Psychology comes from the Greek word which is a combination of Psychology and the word psyche and logos. Psyche means soul and logos means science. Literally defined psychology as the science of the soul. The term psyche or soul is still difficult to define because it is the soul of objects that are abstract, hard to see his form, although it can not be denied its existence. In recent decades the term soul is rarely used and is replaced with the term psychic.
Understanding of Psychology According to some experts

There are many experts who express opinions about the understanding of psychology, including:

    Understanding Psychology by Indonesia’s National Encyclopedia Volume 13 (1990), Psychology is the study of human and animal behavior that can be viewed either directly or that can not be seen directly.
    Understanding Psychology by Dakir (1993), discusses the psychology of human behavior in relation to its environment.
    Understanding Psychology by Muhibbin Shah (2001), psychology is the science that studies the behavior of open and closed in humans either as individuals or in groups, in relation to the environment. Open behavior is behavior that is covering the actions of psychomotor talking, sitting, walking and other sebgainya, while the behavior covered include thought, belief, feeling, and so forth.
    Of some of the above definitions can be concluded that the definition of psychology is the science which studies human behavior, both as individuals and in relation to its environment. Behavior is a behavior that is visible and invisible, conscious behavior and unconscious.

Can be seen that the understanding of psychology is the science of behavior. By the very nature of human behavior is very spacious, all are experienced and do a man’s behavior. Since getting out of bed to sleep again met by a variety of human behavior. Thus the object of psychology is very broad. Because of the breadth of the object being studied psychology, the science of psychology in its development are grouped into several areas:

    The development of psychology, the science that studies the behavior found in every stage of human development throughout the life span.
    Educational Psychology, the science which studies human behavior in educational situations.
    Social psychology, the science which studies human behavior in dealing with the surrounding community.
    Industrial Psychology, the science of behavior that emerged in the industry and organization.
    Clinical Psychology, the science which studies human behavior of healthy and unhealthy, normal and abnormal, viewed from the psychological aspect.

Thus some understanding of psychology according to experts, hopefully can help.

If you liked the biopic “A Beautiful Mind” because you cared for American mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr.’s achievements and character, you might want to know how his theory of equilibrium really works and what it means. If so, you’re correct in coming here because the movie did what movies do, commercialized it, sexed it up and got it wrong.

That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have simplified it. Simplifying a theory is not only good, but it’s ability to be simplified is a mark of elegance and, often, applicability to the real world (though not always). With those thoughts in mind, let’s see what the theory posits.

The Nash Equilibrium shows how selfish competitors should act in relation to those whom they compete against. It deals with individual needs and desires in a group context and must take into account likely human behavior.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Swiss political philosopher, suggested a situation in his 1755 “Discourse on Inequality” that has led to something called the Deer Game. In it, four starving people are in the forest where they might catch a rabbit or a deer. A deer is the better catch but one may be caught only if the four work together.

If three go out and catch rabbits, the chance for a deer to be caught is lost. The fourth must forget venison and content himself with rabbit. This is a Nash Equilibrium because each person does his selfish best given what the others do and because no one has an incentive to switch hunting strategies. Thus, order arises from competitive struggle.

In a slightly altered scenario, three of the group want to catch a deer. The fourth must decide if he wants to just catch his rabbit and spoil the dreams of venison for the others or join them in the hunt for the deer and participate in the feast that will follow. It’s in the fourth’s selfish interest, then, to join the others in the hunt for the deer. This is also a Nash Equilibrium because each person pursues his own interest and does the best he can.

Now let’s see how the movie gets it backward. In this poorly contrived scene there are four men in a bar, including Nash (Crowe). A fairly flashy blond walks in with four brunet companions, an event immediately noticed by the aroused male quartet. Nash suggests at this point (after some wild and meaningless scribbling) that it would be in their combined interest for the four of them to go after the brunets on the supposition that they’d all at least get a woman. But it’s not simply “a woman” that each man wants. They all want the blond and, because she can’t be shared in the way that the deer can be, they would each want to trade their brunet for the blond. This is a complete misstatement of Nash’s Equilibrium. No group equilibrium is attainable without resolution or satisfaction, clearly missing in the situation.

The film’s logic would say that children will pick up only the pennies on a sidewalk and not the hundred dollar bill lying next to them because they can’t all have the bill. All sorts of motivations suggest otherwise, like normal human greed, acquisitiveness, need, security, etc.

If the century note, on the other hand were at a height roughly equal to the combined height of the children if they formed a human ladder, they would then be acting in their own selfish interest, with the prior agreement, of course to split the $100. Each child then walks away with $25 — a far better outcome than a penny, and an equilibrium attained. Another victory for Nash’s theory.

Why would director Ron Howard and his screenwriter, Akiva Goldsman, get it so wrong? Could it be that they didn’t understand it and, if so, why wouldn’t they have studied it closer? Could this be their belief that most people wouldn’t care or notice a misrepresentation for the sake of a little spice to boost the commercial prospects? Was it marketing potentials that lead them to choose a blond over a deer? They’re not alone. Other directors/writers/studios have done as much and it’s always an insult to the intelligence of the audience.

I hope this little run-through of so fascinating a subject will serve to correct the error of their ways, but let’s be real and not expect too much from an exposé of commercial motivations. Still, we urge filmmakers to be more careful with their material and more respectful of their audiences.

Of further interest for scholars and followers, the skinny on Nash per his autobiography resides on nobelprize.org, URL=http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1994/nash
-autobio.html — It covers his work in game theory but doesn’t even mention the Equilibrium.

Psychologists study such phenomena as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior, and interpersonal relationships.

Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including issues related to daily life—e.g.

family, education, and work—and the treatment of mental health problems. Psychology is one of the behavioral sciences — a broad field that spans the social and natural sciences.

Psychology attempts to understand the role human behavior plays in social dynamics while incorporating physiological and neurological processes into its conceptions of mental functioning.

Psychology includes many sub-fields of study and application concerned with such areas as human development, sports, health, industry, law, and spirituality. Psychology describes and attempts to explain consciousness, behavior, and social interaction.

Empirical psychology is primarily devoted to describing human experience and behavior as it actually occurs.

Since the 1980s, psychology has begun to examine the relationship between consciousness and the brain or nervous system.

It is still not clear how these interact: does consciousness determine brain states or do brain states determine consciousness – or are both going on in various ways? There are several branches of psychology.

Comparative psychology refers to the study of the behavior and mental life of animals other than human beings.

It is related to disciplines outside of psychology that study animal behavior, such as ethology.

Although the field of psychology is primarily concerned with humans, the behavior and mental processes of animals is also an important part of psychological research, either as a subject in its own right (e.g., animal cognition and ethology), or with strong emphasis about evolutionary links, and somewhat more controversially, as a way of gaining an insight into human psychology by means of comparison or via animal models of emotional and behavior systems as seen in neuroscience of psychology. Personality psychology studies enduring psychological patterns of behavior, thought and emotion, commonly called an individual’s personality.

Mainly focusing on the development of the human mind through the life span, developmental psychology seeks to understand how people come to perceive, understand, and act within the world and how these processes change as they age.

This may focus on intellectual, cognitive, neural, social, or moral development.

Quantitative psychology involves the application of mathematical and statistical modeling in psychological research, and the development of statistical methods for analyzing and explaining behavioral data. Psychometrics is the field of psychology concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits.

My Dream on the Other Night:

I dreamed of a passenger train wherein the passengers are my great aunt,her husband, my father, and my younger uncle. Then, when I saw my father riding in that passenger train, I embraced him. He said to me that it is alright. I can get along with my life. When I woke up, I am afraid of what might have happen because of that dream. I also told my dad about my dream. His suggestion is that I should ignore that dream because it is only a dream and there is no significance meaning or bad omen that it might interpret. 

Dream Interpretation:

To dream of a train means conformity according to the Dreammoods.Com. It means that I can get along with the personalities of the members of Fortalejo clan. It is also an advice that I should lay things on the sequential method. Dreammoods.Com also added that dreaming of a train signifies that I am in training of a certain goal. It also refers to a life’s journey wherein I take heed of what my father said in my dream. Noted here that in my waking life, my father is still alive. To dream a train also means that the life’s journey is on the right track and things would work out well in the end. 

To dream of embracing my father in my dream signifies that I should show more care, love and affection to my father according to the Dreammoods.Com. To tell you the truth, I am less patient with my father. It is because that he is aging and his ears doesn’t function well unlike before. He is also “makulit” and always treated me like a baby instead of giving me more independence like a matured adult. Sometimes, I blamed my father with my frustration over M. K. T.  Therefore, I will take this sound advice that I should be more patient with my father. I should treat him with respect, honor, love and affection because he is the only wise and loving person who cares for me.

God bless you all!!! 

My Dream Last Night:

I dreamed again of the past working environment in a Chinese hardware company wherein I worked from 2010 to 2011. I saw the same people who are working as Accounting staffs in the Accounting Department. I also saw my treacherous enemy, the manager of the said department. Then, in my dream, I was still working in that Chinese hardware company as an Accounting staff. My job responsibilities is to encode or to manage a data to the Accounting Information System. Then, I told the manager, which I also considered as my treacherous enemy, that I already have a job as an Accounting Clerk in Makati wherein I currently worked with. I also said that I am happy with that company and it is a Marketing Research company. I also told her that I am also contented and happy with the present people I worked with in that Marketing Research company. Then, I have a struggle to control my dream as to change the setting to the current working environment wherein I presently worked in Makati. Then, I had overcome that I could go back to my current boss in the Marketing Research company. I wonder what this dream all about. When I woke up, I feel thirsty and tired. I go to the bathroom to do a bowel movement. Then, a glass of water. 

Dream Interpretation or Meaning:

To dream that I am working at the office meaning that I can simply not leaving my stress or work. I had been overworked or stressful. To see an executive or officer in the dream means that I need discipline and direction in my career path. I may be relying on the leadership guidance of someone who is better or higher than me. To dream also of an office symbolizes my practicality, status, accomplishments, and my place in the waking life. To see the co-workers in the dream (whether present or past) it suggested that I would be working on the present working relationships in the current working environment.  

Conclusion: 

The main theme here is I forgave because I know that this is the best way for me to ease the pain. But, I would not forget the way they degraded my self-esteem and dignity. I treasured my self-identity, self-esteem and dignity because I am a Homo sapien created by God which is higher than any animals or plants psychologically, spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually. I would do this to help others that they should protect themselves from those harmful people who wanted to degrade their self-esteem and self-identity.

Until recently, morality was viewed as something that humans were forced to develop in order to maintain societal order, to keep chaos from breaking out lest our natural “base urges” overtake us and cause us to run amok. 

But Frans de Waal, a biologist at Emory University in Atlanta, told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science that “humans have a lot of pro-social tendencies.”

New research on higher animals from primates and elephants to mice shows there is a biological basis for behavior such as cooperation, said de Waal, author of “The Age of Empathy: Nature’s Lessons for a Kinder Society.”

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De Waal explained that human children — and most higher animals — are “moral” in a scientific sense, because they need to cooperate with each other to reproduce and pass on their genes.

Biologist Thomas Henry Huxley argued in the 19th century that morality is absent in nature and something created by humans, and that point of view has been commonly held until research showed it to be incorrect.

And de Waal wants it known that Charles Darwin never had a thing to do with perpetuating that harsh view, nor did it have anything to do with his Theory of Evolution.

“Darwin was much smarter than most of his followers,” said de Waal, quoting from Darwin’s “The Descent of Man” that animals that developed “well-marked social instincts would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience.”

De Waal showed the audience at the meeting videos from laboratories revealing the dramatic emotional distress of a monkey denied a treat that another monkey received; and of a rat giving up chocolate in order to help another rat escape from a trap.

Such research shows that animals naturally have pro-social tendencies for “reciprocity, fairness, empathy and consolation,” said de Waal.

“Human morality is unthinkable without empathy.”

Carsten Wrosch, Concordia University (Canada), analyzed the relationship between failures and bitterness about the quality of life.and noticed that some people manage to avoid resentment while others are marked by a constant feeling of resentment towards other.

To analyze in depth the phenomenon specialist noted that “the constant resentment can result in global feelings of anger and hostility that, when strong enough, can affect the physical health of people.”

Personal failure, say the specialists in human behavior, is a major cause of resentment, especially characterized by emotions of anger and recrimination. While repentance involves self-blame, resentment means blaming others for what happens to oneself.

“When this emotion is entertained for too long, the bitterness of deregulation predict biological patterns (a physiological impairment that affects the metabolism, immune responses and organ functions) and physical illnesses,” emphasizes Wrosch.

But this situation is positive with a solution. Wrosch ensures that you can prevent and alleviate resentment to find new ways to feel satisfied with their own objectives. If unable to meet the goals, then it is important to ignore the issue and start a project that is just as significant.

This process of engagement and re-commit is called self-regulation and Wrosch considered very important for mental health. “Any effective therapeutic intervention depends on the individual concerned find ways to self-regulate,” he said.

Sometimes it takes another extra feeling to overcome resentment. Wrosch stressed that when someone is really responsible for their own problems then the key to not hold on to anger is to forgive.

What would you do if you just now learned of this really happen? You will see that you have left little over a year of your life. Would you still go to work every day? I think it would be very life on earth has changed … there was panic among the people. Everybody would like to have the best … the best cars … women’s … meals …. Travel around the world.

It is pity of the world there is hatred and greed…racism…terrorists…..If it did not exist… and people would invest more money into research and not in weapons and warfare among themselves…preferably in space research.

Maybe….maybe there would be a chance that we would survive this… we could explored the universe around us.

Build with this technology, which unfortunately we do not have a space station in the universe, and thus save humanity.

I wish that there were not such people because of whom war and money are being spent for things less necessary now …. where would we be if we gave money to researches.

Please: Everybody think about ourselves and behave toward each other well.

- Life is not just about the money

image via Wikipedia

To many people who are curious about the roots and origins of Criminology, Cesare Lombroso is considered known to be the proponents of the science, founding the Italian School of Positivist Criminology, he explored it and examined it from several angles so as to expose it.  It was initially employed by a law professor in Italy, Raffaele Garofalo, who first used the Italian term for the word, criminologia.  A French anthropologist additionally used the term around the same era as Garofalo, who established the term as criminology.  There are some who believe that it’s possible that the study of bumps on a person’s skull, called Phrenology, could be a better mark of representation when it comes to the scientific origins of the term.  Lombroso is considered to be the father of criminology as a result of of the many advances that he attempted to form in the sector.  If not for him, criminology would possibly not be as developed as it’s today.

Over time, several totally different theories were composed as to what caused criminal behavior.  These theories have their roots in biology, psychology, and society, to name some.  Throughout history, by using these foundations for brand new theories, different institutions and schools of thought began to emerge.  Through these totally different colleges of thought, the theoretical science of the criminal factor could be rationalized.  People usually debate so as to try to define the explanation for crime, therefore that it might then be eliminated by solving the problem of what causes crime.  By discovering and reacting to the cause that motivates the crime and perverse behavior, better steps of social control could be executed.  Currently, we are gaining ability to control the symptoms of crime.  For example, we have cops who catch criminals.  When found guilty of the accused crime, the criminal can move to jail.  That takes the criminal out of society.  However, there are new felons coming out every day.  The society learned how to deal with the symptoms, the individual criminals, however we have not yet totally figured out what stimulate or cause the criminal behavior.

Throughout the history of criminology, this is the major aim of the science.  Since it’s a theoretical science, all of the theories that correspond to the subject cannot immediately be proven as accurate or inaccurate, merely theoretical.  However, the continuous effort of individuals to idealize the workings of the individual and society have been reworked and re-outlined since the term was coined.  If the history of criminology shows us anything, it is that the human nature to determine right from wrong and therefore the variations between individuals recognizing the distinction is just about a timeless theme, at least since its birth.  By continuously researching and documenting the variables and changes within society and crime, individuals who are interested in learning about criminology can align the theories with the established information.  After this is often done, it’s possible to sit down and analyze the concurrent factors to come up with the best action plan when it comes to evolving society to limit crime and intolerance in the best way possible. 

First of all, the concept of abnormality is quite an arguable concept because it has varied in the course of time and even today there is no agreement among specialists on this concept. The main reason for such a diversity of views of the concept of abnormality may found in the definition of the concept itself, because the definition of abnormality is closely interrelated to the concept of a norm. What is meant here is the fact that the abnormality is traditionally perceived as a deviation from a norm, for instance, an abnormal behavior is the behavior that does not match socially accepted standards and norms of behavior. Paradoxically, such a definition of abnormality can be applied to all epochs and societies, though slight and insignificant variations are possible.

In such a situation, it is quite logical that the concept of abnormality was highly dependent on the socio-cultural environment and cultural context of the epoch in which this concept was developed and applied. Obviously, the existing norms and standards, as well as beliefs, defined the essence of the abnormality, its causes, essence and methods of the treatment of people having some abnormalities in their behavior and psychology. In this respect, it is possible to refer to the ancient epoch, when views and beliefs of people were substantially influenced by their perception of the surrounding world at large and human beings in particular. For instance, one of the prominent philosophers of the ancient world, Plato, insisted on the external origin of the abnormality in human’s behavior. To put it more precisely, he argued that the deviation from the norm, i.e. the abnormal behavior of people was provoked by evil spirits, who took possession over humans and provoked the abnormal behavior. At this point, people living in the ancient epoch basically agreed with Plato. Though they did not accept his idea that the abnormality was caused by “natural madness, usually caused by a disease” (Parker et al. 1995:92). In stark contrast, ancient philosophers and the general public believed that the abnormality is rather a punishment of an individual from the part of gods for his or her misbehavior or disrespect of gods, for instance.

This mystic view of the cause and essence of the abnormality was maintained in the later epoch, the Middle Ages, while the idea of Plato concerning the natural cause of the abnormality was unjustly rejected and it is only in the later epoch mental health problems were identified as the main cause of the abnormal behavior. At the same time, during the Middle Ages the shift had taken place in relation to the abnormality since the dominance of Christianity led to the interpretation of the cause of the abnormality as the fact of being “possessed by demons” (Hockenbury and Hockenbury 2003:112). In a way, the medieval demons may be compared to evil spirits of the ancient epoch. However, the dominance of Christianity and Inquisition resulted in the absolutely inhuman, from the contemporary point of view, treatment of people with abnormal behavior. These people were exorcised by the churches or even burned at the stake for possessing the demons (Hockenbury and Hockenbury 2003:132).

The Renaissance and Enlightenment stimulated the development of science and change in the attitude of people to the abnormality. During this epoch, humanistic principles had been introduced. Moreover, ideas of ancient philosophers, including Plato, were revived and reevaluated. As a result, the view of abnormality steadily grew closer to the contemporary scientific view of this problem.

However, it is only by the early 19th century the concept of abnormality had been changed consistently (King 1998:4). To put it more precisely, the idea of being possessed by evil spirits or demons was totally rejected, instead, the idea of natural causes, such as a mental illness, became commonly accepted. These ideas and views of the abnormality were developed further, but there were still certain differences in views. For instance, supporters of biological approach believed that the abnormality was provoked by illness and health problems on the biological level, i.e. the abnormality was viewed as some malfunction of human body (Hansell and Damour, 2005). Behavioral and psychological approach tended to focus on psychological and mental causes of the abnormality (Bennett 2003:94).

Nevertheless, in spite of existing differences, the attitude of people to those, who had the abnormal behavior, had changed dramatically. Since the abnormality was and still is viewed as an illness, people who have this problem are treated by healthcare specialist and receive essential assistance from the part of healthcare and social services as well as relatives who take care of these people. Moreover, asylums, which were created for the treatment of people with abnormalities, tend to disappear as the concept of the community treatment and integration grows more and more popular in regard to people with abnormality (Bennett 2003:97). As a result, today people with abnormality, if they are not socially dangerous, tend to be integrated in the normal, social life.