Psychology Articles

Now that’s a big picture question I’m sure you’ve pondered too. After seeing a really stirring video of people being tortured and killed simply because of their religious beliefs and their determination to stay true to their God, I couldn’t help wonder why a God would allow people who obviously loved him so much to be tortured and killed like that. That question lingered all throughout my sleep. I started thinking that perhaps evil came from God himself since it was He who created the tree of knowledge of good and evil and set it as a test to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. However, seconds after processing such a notion an intensely mystical fear came over my body that I’ve never felt before in my life. That consciousness I believe was perhaps God’s way of setting me straight and letting me know that there’s no way He could be the source of evil! I didn’t make the mistake of thinking that again but the question still remained and I couldn’t concentrate on doing anything until I got my answer. So I prayed really hard to God to help me find the answer.

The next morning I did extensive research using the Internet and religious publications. I also scanned my brain for stored information based on my previous study of the Bible, science and religions other than my own. I didn’t want a biased opinion, I wanted the truth and here’s what I believe God directed me to find:

Put simply, evil is the absence of GOD!

According to Jan Rey Roa, evil does not exist by itself. Take a comparison of hot and cold. Hot is a measure of heat (energy). Cold is merely a term used for the absence of heat. Like cold, evil is merely a term used for the absence of God. Evil only exists in the absence of God which is why evil disappears in the presence of God.

When a creation, human or spirit, turns away from God they naturally become evil. It’s just like if heat were extracted from water, air or an object, it would simply be cold. The same thing happens to people who are devoid of God. They become “cold as ice” (see the book The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout.) That is because God is pure energy of love. When a human or spirit pulls away from God’s energy there’s nothing left but coldness, hate and evil. On the other hand, when a person draws close to God, they naturally feel his warmth and despite having problems and pressures of life upon them, they seem to have a sense of peace and thus emit that positive energy into their own lives. That is why the people mentioned at the outset could not be broken by their persecutors no matter how hard they tried because they were close to Gods energy. This gave them power beyond what is normal to cope with the trials they were enduring even to the point of death because they knew God could easily resurrect them.

We all have a choice of whether or not we want God’s energy to be a force in our lives. God does not and will not force himself upon us. We are given the freedom to come to him or not. It’s up to us. That is why God placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden. It was not a test to Adam and Eve because “God doesn’t use evil to tempt anyone…” (James 1:13 Contemporary English Version). Rather, it was His way of letting Adam and Eve know they had a choice. They chose to reject God, which resulted in their experiencing the effects of evil – shame, sorrow and ultimately death. The devil also had a choice. He was not created a devil nor is he the maker of evil. Evil is simply a by-product of rejecting God. The devil rejected God and chose evil thus changing his status as a good angel into that of a wicked angel. In effect, he made himself Satan which means resister or enemy of God and that is why he is the foremost perpetrator of everything wicked.

As frail creatures, we may think that we cannot give God anything he does not already own. However, the one thing we are privileged to be able to give Him is our love by willingly obeying His commandments. With that being the case, God knew that some of his children would turn their backs on him, disobey His laws and principles, and thus bring on the consequences of evil (suffering, anguish, and death) to not only themselves but more importantly to those of his obedient children. The prime examples being Satan, Adam and Eve. Their malignant self love and bad choices brought detrimental consequences to all of earth’s inhabitants. That is why God put in place a plan to bring about salvation to his loyal children. The first part of that plan has already been put into effect when He offered his son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice to give us the opportunity to choose to serve Him out of pure love. As a result, we put ourselves in line to gain eternal life in perfection and happiness without ever dying the way He originally intended as long as we remain loyal to Him. The final part of that plan will take effect very soon now when God destroys all emitters of evil, the foremost being Satan the Devil, then his demons and finally sadistic humans who have chosen to withdraw from God’s love. Then and only then will the entire earth be filled with God’s energy of love.

We have God’s promise that he will never again allow anyone to cause evil to sprout by their selfish choice. The bible says “if you do wrong you will be rooted out.” (Proverbs 2: 22 Contemporary English Version). He also gives us this assurance, “and just a little while longer and the wicked one will be no more and you will certainly give attention to his place and he will not be, but the meek ones themselves shall possess the earth and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.” (Psalms 37: 10, 11 New World Translation).The choice is up to you!

Resources1. The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout2. New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures3. The Contemporary English Bible4. Malignant Self Love by Sam Vaknim, Ph.D4. PsychologyProfOnline.com5. Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us by Robert D. Hare, Ph.D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadistic_personality_disorder

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From two Greek words: psyche, which means the mind or the soul and logos, which means study, the science of Psychology has been studied and defined by many people throughout the ages. Hilgard, Morgan, Silverman, and Schlesinger are just a few. A careful analysis of their foregoing definitions of psychology reveals common points: Psychology is the scientific study of the behaviors of living organisms; the term behavior must not be solely attributed to man’s physical reactions and observable behavior; and thoughts, feelings, and attitudes are also connected to the term behavior.

The primary goals of Psychology are mainly to describe, identify, understand and explain behavior, to know its factors, and to control or change behavior. Psychologists often apply their knowledge and understanding of human behavior to solve issues and help in our society. Different areas of specialization in Psychology are studied to provide better understandings of this science.

Among these are the traditional fields consisting mainly of: Clinical Psychology which deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and evaluation of psychological problems. It also relates to Psychiatry which pertains to more serious problems; Counseling Psychology which deals with administering, storing, and interpreting psychological exams; Educational or School Psychology which deals with students’ learning and adjustment; Community Psychology which deals with problems of the aged, prisoners, and other problems in the community.

It also focuses on providing accessible care for these people; Social Psychology which deals with the behavior of man individually and in groups; Industrial or Organizational Psychology which deals with issues of people in the workplace; Personality Psychology which is concerned with the uniqueness of a person; Developmental Psychology which deals with factors affecting human groups; Experimental Psychology which focuses with the basis of scientific research; Physiological Psychology which is concerned with the functions of the brain; and Comparative Psychology which targets the differences of the species.

Aside from these, several branches of Psychology were discovered during the 70’s. Forensic Psychology deals with legal, judicial, and correctional systems. Environmental Psychology is primarily concerned about issues relating to the environment. Computer Science, on the other hand, uses computer programming for behavioral analysis. There is also Engineering Psychology which seeks to make the relationship between man and machines; and Psychopharmacology which deals with the relationship of behavior and drugs.

Furthermore, the latest fields of Psychology that were recently developed consist of: Health Psychology which focuses on multidimensional approaches that emphasize lifestyle and health care systems; Sports Psychology which applies psychological principles to improve performance and enjoy participation; Cross-culture Psychology which examines the role of culture in understanding behavior, thoughts, and emotions; and Women Psychology which emphasizes the importance of promoting research and study of women.

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Abnormal behavior is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) with criterion that includes the following: unusualness, social deviance, faulty perceptions or interpretations of reality, significant personal distress, maladaptive self-defeating behavior, and dangerousness. Abnormal behavior has many definitions, but in most cases a combination of these criteria defines abnormality. Historically, it has been shown that people with abnormal behavior disorders can be very creative, making contributions to science, mathematics, arts, sports, and politics. However, given all the contributions these afflicted individuals make to society, they can still suffer greatly through the distress, pain, anger, and sadness mental disorders can cause.

Considering the stigma attached to mental disorders, society still benefits a great deal from these individuals. Scientists such as Einstein greatly enhanced our knowledge of the universe, Pythagoras improved mathematics, and Dickens authored many influential works of literature. All of these individuals endured from mental disorders. Although stigmatized, society values their abnormal behavior by supporting their invaluable contributions.

Consider a situation in which all abnormal behavior is removed from the individual. Would society still reap the benefit? This removal would affect both their creativity and their suffering. It would change cognitive and emotional processes including temperament and personality. This undeniably would affect the influence made to society.

Removal of abnormal behavior would eliminate suffering. The effects are innumerable but would certainly decrease individuals’ distress, pain, anger, and sadness. In addition, it could lessen violent and aggressive behavior, substance abuse, suicidal tendencies, and incarceration. Societal stigma would disappear and in its place acceptance, enhanced coping and a more balanced mood. It would have many positive implications for society.

However, removal would also devastate creativity. Removal of creativity would decrease societal contributions and advances made by those with mental disorders. Independent thinkers would vanish along with knowledge about those disorders, and consequently change what society refers to as abnormal. As creativity diminishes, conformity and indifference would undoubtedly increase.

Eliminating all suffering from the world would certainly be ideal. Sufferers would not be subjected to the misery a mental disorder may cause. However, removal of a mental disorder, abnormal behavior, or illness changes individuals. Irregardless of societal contributions, I would not want to change my cognitive and emotional processes, nor my temperament and personality. I do not suffer from a mental disorder, but I have endured from a chronic illness my entire life. I would not change that. I believe that despite all the intolerable cruelty associated with illness, those who suffer would not change to have the illness removed, no matter how society does or does not benefit.

The universe is a blob of constantly moving energy, it is analog, there are no gaps anywhere, the universe is uniformly energy. The energy within the visible spectrum entering our eyes is an analog flow. But our eyes work in a digital fashion, 24 times per second, electrons flow or don’t flow (on/off) in a pattern determined by the energy entering them, along the optic nerve to our brains.

Those patterns of on/off are stored in our brain and compared to previously inputed patterns for comparison and storage as neurons. When you see an object, eg a chair, the pattern is digitized (broken down into patterns of on/off flows of electrons) and transmitted to the brain. Once there, a neuron is built with that impression as a memory.

The next object you see is also digitized and transmitted to the brain, once there, a neuron is built with that impression and is compared to all previously encoded impressions. If the most recent impression is the same as any previously recorded ones, you recognize the object as being another chair, or not a chair. These neurons are our database, which perpetually grows with all new inputs. Walking down the street, seeing things as you move may look analog(constant), but it is actually entering our awareness as individual packets of information to be processed and compared in our brain. We just don’t see the breaks in between because they are too fast.

Movies and tv shows are filmed at 24 frames per second to sync with our eyes’ ability to transmit. But if you look at the actual film, u see it is one frame at time, with no apparent motion in each frame.Along this same train of thought, all of our senses are digital, a smell, a touch, a sound are all recorded as patterns of on/off flows of electrons stored as neurons in our brain.

Our brains are constantly sending pulses of electrons through our synapsis(the paths electrons flow along connecting our neurons). At night when you go to sleep, this flow is shut down in all parts of our brain (except vital life functions, breathing, heart beats etc.). Our brains are batteries, they need to recharge the supply of electrons to send these impulses. This is where dreams come in. When we sleep, our consciousness ends, ceases. Our thoughts and actions are generated by the flow of electrons through our brain. When the reactions shut down for the night, our self awareness essentially dies. But there are lots of electrons in the universe, dreams are when random electrons stimulates one of these neurons and an image of consciousness flashes, thus u have a ‘dream’. A few of these random flashes occur each night, striking some neuron somewhere with a memory impression stored on it.

These are purely random interactions, its in the morning when we wake up and our consciousness turns back on, and we create a story by linking those random flashes of consciousness. Ie some electron floating in the atmoshpere of Jupiter richochets its way throughout space to my bedroom and stimulates a neuron memory i have of a beach. Another electron in orbiting the moon makes it way here and stimulates a neuron memory of walking. In the morning, I make a story that I dreamt I was walking on the beach. Day dreams are exactly the same, these random interactions are actually going on all the time, but during wake time, we have too much other stimulus coming in to notice them, but when your in high school class bored out of your skull, you will notice these random images being generated… daydreams.

Now, to the original topic, intelligence. This is determined by any particular persons brain chemistry, how efficiently ones brain facilitates these flows of electrons along our synapsis to stimulate these neurons for storage and comparison. The more efficient the flow of electrons and building of neurons, the more intelligence there is.

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