Do We All Dream in the Same Language?Written by Susan Dunn, MA Clinical Psychology, The EQ Coach
Do we all dream in same language? Yes, we do, and it’s because of our limbic brains--the seat of dreams and also of advanced emotionality. Just how important are our emotions to our survival? Take a look at what human infant, what Dr. Richard Lewis refers to "the world's most interesting noncognitive mammal."Probably you've read about studies with infants and human face - there's nothing, NOTHING more captivating to an infant than someone's face (Mom's most of all, of course). We are hard-wired to glom onto face because that's how we humans express our emotions whether or not we can speak and use words. It's crucial to an infant's survival to know it's mother's emotional state. Why? The "visual cliff" experiment reveals probable answer. They place a baby on a countertop that's half solid and half clear Plexiglas. To baby, it looks like an abyss when he gets to Plexiglas part, and triggers our innate (reptilian) fear of falling. The baby's crawling, and knows he's on something solid, but it's clear to his vision and he doesn't know what to do. Babies are pretty smart! Typically baby crawls to perceived edge and then turns and looks at its mother. What's he looking for? To see whether it's safe to continue. To figure out what to do next. He'll read fear or reassurance on her face, and "know" what to do. Well, it's for sure we were all infants and babies at one time, learning emotionally from our mothers. Spend a little time this week thinking about what emotional messages your mother gave you along with her life lessons.
| | Who are we?Written by Vadim Smolyanov and Valentina Smolyanova
Chapter III. Evolution of person All into all and All is God: In light of stars and dust of road, In silent wood and dreaming flight, And knocks of heart in your inside. There is one alive essence which still has not reached perfection and in which all evolution is embodied. It is a person. In daily life, probably, each of us met such contradiction: quivering attitude of person to animals and cruel attitude of same person to another people. The matter is that he feels perfection of animals and imperfection (i.e. a present stage of development) of people. Distracting from basic direction, we shall notice, imperfection of person is influencing on homeostasis of biosphere and it can result in irreversible process of infringement of biosphere unity with pitiable consequences for person, similar situation already was and will be described below. So who is a person? Whence has he appeared and when will be reached his perfection? There are some facts from joint research of anthropologists and geneticists: about 250 thousand years ago there was a first expansion of reasonable person primogenitors from Africa to Eurasian continent; reasonable person with physiology corresponding to us has appeared about 150 thousand years ago in Africa; one woman is a primogenitor of mankind; sharp reduction of prepersons number (it was up to several thousand on one data, it was up to several hundreds on another’s ) was preceded before occurrence of reasonable person; (already) reasonable person began next worldwide expansion about 50 thousand years ago. There are several hypotheses about reasons of occurrence of reasonable person, beginning from influence of radiation and finishing influence from space. We shall bring our hypothesis to common list. Occurrence of reasonable person was accompanied by infringement of biosphere homeostasis principles and of unity. Infringement of first principle of "narrow specialisation" has taken place, when premankind became omnivorous, premankind passed from consumption of vegetative food to animal. Infringement of second principle of "adaptability and birth rate" has arisen at sharp growth of premankind adaptability and not reduction, more likely, increase of ability to high rate of birth. We shall describe script of development of events of that epoch. Some millions years back our ancestors had a little difference from modern humanoid monkeys. They ate basically vegetative food, occupying a narrow niche; otherwise, they were one of parts in a chain of ecosystem. They were complete essences. They lived in harmony with themselves and with an external world though this harmony was not realised by them. They were perfect, more precisely perfect part of whole. To them, instead of to modern mankind, Marks's definition "person is a public animal" is approached, by virtue of an animal perfection. The mentality and behaviour of preperson too were as complete, fully corresponding with ecological niche and a part in ecosystem with which he occupied. It would be well, if rudiments of preperson intelligence which we notice at humanoid monkeys have not started to develop. Researches of monkeys have been carried out at first half of XX century by German scientist Wolfgang Keller. Ability of humanoid monkeys to solving of simple tasks has been named "insight", that means inspiration. Insight allows humanoid monkey to solve a task instantly or never to solve it. Besides, paying attention on theory of oriented activity and oriented reflex, open by Russian scientist I. Pavlov, we suppose that mentality of animals adheres to following complex of actions. Being based on main instincts (reproduction and self-preservation), having centres of pleasure, displeasure and centre "That such?" (an oriented reflex), during a training, mentality of supreme animals is formed through formation of associative structures necessary for all occasions. When animal gets in a familiar situation, mentality finds necessary associative structure and an animal starts to operate according to this structure, achieving reception of pleasure or avoidance of displeasure. In a unfamiliar situation there is a oriented reflex ("That such?") which forces to create new associative structure from already available, fastening of new structure occurs at achievement by an animal of pleasure or at avoidance of displeasure. Therefore animals can quickly change behaviour at sharp change of external conditions. As against them, insect’s life is completely dictated by instincts. An insect at change of external conditions will continue to carry out started earlier of actions programme even if it will result in senseless result. Feature of preperson is in creating of complex of associative uniting structures with associative detailed structures. It promoted development of subject’s application and instruments manufacturing, that in turn was cause of transition to animal food. Ability to detailed elaboration has discharged preperson from fauna and has given precondition to development of speech. The first associative structure responsible for detailed elaboration has arisen when a casually cracked stone found useful application. In further evolutionary development mentality of preperson was divided into two spheres. Associative generalising structures were included in first sphere. Associative detailed structures were included in second sphere. It allowed with help of instruments and joint actions of prepeople with minimal expenses of energy to direct whole herds of animals in an abyss or in a bog. It was a first step to infringement of a homeostasis of an ecosystem, infringement of principle of "narrow specialisation". Ability to hunt on large animals became cause of a prepeople breeding and moving on big distances from places where animals were destroyed to places where there were an abundance of animals. For 200 thousand years before expansion of reasonable person there was a first prepeople expansion. Anthropologists have found remnants of prepeople in Africa and on Eurasian continents. Anthropologists gave them Neanderthal men name according to a place of first finding. Neanderthal men are a deadlocking lateral branch of mankind development. That part of premankind which did not begin to participate in expansion and has remained in Africa according to geneticists researches is our direct primogenitor. This part of prepeople has kept pantophagous as against returning to specialisation at hunting of Neanderthal men.
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