[ Summary ] · Chapter 3 : Abstract
Synoptic Abstract
[ NB : Provisional texts. Level of writing : 3/5 ]
[ I apologise for my mistranslations. Aidez-moi ΰ corriger cette traduction. ]
"Know yourself "
Socrat
Preliminary remark
The presentation below of the principal reflections and assumptions related to human psychic dynamics and behavior is a summary, inevitably brief and diagrammatic, and could not in a few lines retranscribe the complexity of the psychobiological processes at work.
Plan of the chapter
Introduction
The knowledge of what Man is seems to be a fundamental topic, an absolute necessity for the reasoned and adapted action, as well as a privileged means for human and social progress.
This knowledge seems particularly necessary since it concerns all Men, of all cultures, daily and constantly, in all the fields and all the activities of their existence, from yesterday to today and until the end of human time.
In the continuity of work of all kinds of ancient philosophy to contemporary psychology which attempted to understand the complex mechanisms of "wheels and pulleys of the «body machine»", this research task re-examines this fundamental question in the current light of the neuroscience.
The synthesis of the last scientific knowledge relative to human being makes it possible to propose, on the one hand, a psychobiological model of human psyche and behaviors, and, on the other hand, reflections concerning medical, educational and social problems.
This synoptic summary quickly presents, in order, very general reports, the psychobiological model of psychic and behavioral dynamics, and finally some reflections on the concrete implications of this model.
Forewords
This summary aims to present the results and the interests of the research in psychobiology. It gives a global but simplified and diagrammatic vision. It is advised to the reader interested by a specific subject to refer to the detailed articles, in order to have access to all the complexity of the data, the argumentations and the studied subject.
A - General reports
The analysis of the biological and social data bring to very general reflections.
These reflections will appear strange and pessimistic to the reader, but they seem unfortunately quite realistic.
Absence of fundamental knowledge
Today, despite all our scientific knowledge, it seems that one does not have any valid response to the questions which would be the most significant and the most fundamental : What is life ? What is really significant ? Which actions prioritise and undertake ?
Today, one can answer many questions of the type "how ?" (How does the cardiovascular system function ? How works vegetable photosynthesis ? How does an electric motor function ? ...), but to almost any questions of the type "Why ?" (Why does there exist a cardiovascular system, and not another thing ? Why energy and organic matter do come from photosynthesis and not from another process ? Why the electric phenomenon does exist ? Why the life does exist ? Why human life would be important ? ...)
This means that current finalities and values are perhaps, entirely or partly, undoubtedly erroneous, probably at the origin of real problems but unrecognised, and even useless and without object.
Need and constancy of the action
It seems that in order to live with a minimum of quality, the human being and the majority of the other living organisms are obliged to act energetically and continuously, even to struggle, against various factors :
It is frequently necessary to act for its body and its spirit (many physiological and psychological needs, necessity of many learning, ), often to act against its body (physiological deterioration, muscular atrophies, obesity, ageing, ) and to act against its spirit (concealment of the problems, avoidance of painful necessities or obligations, refusal of responsibilities, inappropriate emotional reactions, ignorance, lapses of memory of the memory, ).
It is necessary to act (work) to produce goods and services (foodstuff, real-estate and furniture property, medical or educational departments, ).
It is necessary to act to cooperate with the others (learning of : socialisation, team work, respect of others, ) and often to act against the others (relational conflicts, interindividual aggression, social or ethnic conflicts, ).
It is necessary to act against nature (cold, heat, moisture, dryness, obscurity, ...) and counters the other living organisms (diseases : infections, parasitosis, ...).
Whatever the domain considered, the constant action, as well physical as intellectual, voluntary, energetic, even obstinate, adapted to physiological and psychological reality, seems to be at the same time a pressing necessity and one of the keys of the best development human being.
Absence of perfection and absolute
It seems that there exist no "perfection" or "absolute". The biological organisms seem structurally imperfect and fragile. The "natural" human characteristics seem more to be subjectivity, ignorance, emotional instability, selfishness, coercion, aggression, manipulation and exploitation of the others.
It seems also impossible to approach perfection. And the concept of "progress" seems partly illusory.
For example, in spite of medical knowledge, it seems that there will always be diseases, suffering and death : finally, where is progress if instead of dying of the plague as formerly one dies today from cancer ? Where is progress if instead of dying at 40 years as yesterday one will die tomorrow at 120 years but after 40 or 50 years of impotence and physical and intellectual senility ?
The "perfect", "ideal", "noble", "innocent" or "pure" situations seem to exist only in human imagination. In reality, it seems that one can only have, after conquered it in high struggle, the "less worst".
Presence of risks and sufferings
It also seems that there is not any sure situation, without dangers, without risks, a situation which would make it possible to develop and to live without problems and sufferings.
Whatever the situations or the contexts is, it seems to have to exist risks, problems, diseases, physical or moral distress, even despair.
It even seems that it is absolutely necessary to take risks, to suffer in its body and in its mind, to live problems and conflicts, if one wants to progress and evolve, if one wants to learn, perceive and understand all the diversity of the human nature.
Of course, it does not mean doing anything and putting people in destroying situations. It means setting up controlled and teaching situations. It seems that it is necessary to research and to find the state of dynamic balance between, on the one hand, various types of risks, problems and varied, demanding and complex situations, and, on the other hand, the capacity of each subject to gradually learn how to know them, control them and manage them in a serene, intelligent and adapted manner.
Need for action in spite of uncertainty
In conclusion, the inaction would be the worst option. It seems absolutely necessary to make pragmatic and adapted choices, and to act willingly and vigorously to deal with various realities and necessities of the world.
However, if the absolute need for action seems to be a indisputable truth, it is still necessary, in spite of the approximate and partial characteristic of current knowledge, to know which choices to carry out and which actions to undertake.
Brief replies
The psychobiology data do not bring any absolute answer to the most fundamental questions. Nevertheless, because of their physiologic nature which takes into account the biological reality of the living organisms, they could make it possible to bring brief replies, although relative, to some of the problems mentioned above.
These brief replies are exposed in the following paragraphs.
B - Psychobiological model of the behavior
The results of the interdisciplinary theoretical synthesis allowed to outline a psychobiological model of the human behavior, whose principal characteristics are presented below.
a - Generality
Initially, it is interesting to present what would be the principal and general characteristics of human being, in order to place and understand the various physiological and psychological stakes.
Man is an animal biological structure. An assembly of highly organised specialised molecules, cells and organs. The hyper-complex organisation of neurons of the brain is at the origin of conscience, psychic states and the behaviors.
Man is a mainly emotional being. The emotional affects seem to determine the psychological state and the behaviors. Intellectual aspect, although far from being negligible, can be considered as secondary.
Man has till birth basic reflexes (withdrawal from pain, equilibrium, ...), capabilities of adaptation to physical and ecological environment (orientation, attention, exploration, fear, ...), and elaborated capabilities of information processing (sensorial organs, memory, categorisation, planning, ...).
Nevertheless these innate capabilities allow him only approximate adaptation to socio-environmental constraints.
The development of the individual is achieve starting from the interaction between three principal factors : psychobiological needs of its organism, information processing capabilities of its brain, and characteristics of ecological and human environment.
The most complex behaviors (sexuality, aggression, communication, ...) would not be "instinctual", but seems to be gradually acquired during childhood and adolescence.
Schematically, needs and emotional states would be at the origin of the majority of behaviors, cognitive processes would permit the learning of these behaviors and the cultural context would influence their development and their characteristics in a major way.
At adulthood, the behavioral and psychological characteristics of each person are singular, sometimes very distinct from those of the others. This singularity is explained because of genetic, physiological, neurological, social, cultural differences, and, especially, because of ten of thousands of experiences proper to each individual, mainly those lived during the first twenty years of the life.
b - Key factors
Always within the framework of the principal and general characteristics, it seems to exist five absolutely fundamental key factors in the daily existence of human being :
Figure 3-1 : "Key factors" rιduit
Factors rather related to the body :
The physiological state of the organism, with two main states :
A positive state : health.
A negative state : disease.
Psychobiological needs for the organism, with two main states :
A positive state : satisfaction of needs.
A negative state : deficiency of one or several needs.
An intermediate factor :
The relations between, on the one hand, the subject, and, on the other hand, the others (mainly) and the environment (secondarily) ; with two main characteristics :
A positive characteristic : socialisation.
A negative characteristic : aggression.
Two factors rather related to the "spirit" :
The emotional state, with two main states :
A positive state : pleasure.
A negative state : suffering.
The cognitive state, with two main states :
A positive state : knowledge.
A negative state : ignorance.
Three of these factors, needs, relational and emotions, would have a greatter functional importance because of their frequent and rapid variability and/or their constant effects on psyche.
It seems that global improvement of development and existence of human beings is conditioned by educational, preventional and remedy actions acting on these five general and fundamental factors.
Detailed explanations : see chapter "key factors of development and existence of human beings" (available soon)
c - Characteristics of the human organism
In a second time, it is necessary to specify and to detail biological and neurobiologic characteristics of human organism, namely psychobiological needs, information processing capabilities and learning of the most complex behaviors.
a - Psychobiological needs
Figure 3-2 : "Psychobiological needs" rιduit
There would exist in the human being various types of "needs" :
Needs related to the bodies ("somatic" needs : nutrition, respiration, ...).
Needs related to the nervous system ("neurostructural" needs : sleep, ...).
Needs related to psyche ("psychic" needs : affection, security, ...).
The needs appear in the conscience of the subject by an emotional incentive, sometimes pressing, to act in order to satisfy them.
The needs have a crucial importance for two imperative reasons :
The non satisfaction of needs causes physiological and/or psychological disorders.
Because they appear by an emotional incentive and sometimes pressing to act, they have, on the one hand, a considerable impact on the psychological state, and, on the other hand, they are at the origin of the appearance of certain elaborated behaviors.
For example hunger is at the origin of the feeding behavior.
Detailed explanations : see chapter "Psychobiological needs"
b - Information processing
Figure 3-3 : "Processes of information processing" rιduit
The anatomo-functional organisation of the nervous system would be at the origin of emergence of neurophysiological processes of information processing.
Simpler to most complex, one observes processes :
Of detection of environment stimuli : process of tactile, gustatory, olfactive, auditive, visual sensory organs, ...
Of simple information processing : reflexes processes (pain withdrawal reflexes, equilibrium reflex, muscular tone reflex, ...).
Of more elaborated information processing : processes known as "emotional" (fear, interest, motivation, ...).
Of complex information processing : processes known as "cognitive" (memory, categorisation, planning, evaluation, judgement, ...).
Information processing has a crucial importance for two major reasons :
They allow a global adaptation to the environment.
Because they function in a very particular manner (subjectivity, emotional instability, cognitive distortions, ...), they produce behavioral, emotional and intellectual reactions which could be at the origin of different type of problem.
Detailed explanations : see chapter "Information processing"
g - Learning of complex behaviors
Figure 3-4 : "Acquisition of behaviors" rιduit
It is observed that owing to psychic activity, needs and stimulations of the environment, the human organism works out complex behaviors which enable him to interact with the others and with the ecological surroundings.
Contrary to the traditional assumptions, there would be no genes, "instincts" or "pre-wiring" controlling the most complex human behaviors (sexuality, aggression, communication, ...). These behaviors would be acquired, primarily because of particular circumstances present in the environment, and thanks to the processes of learning and information processing.
With regard to woman, there would be no maternal "instinct". The behavior of care to offspring would be initiated by the presence and the reactivity of the young child. The maternal behavior would develop starting from some preexistent processes (attachment, reinforcements, ...), and, especially, of the dominating influence of the cultural environment.
The concept of "sexuality" would be a "cultural construction". It would correspond to the subjective amalgam of erotic behavior mixed up with the problematic of reproduction.
The "erotic behavior" would correspond to conscious and voluntary research, by one or more partners, of intense pleasures caused by the physical stimulation of the body. This behavior would have as origin the existence of neurobiologic processes of pleasure (erotic excitement and orgasm), localised in the limbic areas of the brain.
The reproduction allows the survival of the species, owing to the fecundation of a female by a male. In certain animals, there would be a specific reproduction behavior, distinct from the erotic behavior. In mankind, it seems that reproduction is a consequence, fortuitous and happy, of erotic activity.
The behavior of aggression is defined as being an intentional behavior which undermines the integrity of a person (of others or of the subject self-aggression). The aggression would be caused either by negative emotional states (fear, frustration, hatred, ...), or by cognitive reinforcements (advantages gained by using aggression). The influences of social interactions and of the cultural context would be predominant in the learning and the development of this behavior.
The behavior of communication (including language and speech) would be a gestural and/or vocal behavior intended to transmit in a voluntary manner information to others, owing to an conventional system of signs (vocal, gestural and/or graphical). In mammals, the learning of communication would depend on the cognitive capabilities of the nervous system and would be initiated by the social interactions. In Man, the cultural context would have a determining influence in the development of language and speech.
Detailed explanations : see chapter "Development and acquisition of the complex behaviors"
d - Conclusion
In conclusion, to present in a vivid manner (and somewhat provocative) the psychobiological model, the human organism could be compared to a sophisticated and hyper-complex biological "machine".
Part of the activity of this "machine" is determined by ingestive needs (energy, structural materials, ...) and excretory needs (waste). Another part of the activity is induced by research of solutions necessary to the interactions with the environment (exploration of the surroundings, social activities, ...). Finally a last part of the activity, useless but subjectively significant, is produced by particular operations of the system of information processing (affectivity, imaginary, ...).
The principal "qualities" of this biological "machine" would be :
Instinct : the existence of reflexes and innate processes which favour the protection and the survival of the organism.
Learning : The great potentialities of varied learnings, particularly during childhood.
Intelligence : capabilities of information processing.
Adaptability : capabilities of global adaptation to different environments.
The principal "defects" would be :
Impairability : the "imperfection" and the "fragility" of the biological "mechanic".
Dysaffectivity : in particular emotional "susceptibility" and inappropriate affective reactions.
Subjectivity : distortions of reality induced by information processing.
Ignorance : the absence of knowledge at birth.
Credulity : the great facility to believe true the emotional intuitions or perceptions, as well as the assertions of the social group.
Asociability : facility of acquisition of antisocial psychological characteristics and behaviors (susceptibility, selfishness, coercion, aggression, exploitation, ...), and, by opposition, the difficulty of learning characteristics promoting socialisation.
[ previous page ] · page 1/2 · [ next page ] · [ start of chapter ]
www.psychobiology.org