I’ll put concepts here and link to and from them
A cognitive bias is a pattern of deviation in judgment, whereby inferences about other people and situations may be drawn in an illogical fashion.[1] Individuals create their own “subjective social reality” from their perception of the input.[2] An individual’s construction of social reality, not the objective input, may dictate their behaviour in the social world.[3] Thus, cognitive biases may sometimes lead to perceptual distortion, inaccurate judgment, illogical interpretation, or what is broadly called irrationality
A vision quest is a rite of passage in some Native American cultures. The ceremony of the vision quest is one of the most universal and ancient means to find spiritual guidance and purpose. In practicing cultures, vision quest is said to provide deep understanding of one’s life purpose.
A traditional Native American vision quest consists of a person spending one to four days and nights secluded in nature. This provides time for deep communion with the fundamental forces and spiritual energies of creation and self-identity. During this time of intense spiritual communication a person can receive profound insight into themselves and the world. This insight, typically in the form of a dream of Vision, relates directly to their purpose and destiny in life.
In many Native American groups the vision quest is a turning point in life taken to find oneself and the intended spiritual and life direction. The vision quest is often used as a Rite of Passage, marking the transition between childhood and full acceptance into society as an adult. A person’s first vision quest is typically done during their transformative teenage years. When an older child is ready, he will go on a personal, spiritual quest alone in the wilderness, often in conjunction with a period of fasting.[1] This usually lasts for a number of days while the child is attuned to the spirit world.[1] Usually, a Guardian animal or force of nature will come in a vision or dream and give guidance for the child’s life.[1] A vision quest helps the teenager to access spiritual communication and form complex abstract thoughts. Through this Rite of Passage the child becomes an adult, taking responsibility for themselves and their individual contribution to a healthy society. The child returns to the tribe and once the child has grown he or she will pursue that direction in life. After a vision quest, the child may become an apprentice of an adult in the tribe of the shown direction (Medicine Man, boat-maker and so on).
The vision quest is the learning and initiation process of the apprentice under the guidance of an elder.[1]
The vision quest may be said to make the initiated establish contact with a spirit or force. Psychologically, it may have effected hallucinations.[citation needed] When talking to Yellow Wolf, Lucullus Virgil McWhorter came to believe that the person fasts, and stays awake and concentrates on their quest until their mind becomes “comatose.”[1] It was then that their Weyekin (Nez Perce word) revealed itself.[1]
Inuit peoples also participated in this tradition.[2] For them the technique may be similar to sensory deprivation methods. It may include long periods of walking in uninhabited, mountainous areas (tundra, inland, mountain); fasting; sleep deprivation; or being closed in a small room (e.g. igloo).
Spotted Eagle Mountain in the southeast corner of Glacier National Park is near the headwaters of Badger Creek. It is an area favored by vision questers.[3]
Lakota Sioux – Crying for a Dream[edit]
The Lakota Sioux word for vision quest is Hembleciya (ham-blay-che-ya). The word Hembleciya translates to “Crying for a Dream.” This refers to the “quester” both physically and internally crying for a Vision or Sacred Dream. Sometimes this ceremony is called “going up on the hill,” because people would often go to a nearby mountain or butte to complete their vision quest.
Typically the quest is completed deep in nature, far away from civilization. At times it can be done closer to where people live, but located in a pit dug deep into the ground. The person on the vision quest either chooses or is told the location for their quest. They are also instructed in all preparations and on how many days and nights the quest will last by a Medicine Person (aka Holy Person). This Medicine Person will guide the quester in all aspects of the ceremony and provide spiritual support and guidance.
Before a vision quest is started the quester is purified in a sweat lodge, often over many days. On the day of the quest they start their fast at sunrise. They also forgo sleep and food. They give up all that it takes to live in the physical world and rely on the strength of spirit to sustain them for the duration of the quest.
The quester is purified one last time in a sweat lodge ceremony and then taken to the designated place of the quest. There they will stay without food, water or sleep for one to four nights. During this time the person focuses their heart, mind, body, and spirit on the guidance they are seeking. They must overcome their earthly wants and desires and face their human nature to fully receive the Vision.
Upon completion of the quest they are brought back to a sweat lodge. There, the quester speaks of his or her experience to a Medicine Person who provides spiritual guidance and interpretation of the Vision. The Medicine Person helps the quester understand his or her experience.
The Vision that is received will provide guidance to the person for the rest of their life. Some people are called to do many vision quests over the course of their lifetime.
See also[edit]
Operational definition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An example of operational definition of the term weight of an object, operationalized to a degree, would be the following: “weight is the numbers that appear when that object is placed on a weighing scale“. According to it, the weight can be any of the numbers shown on the scale after, including the very moment the object is put on it. Clearly, the inclusion of the moment when one can start reading the numbers on the scale would make it more fully an operational definition. Nonetheless, it is still in contrast to those purely theoretical definitions.
Critical thinking
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Critical thinking, also called critical analysis, is clear, rational thinking involving critique. Its details vary amongst those who define it. According to Beyer (1965)’critical thinking means making clear, reasoned judgments. During the process of critical thinking, ideas should be reasoned and well thought out/judged.[1] The National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking[2] defines critical thinking as the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.’[3]
Media culture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In cultural studies, media culture refers to the current western capitalist society that emerged and developed from the 20th century, under the influence of mass media. The term alludes to the overall impact and intellectual guidance exerted by the media (primarily TV, but also the press, radio and cinema), not only on public opinion but also on tastes and values.
The alternative term mass culture conveys the idea that such culture emerges spontaneously from the masses themselves, like popular art did before the 20th century.The expression media culture, on the other hand, conveys the idea that such culture is the product of the mass media. Another alternative term for media culture is “image culture.”
Media culture, with its declinations of advertising and public relations, is often considered as a system centered on the manipulation of the mass of society. Corporate media “are used primarily to represent and reproduce dominant ideologies.” Prominent in the development of this perspective has been the word of Theodor Adorno since the 1940s. Media culture is associated with consumerism.
Neuroplasticity, also known as brain plasticity, is an umbrella term that encompasses both synaptic plasticity and non-synaptic plasticity—it refers to changes in neural pathways and synapses due to changes in behavior, environment, neural processes, thinking, and emotions – as well as to changes resulting from bodily injury. The concept of neuroplasticity has replaced the formerly-held position that the brain is a physiologically static organ, and explores how – and in which ways – the brain changes in the course of a lifetime. Decades of research have now shown that substantial changes occur in the lowest neocortical processing areas, and that these changes can profoundly alter the pattern of neuronal activation in response to experience. Neuroscientific research indicates that experience can actually change both the brain’s physical structure and functional organization.
Fear & Anxiety
Are for the most part imaginings. We watch movies eating popcorn and sitting in a comfortable seat, but we experience fear and anxiety as a reaction to what we see on the screen. In the same manner our lives are luxurious to the average observer, but we experience a panaply of emotions according to what we imagine at the moment.
If we imagine our significant other is unfaithful we rage, if we get a collection letter, we fear for bankruptcy, but all the time our bodies are doing fine.
If you will take the time to write down your fears and anxieties, you will see, over time, that they all came to nothing.
