You have quite an emotional response to Lamia, Nick. --- Frank C. Wimberly 140 Calle Ojo Feliz, Santa Fe, NM 87505
505 670-9918 Santa Fe, NM On Fri, May 9, 2025, 4:17 AM <thompnicks...@gmail.com> wrote: > Oh Gosh, Jochen. On the one hand I am deeply indebted to FRIAM members > for allowing me to noodle in areas of thought where I have no business; on > the other hand, I feel obligated not to hide from you how very, very bad I > think Mary C. Lamia’s thinking is. In the first place, lover of metaphors > that am, I think the anthropomorphism of the brain is one of the most > dangerous metaphors a human can bring to psychology, because it sets off an > eternal loop of thought from which there is no escape. Meteorology and > Psychology have much in common. They both have to do with objects with > innards operating in environments. With Psychology, the objects are human, > the innards are the guts and brain, and the environment is the people and > things around us. In Meteorology, the objects are the storms, the innards > are the fronts and other structures of cyclones, and the environment is the > earth’s surface and the larger circulation of its atmosphere. Perhaps I > feel drawn to Meteorology just because it seems so like a behavioral > science. (Or, to get the order of events right, I was drawn to Psychology > because it was so like Meteorology.) But we must keep our levels of > organization straight. And if we, like Mary C., are to make metaphors > between the whole (the person) and the part (the brain) and then to say > that the part is manipulating the whole, she ought to be damn clear what > kind of metaphorical world she his let herself into or she will never get > out alive. I don’t think she knows anything she is talking about. I would > be terrified if one of my college-aged grandchildren were to fall into the > hands of such a person. > > > > I am deeply sorry if I am being a jerk. (And will no doubt deeplier > sorrier when one of you points out both that I am both being a jerk and > that I am wrong). If you were tempted to carry on this conversation > further, now I have been a jerk, I would love to explore with you how some > aspect of Mary’s thought accorded with your experience and perhaps gave you > comfort or insight because of that. When she talks of the brain, what is > she actually talking about for you. Because, if one thing is damned sure, > it is that when people talk about their brains, they are talking about > something they have never touched or seen or heard or felt. They are > talking about a beetle in a box, a nothing. Or they are using the brain as > a model of behavior. > > > > OK, Russ, Dave, Glen, Marcus, Erics, have at me. > > > > Nick > > > > *From:* Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com> *On Behalf Of *Jochen Fromm > *Sent:* Thursday, April 24, 2025 2:10 PM > *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group < > friam@redfish.com> > *Subject:* [FRIAM] Your personal truth > > > > If Nick shares his struggles with weather I can share my unqualified > thoughts about psychology :-P I was thinking about the orange menace, how > he deceives everyone and how he manipulates his followers by controlling > their emotions and I was wondering if emotions deceive us in general. Do > emotions deceive us by creating a reality distortion field that paints the > objects they have identified as desirable (primarily food & mates for > supper and pairing time) in the brightest colors? > > > > Emotions certainly need to manipulate us in order to control us. Their > purpose is to influence our behavior and interactions. Psychologist Mary C. > Lamia writes "Without any deliberate effort on your part, your brain > evaluates every situation you encounter and decides if an emotion should be > activated to alert and protect you" [1]. They are in a sense the PR machine > and advertising agency of the body. As if the body would create an > advertising agency that highlights the objects it should seek. > > > > Emotions deceive us because they exaggerate. If we are in love they turn > the desired object of person into some kind of wonderful dream. We only > perceive positive traits while negative ones are overlooked. If we hate > something we only perceive negative traits. These distortions act on top of > your beliefs which "create a cognitive lens through which you interpret the > events of your world" [2] > > > > They exaggerate to alert and protect us. Mary C. Lamia writes "By creating > anxiety, anger, sadness, fear, guilt, shame, disgust, embarrassment, or any > number of emotional responses that your brain has at its disposal, your > emotional system attempts to inform and protect you by making you feel > whatever it is you need to know." [1] > > > > Emotions deceive us because they can be misguided based on your previous > experience, for example in anxiety disorders or addiction: "Your emotional > system has no reason to lie, although it can be misguided based on your > previous experiences in the world that have informed it." [1] > > > > Apparently emotions create a personal truth for each of us which shows us > the world as they (on behalf of our selfish genes) want us to see it. A > kind of personalized, distorted version of reality that reflects the > importance of each object based on our personal longings and desires. Mary > C. Lamia writes "nevertheless, your emotions will tell you the truth - your > truth - even if you don't want to listen." [1] > > > > [1] > https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/intense-emotions-and-strong-feelings/201208/do-emotions-lie > > > > [2] > https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-forward/202009/how-your-thinking-creates-your-reality > > > > -J. > > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / > ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >
.- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom https://bit.ly/virtualfriam to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ archives: 5/2017 thru present https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/
