The Mind; Genetic or Experiential

       The popular English Philosopher John Locke is popular for his theory of the mind as a Tabula rasa; a Latin word often translated "blank slate" that the human mind receives knowledge and forms itself based on experience, without any pre-existing innate ideas that would serve as a starting point. Tabula rasa thus implies that individual human beings are born "blank" (with no built-in mental content). And that their identity is defined entirely by their experiences and sensory perceptions of the outside world. Moreover according to biology; we are products of 2 combined elements (our parents) and the Chromosomes contributed from the two elements during our conception carries various characteristics and traits which is the foundation of our inherent looks and behaviours. But from experience many of us have heard our parents tell us that we do not take after them especially in behaviours.

           In my research I have discovered that these Chromosomes are mostly effective in determining our biological make up. They play little or no role in developing behaviours. Behaviour, personality and Character is a pattern that is developed over time, meaning we can say that The Mind is a pattern that develops over time. We can liken this to when our body that grows physically based on how well it is nourished and taken care of. My question now is;

       Are our Genes absolutely useless in our mind formation?

       What are the things that forms the mind?

       Can the mind be left to form on it's own?

     Drop by next Friday to get this questions answered 

You and your mind (III)

   

      In my first post, there was the case of Shayo, a 14-year-old girl who also is an only child to her parents who have grown without an identity. In the case of Shayo, she has suffered from various emotional problems while growing up, and she entered teenagehood which is supposed to be a phase of the establishment of Characters and personality. She has grown to be an inferior person. What could have caused this? We can't say that this ought to happen naturally because Shayo's classmates who happen to be of the same age are not having the same problems. Could this be a Spiritual problem? Maybe Shayo's village people are at the peak of their work on her matter..........

              In my own Opinion Shayo's case is not the fault of her village people nor does she have Spiritual problems. Comparing Shayo with her classmates the difference between their growth is the environment they grew up in and their respective parents; the homes they were raised in. The mind is in a plain state when a child is born, and whatever the child is exposed to in the process of development becomes what establishes the personality, character, and ways of the person.

         In my next post I will talk about how the mind comes to form; Anticipate!

     

You and your mind (II)

 Humans are conscious, inanimate things like sticks, stones, and the likes are not while animals are somewhere in between. The mind is the seat of emotions, thought processes, imagination, memory, wills, sensation, feelings and divers kind of human behaviours. The mind has a mystical view of existence but physiologists have revealed a complex part of the human body system that can be referred to as the controller of all activities that happens in the body, THE BRAIN!. In simple term; the brain is a complex organ that controls thought, memory, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, breathing, temperature, hunger, and every process that regulates our body.

              The human brain is a complex component with various parts, and each part has a function it carries out. The brain is also responsible for receiving external stimuli from the environment and responding to them. Now we have seen that the brain and the mind have similar functions so we can agree that the mind could be a part of the brain! Now to what your mind is;

       Your mind is who you are; your actions and behaviours stems from your mind, your mind is what makes you, you!

•      Your mind houses your feelings 
•      Your mind houses your thoughts
•      Your mind houses your emotions
•      Your mind houses sensations
•     Your mind houses your wills
•     Your mind is that part of you that seeks expression!

The mind is indeed huge!

You and your mind (l)

       A lot of contradictions have surfaced over the subject of the mind, different theoretical hypothesis in the bid of trying to give a definition to this concept had in turn rendered more confusion with complex terminologies. Here, I am not here to confuse you the more; I am only here to help clear some of your doubts.

       The mind has been believed to be so many things by different people; some believe it's some sort of fiction that is not real, some other think it's superstitious and of no significance, some are not even aware of it's existence and relevance. My heart breaks when I see people point to their chest whilst trying to refer to their minds like ooops what an ignorance right there. So what exactly is the and and what is not the mind? I will be answering the later first;

•  The mind is not a fiction!
• The mind is not superstition put together by some sort of people.     
• The mind isn't that too complex.
• The mind is not  irrelevant in the body system.
• The mind is not really right on your chest.

With this you are probably curious about what the mind really his, well I am curious too but you'll have to watch out for my next post!

Introduction

  

   Shayo is a 14year old girl who finds it difficult to identify who she is, she perceives everyone around her as haters who only want to take advantage of her. This moment you'd see her laughing and having some nice times with her classmates and the next moment she'd isolate herself from anyone for no obvious reason. Shayo sees every compliment about her as a lie and she takes all compliments as being flattered. Her classmates have concluded that she is a witch and have decided to be careful with her but what really is the problem?

    Shayo has suffered from neglect as a child which has led to faulty thinking and perception. Thoughts are powerful, they have creative ability and in turn, make us who we are if our thoughts are going to affect what we become, then it should certainly be a priority that we think the right thoughts. We have come to know that our body systems need to be taken good care of and because of this we give them so much attention like watching what to eat, when we eat it, and how we eat it. So also our minds need to be well taken care of; How do you do this and when will you start, all of this and more Is what my blog is here to answer.

     I'm Funmilayo Olaopa, a trained psychologist and you can call me your mind doctor. Welcome to my Blog!