Ah, Russ. How could I forget you. You are the origin of one of my best pieces of writing. Also, thank you for putting me on your substack output. I should do more than lurk, but at the very least, I should let you know I am lurking.
Nick On Fri, May 9, 2025 at 10:15 AM Russ Abbott <[email protected]> wrote: > Nick, After you were kind enough to remember me, how can I not reply? > Unfortunately I have nothing to say other than I enjoyed the pictures > Jochen's post created in my head. > > -- Russ > > On Fri, May 9, 2025, 3:17 AM <[email protected]> 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 <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Jochen Fromm >> *Sent:* Thursday, April 24, 2025 2:10 PM >> *To:* The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group < >> [email protected]> >> *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/ > -- Nicholas S. Thompson Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology Clark University [email protected] https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson
.- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. 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/
