Rethinking the Root Causes of Human Behavior: A Grand Unified Theory?

PsycCRITIQUES ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (23) ◽  
Author(s):  
David D. Simpson
1994 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor J. Gibson

I consider that psychologists have a duty to explore their own field, to create hypotheses about the behavior of animals, especially human, and to test these and look for possible causal relationships at the level of acting, thinking, perceiving humans in their environmental context Our agenda should be at this level, not one that depends on waiting for reductionist theories at some other level, be it neural, genetic, nuclear, or especially artificial To go about this work, a developmental approach, in a systems setting—the organism-environment system—holds great promise and has the dignity of successful precedents in other sciences All of behavior—perceiving, acting, problem solving, communicating with others—should be our province The hallmarks of human behavior can and should be studied in all of these areas It is their development that offers a road to understanding We should continue to look for theories of considerable generality, however elegant a model may be in a tiny realm If we cannot find universal laws, we may still come up with unifying principles Not so long ago, in another keynote address, George Miller told us that it was time to “give psychology away” (Miller, 1969) I am afraid that that is exactly what we are doing, though not in the sense that Miller intended Let us keep psychology, and recapture the old excitement, looking for the causes in behavior itself, and not giving up on the grand unified theory


2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-30
Author(s):  
Daniel P. McCarthy

Christ’s bones are missing at the Holy Sepulchre; St Peter’s bones remain in his basilica; Hagia Sophia was not built on bones. The absence, presence, or lack of bones effects different emphases on memory (anamnesis) and fulfillment (eschatology). In Jerusalem we witness our future glory (eschatology) already revealed in our history (anamnesis); in Rome we recall (anamnesis) the sacrifice of martyrs whose bones remain until the general resurrection (eschatology), even while we venerate the saints in light; at Hagia Sophia liturgy itself, rather than bones, provides the context for remembering the whole Christ in the power of the Spirit. Celebrating liturgy over the bones of martyrs in Rome, while venerating their sacrifice, may have accentuated the sacrificial character of the eucharistic liturgy in the Christian west, whereas in the Christian east the eschatological glory already revealed in our history and in liturgy may have shaped the eschatological character of liturgy.


2016 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Polex-Wolf ◽  
Giles S.H. Yeo ◽  
Stephen O’Rahilly

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