Modus Operandi

There's a theory, that the way a person handles one thing - is the way they handle everything.

Stereotypes

A great example of in-groups versus out-groups.

In a study from 1942, Americans were asked to describe the top two features of Russians. And they described them as 'brave and hard-working'. In 1948, during / coming to the end of the Cold War, they were asked the same question. They described them as 'cruel and conceited'. The Russians didn't change, what changed was their relationship to them over the intervening years. They went from being part of a group that they were, to being part of the out-group.


~ Paul Bloom 'The Psychology of Everything'

Stop Caring What Other People Think

Please listen when I say that the shame and guilt you feel when you're trying so hard to not give a f**k. It's usually not because you are wrong to not give that f**k. I's because you're worried about what other people might think about you're decision.

And guess what?
You have no control over what other people think.

For God's sake, you have a hard enough time figuring out what you think! Believing that you have any control over what other people think - and wasting your f**ks on that pursuit - is futile. It is a recipe for failure on a grand f**king scale.

Embrace your not giving a f**k by reading more in The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k by Sarah Knight (2015). Worth a read!

Eureka!

The part of the brain where insight occurs is the anterior superior temporal gyrus. During a flash of insight the left side doesn't really react, but the right side does. High-energy brain waves called gamma-waves erupt from this one spot.

Intelligence and creativity are not isomorphic. There is overlap between the two, but they are very different. It's wrong to think that brain structure alone makes you creative, but there is a neurological basis to divergent thinking - to creativity itself.

 

The Divergent thinking test, as in diverging from known ideas to come up with something novel, is one of the most commonly used creativity tests. An example would be to give someone a common object, such as a brick, and then ask them to think of as many creative ways to use the item. It gets people thinking outside the box.

Mind wandering seems to facilitate the creativity process. If you want to come up with a solution to a problem - don't do anything, but instead do something undemanding. If your stumped, take a break and let the mind wander.

Alpha waves help cut off distractions, helping you to summon the idea. A transient dip in frontal lobe activity aids the creativity and insight process. So, insight (the Aha! moment) essentially comes from cutting yourself off from the distractions of the outside world.

With a dissertation in the offing (and not an iota of what to do it on) it's beginning to look as though I'll have to lock myself in a room until I retrieve this moment of clarity.                         

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If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original

~ BBC Horizons: How insight works

Perspective

I love this story from Irvin D. Yalom.

 

One of his patient's with breast cancer who throughout adolescence had been locked in a long, bitter struggle with her naysaying father. Looking forward to some form of reconciliation, she looked forward to her father driving her to college; a time she would be alone with him for several hours. The trip turned out to be a disaster. Her father behaved true to form by grousing at length about the ugly, garbage littered creek by the side of the road. She on the other hand saw no litter whatsoever in the beautiful, rustic, unspoiled stream. She found no way to respond and eventually, lapsing into silence, they spent the remainder of the trip looking away from each other.

 

Later, she made the same trip alone and was astounded to note that there were two streams - one each side of the road. ''This time I was the driver'', she said sadly, and the stream I saw was as ugly and polluted as her father had described it. But by the time she had learned to look out her father' window, it was too late - her father was dead and buried.

 

Yalom remarks that the story remained with him, and on many occasions he has reminded himself and his patients, 'Look out the other's window'. Try to see the world from another's perspective.

 

It's so relevant to many things in life such as empathy and honing our compassion for others. I think it's just awesome, and makes me want to delve into more of Yalom's writings.

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Chinese Room Argument

The Chinese room argument is a thought experiment. It was first proposed by the US philosopher John Searle (pictured) in the journal Behavioural and Brain Sciences in 1980 , in which many people feel he thoroughly disproved the notion that any computer program could acquire true intelligence. It is one of the best known and widely credited counters to claims of artificial intelligence (AI) - that is, to claims that computers do or at least can (someday might) think.

It was written to demonstrate a simple point - intelligent behaviour does not equate to intelligence. This doesn't mean AI design is impossible, but that a behavioural-based model for intelligence is flawed.

Imagine yourself a monolingual English speaker, ''locked in a room, and given a large batch of Chinese writing'' plus ''a second batch of Chinese script” and ''a set of rules'' in English ''for correlating the second batch with the first batch.'' As Searle explains how it works: ''Suppose that unknown to you the symbols passed into the room are called 'questions' by the people outside the room, and the symbols you pass back out of the room are called 'answers to the questions' ''. Just by looking at your answers, nobody can tell you ''don't speak a word of Chinese.''

The point he makes is that you may hand out the appropriate and even accurate answers and that those responses may serve to connect with the expectations of those asking the questions.  However, it does not indicate that any real understanding has taken place or that any sort of meaning is actually attached to the question and answer process that is taking place.

 

It should be conceded that Searle's argument is effective in showing that certain kinds of machines - even machines that pass the Turing Test - are not necessarily intelligent and do not necessarily "understand" the words that they speak. This is because a computer sitting on a desk with no sensory apparatus and no means of causally interacting with objects in the world will be incapable of understanding a language. Such a machine might be capable of manipulating linguistic symbols, even to the point of producing output that will fool human speakers and thus pass the Turing Test. However, the words produced by such a machine would lack one crucial ingredient: The words would fail to express any meaningful content and thus would fail to be "about" anything.

What's the point?

It doesn't matter how perfectly a computer is designed to simulate the intelligence of a human being - because its behaviour is a result of aimlessly executing instructions, not understanding. In this case, the means defines the end. You're reading this sentence, and understanding it without demonstrating behaviour of any kind. A system's behaviour doesn’t indicate intelligence or understanding, and a system that behaves intelligently is not necessarily ''intelligent.''
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Before we work on artificial intelligence why don't we do something about natural stupidity

The Matrix: Was Neo Psychotic?





Auditory Hallucinations

Psychosis is a mental health problem that can  stop the person from thinking clearly, telling the difference between reality and their imagination, and acting in a normal way.

Morpheus: What is "real"? How do you define "real"?

It is a loss of contact with reality that usually includes delusions and hallucinations. Delusions are false beliefs about what is taking place or who one is, such as thinking that someone is plotting against you or that the TV is sending you secret messages. Hallucinations are false perceptions, such as hearing, seeing, or feeling something that is not there. 

Neo: What did she tell you?

Morpheus: That I would find the One. 

Signs of Psychosis

The early stage of psychosis is marked by a difficulty in concentrating, depressed mood, sleep changes - sleeping too much or not enough, anxiety, suspiciousness, withdrawal from family and friends and on-going unusual thoughts and beliefs. While the later stages involve being confused and having impaired reality testing; that is, people are unable to distinguish personal, subjective experiences from the reality of the external world. This can progress onto delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech (switching topics erratically), difficulty functioning, depression and even suicidal thoughts or actions.

 

Morpheus: I see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up. Ironically, that's not far from the truth.

Causes:


A Psychoactive Aetiology?

A number of medical problems can cause psychosis, including:

- Alcohol and certain illegal drugs (or blue and red pills?)

- Brain diseases, such as Parkinson's  
- Huntington's disease, and certain chromosomal disorders

- Brain tumours or cysts

- Dementia (including Alzheimer's disease)

- HIV and other infections that affect the brain

- Some prescription drugs, such as steroids and stimulants

- Some types of epilepsy

- Stroke

Symptoms:

Psychotic symptoms may include: disorganized thought and speech, false beliefs that are not based in reality (delusions), especially unfounded fear or suspicion, and thoughts that "jump" between unrelated topics (disordered thinking).

Neo: I thought it wasn't real

Morpheus: Your mind makes it real

Exams and tests:

Psychiatric evaluation and testing are used to diagnose the cause of the psychosis. Laboratory testing and brain scans may not be needed, but sometimes can help pinpoint the diagnosis. The type of tests may include; blood tests for abnormal electrolyte and hormone levels, blood tests for syphilis and other infections, drug screens, and sometimes an MRI of the brain.



''Yeah...ehmm...sorry about that''

Possible Complications:

Psychosis can prevent people from functioning normally and caring for themselves. If the condition is left untreated, people can sometimes harm themselves or others (or Trinity).



 Morpheus: You've been living in a dream world, Neo.

 

 

''Your 50 minutes are up young man''

 

Treatment often depends on the cause of the psychosis. It might involve drugs to control symptoms and talk therapy, which can help address the underlying cause of the psychosis.

For example the talking therapy cognitive behavioural therapy has proved successful in helping people with schizophrenia.  Hospitalization is an option for serious cases where a person might be dangerous to himself or others.



''Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions'' ~ Agent Brown 

 

Social support should also be addressed, so as to help support the person with psychosis, who may have social needs such as education, employment or accommodation.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Agent Smith: It seems that you've been living two lives. One life, you're Thomas A. Anderson, program writer for a respectable software company. You have a social security number, pay your taxes, and you... help your landlady carry out her garbage. The other life is lived in computers, where you go by the hacker alias "Neo" and are guilty of virtually every computer crime we have a law for. One of these lives has a future, and one of them does not.

''The need to prove who you are will vanish once you know who you are''
~ Pierre

 

 

 

 

Similar to Parkinson's Disease and Schizophrenia, dopamine levels are thought to be too high during psychosis, or better, there is a 'functional excess' of dopamine in the person's brain. This can affect memory, emotion, social behaviour and self-awareness.

Bizarre delusions are often experienced during psychosis.

Examples of psychotic delusions include the paranoid type - more likely to be associated with schizophrenia - and delusions of grandeur.



''Sure ye do''



Delusions of grandeur: clearly false but strongly held beliefs in having a special power or authority - the person with psychosis may, as examples, believe that they are a world leader, very rich, that they are able to bring dead people back to life, or that they can control the weather.

 

While the classic hallmarks of psychosis are hallucination and delusion, other symptoms persist in disorders such as schizophrenia - known as negative symptoms. That is, cognitive and motivational impairments, which can be disabling and do not respond to drug treatment.



I think he saw me...

 

 

Paranoid delusions: these may cause the person with psychosis to be unduly suspicious of individuals or organisations, believing them to be plotting to cause them harm. Such delusions can be very frightening and may result in unusual behaviour to avoid things - for example, staying out of a room with certain devices in it, believing them to be controlling thoughts, or locking up the front door with an excessive number of padlocks.

 

Similar to Eric Bui and colleagues examining Borderline Personality Disorder and Darth Vader (2010), it is interesting to compare a disorder with something relevant, in an attempt to try and identify with it. While one is the work of fiction and the other a real life debilitating disorder, slight overlap can be seen and the crude comparisons hopefully elucidate the disorder a little.

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Freudenreich O, Weiss AP, Goff DC. Psychosis and schizophrenia. In: Stern TA, Rosenbaum JF, Fava M, Biederman J,    Rauch SL, eds. Massachusetts General Hospital Comprehensive Clinical Psychiatry. 1st ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Mosby Elsevier; 2008:chap 28.

 

Katherine Darton, Mind. Psychotic experiences. London, UK: Mind, 2011. Information published online, accessed November 21st, 2013.

MedlinePlus. Psychosis. Bethesda, MA, US: National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.

 

NHS Choices. Causes of psychosis. London, UK: National Health Service.

 

Van Os J, Kapur S. Schizophrenia. The Lancet, 2009, volume 374, number 9690, pages 635-645 (DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60995-8).

WHO. Chapter V: Mental and behavioural disorders. In: International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th Revision (ICD-10). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization, 2010.

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''Minds that have withered into psychosis are far more terrifying than any character of fiction''
                                                                                                                                   ~ Christian Baloga

Schizophrenia

Unlike the disruptions of mental tranquillity that disturb everyone from time to time, schizophrenic episodes represent a severe departure from normal mental functioning. The disorder has a distinctly biological character, suggesting that its fierce psychotic episodes reflect physiological alterations in normal brain function.

Schizophrenia is the diagnostic term for a family of severe mental disorders that involve psychotic features - a loss of contact with reality - and a widespread deterioration of the level of mental functioning affecting multiple psychological processes (Kandel, 1991). The disorder always involves delusions, hallucinations, or characteristic disturbances in the form of thought. By definition, schizophrenic disorders are relatively long lasting: brief, isolated psychotic episodes are not classified as schizophrenic. Schizophrenia, strictly defined, has an incidence of approximately 1 in 200. Rates of schizophrenia are generally similar from country to country - about 1 percent of the population. There are variations - but the variance is difficult to track due to differing measuring standards in many countries, etc. It is equally common in men and women.

Delusions are a major abnormality in the content of thought. Schizophrenic delusions - false beliefs about external reality - are often persecutory, as in the belief that a television newscaster is making fun of the viewing individual. Other typical delusions are more bizarre: The individual may believe that his or her thoughts are being broadcast so that everyone nearby can hear them, or that other people are inserting thoughts and their behaviour is controlled by others, perhaps by radio waves. Such delusional beliefs represent a marked failure in assessing reality.

Characteristic abnormalities in the form of thought also frequently occur. Most common is a loosening of associations , in which ideas shift from one topic to another in an apparently unrelated manner. When this is severe, speech becomes incoherent.

Hallucinations - perception without external stimulation of the sensory systems - are also characteristic of schizophrenia. Most hallucinations are auditory, involving voices that may make insulting statements or provide a continuing critical commentary on the individual's behaviour. Tactile and somatic hallucinations, such as the perception of snakes crawling inside the abdomen, also occur. However, visual hallucinations are less common.

The emotions of the schizophrenic patient are usually flattened or inappropriate. ''Flattened'' means a loss of emotional intensity: the patient speaks in a monotone, the face is expressionless, and the patient reports that normal feelings are no longer experienced. At other times, emotion may be present but is inappropriate to the circumstance.

The combination of symptoms leads to a gross distortion of the person's interactions with the real world. There is a deterioration in functioning, resulting in part from a preoccupation with internal thoughts and fantasies. In many cases, the acute active phase of florid schizophrenic symptoms persists for a prolonged period. It may be followed by a relative remission of symptoms, but a complete return to normal function is extremely unusual. In fact, such a recovery calls into question the original diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Despite the bizarre and florid nature of the schizophrenic symptoms, there is still considerable controversy as to the nature of the disorder. Many investigators believe that schizophrenia is not a single disease but forms a group of related psychotic disorders.

In schizophrenia, there seems to be an inheritable predisposition or susceptibility to the disorder. In the general population, the risk of schizophrenia is less than 1 percent. However, this risk is much greater for relatives of schizophrenics. The parents of a schizophrenic child have about a 5 percent risk of schizophrenia, the siblings of a schizophrenic have about a 10 percent risk, and the children of a schizophrenic parent have about a 14 percent chance of developing the disorder. If both parents are schizophrenic, the child has a risk factor of about 50 percent.

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''If you talk to God, you are praying; If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia.''
                                                                                                         ~ Thomas Szasz

The Turing Test

This hypothetical test, named after the English mathematician Alan Mathison Turing (1912 - 1954), is to clarify the question as to whether computers can think. Turing introduced it in an article in the journal Mind in 1950, where he called it the imitation game.

A person A and an interrogator in a different room engage in a dialogue by typing messages over  an electronic link. At some point A is replaced by intelligent software that simulates human responses. Turing argued that if the remaining human being is free to ask probing questions (such as ''Please write me a sonnet on the subject of the Forth Bridge'') but is unable to determine reliably whether the replies are generated by a human being or a computer, then the computer will have passed the test.




Working hard or hardly working?

 

Turing considered the question Can machines think? to be 'too meaningless to deserve discussion' and argued that his test, which replaces it, poses a more meaningful problem. But passing the Turing test came to be interpreted by many of his followers as amounting to being able to think. Some of the most sustained attacks on this approach have focused on the Chinese room argument.

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''Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid; humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond imagination''     ~ Albert Einstein

LSD and Psychotherapy

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) first acts on the brain's serotonin system; the part of the brain responsible for feelings of well-being, and subsequently on the prefrontal cortex; which processes some of our uniquely human abstract thoughts. It also seems to reduce communication between different brain areas, leading to loss of inhibitions.

 

Dr. Ronald Sandison (1916 - 2010) was one of the first people in the U.K to use LSD in psychotherapy over 50 years ago. He remarked that it had three effects:
 

1) a general enhancement of 'what's going on inside'

2) a specific effect in raising forgotten memories, particularly traumatic memories

3) it seems to allow people the facility to explore those memories

 

Dr. Ben Sessa (pictured), consultant Psychiatrist at Bristol University, wants to pick up where Sandison left off. Dr Sessa argues that ''the role of LSD can speed up the process of breaking down the client's defences''.


Today, despite a growing belief of it's benefits among some parts of the medical community, the laws have made further use in psychotherapy almost impossible.

 

Sessa adds, ''I believe it can be used safely in the context of the clinical environment. If there is a possibility that LSD or other hallucinogenic drugs can have therapeutic potential in psychiatry, then I do believe they should be researched to explore this, because to leave that stone unturned is potentially closing the door on that group of patients who may benefit.''

 

Many experts today believe the dangers of LSD are more fiction than fact. It's physiologically non-toxic and no one has ever died from an overdose. True, one or two people in the 60's may have jumped out of windows, but that seems to have become a myth ingrained in history.

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''LSD was an incredible experience. Not that I’m recommending it for anybody else; but for me it kind of – it hammered home to me that reality was not a fixed thing. That the reality that we saw about us every day was one reality, and a valid one – but that there were others, different perspectives where different things have meaning that were just as valid.'' 

                                                                                              ~ Alan Moore