Can humans consciously change their psychological and emotional functioning?

seraphiel

Well there's preemptive action and reactionary action. Reacting to emotion is still a brain function, you haven't gone outside of yourself to act.

To stop the emotion would be preemptive. To change how you react to the emotion would be altering your reaction to the emotion. Both are altering, the alteration just happens in different ways. Remember that self reflection passes through the same filters as everything else you do.

NotSoRighteousRob

but to react to something isn't really changing anything, people always react, you can change the way you react, but your still reacting. once you "rewired" your brain, it would be a one time thing, it would no longer require any action. Other than that constantly relying on reaction shows no progress.

I'm not sure if that makes sense...

seraphiel

You are placing an artificial stop which does not exist in reality.

Actions vary. You can change a negative reaction into a positive reaction, or a neutral reaction. An action or reaction is not negative by default, there is no call to eliminate all reactions.

If you react the same way every time, let's say positively, it can have the same outward effect as rewiring the emotion itself. Action always happens. How it is formulated may differ. The act or non-act is still in your brain until it hits the outer world. Changing any function will change what comes to the outer world.

NotSoRighteousRob

but isn't the question whether we are capable of consciously rewiring our brains? you can simulate change, and the end result may be the same, but all you've changed is your thought process. I suppose given enough time that it would become completely natural and you would affect a true change, but even then there is only a small portion of the population capable of doing this. So I guess we are back to the point of being able to alter our minds through sheer will, which I say no, some external force is required in order to do so. with few exceptions of course

seraphiel

Thought process is part of your wiring. It's just a different part. As I said before, you don't go outside of yourself to act. You can act as if you are outside of yourself, but that is only emulation - it is never actual.

Change is change. If you change your reactions, you have changed. It's necessary because you have changed something somewhere.

And I know what you are getting at, can we consciously do this? I don't think we can, not easily. I just didn't agree with the way you are reaching the conclusion.

Mercurius

I wouldn't say "rewired", but rather a "follow through" or something... So, yes, I believe so, up to some extent. I call it growth.

Btw, that* is a hot word.

NotSoRighteousRob

you can change your reaction but your only adapting to the problem, it's not addressing the issue just covering it up.

I see we both reach the same conclusion, we just have different ways of getting there


lets try sorting our differences out, this is the way I see it.


so let's say everytime you see a yellow light your impulse is to speed up to make it through. Now your saying that by reacting to the impulse you can tell yourself to stop, I'm saying by removing the impulse you will stop without thinking. Your method while it does result in a change of behavior has not changed the underlying issue

seraphiel

You don't tell yourself. You do. Tell implies two parties, which you are not. You either stop, or you do not stop. Even if you argue with yourself and then stop, you have stopped. The fact you have stopped is important. How you stopped is nobodies business but your own.

NotSoRighteousRob

Your brain is constantly telling your body to breathe, to pump blood, and other various things. these are wired into our brain. To rewire your brain is to imprint it with this same function, to make it "second-nature" Reactions forced by thought are not a result of second nature.

The end result matters, I agree with that but to me the question implied how you were supposed to get the end result

thehigher

Well.... this is very complicated.


Considering that we as human's have a network of reason's why to do things.....it would be hard to go back and redirect every single connection we have already made.

So let's say I feel depressed ....not because my girlfriend broke up with my per se....but let's just say I got depressed about a week after. Well there are mannny reasons why i could be depressed. Part of it could be a lost sense of self. Part of it could be because of the way she looked at some guy. Part of it could be because she said something that didn't make sense and made me wonder. Part of it could be that she is all i ever intuit about. Part of it could be that I am not doing anything. Part of it could be that she doesn't feel the same way towards me. Part if could be that I am insecure. Part of it could be that I was depressed in the first place. Part of it could be that I don't feel there is meaning in life and this reminds me of how things that I love always float away. Part of this could be because I idealized her and she didn't match up.


The list goes on. So, to put a blanket on all of the complicated feelings..and say ...NO I AM HAPPY....is ridiculous. No I feel happy right now. .....no....no you don't. You can't cut off the connections you have already made. But you CAN make new ones. You CAN try and control your surroundings so you don't make bad connections. You CAN Remember previous connections and recycle the good feelings (this is what happens when you look back on a time that makes you happy....it's a defense mechanism). You can also block out negative situations. You can think of things that make you happy. You can also change who you interact with. People give you different kinds of feelings....choose the ones that bring out the best in you.

Doing these things will change the connections being made in your brain. You do NOT say I am feeling this way...and poof it happens.