Carter Wells's Archive

I happen to be fascinated by third-force psychology and the humanistic approach. It is people-oriented, relentlessly positive, and vastly popular. While it is arguably to idealistic and often fails to apply much needed perspective to life situations, it is nonetheless interesting and powerful in many ways. I think a great example of a modern movement is the universalist philosophy: all truth is relative and while we all experience and perceive things differently, what serves as our reality is a valid reality. I personally would love to believe universalism, but I have a very hard time accepting someone’s reality that involves sexual relationships with a child or the extermination of a race as reasonable or even just truths. I think humanistic psychology’s largest strength (it’s acceptance of the uniqueness and individuation of people) is also it’s greatest weakness (at some point a line must me drawn). While most of what is right and wrong in the context of human reason and emotion is “gray area”, most people would agree that at least some ethical questions have answers that are black and white.

Psychoanalytic thinking is most prevalent, at least in my opinion, in the fact that almost everyone is aware now of subconscious tendencies to act upon desires and impulses. Before psychoanalytic thought, little thought or respect was given to ideas dealing with the subconscious, and now, in my own life and in daily encounters with others, i hear attributions towards subconscious tendencies. So much of what we know about our functioning and decisions is attributed to automated thoughts and subconscious ideas, which would never have been considered before Freud and his contemporaries.

When I first learned of behaviorism, it seemed rather common sense to me (hindsight bias I’m sure): give a dog food for shaking your hand and your dog will shake your hand. It was not until later psychology classes that I began to realize the breadth and depth of this school of thought. Behaviorism is fascinating to me because it has permeated so much of our world without much of society realizing it. Disciplinary methods in home and schools are derived from studies in behaviorism, ideals and belief systems are created through conditioning, advertising and media condition individuals to think and behave in certain ways, and we can change habits and activity through behaviorism techniques.
While behaviorism can be extremely beneficial in its applications, it scares me as much as it fascinates me because it can easily be misused and misinterpreted. It’s so reductive of human behavior that if applied in the right manner, humans can be “trained” or conditioned to do things which they might never have considered. This can be done on a personal level or a societal level. Therefore, I think it’s important to educate people on these principles to make them aware of the messages, rewards, and punishments that they are consuming through media, friends, or other sources.

When considering how history and ancient ideas have influenced our modern culture, I am reminded of the principle of hindsight bias (once we know something the thought of not knowing it seems absurd to us). It is easy to think that ideas of dualism and a good life are common sense or intuitive, since most of us grew up with these teachings; however, in the ancient world, ideas like these that are so prevalent in our lives were considered by so many to be absurd. It is key to remember that our culture and worldview are products of thousand of years of progress, paradigm shifts, and philosophical and psychological advancements.
The Greeks were responsible for such an incredibly vast expansion of knowledge, ideas, and sciences. They were one of the first truly individualistic civilizations that we study, which is one of the most significant dynamics in American culture.

Living the good life is a concept that is increasingly hard to define as our world diversifies and ideologies and norms shift. I have always stood by the ideal that the good life involves deeds, thoughts, and beliefs that do not solely benefit the individual, but rather edify and profit others. Living ones life in an altruistic manner is theoretically the best way to strengthen both yourself and humanity as a whole. In this sense, the Christian life of self-sacrifice is the most fulfilling and impacting life, which I would consider to be the true Good life.
However, lately I have begun to realize the importance of understanding ones own self within the context of living selflessly. I understand that this might seem contradictory. Although focusing internally might take away from altruism initially, having a clear understanding of both your strengths and weaknesses will allow you to adapt your behaviors and thoughts accordingly. With a detailed knowledge of your predispositions in life, you will be able to combat the patterns that are detrimental to your life while increasing and maintaining those which help you to lead a Good life.
Lastly, I think it is necessary to have a strong consistency between what you believe about yourself, the world, others, and God and the behaviors you manifest. It would be, in my opinion, near impossible to lead a Good life that is filled with cognitive dissonance and gaps between ideology and action. As the Bible says, “Faith without works is useless”. Whether you are of the Christian faith or any other belief system, dissonance between attitudes and behaviors will cause you enough discomfort, frustration, and self-hindrance to prevent a truthfully satisfying life.