Archive for November, 2013

Near the end of Maslow’s life, he began to think about a new kind of psychology that goes beyond personal experience and includes a fourth force which would be the spiritual aspects of human nature. He believed that humanistic and third-force psychology were a preparation for this acclaimed fourth force. It continues to address human needs and identity, but it goes beyond those things. He suggested that this would offer a tangible and effective satisfaction of the frustration that many desperate people have. This gives promise of life and value, instead of confusion and worthlessness.
This perfectly fits with the idea of redemption! Because of the blood we are sons and daughters of God. How can we worry about who we are, what others think, and our needs if we come to a grasp on the idea that salvation doesn’t just mean we are going to heaven, but it means that heaven is coming into us through a relationship with the holy spirit?!? There can be no doubt, hopelessness, or fear because the devil has already lost. We have been clothed by the father in purity and that brings us back to the identity of who we were created to be from the beginning, before the fall. If we focus on our true identity, sons and daughters that already please God because of his grace, we deny ourselves and everything God has we receive because we are his and ALREADY seated in the throne room of grace. We have his mind because of the holy spirit. My goodness, there cannot be doubt or fear in a Christian who knows their true identity. We weren’t called to believe in God and then live in hell until we get to heaven. We were called to die to ourselves, take up our cross and follow him while letting heaven manifest through us because of our relationship with the holy spirit!! People need to know how amazing they are because everyone was created in the image of God and everyone was washed by the blood. Maslow is right! People are broken, confused, lost, seeking their true identity, and the fourth factor of psychology brings freedom! The truth sets us free and gives us life and value; just like Maslow said, just like Jesus said. Jesus is the way, the truth, the life, whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. Deny yourself, learn your identity, and receive the father’s love. Seriously, almost every Christian has a problem with themselves. Once we start believing that the cross is enough this world is going to change!

Influential behaviorists like B.F. Skinner were interested in studying natural human reactions and testing them. Skinner believed that people have little control over how we turn out to be as adults, that we are ultimately a product of circumstances and children are extremely malleable. I would say that Skinner most belongs amongst Creationists because of his interest in the way humanity is- and why. Behaviorism generally studies how animals respond and react, and why their “personalities” reflect lessons learned (esp. humans).

Skinner is probably most famous for his work with operant conditioning. He was concerned with rewards and punishments that happened after the response of the experiment, which he called “reinforcements”. These dictated what responses would occur later after future trials because the subject was either more or less likely to repeat the same behavior after the reinforcement. Skinner was curious as to why we respond the way we do in different situations. He attempted to explain the production of behaviors. Many behaviorists argue that our personality is basically just a compilation of our learned behaviors and habits- in what situations an individual has been punished or rewarded. This view gives little credit to people as having free thoughts. Although Skinners contributions to psychology were considerably modern, therapists today still hold his techniques and research invaluable.

Carl Roger’s theory to avoid imposing conditions of worth on people has to do with unconditional positive regard. With unconditional positive regard, people are loved and respected for what they truly are – therefore there is no need for certain experiences to be denied or distorted (p.557). This reminds me much of redemption. When Jesus redeem came to redeem the world, he knew our experiences, our sin, and even our future failures, yet he still chose to die for us. He loves us for who we are, and therefore there is no need to deny certain experiences – we bring them to him, allow them to be exposed, and he washes them clean. It is one of my favorite parts of Christianity – there is no denying what has happened our lives, yet we acknowledge them and put them at the foot of the cross – and out of that place we receive an undeserved love. Jesus is the ultimate one who showed unconditional positive regard, and I think Carl Rogers was on to something when he stated that it is the only way to avoid labeling people and determining their worth. It is why without Jesus, it is so difficult to accept, love, and even see people for who they truly are. Through redemption, we first receive this unconditional love, and out of that place we are able to give it to other people.

I would classify Jung as a Redemption philosopher because of his work with archetypes and with categorizing people as introverts or extroverts.  Rather than behaviorists who claimed everything was learned and reinforced, Jung resonated more with evolutionary psychology saying that people had a collective unconscious which was the cumulative experiences of humans throughout their entire evolutionary past.  He explained human actions as coming from inherited archetypal projections from the past.  These inherited archetypes predispose people to see things in certain ways and to respond to them accordingly, thus affecting our actions.   Jung emphasizes the inherited predispositions, but he said that the “self” synthesizes the components of the personality to bring unity and wholeness to the personality.  He said the goal of life is first to discover and understand the various parts of the personality and then to synthesize them into a harmonious unity- which he called “self actualization.”  He also described people as naturally introverted or extroverted, but that a healthy and mature individual would have a good balance of both.

I would call Jung a Redemption philosopher because he seems to add some redeeming qualities to the Evolutionary perspective.  For some, the idea that people are the way they are at birth- because of inherited traits, is a bleak idea.  However, Jung brings some hope by theorizing a synthesizing unit that brings possibility for change.  While he still believed people were products of their past with stable traits, he also believed that understanding these traits could help one to change, adapt, and thrive in the world.

As this week as seemed to fly by, I have not been able to stop thinking about who in the world I would write about this week. I have not had the slightest idea. I have finally settled on J.B. Watson, his experiments, no matter how inappropriate they may seem, show us a very interesting side of creation. Watson showed us that our experiences can dictate how we feel about a particular stimulus. I think this is very interesting considering I have never thought about what drives or dictates how we act or feel about anything. As a believer and a human being, I have often wondered what exactly makes me tick or what makes me feel as strongly about one thing over others. Behaviors and reactions can be manipulated. Whether positive or negative, it just goes to show me how we are even more subject to the spiritual war going on around us.

Jung studied the formation of personality as well as how a person interacts with their environment whether it be mental, emotional, or physical. In reaction to these different situations we ave some archetypes that manifest. Their are four main ones according to Jung. They are persona, anima, animus, and shadow. Persona is the only part of their personality presented to the public. Anima is the female component of male personality and animus is the opposite. Shadow is one that we inherit from our ancestors. Another development was the attitudes; introversion and extroversion. Introverts are quiet and more interested in ideas than interacting with people and extraverts are outgoing and love being around people more than alone. I like the idea of having these categories to put people in, because it can increase understanding between each other. This is the main reason why I would put Jung in the Redemption category.

He believed to truly understand each other we must understand and be aware of what we have been through and to also know the person’s future goals as well. That reminds me of why we share testimonies. In church groups we share them to show the strength of God and how he used our weaknesses. Also this just helps us to understand what other people have been through and it bonds and connects us in an intimate way. For Jung, “people are pushed by the past and pulled by the future”. I really love that analogy. Many times we do dwell on the past yet Christ is our future (the hope of glory). It is this constant tug between past and present that often causes emotional distress. however, when he said that I think of it as being pushed forward by the past because the struggles one goes through can become motivation and could be used as preparation to obtain the brighter future. I also believe that is the story of redemption. Christ says no matter how bad your past is, I can make your future better. He said he came to give life and give it to the fullest.  For exampled, He changed the heart of Saul to Paul. He persecuted Christians and then he became one. The Lord redeemed him and his past and He can do it now.

Carl Jung has many ideas related to religion and its role in individuality. I really enjoyed what Carl Jung said in his video about if you believe in a God, or in God, you then know that there is a God. Because, once you believe something it becomes your reality and truth. Therefore once something is a belief of yours, it is something you know, it is a fact according to Carl Jung. I would have to classify this as a part of the new creation. It is almost like living in your own new reality, once you have become a Christian and you have embraced that lifestyle.

One reason I would classify this as a new creation is that once you have a belief or know something, it cannot be unproven or taken away from you. This is similar to the new creation, that we are living in as Christians as well.

I think behaviorism can be put under the category of redemption. I think so because of how the way psychologists have applied the practice to certain disorders. For instance the way that it can be used for children with autism to change their behaviors. It is cool that it can help remedy a disorder that is hard to help with alternative methods.  And also how this practice can be applied to depressive disorders as well is really cool to me because it can help tremendously when other things cannot. The idea that we can change old habits by the way we act regardless of how we were born is one of the main reasons why this practice should be placed under this category. Creating new habits by learning is something that shows how we can evolve from our not so great ways to be better.  Positive Reinforced behavior is one that will more likely be repeated. I don’t believe that all behavior is learned but I think that most of what we do can be changed for the better. The idea that we can change by living the way Jesus wanted us is why I think that this is so applicable.

I think Clark Leonard Hull informs us mostly about the fall and creation.  His life circumstances alone are enough to inform us of the fall, additionally though his work informs us on his thoughts of mankind and human concepts of learning.  Hull was born to “an uneducated father and quiet mother” (412).  When he was younger, he contracted typhoid fever and felt that his memory suffered as a result.  Not much later in life, at the age of 24, Hull contracted poliomyelitis, which left him forever partially paralyzed.  He had to walk with crutches or a cane the remainder of his life.  As far as physical conditions go, Hull also suffered two heart attacks in his lifetime, one which resulted in his death.  A lot of Hull’s life circumstances remind me of down falls of humans — our imperfections, weaknesses, and our inability to control all that is around us.  I find it interesting also that at first Hull was uninterested in psychology.  He explains why he chose the field:

[I wanted] an occupation in a field allied to philosophy in the sense of involving theory: one which was new enough to permit rapid growth so that a young man would not need to wait for his predecessors to die before his work could find recognition, and one which would provide an opportunity to design and work with automatic apparatus. Psychology seemed to satisfy this unique set of requirements.

Hull’s life and career remind me of how fragile and needy the human is.  Hull had physical impairments that affected his entire life and function.  He was raised by uneducated parents.  He wanted recognition and attention.  He wanted to enter into a field that gave him control, power, and the opportunity to make a lasting differences.  This reminds me so much of the fall because although Hull was examining human functioning in an effort to better understand people, it seems to me that he was completing this kind of work for attention and out of selfish desires.

The reason I also see Hull as a man who informs us about creation is because much of his work was focused on learning processes and the creation of machines that could learn and think (413).  Hull’s focus on more systematically and mechanically identifying behavior helps me understand his perspective on humans and the way we were created.  He believed that the adaptive behaviors in humans could be explained in terms of mechanistic principles.  Hull has sprinkles of Darwinian tradition as he believes that the mechanistic principles (drive of a human) and adaptive behaviors are contributors to an organism’s survival (413).  An interesting comment about his more mechanical approach to human behavior is that it worked for Hull.  He had a desire to be known and enter into a field that would give him recognition.  And recognition he did find.  In 1936 he served as the 44th president of the APA (413).  Hull’s Principles of Behavior were referenced 105 times between 1949 and 1952 in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology.  The next most commonly cited work had only 25 references.  In 1945 Hull was also awarded the Warren Medal by the Society of Experimental Psychologists.  Hull also had many well-known disciples and students that continued making extensions and modifications on Hull’s theory (415-416).

I think that Freud fits with creation because he focuses on the aspect of our unconscious and the stages that we go through in life. His main focus is on the five different stages that we go through in our lives. This includes oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital. Also, Freud focuses a lot on the id, ego, and superego. He is very concerned with how we act based on things that we do not think about. He really focuses on childhood and how we have developed. I think that this fits with creation because he focuses on how we are when we are kids and how it affects us when we are adults.

I think that Freud has to do with creation because he really focuses on who we are when we are created. He says that our childhood defines us and I believe that is why he has to do with creation. We are made the way we are, and we cannot change it. God made us a certain way and according to Freud we do not change. Our childhood defines us. Creation is important to Freud because who we are is based on what we were born as. It does not matter how much we change, who we were as children defines our actions as adults. I believe this is why creation is an important aspect to Freud. Creation is an important aspect to Freud because our childhood affects our future and what we become. I believe that creation is fits with Freud because God created us the way we are and it defines us as an adult.