Understanding Cognitive Processes, Cosmogenesis, and Freud’s Theories
Cognitive Psychology: Understanding Mental Processes
Cognitive psychology studies mental processes, analyzing and proposing mechanisms to interpret general principles of intelligence. It postulates that human beings are constantly changing and can modify themselves through willpower. Intelligence can be modified through learning, leading to changes in cognitive structure. Effective psychological methods and learning techniques can enhance cognitive performance.
Performance without schooling often results in the inefficient use of cognitive functions. Cognitive structural modification involves a complex network of interactions within the body, leading to dynamic changes in intelligence.
Cosmogenesis: The Evolution of Complexity and Consciousness
Alpha Point
Particles are added to the planetary system, following the law of complexity and consciousness. Complexity arises from the meeting of diverse elements forming a whole.
Biosphere
The synthesis of carbon in DNA and RNA leads to increased complexity.
Effects: Life appears with its own characteristics. Animals populate the land, developing more complex nervous systems and larger brains (cephalization).
Noosphere
Thinking emerges from the complexity of the nervous system.
Hominization
A leap from instinct to thought occurs, representing advanced complexity from mammals to humans, enabling humans to think.
Greater Complexity
Knowledge and love drive the noosphere forward.
Omega Point
The final competition law culminates in Omega, which is seen as Christ.
Christian life views God as the beginning and the end, striving for a better world.
Freud’s Theories on Personality and Instincts
The Three Instances in Personality
- Id: The instinctive, impersonal part containing repressed elements, governed by the pleasure principle.
- Ego: The central mediator within the psychic apparatus, open to the external world, meeting needs based on the reality principle. It is the executive section of the person.
- Superego: A critical part of the psyche, expressing prohibitions, goals, and aspirations, dominating and punishing the ego.
Instinctual Drives
- The Self: Self-preservation of the individual.
- Sexual Impulses: Impulses originating from various somatic sources, important in the etiology of neurosis.
- Libido: Sexual energy driving impulses.
- Libido of the Ego: The subject becomes the object of their libido.
- Object Libido: Libido is directed towards an external object or person.
Instinctual Powers
- Eros (Life Drives): Tends to establish and maintain unifications, promoting pairing.
- Thanatos (Death Drives): Drives to disengage and regress to an inanimate state, following the nirvana principle.
John Rawls: Justice as Fairness
Justice as Fairness: Principles of justice include:
- Everyone should have the same extensive rights, compatible with a similar system of freedom for all.
- Social and economic inequalities must be arranged to benefit the least advantaged, ensuring fairness.