What do you think “spiritual maturity” is and how to achieve it? This article is intended for those who have already been baptized and become Christians. In it you will find some spiritual qualities that will help you take a step on the path of your spiritual development.
A spiritual person has the courage and desire to find out the truth about life and himself, instead of running from it. Such a person will be personally motivated and will think more about his spiritual qualities more than his physical ones.
How would you feel if someone called you "immature"? Most of us would take this as a personal insult. We don't like to be called not fully developed, to be called unserious, or to be told that we cannot cope with the challenges in our lives.
Spiritual maturity is what God wants to see in each of us:
And He Himself granted to some to become apostles, others to become prophets, others to become preachers of the gospel, and others to become shepherds and teachers, so that they would teach and care for the people of God. He did this to prepare God's people to serve for the strengthening of the Body of Christ until we were all united in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and became mature Christ-like men, reaching the same perfection as He. . (Ephesians 4:11-13)
Let's take a look at some biblical characteristics of a spiritually mature person so we can apply them to our lives:
Spiritual maturity and personal motivation
Send me, Lord, Your light and truth as guides, let them lead me to Your Holy Mountain, to Your abode. When I enter, O God, into the altar, I will sing Your praise on the harp, O Lord my God. (Psalm 42:3,4)
A spiritually mature person believes that God is the source of all truth and light, and such a person will seek God without direction from other people. How much do you need other people to help you seek God every day? To pray more often every day, to pray more honestly about how you feel or what you think? As long as we need other people to remind us in these matters, we remain spiritually immature in our relationship with God. We rely on other people's beliefs more than our own.
A spiritually mature person thinks more about the inner than the outer.
So do everything they tell you, but do not do as they do. I say this because they only talk and don't do. They make strict rules that are difficult to follow, put them on people's shoulders, and try to force people to follow them. They themselves don’t want to lift a finger. They perform all good deeds only for show, increasing the size of their phylacteries and lengthening the fringe on their clothes. (Matthew 23:3-5)
The passage above describes people who do not live what they preach. They chose the easy path of compromise rather than the hard road of living the truth. Such people end up focusing more on external things - how they look in the eyes of other people, instead of thinking more about how they look in the eyes of God.
Spiritual maturity means that people know that if they think more internally (about the heart, about emotions, about faith), then their external behavior will also match them inner world(Matthew 23:25-26)
Striving for a constant search for truth
Jesus asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him: “Teacher! I want to see again." (Mark 10:51)
Do you want to see the truth? In many areas of our lives, it is easier for us to deny something than to seek the truth. It's easier to remain "blind". Have you ever ignored reality in the following areas: work, relationships, health, marriage? We may be partial on many issues, but we are not always so active in the search for truth. Why? Because it is often difficult to come to terms with the truth, or we feel that life is already very busy, and for this reason we do not want to waste more energy and time creating new “problems” for ourselves. But he says that the truth sets us free (John 8:31-32), and in the end we will only become stronger spiritually if we do not hide what we really feel or think (Psalm 32:1-6).
What truth in your life do you think is time for you to face?
Spiritual Maturity and Honesty with God
When I realized that I was before You and did not cover the shame with silence, I said: “I repent before You, Lord!” And You forgave the guilt of my sins. Selah (Psalm 31:5)
Only God can take away our guilt and our sins. A spiritually mature person understands that no one can take away his sense of guilt. A big mistake is trying to get rid of guilt through communication with people, and not through communication with God. A spiritually mature person also understands that time spent with God must include acknowledging one's own sins, not just expressing feelings and emotions. When we confess what we have done wrong, God takes away our guilt and bad feelings about our wrong action.
How often do you spend time with God and talk to Him about your sins and guilt?
Openness in communication with other people
So confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power. (James 5:16)
A spiritually mature person will tell other people about his sins after he has told them to God. Such a person will not care how people think about him or what they say. He will have the humility to admit his mistakes, realizing that he needs other people's prayers to change.
When you last time Confessed to someone on your own initiative and asked them to help you change?
Striving for constant spiritual growth
Solid food is intended for mature people, whose minds, thanks to experience, are able to distinguish between good and evil. (Hebrews 5:14)
Spiritual maturity requires constant training. Our daily decisions may not seem like a big deal, but when we decide to hide what we feel or think, we become more immature every day. And vice versa - every time we decide to be open and honest, even if it hurts, we take an important step towards our spiritual maturation. We may not see results right away, but the Bible promises that those who continually work on their righteousness and integrity will reap the fruits of their labors and become spiritually mature individuals.
Make practical decisions that will help you be honest on a daily basis. Study Bible passages about honesty. Decide to communicate with someone every day about how you feel and what you think. Talk about this with your husband or wife, with your spiritual friends.
The psyche is complex and diverse in its manifestations. There are usually three large groups mental phenomena:
1) mental processes;
2) mental states;
3) mental properties.
Mental processes – dynamic reflection of reality in various forms of mental phenomena. A mental process is the course of a mental phenomenon that has a beginning, development and end. It must be borne in mind that the end of one mental process is closely connected with the beginning of another. Hence the continuity of mental activity in a person’s waking state. Mental processes are caused both by external influences on the nervous system and by irritations emanating from internal environment body. All mental processes are divided into cognitive, emotional And strong-willed(Fig. 5).
Rice. 5. Classification of mental processes
Cognitive mental processes play a large role in human life and activity. Thanks to them, a person reflects the objective world around him, cognizes it and, on the basis of this, navigates the environment and acts consciously.
In complex mental activity, various processes are connected and form a single whole, ensuring an adequate reflection of reality and implementation various types activities.
Mental conditions – is defined in given time a relatively stable level of mental activity, which is manifested by increased or decreased activity of the individual. Every person experiences different mental states every day (Fig. 6). In one mental state, mental or physical labor proceeds easily and productively, but otherwise it is difficult and ineffective. Mental states are of a reflex nature, arise under the influence of a certain environment, physiological factors, time, etc.
Rice. 6. Classification of mental states
Mental properties human beings are stable formations that provide a certain qualitative and quantitative level of activity and behavior typical for this person. Each mental property is formed gradually in the process of reflection and is consolidated by practice. It is therefore the result of reflective and practical activity. The mental properties of a person are diverse (Fig. 7), and they need to be classified in accordance with the grouping of mental processes on the basis of which they are formed.
Rice. 7. Classification of mental properties
1. Cognitive mental processes
Cognitive mental processes are channels of our communication with the world. Incoming information about specific phenomena and objects undergoes changes and turns into an image. All human knowledge about the world around us is the result of the integration of individual knowledge obtained through cognitive mental processes. Each of these processes has its own characteristics and its own organization. But at the same time, proceeding simultaneously and harmoniously, these processes interact with each other imperceptibly for a person and, as a result, create for him a single, holistic, continuous picture of the objective world.
1. Feeling – the simplest cognitive mental process, during which there is a reflection of individual properties, qualities, aspects of reality, its objects and phenomena, connections between them, as well as internal states organism, directly affecting the human senses. Sensation is the source of our knowledge about the world and ourselves. All living organisms with a nervous system have the ability to sense sensations. Conscious sensations are characteristic only of living beings with a brain. the main role sensations is to quickly convey to the central nervous system information about the state of both the external and internal environment of the body. All sensations arise as a result of the influence of irritating stimuli on the corresponding sensory organs. In order for a sensation to arise, it is necessary that the stimulus causing it reaches a certain value, called absolute lower threshold of sensation. Each type of sensation has its own thresholds.
But the senses have the ability to adapt to changing conditions, so the thresholds of sensations are not constant and can change when moving from one condition external environment to others. This ability is called adaptation of sensations. For example, when moving from light to dark, the sensitivity of the eye to various stimuli changes tens of times. Speed and completeness of adaptation of various sensory systems is not the same: in tactile sensations, with smell, a high degree of adaptation is noted, and the lowest degree is with pain sensations, since pain is a signal of dangerous violation in the functioning of the body, and rapid adaptation pain could threaten him with death.
The English physiologist C. Sherrington proposed a classification of sensations, presented in Fig. 8.
Exteroceptive sensations- these are sensations that arise when external stimuli influence human analyzers located on the surface of the body.
Proprioceptive sensations- these are sensations that reflect the movement and position of parts of the human body.
Interoceptive sensations– these are sensations that reflect the state of the internal environment of the human body.
According to the time of occurrence of sensations there are relevant And irrelevant.
For example, a sour taste in the mouth from lemon, a feeling of so-called “factual” pain in the amputated limb.
Rice. 8. Classification of sensations (according to Ch. Sherrington)
All sensations have the following characteristics:
¦ quality– an essential feature of sensations that allows one to distinguish one type from another (for example, auditory from visual);
¦ intensity– a quantitative characteristic of sensations, which is determined by the strength of the current stimulus;
¦ duration– a temporary characteristic of sensations, determined by the time of exposure to the stimulus.
2. Perception - this is a holistic reflection of objects and phenomena of the objective world under their direct influence in this moment to the senses. Only humans and some higher representatives of the animal world have the ability to perceive the world in the form of images. Together with the processes of sensation, perception provides direct orientation in the surrounding world. It involves identifying the main and most significant features from the complex of recorded features, while simultaneously abstracting from the unimportant ones (Fig. 9). Unlike sensations, which reflect individual qualities of reality, with the help of perception an integral picture of reality is created. Perception is always subjective, since people perceive the same information differently depending on abilities, interests, life experience, etc.
Rice. 9. Classification of types of perception
Let us consider perception as an intellectual process of successive, interconnected acts of searching for signs necessary and sufficient for the formation of an image:
Primary selection of a number of features from the entire flow of information and making a decision that they relate to one specific object;
Searching in memory for a complex of signs similar in sensations;
Assigning a perceived object to a specific category;
Search additional signs, confirming or refuting the correctness of the decision made;
The final conclusion about what object is perceived.
To the main properties of perception relate: integrity– internal organic relationship of parts and the whole in the image;
objectivity– the object is perceived by a person as a separate physical body isolated in space and time;
generality– assignment of each image to a certain class of objects;
constancy– the relative constancy of the perception of the image, the preservation of its parameters by the object regardless of the conditions of its perception (distance, lighting, etc.);
meaningfulness– understanding the essence of the perceived object in the process of perception;
selectivity– preferential selection of some objects over others in the process of perception.
Perception happens externally directed(perception of objects and phenomena outside world) And internally directed(perception of one’s own states, thoughts, feelings, etc.).
According to the time of occurrence, perception occurs relevant And irrelevant.
Perception may be wrong(or illusory), such as visual or auditory illusions.
The development of perception has a very great importance For educational activities. Developed perception helps to quickly assimilate a larger amount of information with less energy expenditure.
3. Presentation - this is the mental process of reflecting objects and phenomena that are not currently perceived, but are recreated on the basis of previous experience. Ideas do not arise on their own, but as a result of practical activity.
Since ideas are based on past perceptual experience, the main classification of ideas is built on the basis of classifications of types of sensations and perceptions (Fig. 10).
Rice. 10. Classification of types of representations
Basic properties of views:
fragmentation– the presented image often lacks any of its features, sides, or parts;
instability(or impermanence)– the representation of any image sooner or later disappears from the field of human consciousness;
variability– when a person enriches himself with new experience and knowledge, a change in ideas about the objects of the surrounding world occurs.
4. Imagination - This is a cognitive mental process that consists in the creation of new images by a person based on his existing ideas. Imagination is closely related to human emotional experiences. Imagination differs from perception in that its images do not always correspond to reality; they may contain, to a greater or lesser extent, elements of fantasy and fiction. Imagination is the basis of visual-figurative thinking, which allows a person to navigate a situation and solve problems without direct practical intervention. It especially helps in cases where practical actions are either impossible, or difficult, or impractical.
Rice. eleven. Classification of types of imagination
When classifying types of imagination, they proceed from the main characteristics - degree of volitional effort And degree of activity(Fig. 11).
Recreating Imagination manifests itself when a person needs to recreate a representation of an object from its description (for example, when reading descriptions of geographical places or historical events, as well as when meeting literary heroes).
Dream is an imagination aimed at a desired future. In a dream, a person always creates an image of what he wants, while in creative images the desire of their creator is not always embodied. A dream is a process of imagination that is not included in creative activity, that is, it does not lead to the immediate and direct receipt of an objective product in the form work of art, inventions, products, etc.
Imagination is closely related to creativity. Creative imagination characterized by the fact that a person transforms his existing ideas and creates independently new image- not in a familiar image, but completely different from it. In practical activity, the phenomenon of imagination is primarily associated with the process artistic creativity in cases where the author is no longer satisfied with recreating reality using realistic methods. Turning to unusual, bizarre, unrealistic images makes it possible to enhance the intellectual, emotional and moral impact of art on a person.
Creation is an activity that generates new material and spiritual values. Creativity reveals the individual’s need for self-expression, self-actualization and the realization of one’s creative potential. In psychology, the following are distinguished: criteria for creative activity:
¦ creative activity is an activity that leads to obtaining a new result, a new product;
¦ since a new product (result) can be obtained by chance, the process of obtaining the product itself must be new ( new method, technique, method, etc.);
¦ the result of creative activity cannot be obtained using a simple logical conclusion or action according to a known algorithm;
¦ creative activity, as a rule, is aimed not so much at solving a problem already set by someone, but at independently seeing the problem and identifying new, original solutions;
¦ creative activity is usually characterized by the presence emotional experiences, preceding the moment of finding a solution;
¦ creative activity requires special motivation.
Analyzing the nature of creativity, G. Lindsay, K. Hull and R. Thompson tried to find out what interferes with the manifestation of creative abilities in humans. They discovered that interferes with creativity not only the insufficient development of certain abilities, but also the presence of certain personality traits, for example:
– a tendency to conformism, i.e. the desire to be like others, not to differ from the majority of people around them;
– fear of seeming stupid or funny;
– fear or reluctance to criticize others due to the idea of criticism formed since childhood as something negative and offensive;
– excessive conceit, i.e. complete satisfaction with one’s personality;
– predominant critical thinking, i.e., aimed only at identifying shortcomings, and not at finding ways to eradicate them.
5. Thinking - this is a higher cognitive process, the generation of new knowledge, a generalized and indirect reflection of reality by a person in its essential connections and relationships. The essence of this cognitive mental process is the generation of new knowledge based on man’s transformation of reality. This is the most complex cognitive process, the highest form of reflection of reality (Fig. 12).
Rice. 12. Classification of types of thinking
Subject-effective thinking is carried out during actions with objects with direct perception of the object in reality.
Visual-figurative thinking occurs when imagining object images.
Abstract-logical thinking is the result logical operations with concepts. Thinking wears motivated And purposeful nature, all operations thought process caused by the needs, motives, interests of the individual, his goals and objectives.
¦ Thinking is always individually. It makes it possible to understand the patterns of the material world, cause-and-effect relationships in nature and social life.
¦ The source of mental activity is practice.
¦ Physiological basis thinking is reflex activity of the brain.
¦ Exclusively important feature thinking is an inextricable connection with speech. We always think in words, even if we don't say them out loud.
Active research into thinking has been conducted since the 17th century. Initially, thinking was actually identified with logic. All theories of thinking can be divided into two groups: the first are based on the hypothesis that a person has innate intellectual abilities that do not change over the course of life, the second - on the idea that mental abilities are formed and developed under the influence of life experience.
To the main mental operations relate:
analysis– mental division of the integral structure of the reflected object into its constituent elements;
synthesis– reunification of individual elements into an integral structure;
comparison– establishing relationships of similarity and difference;
generalization– selection common features based on the association of essential properties or similarities;
abstraction– highlighting any aspect of a phenomenon that in reality does not exist as an independent one;
specification– abstraction from general features and highlighting, emphasizing the particular, individual;
systematization(or classification)– mental distribution of objects or phenomena into certain groups, subgroups.
In addition to the types and operations listed above, there are thinking processes:
judgment– a statement containing a specific thought;
inference– a series of logically related statements leading to new knowledge;
definition of concepts– a system of judgments about a certain class of objects or phenomena, highlighting their most general characteristics;
induction– derivation of a particular judgment from a general one;
deduction– derivation of a general judgment from particular ones.
Basic quality characteristics of thinking are: independence, initiative, depth, breadth, speed, originality, criticality, etc.
The concept of intelligence is inextricably linked with thinking.
Intelligence - this is the totality of all mental abilities that provide a person with the ability to solve various problems. In 1937, D. Wexler (USA) developed tests to measure intelligence. According to Wexler, intelligence is the global ability to act intelligently, think rationally, and cope well with life's circumstances.
L. Thurstone in 1938, exploring intelligence, identified its primary components:
counting ability– ability to operate with numbers and perform arithmetic operations;
verbal(verbal) flexibility– ability to find the right words to explain something;
verbal perception– ability to understand oral and written language;
spatial orientation– the ability to imagine various objects in space;
memory;
reasoning ability;
quick perception of similarities and differences between objects.
What determines development of intelligence? Intelligence is influenced by both hereditary factors and environmental conditions. The development of intelligence is influenced by:
Genetic conditioning is the influence of hereditary information received from parents;
Physical and mental state of the mother during pregnancy;
Chromosomal abnormalities;
Environmental living conditions;
Features of the child's nutrition;
Social status of the family, etc.
Attempts to create unified system“measurements” of human intelligence encounter many obstacles, since intelligence includes the ability to perform completely different-quality mental operations. The most popular is the so-called intelligence quotient(abbreviated as IQ), which allows one to correlate the level of an individual’s intellectual capabilities with the average indicators of his age and professional groups.
There is no consensus among scientists about the possibility of obtaining a real assessment of intelligence using tests, since many of them measure not so much innate intellectual abilities as knowledge, skills and abilities acquired during the learning process.
6. Mnemonic processes. Currently, in psychology there is no single, complete theory of memory, and the study of the phenomenon of memory remains one of the central tasks. Mnemonic processes, or memory processes, are studied by various sciences that consider the physiological, biochemical and psychological mechanisms of memory processes.
Memory- this is a form of mental reflection, consisting in consolidation, preservation and subsequent reproduction of past experience, making it possible reuse in activity or return to the sphere of consciousness.
Among the first psychologists who began experimental studies of mnemonic processes was the German scientist G. Ebbinghaus, who, by studying the process of memorizing various word combinations, derived a number of laws of memorization.
Memory connects the subject’s past with his present and future - this is the basis of mental activity.
TO memory processes include the following:
1) memorization- a memory process that results in the consolidation of something new by associating it with something previously acquired; memorization is always selective - not everything that affects our senses is stored in memory, but only what matters to a person or arouses his interest and the greatest emotions;
2) preservation– the process of processing and retaining information;
3) playback– the process of retrieving stored material from memory;
4) forgetting– the process of getting rid of long-received, rarely used information.
One of the most important characteristics is memory quality, which is due to:
¦ speed of memorization(the number of repetitions required to retain information in memory);
speed of forgetting(the time during which remembered information is stored in memory).
There are several bases for classifying types of memory (Fig. 13): according to the nature of mental activity that prevails in the activity, according to the nature of the goals of the activity, according to the duration of consolidation and storage of information, etc.
Rice. 13. Classification of types of memory
Job different types memory obeys certain general laws.
Law of comprehension: The deeper the understanding of what is memorized, the easier it is fixed in memory.
Law of Interest: interesting things are remembered faster because less effort is spent on it.
Installation Law: Memorization occurs more easily if a person sets himself the task of perceiving the content and remembering it.
Law of first impression: The brighter the first impression of what is being remembered, the stronger and faster its memorization.
Law of Context: information is more easily remembered if it is correlated with other simultaneous impressions.
Law of volume of knowledge: The more knowledge you have on a particular topic, the easier it is to remember. new information from this area of knowledge.
Law of the volume of memorized information: The greater the amount of information for simultaneous memorization, the worse it is remembered.
Law of braking: any subsequent memorization inhibits the previous one.
Edge law: What is said (read) at the beginning and end of a series of information is better remembered; the middle of the series is remembered worse.
Law of repetition: repetition promotes better memory.
In psychology, in connection with the study of memory, you can find two terms, very similar friends to each other - “mnemonic” and “mnemonic”, the meanings of which are different. Mnemic means “pertaining to memory”, and mnemonic– “related to the art of memorization”, i.e. mnemonics These are memorization techniques.
The history of mnemonics goes back to Ancient Greece. IN ancient greek mythology it talks about Mnemosyne, the mother of the nine muses, the goddess of memory and memories. Mnemonics received special development in the 19th century. in connection with the laws of associations that have received theoretical justification. For better memorization, various mnemonics techniques. Let's give examples.
Association method: The more diverse associations that arise when memorizing information, the easier the information is remembered.
Link method: combining information into a single, holistic structure using supporting words, concepts, etc.
Place method based on visual associations; Having clearly imagined the subject of memorization, you need to mentally combine it with an image of the place, which is easily retrieved from memory; for example, in order to remember information in a certain sequence, it is necessary to break it down into parts and associate each part with a specific place in a well-known sequence, for example, a route to work, the location of furniture in a room, the location of photographs on the wall, etc.
A well-known way to remember the colors of the rainbow is where the initial letter of each word in a key phrase is the first letter of the color word:
To every – To red
hunter - O range
and wants - and yellow
h nat – h green
G de – G blue
With goes– With blue
f adhan – f purple
7. Attention - this is a voluntary or involuntary direction and concentration of mental activity on any object of perception. The nature and essence of attention causes controversy in psychological science, there is no consensus among psychologists regarding its essence. The difficulties in explaining the phenomenon of attention are caused by the fact that it is not found in a “pure” form, it is always “attention to something.” Some scientists believe that attention is not an independent process, but is only part of any other psychological process. Others believe that this is an independent process with its own characteristics. Indeed, on the one hand, attention is included in everything psychological processes, on the other hand, attention has observable and measurable characteristics (volume, concentration, switchability, etc.), which directly relate to the rest cognitive processes do not apply.
Attention is a necessary condition mastering any type of activity. It depends on the individual typological, age and other characteristics of a person. Depending on the activity of the individual, three types of attention are distinguished (Fig. 14).
Rice. 14. Classification of types of attention
Involuntary attention– the simplest type of attention. It is often called passive, or forced, since it arises and is maintained independently of human consciousness.
Voluntary attention controlled by a conscious goal, connected with the will of a person. It is also called strong-willed, active or deliberate.
Post-voluntary attention is also purposeful in nature and initially requires volitional efforts, but then the activity itself becomes so interesting that it practically does not require volitional efforts from a person to maintain attention.
Attention has certain parameters and characteristics, which in many ways are a characteristic of human abilities and capabilities. TO basic properties of attention usually include the following:
concentration– this is an indicator of the degree of concentration of consciousness on a certain object, the intensity of connection with it; concentration of attention presupposes the formation of a temporary center (focus) of all human psychological activity;
intensity– characterizes the effectiveness of perception, thinking and memory in general;
sustainability- ability long time maintain high levels of concentration and intensity of attention; determined by the type of nervous system, temperament, motivation (novelty, significance of the need, personal interests), as well as external conditions human activity;
volume– a quantitative indicator of objects that are in the focus of attention (for an adult – from 4 to 6, for a child – no more than 1–3); the amount of attention depends not only on genetic factors and on the capabilities of the individual’s short-term memory; the characteristics of perceived objects and the professional skills of the subject themselves also matter;
distribution– the ability to focus attention on several objects at the same time; in this case, several focuses (centers) of attention are formed, which makes it possible to perform several actions or monitor several processes simultaneously, without losing any of them from the field of attention;
switching – the ability to more or less easily and fairly quickly transition from one type of activity to another and concentrate on the latter.
2. Emotions and feelings
Emotions and feelings are a person’s experiences of his relationship to objects and phenomena of reality, to what he knows, to himself and other people.
Emotion– this is a direct reflection of the existing relationship, an experience associated with the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of needs. Emotions are involved in all mental processes in any human condition. They are able to anticipate events that have not yet occurred and can arise in connection with ideas about previously experienced or imagined situations.
Feeling- a more complex, established attitude of a person to what he knows and does. As a rule, a feeling includes a whole range of emotions. Feelings are unique to humans, they are socially determined, they give fullness and brightness to our perception, so emotionally charged facts are remembered longer. U different nations and in different historical eras feelings are expressed differently.
Emotions and feelings are inextricably linked with physiological state of the human body: with some, a person feels a surge of strength, an increase in energy, and with others - decline, stiffness. Emotions and feelings are always purely individual. Some of them are congenital, some are acquired during life as a result of training and upbringing. The more complexly organized a living being is, the higher the level on the evolutionary ladder it occupies, the richer the range of emotions and feelings that it is capable of experiencing. The oldest in origin, the simplest and most common emotional experiences among living beings are pleasure obtained from the satisfaction of organic needs, and displeasure if the corresponding needs remain unsatisfied.
In psychology, there are several basic, or fundamental, emotions: joy, surprise, suffering, anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame.
Depending on the combination of speed, strength and duration of feelings, the following are distinguished: types of emotional states: mood, passion, affect, inspiration, stress, frustration (a state of disorganization of consciousness and personal activity due to severe nervous shock).
Emotions and feelings are inseparable from a person’s personality. Emotionally, people differ from each other in many ways: emotional excitability, duration, stability, strength and depth of the emotional experiences they experience, the dominance of positive or negative emotions.
Improving higher emotions and feelings means personal development person. This development can be carried out in several directions:
Inclusion in emotional sphere new objects, people, events, etc.;
Increasing the level of conscious control of your feelings;
The gradual inclusion into the moral sphere of increasingly higher values and norms, such as conscience, decency, sense of duty, responsibility, etc.
So, the creation of mental images of the environment is carried out through cognitive mental processes, which are consolidated into a single, integral cognitive mental activity of a person. The image of the surrounding world is a complex mental formation, the formation of which involves various mental processes.
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Is it possible to define spirituality?
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Our soul bends under the weight of responsibility, stress, circumstances and tragic events. All this, as well as other difficulties on our life path, cause damage to the soul.
Here are 7 signs that...
There is another form of treatment, very rarely observed, in which a person possessing special spiritual abilities can influence a sick person in such a way that the latter’s entire system suddenly seems to change and, opening up to action higher powers, at the same time returns to normal.
This true spiritual healing is so rare that very few people ever experience it. Very often other forms of occult treatment are called “spiritual healing”, but people...
Psychic phenomena - Various types of behavior and mental life person available for direct observation. The term “phenomenon” came to psychology from philosophy, where it usually denotes everything sensually (through sensations) perceived. For example, lightning or smoke are phenomena because we can directly observe them, but chemical and physical processes, standing behind these phenomena, are not phenomena themselves, because they can only be recognized through the prism of the analytical apparatus.
It's the same in psychology. What can be recognized by any untrained observer, such as memory or character, are classified as mental phenomena. The rest, hidden, is considered mental mechanisms. For example, this may be features of memory or mechanisms psychological protection. Of course, the line between phenomena and mechanisms is quite fluid. However, the term “mental phenomena” is necessary to designate the range of primary information that we receive about behavior and mental life.
It is quite obvious that mental phenomena can be divided into objective and subjective. Objective phenomena are accessible to an external observer (for example, character or many mental states). Subjective ones are accessible only to the internal observer (that is, to their owner himself - we are talking about introspection). Subjective phenomena include consciousness or values. An outside observer's access to consciousness or the sphere of values is very limited. Of course, there are phenomena that can be classified as both subjective and objective. For example, these are emotions. On the one hand, emotions are perfectly “read” by outside observers. On the other hand, only the owner of an emotion can feel it to the end, and despite external similarity, emotions can differ greatly.
In classical domestic psychology psychic phenomena are divided into three types:
1) mental processes (memory, attention, perception, etc.),
2) mental states (fatigue, agitation, frustration, stress, etc.),
3) mental properties (character traits, temperament, orientation, values, etc.).
Mental processes are separate subprocesses of integral mental activity that have their own subject of reflection and a specific regulatory function. Memory, for example, as a subject of reflection, has some information that must be stored in time and then reproduced. Its regulatory function is to ensure the influence of past experience on current activities.
For convenience, sometimes mental processes are divided into cognitive (sensation, perception, thinking, memory and imagination) and regulatory (emotional and volitional). The former provide knowledge of reality, the latter regulate behavior. In fact, any mental process has an “input” and an “output”, that is, there is both the reception of information and some influence. But this is the essence of mental phenomena - they are not always what they seem.
In general, of all phenomena, mental processes are perhaps the most mysterious to understand. Take memory, for example. We know exactly when we learn something, when we repeat it, when we remember it. We have the ability to "strain" memory. However, in various kinds of neurophysiological studies, not even traces of memory as an independent and integral process were found. It turns out that memory functions are greatly blurred throughout higher nervous activity.
Another typical example is emotions. Every person has experienced emotions, but most find it difficult to define this mental phenomenon. In psychology, emotion is usually interpreted as a rather short-term subjective attitude, a person’s reaction to a particular event, phenomenon, or object. This emotion, in particular, is imprinted by values, character and other personality traits. Not very qualified observers usually tend to judge an emotion either as an excitement-cause of subsequent behavior, or as an excitement-reaction to an event. In any case, emotion is considered as something very integral, because it seems like that to us: whole, indivisible. In fact, emotion is a mental process with quite complex mechanism. The most direct impact on emotion is exerted by human instincts - innate tendencies to act one way and not another. Behind laughter, sadness, surprise, joy - instincts are everywhere. In addition, in any emotion one can find a struggle - a clash of different instinctive tendencies among themselves, as well as with the value sphere of the individual, his life experience. If there is no such struggle, then the emotion quickly fades: it turns into action or simply disappears. And, indeed, in emotions one can see not only the motivation for some action (or inaction), but also the result of the action (inaction). If a person successfully performs an action, his behavior is reinforced, almost literally “cemented,” so that in the future he continues to act in the same spirit. Subjectively, this is perceived as pleasure. It is important to understand that we are not given “candy” - we perceive the “cementing” of our behavior as “candy”.
A mental state is a temporary uniqueness of mental activity, determined by its content and a person’s attitude to this content. At a minimum, throughout the day we are in two different mental states: sleep and wakefulness. The first state differs from the second in a rather strongly narrowed consciousness and “switching off” sensations. It cannot be said that in a state of sleep a person is completely unconscious or completely devoid of sensations. When we wake up in the morning, we realize quite clearly, without even looking at the clock, how much we slept. If a person regains consciousness after anesthesia, he cannot even approximately estimate the duration of this state. In a dream, we are given sensations, but they are greatly inhibited. However, a strong sound or bright light easily wakes us up.
One of the most important parameters of mental state is the general functional level of mental activity. This level is influenced by many factors. For example, this could be the conditions and duration of activity, level of motivation, health, physical strength and even character traits. A hardworking person is able to maintain much longer high level activity.
Mental states can be short-term, situational and stable, personal. All mental states can be divided into four types:
Motivational (desires, aspirations, interests, drives, passions);
Emotional (emotional tone of sensations, emotional response to phenomena of reality, mood, stress, affect, frustration);
Volitional states (initiative, determination, determination, perseverance);
States different levels organization of consciousness (they manifest themselves in different levels of attentiveness).
The difficulty in observing and understanding mental states is that one mental state can be seen as an overlap of several states (eg fatigue and agitation, stress and irritability). If we assume that a person can experience only one mental state at a time, then we must admit that many mental states do not even have their own names. In some cases, labels such as “irritable fatigue” or “cheerful persistence” may be given. However, you cannot say “purposeful fatigue” or “cheerful stress”. It would be methodologically correct to judge not that one state breaks up into several other states, but that one large state has such and such parameters.
Mental properties of a person are phenomena that make it possible to differentiate the behavior of one person from the behavior of another over a long period of time. If we say that such and such a person loves the truth, then we consider that he very rarely deceives, in the most different situations he is trying to get to the bottom of the truth. If we say that a person loves freedom, we assume that he really does not like restrictions on his rights. And so on. The main essence of mental properties as phenomena is their differentiating power. There is no point in putting forward mental properties of this kind as “having a memory” or “resembling a stream.”
It should be noted that the list of mental phenomena is not limited to processes, states and properties. There are at least more social relations- also a mental phenomenon, but not reducible to properties or other phenomena.
Lessons 44-46. Content and forms of spiritual activity
Bottom line
Creative activity
Creative activity
What is “creative activity”? How is it different from other activities?
What associations do you have when you hear the word “creativity”? (After the children’s answers, as the teacher explains, a diagram is built.)
What is the social essence of activity?
What is the structure of the activity?
How are the goals, means and results of activities related to each other?
What are the motives for the activity?
How are needs and interests related?
What are the features of creative activity?
Complete the tasks for the paragraph.
Homework Learn § 17, complete the tasks.
The main character of J. Salinger's story "The Catcher in the Rye" is a teenager who lives with one aspiration, one dream: to prevent the kids, carefree frolicking in the field, from falling into the abyss that is right there, nearby. One teacher used the image of this book when thinking about the role of culture, the role of spiritual activity in the formation of personality. He called the culture "catcher in the rye." It is no secret that today's world has significantly raised and strengthened material incentives. But once upon a time in ancient times it was said: “Not by bread alone...”
The “School Philosophical Dictionary” gives the following interpretation of these categories:
Spirit- the ideal world, the stage of its involvement in consciousness, most fully embodied in man.
Spiritual - a special sphere of activity, which is characterized by specific manifestations of the spirit - language, morality, ideology, politics, religion, art, philosophy. The spiritual also includes the highest values of human existence - freedom, love, creativity, faith.
We will explore complex but very interesting questions in today's lesson.
So, how does the process of creating and mastering spiritual values occur? What features does this process have? As my story progresses, you should write down the answers to these questions in the form of abstracts in your notebooks.
In the last lesson we found out the structure of any activity. Spiritual activity is no exception. It follows the same pattern:
Goal -> means -> result
The result is the formation of spiritual values. - What are spiritual values and how do they differ from all others?
Researchers mean by value something without which a person cannot imagine full life, something that is sacred for a specific person, for a group of people or for all of humanity. Values organize reality, introduce evaluative moments into its understanding, and give meaning to human life. Nowadays, even a special science has appeared axiology- a science that studies values.
Philosophers pay attention to the following features spiritual phenomena:
Ideality. By creating works of art and culture, people objectify they have their own knowledge, emotions, life experiences, their ideals, aspirations and hopes. Assimilating culture in the process of learning and self-education, people, on the contrary, deobjectify spiritual values contained in it, expanding and developing individual creative abilities.
Social character spiritual values. Spiritual values are created in the process of communication, spread through communication and serve to increase social interactions. During the consumption of spiritual values, their total fund does not decrease, but increases. For example: “If I have an apple and I give it to you, then I will no longer have an apple. If I have an idea and I share it with you, then we both have a common idea.”
In the process of value creation, a specific role is played by signs and symbols. Signs and symbols surround us everywhere and how quickly and accurately we decipher them secret language, depends on the general level of cultural competence of the individual.
