2022

Living underground is not a new concept. In fact, the generation and utilization of underground space has been one of humanity’s drivers for a sustainable future. As early as 1931, human ingenuity imagined and designed plans for the “depth scraper”, a 35-story building resembling a skyscraper of the type familiar in American large cities, which was to be constructed in a mammoth excavation beneath the ground. It was proposed as a residential engineering solution for surviving earthquakes in Japan. We have numerous examples of underground projects, such as Rapid Transit Systems like the Tube, underground malls, deep underground airport terminals, to name a few. It is obvious that part of humanity’s survival planning has to include utilization of underground space, the expansion of which has been under nano-speeds due to numerous technological challenges, as well as the huge socio-human factors which need to be explored. Any underground “undertaking” has to consider the psychology of living underground and how to best design accommodations that do not negatively impact the aboveground quality of life standards. Needless to say, safety planning and disaster prevention within the confines of limited underground space technology are challenging. The challenges are exacerbated when space becomes even more limited, as in a case of a survival bunker. Underground Psychology Many of the problems associated with living in underground habitats are not only technological ones, but rather are related to the degree of social acceptance of the concept and to the individual’s perception of the underground space. Just over 3 decades ago, in 1977, Birger Jansson et al reported in Planning of Subsurface Use (Swedish Council for Building Research) that: “…there has hardly been any research carried out directly aimed at plotting the implications for human beings of spending time and working underground… …it can be stated that the physiological effect on the human organism of time spent underground has been investigated to a very incomplete extent.” Research has been conducted in various specific areas of concern, such as issues of safety as well as the various physiological and psychological responses of humans working in windowless and/or underground sites. Yet a greater understanding of different human responses to frequent occupation of a subterranean space is still lacking. Some of the issues facing humans above ground can be extrapolated and expected to have an impact, albeit to a higher degree of severity, while living underground. To name a few, claustrophobia, light sensitivity, general fatigue, eye fatigue, disturbance of circadian rhythms, insomnia, headaches, etc. These are just some of the potential ailments and stressors for which very little is known due to lack of experimental or real data. Given the above-mentioned social issues, and the lack of evidence-based data to address these issues, we are left with the necessity of applying existing knowledge from above ground experiences to resolve underground problems. Some of the tactics would seem trivial, such as showing compassion to each other’s concerns, being forgiving to one’s mistakes, helping each other as needed, and so on. Hence it would seem that an effort to educate and promote social interaction would produce good results and reinforce some areas of public concern while living underground. Source by Nick Poulios

If you are planning to study with an online psychology program, it is not that difficult. Online degrees can be earned by people who are unable to go to universities and attend classes. Their reason could be any, but getting an online degree is convenient for people who are already working and cannot attend classes. Such online programs can definitely give your job a boost if you are in to the field of psychology. All of us would agree to the fact that degrees are very important in order to get a better job. For people who are already busy with their jobs or have a busy family life can always earn an online psychology program to excel in the fields of human services, counseling or psychology. Since so many universities are offering such courses, the quality of these degrees has been enhanced. In order to study online, you first need to be organized, motivated and have excellent management skills. To start off, you need to find a good accredited university to start your online psychology program. A wide range of degrees related to psychology are present for graduates and for undergraduates as well. The degrees include clinical psychology, education or sports psychology, counseling, therapies and a lot more. So, you should find a school which is offering the programs of your own choice. Studying online program and getting your degree can be helpful in a lot of ways. This can be the baby steps towards becoming a psychiatrist or a counselor. If you earn yourself an online degree in psychology, you are opening doors towards a lot of career opportunities. You can be a part of different industries such as law, public relation or administration. If you are not studying online, a bachelor’s degree will take almost fours years to complete, but online school programs offer online psychology courses in a more convenient way. They give you credits for your work experience or prior learning. In this way, you can earn yourself an online psychology degree in less time and also at low fees. There are a lot of benefits when it comes to online degrees. The curriculum that students receive is highly customized and at times you can get education from some good psychologist or scholars, which may not be the case in actual universities. Before opting for one, make sure that the online university has the appropriate license and is a recognized university. You need to do a good research before selecting a university for yourself. The best thing about getting an online psychology degree is that you can expect a good job after that. Also, you can continue with your current full time job and also earn a full time degree and that too at your own convenient pace. Since there are different types of degrees available, you should get an advice from an expert before opting for one. He can guide you properly as to which degree would be suitable for you. If you have completed your online psychology program at bachelor’s level, you can also opt for a master’s degree. In order to be come a psychiatrist or a counselor, you must complete your degrees from good universities. Source by John Phu

Forensic psychology is an intriguing field of work and study but two of the most important questions to ask before deciding to pursue any field of work or study is whether there will be employment opportunities available when you complete the requisite educational requirements and whether the expected salary is enough for you to live. This article describes the current state of employment and salary prospects for forensic psychologists for 2012 and beyond. Employment Prospects for Forensic Psychologists In a nutshell, employment prospects for them are great. The United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that career employment for forensic psychologists is expected to grow by about 15% through 2016. Not only is this a faster growth rate than average but it is also one of the fastest growing fields within the broader domain of psychology. Those who currently work in the field know that there is a dearth of forensic psychologists in the correctional system and that it would take hiring thousands of them to make up for the shortfall in this area. Thus, the correctional system throughout the United States will likely be one of the largest employers of new psychologists over the next decade. Academic institutions, research institutions, and think tanks are also expected to hire a number of forensic psychologists over the next decade. As more and more national attention is directed towards the successful reintegration of offenders back into the community, additional resources, including the retention of forensic psychologists in both practice and research settings, are expected to be directed towards this goal. Although a doctoral-level degree is the requirement to practice as an independent psychologist is most every state, certain states, such as New York, are revising their licensing laws to allow masters-level individuals to become licensed as counselors thereby increasing the employment opportunities for those who do not hold doctoral-level degrees. These changes are a result of the strong need for psychological service providers in these states. Thus, employment prospects tend to be good for both doctoral and masters-level practitioners. Salary Prospects for Forensic Psychologists The salary that one earns as a forensic psychologist is typically dependent upon the level of education (typically doctoral vs. master’s level), the type of setting in which one is employed (e.g., correctional institution, academic institution, community mental health center, forensic hospital, private practice), and the number of years of experience in the field. Other factors may include geographic location, with higher salaries typically associated with larger cities and more densely populated areas. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the mean annual salary for forensic psychologists is $86,510, with a range from $41,200 to $119,940. These are aggregated data that do not take into consideration the number of years of experience of the individual. The American Psychological Association’s Practice Organization, which includes individuals who are licensed as psychologists and who are actively engaged in the practice of psychology, surveyed their members as to their annual gross income from work as a psychologist and found the following: Salary Range Percentage of Respondents Less than $30,000 4.9% $30,000 – $59,999 12.8% $60,000 – $99,999 36.7% $100,000 – $150,000 28.5% More than $150,000 11.8% This represents the salary earned across all subtypes of psychology; however, forensic psychologists typically make more than most other types of psychologists so it is probably safe to assume that these numbers are a bit on the conservative side for the subspecialty of forensic psychology. For those who are interested in some state-specific information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about the salaries of forensic psychologists, please see this article on the typical forensic psychology salary. For those who are interested in some setting-specific information on the salaries of forensic psychologists, including academic and research settings, clinical settings, legal settings, correctional settings, and private practice, please see this article. All things considered, the time is right for forensic psychologists. This is an interesting field with a lot of upside for employment and salary, not to mention rewarding work that is often intellectually stimulating and intriguing. Source by Leslie D Panlaque

Characteristics of early childhood: (2 to 6 yrs.) i) Early childhood is a distinctive period in the life span. It is a problem age or troublesome age for parents since most of them are centered around the baby’s physical care. In childhood, behavior problems become more frequent and more troublesome than the physical care problems in babyhood. Since the behavior problems dominate the early childhood, the young children develop distinctive personalities and aspire for independence. Also, they are very often obstinate, stubborn, disobedient, protesting and antagonistic. They are often bothered by day dreams at night and irrational fears during day times and suffer from jealousies. ii) The dependency during babyhood changes to independence on attaining childhood age. In many occasions, they seem to reject the help offered by elders. Still, the early childhood is an age of playing with toys in most of the time. When the children enter the first standard in school, they begin to be engaged in games and modified form of sports without toys. Anyhow, when alone, the children are seen to play with toys. iii) It is the pre gang age during which the children learn the foundations of social behavior. As a general rule, during the pre school years, children find social contacts with members of their own sex more pleasurable than those with members of the opposite sex. iv) It is an exploratory age in the sense that they want to know what their environment is and how it works, how it feels, and how they can be a part of it. v) It is an imitative age. Imitations of speech and actions of others are prevalent. Imitative nature develops creative talents. vi) Early childhood is also known as an age of chatterbox. The reason for this is that once they are able to speak with ease, many children speak much and more than others. The other children, by contrast, are relatively silent who are named as `Silent Sams’ vii) It is an ideal age to learn various skills by repeated trials and adventurous attempts. The skills are learned easily and quickly. viii) Improvement in speech and comprehension is an important matter. Skills in building up a vocabulary, mastering pronunciation and combining words into sentences are in rapid growth. ix) Moral development is on a slow level. This is because the intellectual development has not reached the point where the children can learn or apply the abstract principles of right and wrong. They learn how to act in specific situations without knowing why they do so. Even bright children tend to be poor in learning how to behave in a socially approved way is a long and difficult process. Children may be told not to do something one day but the next day or even the day after that, they may have forgotten what they were told not to do so. Thus what may appear willful disobedience is often only a case of forgetting. They obey rules without using reason or judgment because they regard adults in authority in omni point. They judge all acts as right or wrong in terms of the consequences rather than in terms of motivation behind them. They view a matter a wrong one in punishment. x) Development of consciousness is not up to expectation. They do not feel guilty or ashamed if they caught doing something. What they know is wrong Instead they may be frightened at they prospect of punishment or they may try to rationalize their acts in the hope of escaping punishment. xi) Question asking behavior is another important concern. The questions asked at beginning are concerned with physical causality and then on diverse number of categories. If they are not satisfied in the answer, they use to raise more and more questions in chain until they are satisfied. Also they feel proud of themselves asking such questions with aspirations. Source by Varadharajan R

A drop shot is a thing of beauty and it can be a powerful weapon in every level of tennis. Being able to hit a well disguised drop shot on your forehand and your backhand can be a great asset for you and for your tennis game. As its name implies, in this shot, the tennis drops over the net and stays low to the ground. It usually has little or no pace. This shot is all about touch, feel and accuracy. Here a some suggestions for mastering the shot that can help you to win more tennis matches: 1. Soften your grip so you can feel the ball and develop the touch you need to execute this shot. 2. Turn sideways toward the net. 3. Keep your head very still throughout the stroke. 4. Hit this shot as far away from your opponent as possible. 5. Effective drop shots will bounce three times in the service box. 6. Disguise your shot by setting up as if you are about to his a ground stroke. 7. Use a continental or western grip when you want to hit this kind of ball. 8. Practice hitting the drop shot off different kinds of balls. 9. Use a short back swing and a short follow through. 10. Do not use this shot when you are well behind the baseline. This is a low percentage shot. 11. Use this tactic when you want to draw your opponent into the net. Then you can pass them or lob over them. 12. When you are close to the service line and your opponent is at the baseline or behind the baseline, consider the drop shot. 13. This kind of shot is a good tactic against taller players who don’t like to bend down for a low ball. 14. The drop shot is a great tactic for changing the pace and the geometry of a tennis match. 15. This kind of shot can neutralize a hard hitter who likes to stay behind the baseline. 16. A drop shot is a great tool for a player who is losing power and velocity from his or game and who wants to develop a balanced and well rounded attack. 17. Experiment with this shot during a match. If it works well, continue to use it. 18. An effective drop shot can frustrate an opponent and give you a psychological edge. Source by Jay P. Granat, Ph.D.

These psychological ego Strategies arise where separate intelligences are split off from the central stem of your Soul and are Archetypes created and used by the Hurt Inner Children. Hurt Inner Children split off from the Central Soul personality when the person gets traumatised by the painful and corrupt actions of life. These Hurt Inner Children flow in and out of your consciousness and it is these split personalities which use the Strategies like the Violator, the Poor Me and the Selfish Competitive Star in order to get the attention and the Love of everyone around them. The problem is that these psychology ego strategies always hurt the people around them. Eventually they stop working and the people around them throw them out. With ego strategies, if you are rich everyone puts up with them, their job depends on it, but no-one likes them. Without someone pointing out the discrepancies in your behaviour, you probably will not notice them.. As Gurdjieff said, “The personality that says I will get up early in the morning is not the same personality who throws the alarm clock out of the window!!.” This is the psychology of the split personality! As the False Negative Emotions of Anger, Manicism, Seeking Sympathy and Attention, Depression and Fear are Eliminated, Emotional Integration with the Intelligence results in Willpower and the Power of Doing. This higher functionality is the result of healing these Strategies! The Aloof Strategy When we remain quiet as a child, then our mothers often ask if there is a problem. The psychological strategy has worked! We have caught the attention, the energy, the love of our mothers. Because of this people remain quiet and show no love at inappropriate times, simply because this strategy worked once. The aloof use this psychological strategy to gain attention. Once we had a client who used to constantly travel around the world in order to remain aloof from his family and create food for themselves and eat it separately. It certainly got their attention!! Also the aloof psychology can work in combination with the Star. Once we had a client who preferred to eat alone rather than eat with others. The star made wonderful food which it used in order to remain aloof. The Poor me Strategy Further than the aloof strategy the Poor Me gains energy by being sad or sick and by moaning and complaining. Many people say that doctors surgeries are places where people compete for who had the worse things that happened to them. The combination of the Poor me and the Star. They have some investment in always remaining sick, and that is because it gets the attention of all the people around them. As people get sick of their constant moaning the poor me strategy begins to fail to get attention, as all of these strategies eventually fail. Then something stronger is needed in order to gain the attention and the POOR ME becomes an amputee, Alcoholic or a Drug Addict. They are so sad that one feels guilty to be happy in their presence. Needless to say, this childish personality will do anything, hurt or even kill themselves to gain your attention and your Energy! And if that does not work the Poor Me always flips into the Violator Strategy in order to get attention. Ignore them and they get Very Very Angry!!! This is the origin of many Bi-polar Disorders. Remember the Vampiric Strategy Sub-Personality does not care one jot about its host, YOU!! All it cares about is to perform its robotic programmed function of gaining attention and love and energy from everyone around them. The Strategies of the Vampire. However, to remove these sub-personalities completely, the more Advanced techniques of a Synthesis of Ancient Meditational Techniques are absolutely necessary:- It needs an Ancient Advanced Synthesis of Effective Techniques for Gaining More Energy – Meditation, Shaktipat, Energy Circulation, The Kundalini Kriyas, The Five Elemental Paths Of The Chi Of Chinese Alchemical Taoism, The Grounding Of Negative Energies, V.I.T.R.I.O.L, The Art Card Of The Thoth Tarot, Access To Kundalini Energy, Strong Psychic Protection, Learn The Merkaba, Pyramid Protection, Power Tower Protection, Create The Antahkarana, Soul Fusion, Monadic Infusion, Logos Infusion. The Painless Removal Of Stress, Trauma And Negative Emotion Leading onto the more advanced Techniques of The Karma Clearing Process. Karma Cleaning Process, Learning how to clean The Karma From Past Lives, Future Life, Future Lifetimes, Integrating Soul Fragmentation And Retrieval of Inner Children, Selfish Ego Sub Personalites, Life Destroying Strategies, The Aloof, The Interrogator, The Violator, The Selfish Competitive Star, The Vamp Or Don Juan, The Pleaser, The Blamer, The Critic, The King, The Self Destructor, All The Destructive Vows From This And Past Lifetimes,. Which results in The Creation Of Self Love, Love And Service. Ponder on this.. Source by Swami Satchidanand

The definition of educational psychology varies but it is often associated with the study of learning within an educational environment or setting. It also deals with theories in learning, theories of teaching, ways to improve teaching effectiveness and the overall psychology of institutions like schools. Basically, in North American countries, there are two types of psychologists in schools or academic institutions. Educators who are involved in research are often known as educational psychologists. On the other hand, when an educator or teacher practice is involved in the practical application of theories of learning, they are termed as educational psychologists. Educational psychology is a wide discipline that covers any of the following areas: 1. Educational Technology 2. Curriculum Development 3. Classroom Management 4. Instructional Design 5. Special Education 6. Organizational Learning Educational Psychology as a subject is often offered as a core subject in teacher education programs. It is very critical for any teacher to understand how students develop their learning skills. By doing so, they can plan strategies that will meet desired learning outcomes. It is also crucial for future teachers to understand the nature of human development because not all children have the same rate of mental, physical, and social development. Nowadays, a very diverse classroom pose a lot of challenges to educators due to cultural and language differences. There are many fundamental theories that are presented when studying educational psychology. The various conceptual framework of learning theories are divided into three major groups, namely: cognitive, behaviorism, and constructivism. Each of these conceptual frameworks has its own merits and flaws. A school that focuses mainly on observable behavior in children adopts the behaviorist theory. The major proponent of this theory is John Watson. In this framework, learning is measured through observable behavior. Teachers can modify student’s behavior by applying two different types of conditioning – classical or operant conditioning. Another important theory is educational psychology is constructivism. A constructivist educator believes that students gain knowledge through active engagement which can come in the form of problem solving. This theory has many applications in a classroom setup that can help learners achieve their learning goals. Cognitivism is also a popular theoretical framework since it encourages in developing the mind of the learner. For the cognitivist, behavior can be influenced by thinking; hence, it is more valuable to develop cognitive skills like memorization, problem solving, and thinking to foster better learning. From the cognitivist’s view, the mind is like a computer where information is processed. Behavior is only a manifestation or a by-product of cognitive processes. While there are also critics of this theory, it has been useful for many educators through the years. It has helped teachers to understand why learners behave in a certain manner. Through the years, many learning theories have come up which presents to educators, researchers, and school administrators more options to develop and enhance student’s academic performance. This makes educational psychology as a very exciting discipline since learners also evolve as the world around them progresses. In the end, future educators realize the very crucial role they play in transforming the lives of their students. The best way to become a good teacher is to enroll in a reputable school that offers teaching programs. You can enroll in a bachelor’s program that specializes in early education or special education. Find a local school in your area and inquire about their program offerings. Source by Greg J Carson

On studying the creative process and the creative individual to understand creativity Creativity is the process of generating novel ideas and is the basic force for all inventions. The process of creation involves seeing new relations between concepts and things and determining unique solutions to problems. The creative process is about seeing new associations between objects and concepts and the creative person is marked by traits of originality, nonconformity and high levels of knowledge. When you come out with an appropriate yet unique and different solution to a problem that has not been thought before, you are being creative. Psychologists have tried to explain creativity with many theories. Among these are cognitive theories of creativity (creativity as a cognitive process using mental constructs and structures), behaviorist theories (the environmental and associative nature of creative ideas), psychoanalytic theories (creativity as neuroticism), social theories (creativity as a social process and role of schools and family in the development of gifted children) and personality theories (emphasizing on personal creative traits). In the psychology of creativity we have to understand two things -firstly the creative process and secondly the creative individual. So the psychology of creativity is about: 1. The Creative Process – this includes the definitions of creativity and the mental processes involved in creativity. 2. The Creative Individual – this is about the personality traits of the creative individual, the attributes of genius and the peculiarities of the creative personality Psychological theories have tried to explain both the creative process and the creative individual. The Process of Creativity – So what is creativity and what is the mechanism through which people actually create new ideas, solutions or concepts? According to many theorists, creativity is about chance or serendipity or making discoveries by ‘accident’. So the creative process, according to this explanation is an ‘accident’. This means that while you’re trying out several methods, a best method or a solution to your problem arises out of nowhere and by chance you discover something totally unique. Some people would suggest that the creative process is more of trying to find out new relations between older known concepts so this is less about originality and more about ‘experience’. The more experienced you are in a particular subject area, the more likely you are to consider creative solutions. Creativity has also been described as a moment of ‘insight’. It is almost like enlightenment and divine intervention and a flash and the trick is to prolong this moment and creative individuals are people who can develop their sudden insights. So the creative process can be about a sudden chance, novel use of the knowledge/ experience or a sudden insight. The creative process thus involves using several possibilities/methods and past experiences to arrive at sudden solutions through insights or accidents. In 1926, Graham Wallas described stages of creativity in which a creative idea is first prepared, then internalized through incubation, after which the creative individual uses the illumination or insight to finally go through the verification process of applying the idea. Psychologist JP Guilford explained creativity with his concept of convergent and divergent thinking and convergent thinking is about trying to find the single correct solution to a problem and divergent thinking is the generation of multiple creative solutions to a problem. Creativity is thus characterized by divergent thinking and generation of multiple possibilities. According to the Geneplore model developed by Finke, Ward and Smith (1992), creativity involves two phases – the generative phase in which the individual generates constructs from pre-inventive structures or known processes/ideas and the exploratory phase in which pre-inventive structures are interpreted to come up with new creative ideas. Most of these psychological theories seem to be emphasizing on preexisting mental structures through knowledge and experience and using these structures for novel or unique solutions. The creative process is thus all about insight, ‘a sudden flash’, almost like a moment of realization and it has been described as serendipity or divine intervention by scientists and artists alike who have tried to described their moment of discovery, although the role of previous knowledge and experience is an equally important background factor. The scientists and artists are able to realize the potential of these ‘flashes’ and are able to recognize, capture and prolong their moments of insight for better realization of their creative goals. The Personality in Creativity – This brings us to the question about the traits or personality factors that make a person creative. Is there a well-defined creative personality? Of course, there is. Highly creative individuals and geniuses have marked similar traits and although every human being is creative in one way or the other, some individuals actually develop their creativity too well and so they are recognized as creative geniuses. Psychologists believe that all highly creative individuals have certain common personality traits. 1. Complexity – The creative individuals love complex situations and problems as this provides a challenge to their own mental abilities and help them to think of several possible solutions 2. Flexibility – Highly creative individuals are extremely open-minded and receptive to new ideas and possibilities which help them to move beyond traditional modes of thinking 3. Confidence – Boldness and confidence mark the creative genius as in order to be a pioneer, one has to have leadership qualities, extreme self-confidence and creative geniuses are leaders as they show a new path and open new possibilities 4. Non-conformity – The creative process itself is an act of non-conformity so creative individuals are non-conformists and unconventional. 5. Intuition – Highly creative people are extremely intuitive and they can scare you with their ability to read minds and people’s thoughts. That is how they can create as they have to know the order of things and are able to predict people’s responses. 6. Sensitivity – Creative individuals have well developed sensitivity as without extreme sensitivity, it is not possible to feel and portray the emotions through creative work. A novelist has to know ‘how it feels’ to be character in his

For many years now there has been an ongoing debate about whether the field of psychology should be considered a science. As you’d expect there are psychologists who argue that it is, and traditional scientists that would argue that it is not. So where does the truth lie. Well… somewhere in between is probably realistic, although there are scientists that would refuse to grant even that much to psychologists. So lets start by looking at where psychology could be considered a science – and that is in the research side of things. One of the great aspects to science is the rigorous testing of theories and hypotheses using an objective, data driven approach. So wouldn’t it make sense that if psychologists that were engaged in research studies using those very same principles, then it would be considered scientific in nature? The truth is that there are definitely psychological research studies being done which are very scientific in nature. Some even use high-tech computer equipment to analyze the relationship between brain activity and human behavior. Unfortunately not all psychologists carry out studies that are so scientific in nature – not because they’re manipulating their research in any way, but because their research is being done into human behavior as opposed to something physical as with scientific areas like physics or chemistry. So when talking about the scientific validity of psychological studies they could probably be viewed on a continuum – some are going to be far more scientific than others. Now to the flip side – the argument against psychology as science. As you’d expect, the scientists have gotten quite ‘scientific’ in their explanations as to why it’s not a science. One of the common arguments used is that in science, the research is aimed towards some practical application. So for example, scientists are doing research into the causes of cancer, so that a cure can be found. Or research is being done into alternative energy sources so that we can move away from our current, carbon based options. In psychology there is far less of a connection between the research and its practical application. While there are definitely studies that allow for breakthroughs in how clinical and counseling psychologists treat their patients, there are also many studies done which are not followed through into practice. Again this would be seen on a continuum – research into educational psychology often has great benefit in a practical setting, whereas research into group behavior in social settings may not. Another argument often put forward has to do with the subject matter. Science is about studying the world around us in the psychical sense. Psychology is about studying the human mind, and in particular human behavior. Because human behavior is largely based on beliefs, this makes it far from a scientific subject matter, and impossible to categorize in a scientific way. So while the argument will probably rage on for as long as we live, it would seem that while parts of psychology could be classified as being somewhat scientific in nature, large parts of it cannot. Source by Joe Y Duffy

The question, “Is God Dead?”, first entered my consciousness when I was ten or eleven years old. I saw it on the cover of a Life magazine, and it’s lingered in my mind ever since. At the time, though, I wasn’t too concerned with His possible demise. I had pretty much determined that God lived inside each of us. No matter how hard I tried, I hadn’t been able to find God in the lukewarm rituals of the Protestant faith. Instinctively, I knew God wasn’t dead, He was just hiding within each of us, waiting to be discovered. I became interested in Freud in high school and entered college as a psychology major. After several years studying psychology, I underwent an existential crisis: I couldn’t bear the thought of my future career as a psychologist consisting of continuously instructing strangers about how to live their lives. It would be too boring to endure. So, I transferred to art school (a Nietzchian choice, I now see). For years, the question languished in the back of my brain: “Is God dead?” Or was the idea only yellow journalism or intellectual coffeehouse chatter? But all this background is bringing me ahead of myself. It wasn’t until last month that I finally learned God’s death was first announced by and perhaps directly attributable to the philosopher Frederic Nietzsche. Only now am I beginning to understand the enormous impact of those three little words. As a newly-renewed psychology major, I am fascinated by Nietzsche’s bold declarative question, “Who among philosophers before me has been called a psychologist at all?” (Nietzsche, 16), and how his thoughts anticipate, influence, and in fact, define modern psychology. Therefore, in this essay, I am attempting to interweave the death of God with the mission of contemporary psychology, and to offer some of my own thoughts and experiences. If I have added a distinctly personal spin to the proceedings, forgive me; I believe Nietzsche would have accepted the voice of personal experience. “Whither is God” he cried. “I shall tell you. We have killed him–you and I. All of us are his murderers” (Nietzsche, 95). Thus, in 1882, Nietzsche created a madman who announced the end of Christian tradition and in so doing, the beginning of modern life. In conclusion, the madman proclaims to the listening crowd: “This deed is still more distant from them than the most distant stars–and yet they have done it themselves” (Nietzsche, 96). Nietzsche could be mistaken for an atheist, but no man can kill something he doesn’t believe in. Even if man could kill God, God is a Supreme Being who possesses the power to resurrect Himself. Nietzsche’s point, then, seems to be that mankind cannot destroy God for all eternity, but that men can banish God from their lives. The death of God, serious though it may be, is a metaphor. The metaphors flooding my mind are these: Man has murdered God, been tried and found guilty, and is currently serving a life sentence without Him. God first threw us out of the Garden, now we’re throwing him out of the asphalt jungle. We have replaced original sin for man-made guilt, anxiety, and despair. The reality of God’s death may be too much for man, a mere mortal (and now, more mortal than ever), to bear, as also is the lack of meaning in life. But every metaphor and consequence arising from the original theme begs the question, “God is dead, long live . . . ?” * * * * * Nietzsche qualifies his metaphor and hints at some answers. First, he states that ” . . . the belief in the Christian God has ceased to be believable” (Nietzsche, 447). Second, he describes man’s life after God’s death: “Indeed, philosophers and ‘free spirits’ feel as if a new dawn were shining on us when we receive the tidings that ‘the old god is dead’; our heart overflows with gratitude, amazement, anticipation, expectation. At last the horizon appears free again to us, even granted that it is not bright, at last our ships may venture out again, venture out to face any danger; all the daring of the lover of knowledge is permitted again; the sea, our sea, lies open again; perhaps there has never yet been such an ‘open sea’ (448). The open sea is our psyche. But before I become too blithe in my interpretation, I must remind myself that the death of God tormented and tortured the philosopher. He sailed on through dark and into mostly uncharted waters to explore the human mind and human behavior–in a word, psychology. With prescient references to various Freudian concepts, Nietzsche discusses sublimation, instinct, repression, guilt, and ego. Still, we may worry that he’s left us behind and half-jokingly wonder, “Is there nothing sacred anymore?” Nietzsche would answer, “No. God is dead, long live psychology.” Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi neatly summarizes the connection between Nietzsche, ‘the first psychologist,’ and modern psychology: “After all, at least since Nietzsche concluded that God was dead, philosophers and social scientists have been busy demonstrating that existence has no purpose, that chance and impersonal forces rule our fate, and that all values are relative and hence arbitrary. It is true that life has no meaning, if by that we mean a supreme goal built into the fabric of nature and human experience, a goal that is valid for every individual. But it does not follow that life cannot be given meaning” (215). Just as there was “no psychology before him,” it is highly doubtful there could have been any without Nietzsche. Csikszentmihalyi not only accepts Nietzsche’s premise that life is meaningless, he also offers this insight on the link between the “first psychologist” and the role of modern psychology: “If values and institutions no longer provide as supportive a framework as they once did, each person must use whatever tools are available to carve out a meaningful, enjoyable life. One of the most important tools in this quest is