Cognitive Structure Filling in the Blanks.

Mapping reality a limit. 

There is a limit to what we can know. Yet for a personal map of reality to be fully functional all the gaps about how the world works must be filled so it can function as an integrated whole. Since it is impossible to have all the information necessary what happens is these final holes in the personal map of reality are filled in with metaphysical information that cannot be tested. It is not scientific and these bits of knowledge may correctly be called myths. It is these myths or beliefs that give each map its wholeness and also much of its uniqueness. When these final beliefs are put in place the map becomes for the first time a single whole integrated pattern. It is quickly able to do far more than before. It is as if the conjectures and theories become something far more than what they were individually.

A gestalt. 

The personal map of reality becomes a gestalt. The dictionary tells us that a gestalt is: A physical, biological, psychological, or symbolic configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that its properties cannot be derived from a simple summation of its parts. An organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts. A structure, configuration, or pattern of physical, biological, or psychological phenomena so integrated as to constitute a functional unit with properties not derivable by summation of its parts. As a functioning personal map of reality is capable of doing far more than the sum of its parts gestalt seems most appropriate.

Closure.

A branch of psychology called Gestalt Psychology was much concerned with the ability of the mind to make wholes out of things that were not wholes. For instance when we see a circle with a gap in it we tend to see it as a circle not as an arc. We close the gap automatically. This is essentially what the mind does in completing a personal map of reality. It fills in what we do not know with something so that we can know it. What it fills in is both personal and cultural. What it fills in are myths.

Myths build slowly over a long period of time. 

The final stage in the development of a personal map of reality can not properly be called a stage. For some it may be a stage but for others and to some extent all people most of it is something that happens during all the other stages. The cultural myths in particular do not usually come at some late stage but rather develop slowly over time. Such things as religion, our prejudices and beliefs about what is moral or right or good are things that can not be tested yet they are major players in all our actions and motives. What happens at this stage (if it is a stage) is these myths are committed to.

What are some of these myths and what is their importance? 

Well of course there are the religious myths. These were of utmost importance in times gone by and still are of huge importance to some people. These days most people probably do not believe in god and even when they do believe in god they are not very sure. In times gone by the god myth gave structure to people's lives. It provided people with motivation and it gave their lives meaning. There are other minor myths that guide our lives many of which we have retained without the original of their source in religion. Such things as superstitions can enable us to do some things and prevent us from doing others. We may believe in things like luck and going with runs of luck. A surprising number of people believe in what might be called conspiracies (people are plotting sometimes against them or others). Some people believe in flying saucers or UFOs. Communism was also such a belief for those who believed in it unconditionally.

The important myths today are probably psychological and sociological myths. Some people believe in a particular brand of psychology to solve all life's problems. Some of these myths are not only common to all people but also have a profound influence on the success and well being they feel while they are alive. Many of these take the form of dichotomies in that if you do not believe one view you believe in an opposite view. Generosity and stinginess, kindness and cruelty, are examples of character trait myths. Some people believe in synergy in that they believe if they help others it will come back to them in kind as in earning merit, while others believe in the law of the jungle where it is dog eat dog, looking out for number one and one-upmanship. Some people believe that work is fun and part of play, while others believe that work is drudgery and play is childish and immoral.

Mindsets. 

Three myths in particular have been shown in exhaustive scientific studies to have a massive impact on our lives. It has been clearly shown, that with each of these, one orientation (or mindset) is clearly superior to the other:

1. Pessimism or optimism orientation. Pessimism and optimism are very old concepts. But until recently nobody had thought to investigate and really find out scientifically if these orientations really did effect peoples lives and if one was preferable to the other. Martin Seligman and his colleagues set about just such a series of studies.

   Pessimism. What was discovered in this multitude of studies was that pessimism tended to lead to what Seligman liked to call 'learned helplessness' which ultimately led to inactivity and depression. Why bother to do anything if things were going to go bad anyway. The best strategy for the pessimist is not to take risks, to avoid dangers and be unnoticed. Pessimism also seemed to generally make people anxious, worried, basically unhappy and seemed to inevitably lead to failure. All this is self reinforcing for the pessimist.

   Optimism. Optimism on the other hand was found in the studies to lead to success, confidence, happiness and the finding of joy in activity. Optimists believe that if things are bad they will get better. They see opportunities all the time because they believe they are there and are looking for them. Their world looks beautiful and friendly and when it is not they know it will become so. Optimists were found to be healthier, more able to do things and to take more pleasure in what they do and experience. All this is of course self reinforcing to the optimist.   

2. Control or autonomous orientation. Controlling and autonomous concepts have also been around for quite some time especially control. Those social psychologists studying intrinsic motivation particularly Edward Deci and Richard Ryan and their colleagues began to detect a direct connection between controlling activity and loss of intrinsic motivation while autonomous behavior they noticed led to increased intrinsic motivation.

   Control. Feeling controlled leads to behavior that is intended to control others which in turn leads to those others feeling that they are being controlled. There are only two ways to deal with controlling behavior. One way is by compliance and the other is by resisting. Compliance even in order to get something like a reward leaves us feeling we do not have control of our lives and a loss of self esteem. The only way for controlling and controlled people to restore some semblance of ego and feel they have have some control is to try and find it in controlling others. But controlling others and being controlled ourselves has been shown in studies to make us anxious, tense and unhappy, it also has been shown to make us less creative, less competent and less interested in doing things when not being controlled and less able to find new interests. 

   Autonomy. Feeling autonomous leads to behavior that is intended to help others attain autonomy which in turn leads to people feeling that they in control of themselves and their own destiny. Autonomy or Self-determination is all about choices, options and differing possibilities to pick from. People who are themselves autonomous desire this freedom for others and thus try to the best of their ability to provide others with choices and encourage others to make their own decisions. Only by the example of their own views and actions do they try to influence those choices and never by threat or offering rewards. The studies showed that autonomous people in feeling self-determined and helping others to also feel self-determined, tend to be relaxed, happy, challenged, competent and creative. Autonomous people feel they are operating optimally and using their most of their capacities more often. They also tended to maintain or increase their interest in things and also find and develop new interests more easily.   

3. Fixed or growth orientation. Fixed and growth concepts have sort of been around for a log time but for some reason we have not related them greatly to people. Carol Dweck and a group of other social psychologists have only recently exposed the importance of these two orientations or mindsets, in an exhaustive series of studies, as enabling people to function well in life or to function badly.

   Fixed. Feeling that your abilities are fixed and cannot be changed also usually leads to encouraging those around you to suffer in a similar manner. People with a fixed mindset believe that things cannot be changed and especially that they themselves are fixed and unchanging in their abilities and intelligence. Not only that but people with this mindset seem to fear being found out as impostors who do not really have these abilities or intelligence. They have a compulsion to demonstrate their abilities and intelligence over and over. At the same time they are afraid of attempting new things because of the possibility of failure. They choose the easy path but because of the necessity of maintaining the esteem of others they often resort to cheating and lies. Because abilities are fixed for people who have this mindset they produce little effort to learn, change or improve themselves. Why would they if they believe change is impossible? In fact fixed mindset people believe that people with great abilities and intelligence can do everything easily and that effort shows that they are actually of lesser ability. If fixed mindset people become great (which is not so often) it is only because they did show early promise, who were in fact prodigies who did thing easily and with little effort. This greatness often leads to a fall, as they are unable to admit their mistakes and learn from them. They tend to feel pressured to live up to their own early potential. Fixed mindset people were found in the studies to be unhappy and anxious. 

   Growth. Feeling that your abilities need improvement and that you can improve them also usually leads to encouraging those around you to similarly work hard and and improve their abilities. People with a growth mindset believe everything can be changed and improved if only some effort is made to change it. They believe they can improve their abilities and their intelligence by working hard enough and long enough, by putting in enough effort. Such people feel no need to demonstrate their abilities which they tend to judge only against what they were able to do before, they judge themselves only by their improvement and not against external standards. Growth mindset people also do not fear failure and tend to redouble their effort when they fail. People with a growth mindset work hard and long hours but seem to enjoy doing it. If people with this mindset become great it is often difficult to guess from their early development that they would, for they often show no early promise. In greatness they tend to maintain or improve their greatness and do not falter. Growth mindset people were found in the studies to be happier and more confident.     

Linchpins. 

All these beliefs have in common that they are metaphysical theories which cannot be tested in themselves although the results of believing in the can indeed be tested. These beliefs however are often a linchpin that holds together each person's map of reality. A growth orientation for instance provides an essential element that erects a meta infrastructure in our maps of reality that places learning at the center of all mental activity. If this belief is taken away or altered what happens is a complete reorganizing of that map of reality. This in turn means they are difficult to change once they are set where one option is believed in to a greater extent than the other. These myths are usually maintained by out side 'seeming verification', by outside messages from others and from internal messages that we give ourselves.

Building the myths we want.

Although this site has used Carol Dweck's word 'mindset' to describe some of these myths it is a bit of a misnomer as it gives the impression that once these myths are formed it is difficult to change them and so it is in the long run or permanently. However in the short term it is relatively easy to change these mindsets. It is just an matter of sending the right message to somebody about what they are doing or about to do. Many of the studies of these mindsets come from controlled experiments where the particular mindset of the participants was set for each group by the experimenter. Just telling group of people that I.Q. is set for life once uncovered or telling another group that intelligence can be increased by the amount of effort that is put into learning will have a remarkable effect both on people's mindsets and their perceived intelligence. People with a fixed mindset appear to get stupider while those with the growth mindset appear to become more intelligent.

Myths have to be maintained. 

Many of these myths especially those formed late in life have to be maintained by the mind because they have very few links to the personal map of reality. They fill holes in the map of reality that can be structurally critical, but they are not deeply embedded in it in terms of the number of links to different information. Prejudices and irrational beliefs especially have to be gone over and over in the mind to widen the pathways to the links which would otherwise shrink and disappear. Another way to construe this is to think of it as keeping something in short term memory because there are not enough links to embed it in long term memory.

People are always trying to sell this basically irrational information to others. People who have prejudices are always trying to convince you that their view is correct. The white person who believes he is more intelligent than black people or better than black people will try to convince you that whites are more intelligent or better than blacks. People who drink will try to convince you to drink. People who believe that aliens walk amongst us will try to convince you it is so. Optimists and pessimists will also try to convince you that their view of the world is correct. People who evangelize their religion are in part keeping their beliefs alive in short term memory. People try to convince you of these things, do this in part, to create others like themselves, but more importantly they do it to resell it to themselves. The main reason that they do it is to keep it alive within themselves.