Subconceptual Processing in Health and Healing (From My PhD Thesis)
People worldwide face enormous healthcare problems for which the more resources we focus on solving them, the worse they become. Many solutions give temporary relief, followed by further deterioration. [see About ‘Subconceptual’] Some examples are depression, obesity, psycho-somatic disorders and drug addiction. Looking at pharmaceutical drugs. In spite of the general view that these cure Read the full article…
Infinity
Mathematicians are working on the concept of ‘infinity’ and search it somewhere ‘at the end’ of an infinite series. In that case you may search for a very long time .. Though: the end of a series is still within that series and since that series, by definition, has no end, infinity doesn’t exist within Read the full article…
What Is Morality to A.I.?
Agreed: it’s not even evident what ‘morality’ means to us. Soon comes A.I. Will it be ‘morally good’? Humans have a natural propensity towards morality. Whether we tend towards ‘good’ or ‘bad’, we have feelings and generally recognize these in others too, in humans and in animals. We share organic roots. We recognize suffering and Read the full article…
Less Control is More Control
The urge to control can seem like an addiction. Though it is obvious that an addict, on the contrary, has lost all control! ‘Knowledge is power.’ It has always been like that and it will forever remain so. What is changeable is the meaning of these words. Does ‘knowledge’ solely contain information or does it Read the full article…
Burn the Flag. Disobey the Law. Criticize Your Group.
Dear reader, please bear with me on this journey Or don’t. But if you do, then it may be apparent to you that anything about these three is ‘relative’. And even that is relative. In reverse: not giving into them can be very profoundly a symbolic action. For instance, the flag is just a piece Read the full article…
Is AURELIS a Sect?
… in that case I would be a guru, with all its negative connotations… No, thank you, I would rather not. Originally ‘guru’ simply means ‘teacher’. Then I think: a good ‘teacher’ strives to educate his ‘students’ so that they become better than himself. In that case, there might be an element of truth in Read the full article…
Weak, Hard, Strong, Gentle
One picture’s worth In this picture, I put weak versus hard, whereas gentle and strong are rather pointing to each other. In many real-life situations, people put the two blobs in the picture against each other. They don’t want to be (A), so they fall into (B) or vice versa. I see in this an Read the full article…
Beyond ‘Carrot and Stick’
Carrot and stick have a long history. Going beyond, one can foresee a future based on a more realistic view on human being. Reward and punishment are efficient means to make someone comply to rules and authority. So has always been thought and taught. Reality may have been quite more complicated. In the face of Read the full article…
Respect Has Many Faces
which are all related to a sense of morality: respect for the group, for authority, for human suffering… and also respect for ‘me’ which can be ego or total self. Delving towards ‘oneness’ The more one delves into human issues, the more one gets the feeling that everything is related. The deeper one goes, the Read the full article…
Manipulation of Empathy
Since empathy is a primordially social reflex, manipulation of empathy is relatively easy and can rightly be called ‘sociopathy’. Unfortunately, this is not seldom in politics worldwide. People are ‘natural empathizers’ but diverse in form and object. For example: empathy for close circle (family, ‘own people’…) versus empathy for wide circle (‘human rights’…). Thus, even Read the full article…
How to Open Someone to Change
Trying to ‘open’ someone to a change of view or behavior, is a common situation. It’s that of a coach with a coachee, or of you perhaps, wanting to ‘open’ someone to another view. People have a natural resistance to be changed. Quite rightly so. There is a natural tendency towards survival as an individual. Read the full article…
Politics: Left, Right, Up, Down
We see a lot of confusion in present-day politics. This may indicate the need for a fundamental shift in direction, not of some party or system but of the very idea of politics itself. What is left and right in politics, tends to change a lot especially over a number of decennia. At present, one Read the full article…
Authority?
‘Authority’: a word that divides many, may bring many back together. Not as a matter of fact though. The situation and an appeal to some caution Authority can be seen as always personal. For example, the ‘authority of scripture’ is the authority of those who command scripture to be authoritative. To some, ‘authority’ is nothing Read the full article…
Empathy and Morality
I (yes, I) contend that morality of a really human kind is basically based on empathy. Rationality is its servant. [This text is a continuation on ‘Landscape of Empathy’.] One may recognize a quote from the Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-1776) “Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can Read the full article…
The Middle Way of Dialogue
Dialogue: speaking while listening and listening while speaking. Dialogue strengthens. Unfortunately, there seems to be a growing lack of it. Speaking while listening Non-verbally, deeply attentive: showing yourself in your listening. It helps the other to speak well and thus it also helps your listening. Listening while speaking Straightforwardly: seeing the other ‘speak while listening’. Read the full article…
The Concept ‘Kindness For the Total Person’
Kindness… is probably the first word that comes to mind with reference to AURELIS. E.g. if you want to explain to anyone what AURELIS is about. It is also very important when you are doing an AURELIS session for example. The aim here is to allow you to be friendly to yourself. It’s not pushing Read the full article…
‘Willpower’
And then … there is still place for ‘willpower’. The power of the will to fight against … the will. Different ‘parts’ of yourself apparently want different things. Or without speaking about ‘parts’: apparently there are different, conflicting motivations present within you. You want this and you want that. You want to eat (too much) Read the full article…