Quote:
Originally Posted by TomCowley
Aren't there like 573 bazillion self-help books on the power of positive thinking? I mean it's not exactly what you're saying,but the idea of changing thought patterns away from reflecting on particular destructive beliefs (and effectively neutering the strength of the belief eventually) is not at all new.
Positive beliefs are beneficial overall, yes. And there's nothing new in that.
What would be new, would be analysing the structure and commonalities between individual beliefs and sets of beliefs that individuals hold. For example, maybe there is a common theme running through an entire set of beliefs that one particular individual holds. Apart from whether they're positive or negative. This commonality could then be identified and a psychological therapy intervention devised to help with it.
The problem is, we don't know of these commonalities since we don't study beliefs individually or as belonging within a set of other beliefs. Instead, we study psychological traits (as more general heuristics for how we interact with the world) and assume that based on a set of given traits, people are inclined to adopt particular beliefs. We then look to address those personality traits, as an exorcist would address demons inside a depressed woman, rather than addressing the specific beliefs one-by-one.
Perhaps there is something rationally, or inherently incorrect about the belief that 'people are hopeless', for which some type of philosophical demonstration can demonstrate. Perhaps it is not the personality that's the problem.
Sure there is therapy that addresses beliefs too, but none whose entire focus is on beliefs. And as far as I know, there's very little science that considers psychology from this perspective.
Last edited by VeeDDzz`; 02-29-2016 at 01:27 AM.