Humanity's Values

Exploring the so-called "replication problem" in psychological research, in particular focusing on "the Marshmallow Test." Looking at issues about replication, definition and the nature of complexity in studying people.

The struggle between the individualistic and collectivist pressures of our humanity, as seen through reading C.G. Jung's "The Undiscovered Self" and how the subsuming of a whole person to one or another label, one or another characteristic, however powerful that label may have in its desired meaning, is to set that person up as an impossibly perfect standard and lead to dismissal in the pursuit of purity.

Exploring the nature of self-control, the connection it has to empathy and the picture we have of our ideal self. Reading from The Atlantic article "Self-Control is Just Empathy with Your Future Self" by Ed Yong. Just as we get trapped in the present of a narrow perspective, so our future can become similarly limited.

Further exploration of Sharon Martin's article looking at: How Codependents Can Stop Enabling and Controlling. Focusing on the habits that enable the behavior of others and learning how enabling is often about the stories we tell ourselves to avoid the uncertainty of deeper questions and keep us from exploring our lives. We are so much more than what we often let ourselves believe.

Exploring an article by Sharon Martin looking at: How Codependents Can Stop Enabling and Controlling. Asking questions of these characteristics are in all relationships, how boundaries work and whether we're as separate from one another as we think.

A discussion with Heather McPherson, AASECT certified sex therapist, licensed marriage and family therapist, therapist supervisor and founder and CEO of the Sexual Health Alliance. What is the role of a sex therapist? What are common misunderstandings of human sexuality? What leads to a fulfilling sexual relationship?

We are more than any single behavior, yet often define the whole of who we are by a perceived negative act. Our self-labels hide as much as they reveal in an attempt at making the vision of our lives simple and coherent. Exploring the variables contributing to addiction helps us see how the way we look at ourselves can lead to limited understanding of our decisions.

We often create stories to address one problem, only to have it take on a life of its own. More difficult is when such a story is religion and the tendency towards absolutism is a strong psychological pull. Jung's "The Undiscovered Self" helps us see where when dealing with fanaticism we may unwittingly pull similar tendencies from within ourselves.

Exploring C.G. Jung's collection of essays "The Undiscovered Self." The struggle between individual responsibility and the pull of collective identities where responsibility for standing for what one believes is give away. Why do you believe what you do?

Working through "concept creep" and how our mental system of association can expand what is included in ideas and exclude a more nuanced and expansive understanding of experience. No single perspective holds all of reality, we progress in personal growth within our shared humanity through the exploration of varying visions identifying what is important. Mentions: Psychology Today, Mad in America