- Written by: Carlos Acosta B. Candidate to education
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- The theme of consciousness has been studied for a long time by mankind. In general, the
research, discussions and statements are enormously vast. They have been studied from a
great variety of perspectives or paradigms. Those include considering that given its
mental character, consciousness is not important in psychology. For example Watson, stated
that: "...a psychology can be written in any occasion without using such terms as
consciousness.." (Tortosa, 1998)- Others consider consciousness from a transcendental
point of view-for example, Wilber has pointed out: "...when this level is achieved,
the consciousness of union/ togetherness with the whole is acquired..." (Wilber,
1991).
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- For the above reasons, there are many concepts of consciousness such as Ferrater’s,
1994; Norman, 1981; Hilgard, 1980, 1980; Navarro, 1995; Wilber, 1990 among others. Zepeda
(1994) has referred to consciousness as the ability of the human being of "being able
to realize", it has also been understood as the ability to perceive and represent an
experience in subjective terms (Bisiach, quoted by Marcel and Bisiach, 1988). In that
order, it has been even considered the existence of an "animal consciousness" at
least in the superior species- Griffin quoted by Eccles (1992). For the purpose of this
proposal, the statements will be made from the perspectives of "realizing", due
to the practical character offered through it.
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- On the other hand, diverse strategies to deal with and amplify the processes of
consciousness in people have been examined and elaborated. They have been respectively
supported by the various methodological approaches existing in psychology. One of these
strategies has been the introspection, that has been studied and used in different
situations.
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- The term introspection comes from the Latin "intro" that means within, and
"spectare" , which means to look at. Then , it can be said that introspection
-generically-is the process by which we look at ourselves and observe ourselves.
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- Following this idea, it is presented in this text a strategy which will be referred to
as Socratic introspection, with regard to the development of a work inspired in
Socrates’ statements, made known by Xenophontes, Plato and Aristotle among others.
They can be summarized -for the present- in this phrase: "virtue (in the sense of arete
) is knowledge", "acting incorrectly can be brought about by
ignorance", "know yourself", "a life without self examination is not
worth living", "the answer is inside each person".
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- Socratic introspection- understood as a heuristic sequence of self-directed questions
(and repeated questions) and self answers, related to a specific situation which is being
perceived or represented- has shown to be useful in many life situations (Acosta and Col.,
1997). It is characterized by being essentially a Socratic dialogue, but developed inside
the person rather than outside. These statements can fit into what is known as Platonic
dialectics. The starting point of this proposal is the assumption of self knowledge as a
fundamental condition for the best development of any human activity.
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- Just as it happens with other processes that involve some learning, this introspection
requires -especially in the first stages- a monitor to provide feedback in the various
stages, that is to say , to be a "mirror" with respect to what the person does
during this process. This becomes very complicated in those situations where there is not
a guiding psychotherapist since there are many details and circumstances to be considered,
such as the approach to the defense mechanisms used by the person doing the introspection,
as well as handling the anguish and pain among others. In the latter case, it could be
expected that the introspection process pointed out to the person the suitable moment to
look for psychotherapeutic help, if such were the situation. In general it can be said
that it is preferable to practice the introspection -be it Socratic or not- rather than
not doing so , because generally if it is an honest process it will lead to some degree of
gain in personal consciousness.
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- It has also been observed that almost always this exercise produces much discomfort and
even pain to people, as well as the blocking of self answers that the individual searches
for. Similarly it has been observed that Socratic introspection as a methodology, is
extremely simple, but at the same time it is utterly complicated regarding the
implications that it has for self knowledge and also because it is not usual that the
people ask themselves that type of questions. Therefore, there is nothing more difficult
than getting to know oneself. When an individual has at his service a whole organization
and arrangement of strategies for getting to know himself -introspection among others- it
can be said that this individual is developing a "self management" process.
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- The methodology that has proved to be useful in the casuistry of the author of this text
is as follows: first , a specific situation has to be selected in order to carry out the
Socratic introspection. This circumstance can be favorable-for instance, when a prize has
been received- or unfavorable- for example a rude reaction to a suggestion. Moreover, such
situation can happen with respect to past present or future events. In this order, an
introspection can be carried out in situations such as yesterday’s imprudent behavior
or an impertinent comment about how rude one can be to someone whenever one sees him on
the way.
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- After choosing a specific situation, the sequence of self-directed questions (and
repeated questions) about the chosen situation begins, which is the very essence of the
Socratic introspection. As it has already been mentioned, it is important -especially at
the beginning- to have a monitor who would observe the process in terms of training or
guidance. It is important to say that in no case the monitor should change his monitoring
role into the role of psychotherapist if he is not qualified to do so.
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- The following sequence of self-directed questions and self answers is presented as an
example, where the starting point is a situation where someone has aggressively answered
to a co-worker:
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- Question: Were you not a bit rude in your answer?
- Answer: Maybe, but I was really angry when he asked me about a document that is not
under my responsibility.
- Q: Maybe?
- A: Well, yes, a little.
- Q: Yes? Or A little?
- A: Both things, well, I was a little rude...
- Q: Was that necessary?
- A: No, but I got angry..
- Q: Would you like it if someone did the same to you?
- A: No, I wouldn’t
- Q: What would you expect a friend to do in such situation for another friend?
- A: Well, he can help to look for the missing paper...
- Q: Is it clear now what happened?
- A: Yes, it is
- Q: Do you feel you can do something now?
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- After some time -which varies between 2 to 3 hours and 6 to 8 hours of training with a
monitor, due to individual differences-, the effects of the practice can be observed, in
terms of the fluency and abundance of contents of the self-directed questions and self
answers.
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- During this training or guidance , it should be pointed out to the person that he need
not ponder his answers much, but it must be stressed that he must be sincere during the
process and that all his answers will be valid and that he should try to give short
answers, especially at the beginning of his learning. Similarly, it is worth emphasizing
that he should do everything as if it really were a conversation with himself, in terms of
being watchful when making his questions and when listening attentively to his answers -as
well as insisting that he should have a heuristic attitude, that is to say, a searching,
inquiring, investigating even when asking and answering. Likewise, it is important to ask
oneself at times if one really means what is said, that is to say, if one feel s that is
being sincere at every moment of the sequence.
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- Gradually the person can start doing short exercises on his own at home about this part
of the introspection -for example 1 or 2 Socratic sequences of 5 minutes every other day.
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- It is of great help -either during the training or daily practice- to write or to record
part or the whole sequence of self questions and answers, since on one hand it allows a
more careful follow up of the person who guides the introspection and also of the person
who practices the introspection himself. On the other hand, it is a way of coping with
forgetting important parts of the Socratic process. There are many cases when the person
reviews his writings -for instance, 8 days after the process- and he asks himself in
surprise: Did I write that?, because the issues that were written down at that moment make
no sense or had been forgotten.
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- A third aspect of the Socratic introspection is derived form the previously mentioned
sequence. In fact after carrying out the heuristic process of questions and answers, it is
expected that the person reaches a conclusion of the search. It is characterized as a
point of arrival to some new particular information -at the level of his consciousness-
which has some meaning with respect to the person’s psychological frame. This
conclusion is always a provisional one indeed, since the process that is being established
has the property of being a constant creation towards the human development, that is to
say towards the fulfillment of the human being in the Socratic sense. For this reason, a
conclusion always becomes a situation or a pretext for starting a new introspection.
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- For developing this activity inside the person , an important issue is that the
conclusion and the other aspects of this Socratic process be characterized by honesty , as
well as clarity, accuracy, pertinence and depth (Paul, 1996). Taking those subjects into
account, some small gains can be observed in the person during the state of consciousness,
which will gradually widen as the person develops the Socratic introspection with
discipline and interest. To acknowledge the need of professional help in a crisis can be a
good example of a gain.
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- If great care is given over to the Socratic introspection and the Socratic issue is
organized in a systematic way so that it may become a part of the person’s lifestyle,
and if that exercises are not perceived as a burden , the some important qualitative
changes can be observed in the behavior of the person.
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- The changes vary a lot because of the particular differences of the human beings, but
this type of changes in the consciousness can become perceptible after 1 to 6 months , as
a result of a daily practice for 15 minutes.
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- If the conclusion is a real one , if the person believes that it is authentic and deeply
formative , then the person is ready for the fourth and last aspect of the Socratic
methodology, that is namely the action. In fact , many people reach the conclusion stage,
but do not dare to act accordingly. The implementation of the conclusion is generally
proportional to the degree of consciousness that has been achieved in the exercises. So ,
the more authentic the conclusion, the greater the commitment to carry out the consequent
actions . Generally, it can be visualized through two concrete behaviors: understanding
and forgiveness.
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- As it was mentioned in a previous article (see Acosta, Discernment, number 1) The
Socratic introspection is not to be understood as an exercise to become a saint overnight,
but as a process of permanent search for human development.
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- Accordingly, it is important to highlight that as a result of this process a person may
forgive on a given occasion , but that may not necessarily happen all the other times,
even though the situations may be alike. The latter does not imply that something abnormal
is happening, since the intention is not to remain always upright , but rather to fall
down and then to stand up.
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- For that reason, it can be claimed that some degree of consciousness has been gained
even when there is no actual action related to the conclusion . Besides , there may also
be situations where consciousness can be generated but on a strictly rational level and
therefore no action may appear. That happens when the person constantly argues or reasons
during the Socratic process, in terms of feelings. If the person is honest about his
feelings, he has fairly good possibilities to find out when his mind is making him fall
into a trap, and rationality may be one of them.
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- Therefore the methodology proposed in this article in order to carry out the Socratic
introspection is conformed by stages such as a situation , a heuristic sequence of self
questions and answers, conclusion and action.
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- A state that could promote the practice of the introspection is what may be called
"a floating attention", not obsessive , towards the various events that happen
to people in their daily lives.
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- A characteristic which can be observed about the person who has practiced the
introspection for some time - whose starting point coincides with the time corresponding
to the qualitative changes - is that they report receiving self answers without asking any
questions, that is to say, the person is on the point of asking himself a question and at
that moment the answer is evoked. Similarly ,there are some more exceptional occasions
where questions and answers are evoked without the intention of addressing them.
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- Those situations seem to turn up due to the automatic processes studied in metacognition
(the process of thinking) and /or due to the development of the intuition peculiar to this
type of introspection (processes of feeling). This seems to be due to the fact that it
appeals - in Maine de Biran’s words- to an "I" conceived as an activity of
the spirit (Mueller, 1984).
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- In order to simplify the way of finding pretext situations for the introspection it is
suggested to take into account five aspects that have proven to be very useful. It is
difficult to find behaviors that a person would like to modify and that are not included
in such aspects: rage, ego, greediness, lust and fondness. Every human being possesses all
these passions in higher or lower degrees.
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- It can be highlighted that the Socratic introspection helps people to arrange their
lives in a better way. In this way, one of the greatest benefits that have been observed
is that -starting on this arrangement-, the person establishes various options before a
troublesome situation that s/he may be going through. Thus, it has been observed that the
people with conflicts usually interpret the conflict through just one option which almost
always is not a suitable one. For instance, if a man tells a woman -who has some
psychological conflicts-, that the dress she is wearing suits her very well, she may react
by telling him to stop making fun of her and to respect her instead. That may happen
because she has interpreted the situation through only one option, which is namely an
alleged mean intention.
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- Among the further benefits that can be pointed out when this type of introspection is
used, is the fact that the people are usually better trained to be aware about the
implications or consequences of their behavior; also, they locate the information they
require to make decisions more easily, they have a clearer view to determine their goals,
they are more accurate about starting from assumptions or from facts when referring to any
situation.
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- The Socratic introspection can be distinguished from the reflection and retrospection
specifically by the heuristic sequence of questions and answers which are particular to
this process.
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- Finally, why don’t you ask yourself a question and wait...
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- BIBLIOGRAPHY
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