Secrets to Develop the Mind through Reading E-Book

Diego Hidalgo-Oñate

• Herausgeber: Cervantes Digital
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

"Secrets to Develop the Mind through Reading" is an essential work to address the growing problem of focus loss in the current era, where we are inundated with information. In this special report, you will delve into cutting-edge neuroscience research results that will completely change your perspective.

In a world where information overload can overwhelm us, this report becomes an invaluable tool. You will learn to transform information into solid knowledge and cultivate an agile and focused mind. You will explore the mysteries of the human mind and how reading can be the key to unlocking its potential. The secrets revealed here will revolutionize your approach and take you on a journey of self-discovery.

Immerse yourself in the depths of neuroscience and discover how the power of reading can enhance your mind and your ability to process information. This special report is an indispensable resource for those seeking to unlock their true potential and stay focused in a world full of distractions. Get ready for an experience that will change the way you think!

Leseprobe

© Copyright 2023 Cervantes Digital. All rights reserved.

Legal notice:

No part of the content of this book may be modified, distributed, sold, used, disseminated, or paraphrased without the written consent of the author.

Disclaimer:

Please be aware that the information contained in this document is for educational purposes only, and the author is exempt from any responsibility, especially since results may vary from person to person. Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaged in providing legal, financial, medical, or professional advice.

Noli foras ire, in te rede, in interiore hominis habitat veritas.

Do not go outside, return within yourself; in the inward person dwells truth.

San Agustín de Hipona

Table of Contents

1. THE LEARNING PROCESS, AN APPROACH

While we are genetically conditioned to perceive symbols to represent the external world, language development depends on the energy each person invests in this process and their life experiences. However, how the learning process occurs is still unclear. Through this introductory chapter, we aim to help you understand this process. The secrets we will reveal will enable you to embark on the path to mental development.

The Greek Legacy

Greek civilization constitutes a significant achievement in human history. In addition to cultural evolution, it was a glorious period for the development of arts and sciences. Notable figures emerged, such as Socrates, one of the most influential philosophers in human history.

Although Socrates left no written works, his thoughts were recorded by his disciples, including Plato. Plato, unlike Socrates, wrote texts that have survived to this day, expressing some of his master's ideas. One of these is that knowledge involves more than the simple accumulation of information; it requires questioning this information to build more solid knowledge. Socrates also believed that knowledge allows humanity to attain freedom.

In his writings, Plato uses a metaphor to illustrate Socrates' ideas. In the allegory of the cave, described in Book VII of "The Republic," Plato compares ignorance to prisoners bound inside a cave, seeing only shadows of themselves and everything moving around them. One prisoner escapes, attracted by the sunlight, and gradually, he sees reality, not just shadows...

According to Werner Jaeger, who delved into the study of education in classical Greece, Plato interpreted the allegory of the sun and the cave in a way that rejects the common idea of paideia, where knowledge is poured into an ignorant soul as if sight were infused into the eyes of the blind. Jaeger concludes that Plato's message is that true education involves awakening the dormant abilities in the soul. In this way, learning becomes a personal experience that allows the development of the mental potential we all possess.

Systemic Thinking

Systemic thinking emerged in the early 20th century as an antithesis to Newton's mechanistic approach. While Newton was one of the brightest minds of the 18th century, his research method had flaws when applied to the study of a system with multiple variables. As mentioned, "linear thinking that relates a single effect to each cause is very dangerous in a nonlinear and complex world." Nonlinear equations are the best example to explain the difficulty of using rigid thinking. In such equations, a tiny change in one variable can trigger a catastrophic effect in another. Classic examples are the Lotka-Volterra equations used to predict predator and prey populations. Analyzing possible interactions, one observes a tendency toward dynamic equilibrium; if prey grow exponentially, predators will tend to control the population, and vice versa.

In this case, Newtonian thinking and specifically the second law of thermodynamics, stating that in a closed system in equilibrium, entropy (disorder) tends to increase irreversibly, are not applicable. The theoretical flaw may be defining a phenomenon reproducible in the laboratory as a system. To be considered a system, it must be organizationally closed but open to external flows of energy and resources.

Systemic thinking has provided a new approach to studying many biological phenomena operating as systems. Considering the characteristics of systems mentioned earlier, humans fall within this definition as autonomous organisms whose lives depend on their relationship with the environment. Each part of a human plays a specific function but depends on other body components to collectively seek balance. The nervous system, allowing perception of the external world through sense organs, information processing in the brain, and interaction with the environment through nerve impulses, falls within this definition.

Feedback as a Regulatory Mechanism

As we've seen, systems interact with their environment, crucial to maintaining dynamic equilibrium. The contribution of systemic thinking lies in using the concept of feedback or feedback loops. As the system interacts with the environment, automatic control mechanisms arise seeking dynamic equilibrium between chaos and order. The detailed explanation of how these circuits, also called "dissipative structures," operate allowed Ilya Prigogine, the precursor of chaos theory, to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977.

In his essay on the relationships between organic regulations and cognitive processes called "Biology and Knowledge," Jean Piaget establishes that "the nervous system constitutes the specialized organ of functional regulations; this structuring, in turn, implies the need for a specialized organ. (...) Cognitive functions would be the specialized organs of self-regulation of exchanges within behavior." Norbert Wiener, in his book "Cybernetics and Society," complements this postulate, stating that "to live effectively means to possess adequate information. Thus, communication and regulation constitute the essence of man's inner life as much as his social life."

In summary, all systems seek dynamic equilibrium, and within humans, the nervous system and particularly cognitive functions enable achieving this coveted equilibrium. Knowledge allows humans to reduce the entropy of living by developing a model of the world, more or less accurate depending on the quality of information and life experiences.

Epistemology of Knowledge

The knowledge process involves transitioning from a dogmatic stage to a skeptical stage, allowing an individual's critical capacity to question new information and ultimately update their "model of the world."

Previously, we analyzed how the nervous system, especially cognitive functions, enables an individual's self-regulation in their environment. Now, we have taken a step forward by incorporating the concepts of dogmatism and skepticism as a regulatory mechanism of knowledge.

Jorge Luis Gómez, in his essay "The System of Knowledge (Epistemology of Knowledge)," explains that dogmatism corresponds to accepting the truth without questioning it. He adds that this stage lacks critical capacity mainly due to a lack of exercise. However, being a systemic process, the ultimate process of any dogmatic stage is its transience. Faced with the dogmatic, the skeptic exercises their freedom in judgment of the system. Gómez emphasizes that reason's self-determination, the exercise of its freedom, occurs only momentarily. This refers to the fact that the information system is questioned until the mind takes a stance, returning to being dogmatic until new paradigms are again doubted.