{"id":104,"date":"2020-04-23T18:45:24","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T18:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disordersofmood.com\/personal-research\/?p=104"},"modified":"2020-08-02T20:59:45","modified_gmt":"2020-08-02T20:59:45","slug":"the-puppy-and-its-trainer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disordersofmood.com\/personal-research\/the-puppy-and-its-trainer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Puppy and its Trainer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
There’s a world of difference between a dog that is off the leash
\n\t and a dog that is trained to be off the leash<\/p>\n

\t  — \t Don Sullivan <\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

To explain why people act counter to their own interests, Freud used the metaphor of a horse and its rider [unconscious and conscious motivational systems]. I will use a two-mind model proposed by Epstein<\/a> and the metaphor of a puppy and a puppy-trainer. <\/p>\n

All living creatures, from humans to worms, are able to learn from experience<\/em> to follow paths that lead to good outcomes and avoid those that are harmful to them or their offspring. In addition to this Experiential Processing System<\/em>, humans have access to an Abstract Processing System. <\/em> This powerful resource is not available to lower animals and very young children. The attributes of these two processing systems are contrasted in the table below:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
Experiential Processing System
\n [The Puppy]<\/span><\/strong><\/em>\n <\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
Abstract Processing System
\n [The Puppy Trainer]<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pleasure-pain oriented: What feels best now<\/td>\nRationally oriented: What yields the greatest net benefits<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Primarily influenced by immediate stressors and temptations<\/td>\nPrimarily influenced by one’s core values and motivations<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Associations determined by the principles of classical conditioning<\/td>\n\n

Associations determined by the principles of logic<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Long evolutionary history, and operates in animals as well as humans<\/td>\nBrief evolutionary history, operates only at times of cognitive surplus <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Holistic<\/td>\nAnalytic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Influenced by the salience<\/strong> of a stimulus<\/td>\nInfluenced by the meaning<\/strong> of a stimulus<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Encodes reality in concrete images, metaphors and narratives<\/td>\nEncodes reality in abstract symbols, words and numbers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Behavior driven by the local environment —  the PIG <\/td>\nBehavior driven by principles and values — Core Motivation <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rapid processing: Oriented toward immediate action<\/td>\nSlower processing: Oriented toward future action<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Slow to change: Change requires repetitive or intense experience<\/td>\nRapid to change: Changes with the speed of thought<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Emotionally reactive<\/td>\nDetached, dispassionate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Experienced passively, outside of conscious awareness [one is seized by one’s emotions]<\/td>\nExperienced actively and consciously [one deliberately thinks through problems]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Certainty is self-evident [seeing is believing]<\/td>\nCertainty requires justification via logic and evidence<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Phenomenologist: <\/strong>Perceives events from the first-person<\/em> perspective<\/strong><\/td>\nPsychologist: Perceives events from the observer’s<\/em> [3rd-person<\/em>] perspective<\/strong><\/td>\n
Experience including: perception and motivation are state dependent<\/td>\nRational analysis is independent of one emotional state<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

When it comes to solving complex problems, abstract processing is greatly superior to experiential processing, but it is only available under certain conditions:<\/h4>\n