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from a talk by Robert Ornstein:
Humans were designed to operate in a world of 20,000 years ago.
We're good at dealing with change (e.g. crack), not constancy (e.g.
cigarettes). Cigarettes are six times as addictive as crack!
Consciousness is a weak force in many people's mind. There are many
selves inside.
Half the people ever born in the history of the earth were born in my
lifetime.
Response after failure shows conquest of embarrassment and confidence
in the future; it is a mark of dignity and basic health. Moreover, the
analysis of failure is an indispensable activity which demands leisure
and time.
Successful people generally have more errors to their credit, and often
bigger ones, than unsuccessful people. They view these in the same way
that scientists view failed experiments: not as moral setbacks but as
the necessary concomitants of discovery.
...one of the most difficult problems we face in life: that of distinguishing
between the temporary and the lasting things; between the truly urgent
issues and the clamor of trifles.
from a later talk by Robert Ornstein on his newly released The Evolution
of Consciousness:
The mind is a squadron of simpletons.
Rationality is only one small facet of mind. It's impossible anyway.
(A comprehensive truth table will take a lifetime to figure out anything.)
The primary ability of mind is to adapt to the world. The finishing
touches of mind development took place before the cave paintings at Lascaux.
Our self image of rationality leads us down the wrong path. "Cultural
literacy" doesn't help anyone adapt or stay safe in the world.
Experiment: People asked to contribute to a good cause; 20% give. People
get same pitch + "even a penny would help," 60% give. Explanation: one
of the simpletons let the guard down. * * * Similarly, Jim Jones requested
that folks "Help the poor for just five minutes." He said that once you
got 'em, you can get 'em to do just about anything. Foot in the door.
* * * Same situation if people asked whether folks can put up a 6' x 8'
Drive Safely sign in their front yard (60% yes), IF they've first put
up a 3" x 5" card in their window promoting the beauty of California!
We don't see trends. 540 people die of handgun murders every week in
this country and no one cares. 10,000 die every week from smoking tobacco.
We're only 100 generations from the birth of Christ; no time at all in
biological time.
There are 450 billion tons of humans on earth. (Something's off here:
we'd each weigh 90 tones.... Maybe he's counting our dwellings and factories.)
More people are added to the population every month than existed worldwide
at the time of Christ. We need ever-evolving systems of education to cope
with these changes.
Self-consciousness is one of the simpletons. It creates resumes: "I did
this, I did that...."
(At this point, I read The Evolution of Consciousness. My notes follow.)
SOB - Same Old Brain
Earliest mental routines were developed for quick action and survival.
The idea most people have that they are consistent is an illusion. The
self is just one of the simpletons--one with a small job.
Our real history is "written" in our bones, our blood, our neural systems00and
was written before we were writers. Physical evolution has had millions
of generations to work and we are a mere 100 generations since the time
of Christ.
Mind is on-line, responds to changes. Unexpected or extraordinary events
have fast access to consciousness.
People misjudge others greatly because they interpret temperamental differences--speed
of action, cleanliness, messiness, as reflections of the conscious mind.
But we have little or no control over these things.
The world we experience is all a dream of the mind.
Memories go through a lossy compression algorithm. We uncrunch memories
from fragments much as the anthropologist reconstructs the whole skeleton
from a few bone fragments.
The mind ignores large changes because our ancestors could do little
about them. A terrible approach in a crowded environment or a long-term
relationship.
You have to learn to observe yourself as though you were another person.
This way, you don't keep explaining why you did something, as we usually
do. You develop a detachment and start to think of your selves as him
and her.
At the time of the agrarian revolution the total human population was
less than 10 million. Today, almost that many people are born each month.
(About 10,000 years back)
We're 2000 generations form Neanderthal, 750 from Lascaux.
from Ornstein's The Roots of the Self
Three main roots:
- Gain -- high or low amplification -- brain stem function.
- Deliberation/liberation --how we organize thoughts and actions --
frontal lobes.
- Approach/withdrawal --positive/negative and sunny/sour -- right or
left lobe
The high gain person is internally aroused; there's enough going on inside.
Thus better at tasks that require attention. Not into parties, sex, danger.
We each have a set point on these dimensions.
"Human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers
give birth to them...." Gabriel Garcia Marquez
We grow through reduction. We are continually pruning our neural connections.
Danny Hillis on consciousness from Wired, January 1994
We'll end up with intelligent beings and not be able to tell any more
about how they think than we can tell about how we think. And I think
that once the bishop has had a long conversation with them, it will be
a very natural step to extend moral law to them.
Consciousness is just a stupid hack. We have a lot of specialized
hardware to code and decode grunts--conversation. Presumably you've had
this experience of somebody explaining something to you and you misunderstand
them, but your misunderstanding is actually much better than what they
were trying to explain to you! That's taking advantage of your understanding
hardware. Well, ti turns out, since you've got all this hardware sitting
around, you use the following stupid hack: Whenever you're thinking, you
play the idea out on yourself and you explain it to yourself in hopes
that you misunderstand it. You compress it into sort of this encoded representation,
and that compressed representation is consciousness. In fact, if you disconnected
it, you would only get slightly stupider. But not so as anybody would
notice.
Ornstein, The Right Mind
Alexithymia is Greek for "no word for emotions." This
is a mental disorder in which a person has extreme difficulty in verbally
expressing feelings and fantasies. Alexithymia is thought to contribute
to psychosomatic illness, alcoholism and drug addiction, post-traumatic
stress disorder, and sociopathic personality. And this difficulty is present
to a great or lesser degree in many people who are healthy as well as
ill. I think that most women consider it a pretty normal male condition…
Facts are stored and processed in the left hemisphere but the right mind
sets the context and makes sense of it all.
Leader traits from Warren Bennis
- vision, integrity,
- willingness to accept risk
- people who are able to express themselves fully
- know who they are, what their s&w are
- know how to fully deploy their strengths & compensate for their
weaknesses
- know what they want, why they want it, how to communicate what they
want
- know how to achieve their goals
Leaders operate on instinct, leader strike hard and try everything, leaders
are ready to put themselves at some risk, and leaders use chaos to make
changes.
Learned Optimism by Martin
E. P. Seligman
The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe
bad events will last a long time, will undermine everything they do, and
are their own fault.
Learned helplessness is the giving up reaction, the quitting response
that follows from the belief that whatever you do doesn't matter. Explanatory
style is the manner in which you habitually explain to yourself why events
happen.
Inescapable events produced giving up. Clearly, animals can learn their
actions are futile, and when they do, they no longer initiate action....
People who give up easily believe the causes of the bad events that happen
to them are permanent: The bad events will persist, will always be there
to affect their lives. People who make universal explanations for their
failures give up on everything when a failure strikes in one area.
Depression is pessimism writ large. Normal depression is extremely common
. .it's the common cold of mental illness. (The belief that your actions
are futile is the cause of depression.)
Pessimists' explanations for bad events are personal, permanent, and
pervasive.
The belief in self .improvement is a prophecy just as self-fulfilling
as the old belief that character could not be changed.
A = Adversity
B = Belief
C = Consequence
D = Disputation . .argue with yourself (Evidence? Alternatives?)
E = Energizer
Decatastrophize.
Use optimism/pessimism scale in choosing sales people.
High IQ Clubs
Mensa 1 in 50 132 IQ
Intertel 1 in 100 137 IQ
International Society for Philosophical Enquiry 1 in 1,000 150 IQ
Triple Nine Society 1 in 1,000 150 IQ
Prometheus Society 1 in 10,000 160 IQ
Four Sigma 1 in 30,000 164 IQ
Titan Society 1 in 100,000 168 IQ
Mega Society 1 in 1,000,000 177 IQ
Notes from Zimbardo's Shyness
Shyness encourages self-consciousness and an excessive preoccupation with
your own reactions. Negative feels like depression, anxiety, and loneliness
typically accompany shyness. 40% of Americans consider themselves shy.
Shyness can be conquered, set aside, or outgrown.
"Reticence" is the term that best describes a shy person's reluctance
to relate to others. Reticence is an unwillingness to speak unless prodded,
a disposition to remain silent, an inclination not to speak freely.
While publicly the shy person seems to be going nowhere quietly, inside
is a maze of thought highways cluttered with head-on collisions of sensations
and noisy traffic jams of frustrated desires. The same tendency toward
self-analysis and appraisal of one's thoughts and feelings signals psychological
disturbance when in becomes obsessive. Shy people often carry it that
far.
Too much nervous energy is expended in anticipation of an event and wasted
on minor details of its execution (like me planning out phone calls in
elaborate detail).
Military brats are often shy as a result of having moved around a lot.
Being able to step out of yourself and into a role, a character behind
a mask of anonymity enables a basically shy person to perform in person
(Carol Burnett).
If you are tired of being shy, no longer want to survive on a diet of
social leftovers, or feel unhappy seeing people you care about too shy
to enjoy the opportunities life is offering, the time has come to change
all that.
Four basic kinds of charge are called for. Changes in
- the way you think about yourself and about shyness
- the way you behave
- relevant aspects of the way other people think and act
- certain social values that promote shyness
At the core of shyness is an excessive preoccupation with the self, an
overconcern with being negatively evaluated. Shyness and low self-esteem
go together.
You must come to recognize the extent to which you are living out other
people's scripts. You cannot have a well developed sense of self if you
are acting out programs written by or for others.
If you have but one life to live, live it with high self-esteem!
Decide what you value, what you believe in, what you realistically would
like your life to be like. Take inventory of your library of stored scripts
and bring them up to date, in line with the psychological space you are
in now, so they will serve your where you are headed.
Look for the causes of your behavior in physical, social, economic, and
political aspects of your current situation and not in personality defects
in you.
Remind yourself that there are alternative views to every event.
Never say bad things about yourself.
Instead of thinking and saying, "I am a shy person," start thinking and
talking about yourself in more specific terms; describe specific situations
and specific reactions.
Anxiety, boredom and passivity generate more fatigue than does the heaviest
of labors. "Good to see you around." A nod of recognition, a smile, a
wave of the hand, a look in the eye. that little action starts your new
career as an actor.
Like a method actor, you must learn to dissolve the boundary between
the so-called real you and the role you play. Let your actions speak for
themselves and eventually they will be speaking for you.
Role playing is a vital ingredient in the development of social skills.
It involves taking action and experiencing how it feels to take those
actions. by suspending the "self" for the "rote," you are granted permission
to engage in behaviors that are normally off-limits. Your overbearing,
all-monitoring consciousness is not allowed into the show. Enacting a
role different from that which is usually for the person results in corresponding
private changes in attitudes and values.
Emotional Intelligence
We are of two minds – the emotional mind in the old reptilian brain
and the logical mind in the modern neocortex.
The emotional mind is associative. It confuses reality and symbols of
reality. Perception is reality. It indiscriminately connects things that
merely have striking features. The emotional mind reacts to the present
as though it were the past.
The rational mind makes logical connections between causes and effects.
Because it takes the rational mind a moment or two longer to register
and respond than it does the emotional mind, the first impulse in an emotional
situation is the heart’s, not the head’s. There is also a second kind
of emotional reaction, slower than the quick response, which simmers and
brews first in our thoughts before it leads to feeling. This second pathway
to triggering emotions is more deliberate, and we are typically quite
aware of the thoughts that lead to it. In this kind of emotional reaction
there is a more extended appraisal; our thoughts—cognition—play the key
role in determining what emotions will be roused. Once we make an appraisal—"that
taxi driver is cheating me" or "this baby is adorable."
A fitting emotional response follows. In this slower sequence, more fully
articulated thought precedes feeling. More complicated emotions, like
embarrassment or apprehension over an upcoming exam, follow this slower
route, taking seconds or minutes to unfold—these are emotions that follow
from thoughts.
The results reported in emotional intelligence seem too good to be true.
Children in Oakland were found more responsible, assertive, popular, helpful,
understanding, considerate, harmonious, and democratic. Kids in Washington
had better social cognitive skills, self-con troll, effectiveness resolving
conflicts, tolerating frustration, working with peers, sharing, socializing,
etc. kids in new york city were less violent, more caring, more cooperative,
more empathic, and better communicators.
RELATIONSHIPS Getting Together -- a framework for improving relationships...
The goal is a relationship that can deal well with differences. (For
some, the goal of a relationship is a make-believe world without any differences.)
To achieve our substantive goals, we need effective working relationships,
relationships that have a high degree of rationality, understanding, communication,
reliability, non-coercive means of influence, and acceptance.
Be unconditionally constructive. Follow guidelines that will be both
good for the relationship and good for me, whether or not you follow the
same guidelines. Beware of partisan perceptions; don't forget how differently
people see things. ("Where you stand depends on where you sit." We remember
information so that it fits a coherent story.)
Accept responsibility and apologize. We often fail to take responsibility
for our feelings because we blame them on the other person in a relationship.
Emotions likely to have a constructive impact: security, optimism, confidence,
acceptance, respect, concern.
One way to instill a constructive emotional state in ourselves is to
recall a time, place, and circumstances when our morale was high -- and
then mentally step back into that situation....
In some cases, our understanding of a situation creates a problem in
our heads that is not there in reality.
Ongoing relationships often need a fresh look.
HOW GOOD IS OUR RELATIONSHIP?
A Checklist
GOAL Am I trying to win the relationship or improve it? How well do we
resolve differences? How often do I think about improving the process
of working together over the long term?
GENERAL STRATEGY Do serious substantive issues disrupt our ability to
work together? Do I tend to retaliate by doing things that weaken our
ability to deal with each other in the future? Do I ignore problems or
sweep them under the rug rather than deal with them?
pp. 178-79 for more
CONGRUENCE
- Don't just think about them -- care; they matter.
- Understand their views before judging them.
- Speak with them, not about them.
- Deal with them to reduce the risks.
- Respect their right to differ. Take them seriously.
- Use emotion to persuade, not to coerce.
- Understand them in order to persuade them more easily.
- Acknowledge good points. Speak for ourselves; don't put words into
their mouths.
- Avoid overstatement and deception.
- Don't let emotions make us unpredictable.
- Assess the actual risks of trusting them.
- Be honest; disclose areas we are not discussing.
- Acknowledge feelings. Be aware of others.
- Consult. Inquire. Listen actively.
- Understand empathetically.
* * * *As mediator, get each side to present the other side's point
of view until the other side agrees they've got it right.* * * *
Great place to work is defined by relationships: trust of those worked
for, enjoyment of those worked with, and pride in the job done.
FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN DESIRES AND VALUES
- Curiosity: desire to learn
- Food: desire to eat
- Honor (morality): desire to behave in accordance with code of conduct
- Rejection: fear of social rejection
- Sex: desire for sexual behavior and fantasies
- Physical exercise: desire for physical activity
- Order: desired amount of organization in daily life
- Independence: desire to make own decisions
- Vengeance: desire to retaliate when offended
- Social Contact: desire to be in the company of others
- Family: desire to spend time with own familySocial
- Prestige: desire for prestige and positive attention
- Aversive Sensations: aversion to pain and anxiety
- Citizenship: desire for public service and social justice
- Power: desire to influence people
http://www.newswise.com/articles/GOALS.OSU.html
MBTI
At least 12 of the 15 fundamental desires seem to have a genetic basis,
Reiss said. Only the desires for citizenship, independence and fear of
rejection don't appear to have a genetic component. "Most of these desires
are similar to those seen in animals, and seem to have some survival value,"
Reiss said. "This indicates they are genetic in origin." Myers-Briggs
Types I'm an INTJ; Uta is an ESFP.
Source of Energy
E Extrovert 75% of the populationenergized by people, need lots of contactshoot
from the hip, spontaneouswants to change the worldgeneralists, lots of
interest, lots of balls in the air, superficialedits on the fly
I Introvert 25% of the populationenergized by thoughts, need time to
reflectthink twice before they talk oncegreat actorswants to understand
the worldspecialists, depth, focusedneed time to preparethe "internal
messenger"...wannabe correct
according to the Chronicle's Grab Bag on 4/27/91, time passes quicker
for the introvert
How Things are Found Out
S Sensing 75% of the populationexperience things from the senses, practical,
need lots of datanow people, grounded in reality, focus on the actualfacts,
just the factsinductive/Edison
N Intuition 25% of the populationintution, inspiration, innovation, want
little datadeductive/Einsteinfuture-oriented, speculative, hunchesideas,
not factsimagination
The Deciding Process
T Thinking 50% of the populationlogical, objective decision-making, impersonalprinciples:
laws, policy, justice, standardsdoesn't show feelingsfocus on task
F Feeling(s) 50%subjective decision-makerlikes harmonyvalues: social
values, extenuating cirucmstances, devotionfocus on relationshipshows
emotion easily, warm
How We Structure Our World
J Judging 50% of the populationsettled, seeks closure, decisivefixed,
quick to judge, get show on the roadwork ethic, outcome-orientedplanner
P Perceiving 50%pending, keep options open, tentativeflexible, plenty
of time, gray areasplay ethic, less seriouslet it happen
Exercises to Develop Extraverted Preference Skills
become actively involved in a grouptalk out an idea with someone as it's
being formulatedintroduce self to strangersshare a private thought with
a non-friendshare process as it is happening--feelings, thoughts, desires,
fantasies
INTJ's order of preference is intuition, thinking, feeling, sensing.
In other words, feeling and sensation are de-emphasized.
Common pitfalls are appearing so unyielding that others are afraid to
approach or challenge me. Criticizing others in their striving for the
ideal. Ignoring the impact of my ideas or style on others.
To develop, I need to solicit feedback and suggestions, learn how to
appreciate others, learn to give up impractical ideas, focus more on the
impact of my ideas on people.
Topic 95: Re .design the sdc conference?# 57: Tue, Sep 8, '92 (19:17)
Introverts and Extroverts...
Introverts essentially feel their internal worlds (and the internal
worlds of others) are relatively static, and the external world needs
to be "adjusted" in order to compensate for discrepancies between their
internal state and the outer world. That is to say, an introvert feels
that changing the outer world is easier than changing their inner world.
This compensation can often occur simply via withdrawal, which is why
the introvert is commonly thought to be inward .directed, though this
is somewhat misleading, as my wife noted later. Extroverts, on the other
hand, view the external world as relatively static, and their internal
worlds (and that of others) as essentially dynamic. In the face of external
pressure their first assumption is to either adjust themselves, or attempt
to convince others to adjust themselves (usually via dialogue or debate
of some kind).
To my mind, introverts and extroverts can have successful interactions
when and if both types respect the other's dynamics. Introverts often
find extroverts to be insensitive and painful to interact with; this is
because the extrovert is often asking the introvert to change themselves,
something seen often as almost a physical threat to an introvert, and
they perceive the extrovert's request for change as a fundamental lack
of respect. Extroverts, on the other hand, find introverts to often be
stubborn and "selfish"; an extrovert may feel that the introverts' attempts
to control their external environment as insensitive in itself. However,
both perceptions are simply misunderstandings. The introvert is not being
selfish, but simply reacting to what seems to be a direct threat to their
personal integrity and self .image; the extrovert is not being insensitive,
but simply asking the introvert to do what seems to them to be quite reasonable
(something they are able to do themselves quite easily).
introverts prefer to interact with people who either already share their
views, or with other introverts who will respect the sanctity of their
internal worlds and not "invade" them (or "violate" them) with invasive
ideas or presentations.
Introverts have a hard time accepting the behavior of extroverts as
anything but invasive and rude; extroverts have a hard time accepting
introverted behavior as anything but selfish and stubborn. Both concepts
have to be thrown out the window before real progress can be made. Extroverts
have to cool it, introverts can try to ignore the more annoying aspects
of extroverted behavior.
reading david keirsey's please understand me II, I'm glad to see him
both build on and distance himself from isabelle myers and her jungian
theory trip.
· the starting point for keirsey (as for myers, earlier) is delightfully
humanist. we are indeed different from one another. and there's nothing
wrong with that. but of course. what carter saw as weaknesses were probably
my strong points. more important for me to find a fertile and appreciative
environment than to try "shape up" to someone else's standards.
· keirsey starts with historical roots (aristotle, plato…frank
baum, pygmalion, eric fromm, etc) and goes on to identify two defining
human fundamentals: how we deal with words and how we deal with tools---
| |
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words/thoughts
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| |
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ABSTRACT |
CONCRETE |
| tools |
CONFORMIST/ COOPERATIVE |
NF
idealists
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SJ
guardians
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| PRACTICAL/ UTILITARIAN |
NT
rationals
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SP
artisans
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tools
· taking keirsey's measurement device, I come up more solidly
INTJ than ever before:
I 70%
N 85%
T 80%
J 65%.
· the two-by-two matrix is sufficiently simple to use in offering
different paths through instruction for learners. the same approach might
offer tailored EPSS.
Professionalism
"Thinking like a professional means sticking to the basics. The basics
are founded on common sense, and they include: being on time, never missing
a deadline, speaking when spoken to, shutting up when not spoken to, being
honest about expenses and other funds, giving your time and entry to the
job without reservation while you are on the job, showing consideration
for your colleagues, seeking solutions, not perpetual conflict--and last
but not least, being willing to go out on a limb and push for an idea
you truly believe in.
--Asa Barber
Shared Understanding "Genuine knowledge resides and proliferates
where people live and work, not in some abstract formal realm. Good tools
should support and augment that knowledge as it is rather than attempting
to 'engineer' it to fit some model-theoretic framework entirely divorced
from the work itself. We desperately need more and better software tools
whose design reflects this fundamental insight, and that will therefore
aid our best people in articulating, modifying and improving their understanding
of the work environments they inhabit. Most crucially, we need tools that
will substantially assist knowledge workers -- and today this category
should include nearly all workers -- in sharing their understanding across
the currently rigid boundaries of functional specialization."
Christopher Locke and John West, "Concurrent Engineering in Context,"
Concurrent Engineering, November-December, 1991.
Teaming and Learning
"Business is finally recognizing that division of labor is increasingly
ineffective as the basis for an organization in an environment of constant
rather than occasional change.... Management control is replaced by management
coordination of the work of others who may know more than the manager,
and decision making occurs in the team rather than in the hierarchy."
Peter G.W. Keen, Shaping the Future: Business Design Through Information
Technology, Harvard Business School Press, 1991.
"The growing emphasis on high-technology production means greater demands
on the competence of each individual employee. And so the element of comprehensive,
life long learning for all members of the enterprise will probably turn
out to be the most characteristic feature of work in the 21st century."
Robert B. McKersie and Richard E. Walton, "Organizational Change," in
The Corporation of the 1990s, Oxford University Press, 1991.
Cognitive psychology--which treats people as information-processing creatures--was
not a field until recently.
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