorance (suspending reality) and avoided the truth. Truth
avoidance is destructive to the mind. When we place a hand into the fire,
we feel pain. When we allow our mind to avoid the truth, we feel misery
and self-loathing. It can become a gnawing fear. Fear that others may see
us as we see ourselves―unworthy.
In summary; the brain, of human beings, is able to order and correlate the
definitions of perceptions by use of definition structures
called concepts. Conceptualization is the nature of
intelligence. The interesting point is, that to use conceptualization, the
mind must have a "Standard of Value" by which to measure items and give meaning to
the data bits being stored in memory. The mind uses "Standards of Value" to think.
It must constantly judge value to make efficient use of memory during
conceptualization. The mind must be allowed to discriminate accordingly. The purpose of human
thought is judgment. This judgment is expressed as behavior.
Two
brains of the same size can operate very differently. Nearly all of the
storage space, or memory, of a brain is filled with the definitions of
items it perceives in the world about it. A brain which correlates these
definitions into concepts is able to avoid the redundancy of definition by
reusing the definitions contained in concepts. A brain, that does
not conceptualize, will have its memory filled rather quickly with seemingly
unrelated data. There is little awareness of time to such a brain.
It continually operates within the range of the moment. A brain, that
conceptualizes, is constantly searching for similarity and correlation. A
brain that conceptualizes can hold thousands of times more data than one that does
not. The key to conceptualization involves the use of "Standards
of Value" to create instances of concepts. Conceptualization
allows an awareness of time, causality, and the ability to predict future
outcomes beyond the range of the moment. Once formed, a concept is
internalized and identified with a "tag" by the brain. The tags
are words. Words identify concepts and lead to communication through language.
Words
mean more than most people fully understand, believing that
words are only useful in communication. These individuals do not
understand the working of the mind. Words are not simply tools of
communication. They are used by the mind as a tool of conceptual
integration and subsumation. Words allow the mind to internalize a
concept. Once the concept is integrated or subsumed, it will remain in
memory long after the word is forgotten. Such words are quickly recalled
when heard spoken by another. Words allow the passing of concepts, or
knowledge, from one generation to the next. If a population
allows their language to be changed quickly and without forethought; the
population will lose its ability to gain knowledge from its precedent
populations. The manipulation of language is a perfect tool to destroy a
culture. The basic ideology of a culture then becomes a hideous caricature
of its true identity.
Conceptualization allows imagination.
Imagination redirects the focus of the mind away from perceptual evaluation and
reality. When a brain, designed to conceptualize,
is not focused but allowed to suspend reality and wander in a "blur"
for a period of time, this triggers a uniquely human emotion. That emotion is most often referred to
as guilt, but it is the root of all unhappiness and misery in the human
experience. It is self-loathing and the primary symptom of a broken and
irrational mind. The conscience is the key to effective operation of a
human mind. It keeps the human mind from continually engaging in the
ignorance associated with its built in protection system. This system
protects the individual from the trauma associated with the
awareness of mortality.
When a human's conscious mind is volitionally focused, engaged in
survival and understanding reality, the data delivery matches the need of the
subconscious mind's quest and the human experiences a deep inner sense
of joy, known as pride, self-esteem, or most often as happiness. One cannot buy happiness, it must be earned through the focus
of one's mind. Have you ever witnessed the awe and wide-eyed joy of a young
child that has just learned a new concept? It is the joy of a mind that
feels efficacious to survival and learning of purpose in an ordered reality. It is the building of
self-esteem. Children are not born with self-esteem, their minds must earn
it.
As mentioned earlier, the mind must maintain "Standards of Value"
to create the data bits stored in memory as instances of concepts. The mind compares a characteristic to a Standard of Value and uses the
resulting datum in the creation of a data block in memory. It is time to consider the
Standards of Value used by the mind.
