Course: Psychology 459, Spring 2007, Generation 26
Instructor: Dr. Leon James
Introduction to Theistic Psychology at http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/theistic/ch1.htm
My Home Page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/459s2007/sepkowski/sepkowski-home.htm
Class Home Page: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy26/classhome-g26.htm
Instructions for this Report: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy26/459-g26-weekly.htm
Theistic Psychology
By Danny Sepkowski
Section 1.5.1
to 1.7
Report 5
I am answering
questions 11.2, 11.5, 11.8, 11.9 and 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.9
Question 11.2.a) Section
1.5.1.2 "The Negative Bias in Science" presents an extensive quote by
a negative bias mode psychologist (Bering). Analyze what he says.
“The
Negative Bias in Science”
Bering states in the readings that we have a cognitive bias about our thoughts on a soul. He also mentions how we tend to differentiate between our physical self from our spiritual self. He considers spiritual beliefs, however, to be illusory beliefs that developed in response to social pressures. These illusory beliefs include psychological immortality and intelligent design of the self. Bering explains how it is possible that these beliefs are passed down through culture, somewhat like a virus that spreads rapidly. Bering also states how our current behavior is a big factor for our afterlife. Whatever we do on this world, will determine where we will go after we die. It is also important to remember that genetic fitness is a big part of the “cognitive illusion”, and that it is also increased by prosocial behavior.
Culture
Culture is a big factor for a lot of people’s beliefs. There are families today that actually make their child believe in what the family believes in. I have been going to church ever since I was inside of my mom’s stomach. It can be good to make your child go to church to seek God, but it can also draw them away from Him because they feel that they are being pressured. The pressure can also help in a way because they can see that their parents want them to follow their path. God is an amazing God and I appreciate my mom making me go to church almost every Sunday of my life. I do not regret anything about it and I will always love her for her helping me out by showing me who God is.
Question 11.2.b) Make
a conclusion in the light of what you already know from the positive bias
perspective in theistic psychology.
My Conclusion in the Positive bias
I have learned so much this past semester and I appreciate it because I was not expecting to learn as much as I did. I would have to agree with Bering that culture is a big factor in our spirituality and that our behavior is a big factor in where we go after we die. I will not take this class for granted because it has taught me how to be a better person by reading articles from different people like Swedenborg and Bering. I was always in the positive bias and now that I was able to use that perspective in this class, it will always be in my heart that I am a part of the positive bias. Science is everywhere and it can be hard at times to learn in a class that is negative bias based. I believe that God helps me through it and I am happy that I took a class that was based on the positive bias.
Appreciation
It is common in today’s society that we take things in life for granted. These “things” can be food, school, and even money. I have taken materials in life for granted and sometimes even God. There are times where I just don’t think about Him and forget about what He has done for me. After taking theistic psychology, I realized how important God is to me. I am not going to take this class for granted and I believe that this class has taught me so much about how God is so awesome. I have learned some materials that I have never even heard of before. It was amazing how I was always in the positive bias, but I just never new that there was a term for that. Theistic psychology is a class that has made an impact in my life spiritually and physically because my hands are always hurting from typing all of these reports!
Question 11.2.c)
How would your other professors
this semester relate to the idea presented in this class that non-theistic
psychology assumes the negative bias in science? Would you predict that they
agree that it is a bias or not?
Professa!!
I believe that a lot of my professors would definitely think that the positive and negative bias is considered a bias. The reason why they would think that it is a bias is because I have a couple of professors that are actually religious. They are not able to teach their religion in their class because they are only allowed to teach what they are designated to teach. I talked to my Korean professor and she is a Christian. She believes that the negative bias is bad because it excludes God and that is why she considers it to be a bias. She also told me that learning in the negative bias is interesting and that is just the way how people are taught in today’s society. I am excited to hear my professors talk about God because maybe they can teach theistic psychology one day!
Question
11.5a) Summarize what is said in
section 1.6 “Spiritual Psychobiology.”
“Spiritual
Psychobiology”
The
main aspect that should be remembered in the spiritual psychobiology aspect is
that we take actions with our cognitive organs as well as our affective organs.
The cognitive and affective organs correspond with our physical body but are
still separated spiritually. Swedenborg explains how the affective organ is
considered the will, and the cognitive organ is considered to be the
understanding. These two organs correspond with our body but take place in our
mental body. The affective and cognitive organs make us who we are today. We
make many decisions in everyday life and it is important to realize that we
need to live a pure life so that we can conjoin with God after we die.
The
Mental World
The
mental world is what we are basically striving to make better throughout our
life. It can be hard at times because we fail at times with the temptations of
the world. It is important to realize that we need to live for God and be able
to see that He has all of the power in the Universe and that we cannot do
anything without Him. God gives us challenges in life so that we can show Him
that we need his help. I am not perfect and I know how it feels to go through
temptation and sin. Life is not easy and that is why God is there for us. You
might not understand this or care for it, but God can help you through
anything. We have two choices, live for God and have a heavenly afterlife or
not follow Him and live an afterlife of pain and death. It is all up to you
where your mental world will be.
Question
11.5.b) How
does this relate to what you already know about the field of psychology?
The
field of Psychology
I
have never really learned about spiritual psychobiology but I will be taking
psychobiology next semester and I think that I will have more knowledge about
how our body works psychologically. I have taken cognitive psychology and I
cannot remember if I learned about the affective and cognitive organ, but I am
pretty sure that I did. I have a lot more to learn in psychology and I am
looking forward to learning about this field. Theistic psychology is definitely
one of the best psychology classes I have taken because I was able to speak my
mind and talk about me creator. God is not taught in a lot of classes and I am
honored to be able to take this class. Theistic psychology has opened up my
mind spiritually and gave me a different view in psychology.
Question
11.8.a) Discuss the "transmissive model" (or "transmission
theory") of the mind by William James in Section 2.3. He was familiar with
Swedenborg's Writings from his father, who wrote a book about Swedenborg's
Writings.
“Transmission
theory”
William
James explains in the transmission theory that there are two aspects in respect
to the human brain and mind. The first aspect is that the human brain is not spiritual
but simply a transmitter for the physical body. In this perspective, the brain
is made up of physical matter and only thoughts and feelings are transmitted
through it. It is amazing to read about what William James has to say about the
brain. It may be hard to think of the brain as a transmitter because ever since
you were a young child, you thought that every thought was created from the
brain. But in this perspective, it is a little different; the brain acts as a
transmitter for these thoughts and does not create these thoughts or feelings.
“Productive
Model”
The
second aspect that James mentioned is called the productive model. It is
important to remember that this model is the total opposite of the transmission
theory. In this model, thoughts and feelings are created by the brain unlike
the transmission model; the brain is just like a transmitter. This model is
followed by majority of scientists and psychologists today. There are also a
lot of people in the world that follow this model as well. I explained earlier
how when we were kids we thought that everything was created from the brain. We
were actually thinking in the productive model perspective this whole time!
Question
11.8.b) Do
you see a connection between substantive dualism and the model of William
James?
Substantive
dualism
I
do see a little connection between substantive dualism and the model of William
James in a way. Substantive dualism talks about how the mental body is separate
from the physical body. This is sometimes confusing to people because they
think that the mental body is just an illusion to us just how Bering explained
how we have those “illusory” beliefs. William James writing on the transmission
model did agree with substantive dualism which was written by Swedenborg. It is
amazing to actually learn that William James had a dad that actually wrote a
book on Swedenborg. This is something that should be remembered because this
shows how incredible Swedenborg’s works is.
My
thoughts
I think that James was a unique person because he made sure that everyone knew what he believed in and did not want everyone to see that he was following his dad’s belief of Swedenborg. There are some similarities but James did not fully believe in Swedenborg’s writings. He stuck with his own beliefs and I respect that. I also think that the subject on substantive dualism is probably one of my favorite subjects to read because the mind is so much more that you think. The mind creates thoughts for us to make decisions in everyday life. We are using our mind every second of our lives and I thought it was fun learning about how our brain works spiritually and physically. This is a topic that I will definitely be telling my friends about in the future.
Question
11.9.a) Discuss
your perceptions of how other students in this class (G26) are adjusting
intellectually to the positive bias perspective.
G
26! Cheeeee!
I
can definitely see the differences in each student’s reports about how they
were first skeptical about taking this class in the beginning and did not know
what they were getting themselves into. I can see the transformation of people
being a part of the negative bias in report one, and than seeing them start
seeing that the positive bias would actually help them get through this class.
It was amazing seeing students putting feedback in what they believe in
spiritually because this allows me to see where I am with God. I enjoyed
reading the other students reports because it actually gave me a better
perspective about how theistic psychology works. To be honest with you, I don’t
think I would be this far in the class if it was not for the students because
they have helped me outside of class with my reports. That is something I will
never take for granted.
My
army
It
was great to see that there were other Christians in this class. I am not
ashamed of God, but I think that having the other Christians in the class made
me a little more comfortable with taking the class. I was not afraid to do my
oral presentations and I enjoyed doing them. I appreciated having other
Christians in the class because we can all relate with each other and we all
worship the same God. Theistic psychology did not only get me closer to these
Christians, but the Christians at my church. I had discussions with my friends
about theistic psychology and I enjoyed hearing what they all had to say about
theistic psychology.
Question
11.9.b) Read
some of their reports. Do the reports show the same thing as the class
discussions?
Class
discussions
I
believe that the class discussions were great and they all definitely had
relations with the reports that were posted online. I enjoyed hearing what all
of the students had to say about theistic psychology and I think that these
discussions allowed everyone get comfortable with talking to other students
that they did not know. It was fun having these discussions because there were
no rules in what you can say. We were talking about aliens one day and than
prostitutes the next. Dr. James allowed this because this is what makes
theistic psychology fun, talking about life. I enjoyed talking about my life
with others because it made me more comfortable with the class. I am definitely
prepared for any oral presentation in the future after taking theistic
psychology 459.
Question
11.9.c) How do you stand
relative to others?
Where
I stand
I
have to admit, I was like the other students in the beginning of the semester.
I was not sure what bias I should be a part of even though I was a Christian
and I was not sure what I was going to learn this whole semester. I talked to
my parents about theistic psychology and they wondered why I decided to take
the class. Now, I am glad that I decided to take the class because I have
learned so much about God and now I have a better relationship with Him. I also
feel like I accomplished something that I have never done in my life, and that
was writing over eighty pages in one semester! I’m not going to lie; this class
showed me some great discipline on how to stay on a computer for over four
hours at a time. That is something that I have never done in my life!
Part Two, Section 1.6.3 to
1.7
Question
13.1.a)
List between 3 and 5 criteria
that theistic psychology should have if it is going to make it as a science in
the future.
Requirements
for the future
Usefulness,
Organicity, Operational Definition, Empiricism,
Question 13.1.b) Briefly explain each.
The
meaning
Usefulness
is the theory that must be applied to all people in the society and should also
be beneficial for every individual. This is important for you to remember
because the theory should be able to be used by everyone, not just certain
people. Organicity is the theory that is based on a biological perspective. It
should be able to be biologically grounded, in other words, there is no
function without the structure, medium, and substance. The Operational
Definition is the theory that must offer concrete measurement procedures for
applying the magnitude of effects which are indexed by dependent measures under
various known independent conditions. Empiricism is every step of the theory
must be understood by the person’s own experience or observations.
Question 13.1.c)
Then give your assessment as to how theistic psychology as you know it stacks
up against these criteria.
My assessment
Oranicity is basically what we are made up of. For
example, our mind and spiritual organs are a part of the organicity in our
body. If this is viewed in the theistic psychology perspective, in other words
the positive bias. We will be able to see that our mind and spiritual world is
made up of substance. It is amazing to see how Swedenborg explains how our
mental world corresponds with our physical world. Through this, we can see that
there is a relation to this theory. Since Swedenborg has written data such as
this, we are able to see that theistic psychology is a part of the empirical
science. Swedenborg was a self-witness to all of the data that he has written
and has experienced them in real life.
It can be difficult for people to see the objective
reality in theistic psychology because Swedenborg was the only person who was
able to experience to see the physical world and mental world at the same time.
Swedenborg was blessed with this opportunity, but unfortunately there are
people that do not accept theistic psychology because they have not experienced
what Swedenborg did. For the operational definition, Swedenborg was able to
make data of all of the experiences he had while he resuscitated. The documents
that he has written has helped a lot of people in today’s society and it is
important to remember that he was a unique individual and did things in life
that no other human has ever done.
Question
13.2.a) What
is the method of psychobiological correspondence?
Psychobiological
correspondence
Psychobiological
correspondence is something very important that we humans should realize in
life. In psychobiological correspondence, love and wisdom are conjoined together
as well as will is conjoined with understanding. Our mental world is separated
from the physical body in a spiritual aspect. But biologically, our affective
organ is connected with our heart and the cognitive organ is connected with our
lungs and our respiratory system. This allows our thoughts and feelings to be
connected with the physical and mental word. We live our lives with the mental
and physical body interconnected. We live our lives in the time space and
during this time, our afterlife will be determined on how our lifestyle is
lived.
Love
and Wisdom
Love
and wisdom are two words that make up our society today. Without love, there
would be no families today and the world will be a hateful place. Wisdom is
what keeps us alive because it allows us to make the right decisions in life.
Wisdom is something that all of us should use towards others in today’s society
because our world is becoming a world of hatred. There are people getting
killed for no reason and I think that we need to love on these people. It is
hard for me to watch the news today because there is never good news. Just
yesterday, 32 students were killed at
Question
13.2.b) How can it be applied
in theistic psychology?
Applying
it to theistic psychology
The
psychobiological correspondence can be applied to theistic psychology by using
it in life. We need to love one another in this world and that is important in today’s
society because there are many kids out there that are not being loved. I know
that I am talking about this in a spiritual perspective, but our affective and
cognitive organs create these feelings. I think that psychobiological
correspondences are already being applied to theistic psychology scientifically
because I have learned about our affective and cognitive organs many times. I
enjoy learning about how our spiritual body interconnects with our physical body.
I have never learned about the affective and cognitive organ before and I think
that it was interesting learning about how they function.
Question
13.3.a) What
is the organic basis of human thoughts, emotions, and feelings?
The
spiritual world
There are two
worlds according to Swedenborg’s writings. There is the mental world
(spiritual) and the physical world (time-space). In the spiritual world, we try
our hardest to live a pure life and to get closer with God. The spiritual word
is separate from the physical world but it is important that our behavior on
this world will determine where go after we die. The spiritual world is made up
of Good and Truth and spiritual substances. Spiritual substances are similar to
natural substances but are made up of spirits. The spiritual world is a world
that people do not believe in today’s society. Some people believe that we live
a life on the physical world for a certain amount of time, and than we just disappear
after we die. We are going to have to change that.
The
physical world
The
physical world is the where we live now. The time era that we live in right now
is called the time space. It is up to us to live a pure life for God or just
live on ourselves and not conjoin with Him after we die. The physical world can
either make us stronger by getting closer with God, or it can ruin our lives
because we decided to follow things of the world. It is important for us to tell
others about how God can help them no matter what they are going through. This
is what theistic psychology is for. Theistic psychology helps us discuss the
topic of God to others. We live in a free country so we should not take that
for granted and begin to tell others that God has all of the power and can help
us through any problems that we might have.
Question
13.3.b) Contrast
this with the negative bias psychology which “reduces” thoughts and feelings to
electricity and chemistry in the neurons of the brain.
Reduction
Majority
of the scientists today are a part of the negative bias. They believe that
human feelings are a part of the electricity and chemistry in the neurons of
the brain. They also exclude God from science because they do not think that it
is possible for God to exist if He is not visible. In theistic psychology, we
are taught about how we can be a part of the positive bias. The positive bias
simply includes God into science and it opens up the students minds a lot more
than it would in a negative bias perspective. Majority of science classes today
are taught in the negative bias perspective. This can be good at times because
it is interesting learning in the negative bias perspective. But in the
positive bias, you can talk about what you believe in with others and speak
your mind.
Question
13.3.c) What is your view
on this controversy?
Scandalous
I do not really mind that there are science classes that are a part of the negative bias because I know where I stand spiritually with God. It would be awesome if there were more classes that were a part of the positive bias because I can talk about God all day if I wanted to. Theistic psychology was worth taking and I enjoyed being in the positive bias because I was never able to do that in any other class before. I hope to see more classes like this because this can be a tool to bring people to God so that they can conjoin with them after they die. At the same time, learning in the negative bias is necessary at times because that is just the way the world works today. I am glad that I was a part of a class that was based on the positive bias. Who knows, I might not have an opportunity like this again in my lifetime.
Question
13.9.a) Why
is it important for God to talk to or communicate with human beings?
Help
me!
God
has many reasons why He communicates with us humans. One of the reasons is that
He wants to show us that He has all of the power and that He can help us
through any problems that we might be going through. God also communicates with
us because He wants us to conjoin with Him after we die in the time space. God
wants us to have a relationship with Him so that we can tell others about His
great works. God is an awesome God and there are people in today’s society that
do not even know who He is. It is up to us to tell others about what God can do
for all of us. Another reason why He communicates with us is that He helps us
make the right decisions in life. It is our responsibility to pray to Him and
ask for guidance. If we do not do this, we are in big trouble!
My
communication with God
I
have to admit, I am not the greatest at keeping in touch with God daily. I go
to church twice a week and sometimes that is the only time that I will actually
try to get touched from Him. It is hard for me because I am always busy with
school, work, and even church leadership. It is not easy being a Christian
because you want to do things of the world but you know it’s wrong. This is the
major test that God gives us in life. After taking theistic psychology, I have
gotten closer with God because I would actually pray about what I should say in
my oral presentations and to be a good example towards other. Communicating
with God is the best thing you can do in life because He helps you in any
situation no matter what.
Question 13.9.b) What does God intend to talk to
us about? Why?
The
message
The
main message that God is trying to tell us in life is that we need to follow
Him in order to conjoin with Him after we die. He wants us to live a life of pure
behavior so that we will not spend an eternity in Hell. God does not like
watching people go to hell because they will be going through pain and death
for eternity. He is heart broken by this and wants everyone to see that He is
the light. He is a God like no other. He is not a god that is made out of gold
and has to have food presented towards it; He is a God that has all of the
power in the universe. He created the universe and every single one of us. He
has a plan for us and we have to listen to God for what that plan is and than
follow His path so that we can fulfill it.
My
message
I
know that God has a plan for me and I am willing to follow it. God has provided
so much for me in my life. I have always wanted to play drums ever since I was
a young child, and I can never stop playing thanks to God. He has blessed me
with a scholarship at the
Question 13.9.c) How does God talk to us or
communicate with us?
How
does He do that?
There
are two ways that God can communicate with us. The first way is from Sacred
Scripture. Sacred Scripture is a text that is sort of like a guideline for us
in life. It is important for us to read Sacred Scripture daily so that we can
understand what God wants us to do. It may be challenging at times to
understand because it was written so long ago that the stories were based in
that time era. Sacred Scripture has so many hidden meaning in it that we can
get something new from it everyday. Christians use the Bible as their Sacred
Scripture. Christians read this daily and use it in church so that everyone can
learn what the main point in the message is all about.
Plan B
The
second way God can communicate with us is through our conscience. God tells us
what is good from bad and makes sure that we know that through our feelings.
God speaks to us through Divine Speech and that is important to remember
because there are people in today’s society that are just ignoring God’s plan.
He is trying so hard to communicate with us through our conscience and Sacred
Scripture, but we are too busy doing our own things in life. God wants us to
know that He loves us and that He wants us to conjoin with Him after we die,
but some of us just do not listen and ignore what He has to say.
Question 13.9.d) Is
there anything relevant you’d like to say about your relationship to your
conscience and to sacred scripture?
Where
I stand
I have to admit, I am not a perfect
person and it is hard for me to pray everyday and to read the bible. But I try
my hardest and I make sure that I do not get caught up with what is in the
world. I know that God has all of the power and that He has a plan for me in
life. I go through struggle in life but that is reality to me and I look
towards God when I need help through that struggle. Theistic psychology has
taught a lot about God and I appreciated this class so much because I have
never taken a college course that was based on God! I will never take this
class for granted and I am looking forward to telling others about how God can
save them and that He has a plan for every one of them no matter what they are
going through. I am glad that I took this course and I hope that it will be
worth it for you too.