Psychological Theories & Lit. Crit.

[Aberforth's Goat]

No: HPFGUIDX 7508

> I'm really looking forward to a psychlogical theory based on Chaos theory.
Maybe then it
> will be established that on a very deep level there is randomality in our
thoughts,
> decisions and actions.

_The Emperor's New Mind_ (Penrose) is an example of that sort of thinking. I
only read parts of it, and it was a few years ago, but IIRC the book
combines Gdel theorems, quantum dynamics and chaos theory to shore up old
psychological bedrocks like freedom and subjectivity. Penrose wanted to
prove that our pyschology is fundamentally non-algorithmic, could never
(even in principle) be reduced to a computer program.

> Then we will be more busy looking at the beauty of the patterns our
> minds create (akin to the beauty of the patterns nature creates), instead
of obsessing about
> underdetermining causes.

Do you? Really? I'm not sure. To believe that something (our pasts, our
brains, our souls, our hang ups, God, the CIA, whatever) causes people to be
who they are, is reassuring. It implies that I can (or could, at least
theoretically) make sense of things people say, do or write, rather than
just gawp at them. And if I could understand why Jo (or Dostojevski) wrote
this or that, I might understand something new about myself. At which point,
I might even see how to repair a broken part or two, maybe even grow a bit

(Of course, that leaves open the small question of freedom--but does making
freedom a by-product of a chaotic interaction between quantum-dynamic brain
squiggles really help?)

Which all goes to prove that interpreting Hermione in terms of penis envy is
actually a serious and healthy pursuit ... (j/k!) (BTW, I'm very thankful
for people like Ebony, Pam and CMC who can actually use the psychoanalytic
tradition for anything besides off-color jokes. Their inputs have been
fascinating!)

Baaaaaa!

Aberforth's Goat (a.k.a. Mike Gray)
http://profiles.yahoo.com/aberforths_goat