Thu 15 May 1997 21:02
185lbs cloudy skies, but warm, at last
she said, oh I was hoping you would stop by after your meeting, i jumped up every time I heared someone.
do you realise
how much this means?
love
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Thu 01 May 1997
Statement of interest in and commitment to the field of psychology
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This essay contest has asked me to consider the future of humanity. In turn, I ask those who read this essay to consider their own future, because the future of humanity is the future of many individuals. In this essay, I outline a research program which every individual can use to optimize her or his present and future experience. This research program, if adopted by members in the field of behavioral science, can also be used to determine how to encourage people to act in their own best interest and in the best interest of the local, national, and global community of which each person is a part.
The basic principle of this research program is that every human problem is experienced on the individual level. If there is a problem for humanity it is because it is a problem for the individual human. It is part of the same phenomenon that every human problem is caused because of individual humans. It is not “big government,” “big business,” overpopulation, or drugs that are the cause of our problems, the cause is individual people who act in ways which adversely affect their own selves and other people.
Let us consider any problem, from the trivial, to the most serious. The holocaust occurred because some individuals assisted in the murder of millions of other individuals. Environmental pollution occurs in part because millions of people drive cars every day. What is it that we want that causes us to act in ways which create such disastrous problems? On the other hand, what is it that we do that can make being alive so beautiful? These are questions we need to ask.
The central question of the research program I propose is: “What is meaningful experience and how can it be achieved?” Here are some questions that follow: How can we live the most meaningful lives? Why is it that we act in ways that damage our environment and destroy other people? How can we create a society in which people act in both their own best interest and the best interest of their communities?
For the rest of this essay, I present my hypothesis that by encouraging individuals to actively and openly ask these questions and challenge each other to come up with solid answers, we will create a society in which individuals live meaningful lives without adversely affecting themselves and the people around them. I will discuss how my hypothesis can be tested and further developed, and how, if proved worthy, it can be implemented.
First, let us test this hypothesis on the individual level. If you or I ask what meaningful experience is, with others, in an active, challenging, and open way, will we decrease our behaviors which adversely affect other people? Test this by spending some time thinking about these questions by yourself, and by finding some people who are also willing to work on these questions on their own, and make time to meet with them to discuss your efforts. The psychological literature on identity development and optimal experience supports this hypothesis. I include references at the end of this essay if you are interested.
In order to demonstrate the usefulness of this type of questioning process for causing positive social change, three effects should be demonstrated: the people who engage in the questioning process should (1) find their lives as enjoyable or more enjoyable than they did before beginning the questioning process; (2) demonstrate a reduction in behaviors which adversely affect other individuals; and (3) demonstrate an increase in behaviors which positively affect themselves and the people around them.
A second part of this hypothesis is that this questioning process causes people to seek an effective way of answering their questions. In some environments, it is likely that the method of choice will be the scientific method. An understanding of scientific research methods allows one to consider a large amount of psychological research on human development, including identity development and optimal experience which are closely related to our questions of interest.
If field experiments find support for this hypothesis, the next step will be implementing a curriculum change in middle and secondary school. This new curriculum would include time and encouragement for students to experience this personal and interpersonal questioning process, as well as exposure to psychological research methods and our accumulated knowledge on human development. I target adolescents because, according to the literature on identity development, adolescence is the first time people are able to ask these type of questions which can determine the direction of the rest of a person’s life.
I believe that the questioning process itself is so fulfilling that we have the potential to create a renaissance in which people are encouraged to focus on themselves as the profound and creative thinkers that we are. As a result of this change of focus from distant media figures and politicians, and national events, to ourselves and the people around us, and our local communities, people will begin to realize the greatness and beauty they and their communities can achieve.
The globalization of this type of social change will occur in two ways: (1) when the people in industrialized nations begin to orient themselves not to consume more but to experience more, the rest of the world will notice, and (2) if my hypothesis is correct and is effective at producing the desired changes in human experience and behavior, it will be easier to have it implemented around the world.
In this essay I have presented the hypothesis that by encouraging individuals to actively and openly question what is the best way to live, we can accomplish desired social change. This hypotheses remains to be refined and tested, and if it proves worthy, implemented. I am interested in talking with you further about the issues I have discussed here, as well as the results of your personal test of this hypothesis if you are able to carry it out. Please email me at: cleath@u.washington.edu. If you would like to check on the progress of my work on this issue, please visit the homepage of a group I have started: http://weber.u.washington.edu/~being
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Csikszentmihalyi, I. S. (1988). Optimal experience. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Durning, A. T. (1996). This place on earth: home and the practice of permanence. Seattle: Sasquatch Books.
Marcia, J. E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of Adolescent Psychology (pp. 159-187). New York: Wiley.
Maslow, A. (1976). Religions, values and peak-experiences. New York: Penguin Books Ltd.
Novak, M. (1970). The experience of nothingness. New York: Haper & Row.
Skinner, B. F. (1971). Beyond freedom and dignity. New York: Knopf.