Here's to thinking differently..

With the recent death of the man and the legend himself; Steve Jobs, it has lead me to start thinking about not only the Apple technology he brought to this world, but about technology in general and how exactly has it effect us and our world? 


Recently my friend experienced the gruelling plane ride from here to London then back home again...on her own. It was from here I was discussing with my mother how it must have been quite hard to sit there for all that time, and she suggested to me that although yes it would be hard but to quite "she would find people to talk with" and this statement alone made me think; yes, but would that really happen?!? Coming from a time where ipod's, ipad's, laptops etc. were simply not in popular or widespread use, to what extent what my mother claimed would actually be true, living in a world so widely filled with so many varieties of technology?


Discovering an article from the blog; 'Pop Psychology, For beautiful People. By Aaron Darc'  in the most recent post; "Thinking Differently: Remembering Steve Jobs", he discusses Steve Job's contributions and the implications of such contributions, but within the post he raises what I considered an interesting idea. Darc quotes; 


"...But on those trains, I leave the cruel reality of strangers sitting all around me – we all leave one another, together – through the little screens that take us to the place we were before, when we were in our homes on a slightly bigger version of the machine."


Here he refers to the people simply just sitting around him on the train as a 'cruel reality of strangers'. It just makes me think..when did other people with the exact goal as you (just trying to get somewhere, trying to simply reach their destination) become a cruel reality of strangers, why is the thought of other people I may not already know so scary and horrifying?!?


Many criticisms and arguments have been made that technology does not isolate us from other people, but rather it helps us better connect and communicate with others. But I ask this; yes we may all be connected, but are we really connecting? As Darc also states; 


That’s the genius of the iPhone! And I don’t even have to literally speak to anyone anymore.


I read that quote, with a degree of sadness. What happened to actually connecting with the people we share this world with and at what point did it become such a bad thing?


to be continued...

Makes you wonder!

REBT in practice..?

An article I discovered, reading through it really appeared to be the basis and foundations of what Albert Ellis proposed in his theory of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, in practice...Taking the situation, and evaluating how it is you will emotively respond to the particular event at hand.


As Epictetus in 100 A.D., a Greek Stoic philosopher once said;

Men are disturbed not by events, but by the views which they take on them.


Article below..

Is Happiness really a choice?

BY LAUREN HALE

During my first bout with Postpartum OCD, I could not begin to count how many times I got the lecture “Happiness is a choice” from my husband. But that was then and this is now. We have both come a long way in our sensitivity towards the very real condition of Depression, both of us having struggled with it in our own way.

If happiness truly is a choice, then why are so many of us struggling with depression? I mean, really, who chooses to be depressed? I sure didn’t. My husband didn’t. It just happened. Not overnight, mind you, but it happened. The thing with depression is that you don’t feel yourself fading away. As a Casting Crowns song states, it’s a “slow fade” as you fall away from happiness. Such a slow fade sometimes it’s not caught until it’s too late.

I don’t like the intimations of happiness being a choice. Call me jaded if you want but I just don’t like the idea of someone telling a depressed mom that she made the “choice” to be depressed. Yeah, right. I CHOSE to have horrific thoughts about harming my children. I CHOSE to slide so far down my pole that I landed in a psych ward. Yeap, that’s me. Choosing to be horrifically clinically depressed with OCD thrown in just for kicks. Why? Cuz I like it there. I like it in the dark, all alone, milling over thoughts of how to hurt my kids, thinking that everyone is out to get me.

C’MON.

I hated it there. Abhorred is an even better word. Emphatically detested the place, actually.

But now that I’ve graduated to Survivor, I have a very unique insight into the subjectiveness of this very phrase.

I didn’t choose to become a sufferer of Postpartum OCD. Nope, that part kinda bit me in the ass all on it’s own.

However, I CHOSE to become a survivor.

Like David gathering rocks to throw at Goliath, I turned and sought for my own rocks to place in my bag as I stood strong in the face of the Giant.

My rocks were strength, faith, and endurance. I needed all of them to carry me through. I found strength in stories of other survivors who had gone on to become tremendous advocates for other women and were now reaching their hands out to me as I struggled mightily to stay afloat. I found faith in God’s word and actions. Through my journey with PP OCD, I realized I had not strayed as far from Him as I thought. The wandering path behind me suddenly became clear as I moved forward. Everything, even the traumatic events that had once rocked my world, became illuminating lights that allowed me to develop endurance. I had been through several family deaths as a child, having lost an aunt at just 5 years old. It was through these losses that God prepared me for the road ahead. I knew I could strap on those boots and turn and fight.

Let me tell you something here. There is no feeling more empowering in the entire world than victory over your own personal demons, whatever they may be… mental illness, cancer, heart disease, etc. Those of us who choose to stand and fight know the taste of victory and it infuses into all we do from that point forward. We know we are not immune to the challenges of life. We just know how we’ll handle them no matter what they may be.

The biggest lesson I learned through all of this? Life isn’t about what it hands you. It’s about how you handle life. Looking at life through that lens would make it seem that happiness is a choice and to a certain extent it is a choice.

But sometimes life throws a screwball you just can’t avoid. So what are you to do? You have two choices. You can either let it knock you flat on your ass and stay there for awhile…..Or you can pick yourself up, dust off the dirt and mend the wounds, and go on your way.

What are YOU going to do?

Happiness..really is it a choice?

Many over the years have looked at happiness and the human perspective. Albert Ellis- American Psychologist who in 1955 developed Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), has looked extensively into this concept of the power of perspective taking and how simply how we to choose to view a particular event, can be the determinant of our emotions of that event.

 

He explains the view that; Humans psychological problems arise from their misperceptions and
mistaken cognitions about what they perceive; from their emotional under-reactions or overreactions to normal and unusual stimuli; and from their habitually dysfunctional behavior patterns, which enable them to keep repeating nonadjustive responses even when they "know" that they are behaving poorly. 

REBT is based on the assumption that what we label our "emotional" reactions are largely caused by our conscious and unconscious evaluations, interpretations, and philosophies. Thus, we feel anxious or
depressed because we strongly convince ourselves that it is terrible when we fail at something or that we can't stand the pain of being rejected. We feel hostile because we vigorously believe that people who behave unfairly to us absolutely should not act the way they indubitably do, and that it is utterly
insufferable when they frustrate us.

(REBT explained by Albert Ellis, Ph. D. -http://www.rebt.ws/REBT%20explained.htm)

to be continued...

Curiosity is Key!

To Kick Start Off..

An interesting article found on PsycArticles.com website, thought it was quite interesting to see how those who simply just want to help are viewed in certain contexts, after all; they are only giving up their time, who could have a problem with that?!.. 
Read on..

Volunteers Disliked

September 2010 - Employees who readily volunteer even for unwanted tasks tend to be disliked by less selfless colleagues, according to research from Washington State University published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. .

Craig Parkes, lead author of 'The Desire to Expel Unselfish Members from the Group', professor in the department of psychology, said:

"It’s not hard to find examples but we were the first to show this happens and have explanations for why."

Craig Parks and co-author Asako Stone suggest this phenomenon has implications for a wide range of groups including business teams, volunteer and non-profit organizations and military units.

They found that resentment of unselfish colleagues develops because they are perceived to have increased expectations of all performances. The higher standard makes those not meeting it appear bad by comparison. Selfless employees are also seen as deviant rule breakers.

Craig Parks said:

"It doesn’t matter that the overall welfare of the group or the task at hand is better served by someone’s unselfish behavior. What is objectively good, you see as subjectively bad."

In four separate studies, introductory psychology students were divided into groups of five and given points that they could keep or surrender for an immediate reward of meal service vouchers. Participants were also told that giving up points would improve the group’s chance of receiving a monetary reward. Most made balanced swaps of one point for each voucher. However, some gave up nothing and took a lot; others gave up a lot, taking little in return.

Reflecting previous findings, most participants said they would not want to work with the greedy colleague again. However, a majority also said they would not want to work with the unselfish colleague, frequently stating "the person is making me look bad" or is breaking the rules. Occasionally, they would suspect the person of having ulterior motives.

Future research is likely to focus on how altruistic group members respond to rejection. The researchers acknowledge that some may indeed have ulterior motives, but suggest that it is more likely they actually are working for the good of their organization.

Craig Parks concluded:

"Excluded from the group, they may say, 'enough already' and simply give up. But it’s also possible that they may actually try even harder."

PsyArticles publishes articles and 

features with a focus on psychological 

research and theory

Welcome to Mind and Inside!

Welcome to the blog; Mind and Inside, a blog that will update on all things.. Psychology!!
Hoping to bring you interesting stories ideas and recent news and updates on the ever expanding and fascinating world of Psychology!


This blog will aim to get you thinking, and with certain thoughts ideas and concepts, curious minds can begin to form. And who knows where a curious mind can take you...

Happy Blogging!