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C - Principal prospects

The objective of this work is not to just make research, out of reality, but to work out knowledge allowing, on the one hand, a better comprehension human being, and, on the other hand, to act in concrete terms in the daily life, as well at the individual as at the social level.

Detailed explanations : see chapter "Prospects"

a - Ethics and morals prospects

With regard to the ethical and morals values, the major problem is simple to express : currently, one is unaware of what would really be important and if there are values which are absolute and universal. One is unaware of if there really is a hierarchy between the values, and one is even unaware of the degree of validity and utility of the concept of "value".

In the absence of absolute referent and the absence of reliable answers to the questions which would be the most fundamental, it is proposed to choose ethical and morals values which support, with regard to psychobiological criteria, the best development and the best possible existence of human being.
It is also proposed, by opposition, to give an ethical negative value to all that undermines the integrity of a human person.

Detailed explanations : see chapter "Prospects", part "Ethical prospect"

b - Medical prospects

With regard to diseases or disturbances of psyche, the major problem is simple to express : nearly EVERYTHING can cause psychological disorders.

Psychopathology and psychological disorders

As a preliminary, it seems significant to distinguish, on the one hand, the diseases of psyche, or psychopathology, and, on the second hand, the psychological disorders.

It is proposed to call psychopathology all functional deterioration of the psychic processes, such those observed in certain psychosis, schizophrenia or autism.
These psychic diseases would be probably due to major impairment of the cerebral structure, and the current neurological knowledge is too much limited to be able to bring – except rare exceptions – effective therapeutic answers.

By opposition, it is proposed to call psychological disorders the whole of emotional or behavioral reactions which are inappropriate and which disturb the relation of the subject with the others and with the environment.
The psychological disorders would not be diseases and would correspond to a normal "biologically" functioning of the psychic processes, but in a manner which does not allow any more the social and ecological adaptation of the subject.

Central problems of the psychological disorders

One of the prevalent factors of the psychological disorders would be the emotional state. It seems that negative emotions (fear, disgust, shame, culpability, ...), when they are durable and/or intense, disturb the actions and reactions of the subject, and disturb its capacity of adaptation to the world.

One of the major assumptions of this research task, which would identify a fundamental problem, complex and almost insoluble, is that nearly EVERYTHING can cause these negative emotional states, and thus to cause the appearance of psychological disorders.

At the cerebral level, this major problem of mental health would exist because of the strong potentiality of the nervous system to induce and feel negative emotions.
On the one hand, the particular organisation of each sensory system makes that many stimuli can directly and easily cause pain, suffering or painfulness which can be very intense and durable, and thus disturb the subject.
On the other hand, the very developed cognitive capacities of the human brain make it possible to people to imagine and believe in all, to give any type of significance or value to anything, to claim many qualities or defects, to evaluate and judge, to consider that any type of behavior, value, morals or religion is the expression of justice, truth, immorality, sacrilege or evil. Thus, indirectly, via the cognitive activity of evaluation and judgement, the brain can generate various negative emotional states (shame, culpability, remorse, regrets, anger, hatred, disgust, despair, ...), which, when they are intense and durable, can be psychologically destructive.

Attitudes and reaction of the social group

On the social level, it seems that the majority of the psychological disorders that one observes are generated, indirectly, by erroneous beliefs and/or dysfunctional social organisations.

The chain of indirect causalities would be as follows : One observes in all populations beliefs and emotional reactions which are often unconscious and nonexplicit, and which can be completely disconnected from reality. These emotional beliefs and these reactions, as well as the structure of the social organisations (which are themselves partially founded on these beliefs), generate attitudes and behaviors. Lastly, some of these attitudes and behaviors cause on others emotional states which can be negative and very intense.

Thus, it would be sufficient, owing of unreasoned emotional reactions and/or erroneous beliefs, that the entourage of a person (even the whole of a social group) considers that this person is either "antipathic" or "abnormal" or "inferior" or "nasty" or "dangerous", etc (with regard to magic, religious, morphological, moral, social, educational, emotional, behavioral, sexual, pathological or psychopathological criteria) and adopts against him attitudes of rejection (marginalisation, segregation, exclusion, …), either various pressures of conformity (verbal incentives, moralising speech, "re-education", "therapy", or mockeries, humiliations, verbal and/or physical aggression, …), either gratuitous aggression (systematic maltreatments, bullying, persecutions, …), either any other type of repeated, coercive or vexatious actions, to generate at this person – and this more especially as this person will consider these actions unjust and discriminatory – many negative emotional states, destructive in short or long-term.

I.e. that what would cause a great majority of the psychological disorders is not so much the state or the actions of a person, but rather, because of the beliefs and/or the emotional reactions which are attached to this state or these actions, the reactions of the social group (particularly when those causes negative emotional states, intense and durable).

Conclusion

This reality of human cognition and emotions implies that nearly EVERYTHING, generally in an indirect manner and often by the attitudes and reactions of the others, can be at the origin of psychic problems of variable seriousness, going from the passing disorder to madness or death.

Detailed explanations : see chapter "Prospects", part "Medical prospects"

The means (simple in theory) of curing these problems would be mainly of educational and preventive nature : to learn how to know and hold account of psychobiological and psychosociological Reality, to learn how to know and to manage its emotions, and to learn how to interact in a constructive way with the others (socialisation).
(Cf the chapter "Educational model" below.)

c - Educational model

With regard to education, the major problem is simple to express : Man does not know ANYTHING at birth. EVERYTHING is to be learned.

The principal knowledge which would be to acquire as soon as possible can be deduced starting from the five key factors which determine the human development and existence : physiology of the organism, psychobiological needs, relational, emotions and cognition.

Figure 3-1 (recall) : "Key factors" réduit

Physiology of the organism

With regard to the physiology of the organism, the most negative physiological characteristic would be disease and the most positive would be, by opposition, health.

It seems crucial that each person acquires :

– Ways of life, behaviors and knowledge which enables him to preserve and improve its health, as well physical as mental.

It seems also crucial to do everything possible in order to prevent situations inducing pathologies.

Psychobiological needs

With regard to the psychobiological needs, the more negative characteristic would be the deficiency (or sometimes excess) and the most positive would be, by opposition, the satisfaction of these needs.

It seems crucial that each person acquires :

– Ways of life, behaviors and knowledge which enables him to satisfy, quantitatively, qualitatively and on the long term, the needs of its organism.

It seems also crucial to do everything possible in order to prevent situations of deficiency.

Relational

With regard to the relations between people, the most negative relational characteristic would be aggression and the most positive would be, by opposition, socialisation.

It seems crucial that each person acquires :

– Ways of life, behaviors and knowledge which enables him to be socialised, to interact with the others in a constructive and adapted manner.

– The capability of living privileged, strong and authentic emotional relations with others.

– "Key markers" which would correspond to an "interiorisation" of lived educational experience in connection with the psychobiological reality of its organism, with the reality of social interactions and the reality of the ecological environment.

For example, it seems that to live, even on short periods, basic situations which are common to the human condition, such as cultivating a kitchen garden, working in a farm, to carry out building work, to survive a few days in full nature in the cold, tiredness and hunger, to educate a group of child, to live and manage conflicts in a group under pressures, etc, would allow to have key markers, lived and concrete, from which each one could better evaluate, understand and appreciate the everyday life.
These key markers would promote capacities of more objective evaluation and capacities to act in a more suitable way in all the ecological, professional, emotional or social situations to which each person is confronted.
(Knowledge worked out from tangible lived, perceived at the body and emotional level : predominance of emotional, automatism, intuition, lived, concrete experiences)

It seems also crucial to do everything possible in order to prevent the acquisition of aggression behavior.

Emotions

With regard to the emotions, the most negative emotional characteristic would be the psychic suffering and the most positive would be, by opposition, the state of pleasure.

It seems crucial that each person acquires :

– Ways of life, behaviors and knowledge which enables him to experience, to know, to manage and to control the whole set of its emotions and of its emotional reactions.

– The capability to be able to express to others its emotional states.

– The capability of fully living its positive emotions.

Cognition

With regard to the intellectual processes, the most negative cognitive characteristic would be ignorance and the most positive would be, by opposition, knowledge.

One can affirm that ignorance is a major factor of problems, whatever the object or the situation considered.

It seems crucial that each person acquires :

– Scientific and objective knowledge on itself and relating to the ecological and social world.
(Abstract theoretical knowledge : predominance of cognition)

– The capability to learn by itself.

– The capability to evaluate in a critically manner knowledge which he has learned.

– The capability of objectivation and confrontation to Reality : capacity to know social and ecological realities, then capacity to work out suitable actions allowing, either to make them evolve, or either to adapt to it.

Conclusion

Because of the absence of elaborated "instincts" and pre-existing knowledge at birth, absence of relational and social capabilities, because of affectivity and subjectivity inherent to human condition, it seems absolutely necessary to act actively against deseases, emotional instability, aggression, ignorance and dysfunctional beliefs, and to set up as soon as possible educational actions which will make it possible for each person to acquire the capabilities to face in an adapted way the complexity of the ecological and social world.

Detailed explanations : see chapter "Prospects", part "Educational prospects"

D - General conclusion

Apparently fundamental necessity, the research intended for comprehension of what Man is brings of many disturbing reflections and interrogations, and raises essential questions which remain unanswered.

Homo imperfectus

The human organism seems to be an imperfect biological "machine", which imperatively requires many and frequent palliative actions for its physiological, emotional and cognitive insufficiencies.

Although Man has innate capacities which enable him to gradually acquire psychological behaviors and characteristics promoting interaction with environment, these capacities allow him only quite relative adaptation to the realities of the world.

Subject to needs and desires, urged on by the suffering and the pleasure, misled by its senses and its intelligence, ignorant of the essential and confronted with the innumerable and complex necessities of the world, Man seems condemned to a ceaseless struggle which overcomes neither disease, neither suffering, nor death.

Multiplicity of the cultures & Limitations of Knowledge

In addition, the thousand-year-old social evolution, result of the geoclimatic and historical hazard, generated a multitude of societies of multiple beliefs and cultural values, often incompatible between them and little representative of the reality.

Scientific knowledge is limited, and bring only partial answers which hardly make it possible to answer the essential questions.

Questions without answers

Under these conditions, which choices to privilege ?

For which reasons to give the primacy to Man ?

Why and how to promote the development of a truly humanistic society ?

The society of tomorrow

Nevertheless it seems to be a question of a fundamental problem, that of a choice of society – if as well as there is a real freedom of choice – which determines the gradual change and the quality of the existence of each person.

The geoclimatic constraints, the History hazard and the economical-industrial development have until our days shaped contemporary societies.

It seems absolutely necessary to act today so that the choices and values which will be in the core of tomorrow post-industrial societies allow the conditions of a positive social evolution, based, not on contingency or fashion, but on the control, conscious and lucid, of ecological and human reality.

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