How much of our mind is our own? (page 5)

Oubliette

sparky1, Good to meet a fellow fan of Frankl, although I haven't read him as extensively as you have.

I haven't heard of Thomas Szasz before. He must be a Hungarian. Jgnat would appreciate a fellow countryman. I'll look him up!

jgnat

I married in to my Hungarian connections! They are the only lot who are more stubborn than the Scottish. The only Hungarian I am familiar with is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the author of Flow.

http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?language=en

I do not believe I am a libertarian. I am too fond of collaborative works such as indoor plumbing and country lanes (without potholes).

Country Lane Elestead

Oubliette

jgnat, I knew there was a Hungarian connection. Sorry I got it wrong!

Agreed about the hard-headedness of the magyars.

I have a kemény fejű magyar nő at home.

Beautiful picture. Thanks for posting!

Oubliette........if you want to train your thinking in a NO NONSENSE style, then Thomas Szasz is for you. www.szasz.com is a good place to start. If you want to'dip your toe' in Szaszs' thinking and reasoning style read his book "Words to the Wise:A Medical-Philosophical Dictionary". It is a book of aphorisms and concise statements on his view of life and human interactions. If you want to dive in DEEP right away then you will want to read his book "The Meaning of Mind". Actually I highly recommend this book but it will take three or four readings to digest it fully. His observations on 'mind' and 'minding' are why I believe in 'free will' and cannot fully subscribe to the current neurological 'brain as mind' paradigm. I respect the paradigm and can see why Apognophos believes in it. And I see why he defends it so fully because I believe (and I could be wrong) that it is based on a Utilitarian / Naturalist model and proposes that the simplest explanation without adding in peripheral or extra information is the one closest to being scientifically correct. At any rate, I cannot recommend Szasz highly enough.

jgnat

*psst. Here's the trick! When she is in full-on attack mode, back away slowly. Peace offerings all the way. Negotiate only when the subject is restored to a calm condition.

Oubliette

Sparky, thanks for the recommendations. I'll follow up.

Interesting comment you make about the concept of parsimony (aka Occam's razor). While it's often touted as being a guiding principle of science, it can send us down the wrong path just as often as not.

For example, for thousand of years it seemed that the simplest explanation for the motion of the sun was that the Earth was the center of the universe; but it's not. Ol' Occam's principle just couldn't cut it in that situation.

jgnat, I sure could have used that advice last night!

Oubliette

- -

If you talk to God, you are praying;
If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia. --Thomas S. Szasz, The Second Sin

sparky1

Sometimes 'scientists' or adherents to 'scientism' forget that Occam's Razor cuts 'both ways'!

jgnat

I'm not ready to let this topic rest. I have pondered for years how some children manage to rise above their raising, even though family patterns do seem to repeat themselves (addiction, co-dependency, violence). How do some children find a better way? If they do, is there more than robotic repetitiveness at work? The term I've come across for this ability to break away is "resiliency".

It can make a huge difference for adult survivors of disaster as well. With or without counselling, those who display greater "resiliency" have healthier outcomes.

http://www.public.asu.edu/~iacmao/PGS191/Resilience%20Reading%20%231A.pdf

How much of our mind is our own?

Share this