Design Objectives Biblio. List

Professional self interest As an example of the interdisciplinary nature of the Cognitive Sciences, David Bohm was a respected theoretical physicist and fellow of the Royal Society and Emeritus Professor of the Physics at Birkbeck College, University London. In On Dialogue, Bohm (1996) establishes professional self-interest and the fragmented processes of western science as limiting the advancement of human understanding. In his reflections of these matters Bohm defines a need for new processes of critical thought that could allow the exploration and realization of these limitations. An instructional interpretation of this work is to see a metacognitive approach to communication through the use of dialogue. How we are wired to survive As he encountered the limitations of professional self interest Bohm noted, over his years as a physicist, how this hindered western science's progress, yet he also came to see this as a natural process that was imbedded in the neurophysiology of how the mind works. In referring to the works of neuroscientists (Bohm, 1996 p. 53) he suggests that thought seems to originate in the outer cortex and frontal lobes of the brain. The lower and evolutionary older portions of the brain are where the emotions are centered. These evolutionary older sections of the brain are engaged in the basic interpretations of environment and survival, transmitting the signals that cause the body to prepare itself for flight, freezing in place, or fighting. Bohm identifies the very strong physical neurological connections for transmitting emotion between these two portions of the brain. He proposes that there may be a constant paradox between these functions of the brain, as the lower brain is organized around human survival and the outer organized around abstraction. Emotions that are attached to our primary beliefs George Miller's information processing model suggests that perception is a process of selective focus. Without accommodation of new schema (conceptual constructs of thought that is accessible and modifiable to the processes of the mind) it is very difficult for humans to appropriately interpret new stimuli and phenomena. Early in children's development their learning experiences may be accompanied by very strong emotional responses. As the schema from the initial experience is developed through use, the initial emotions may also remain strongly associated with this schema. As children grow and they begin to reach higher levels of concrete and then later abstract learning, the initial beliefs learned early on may still hold strong emotional connections. And, here is Bohm's interpretation of how arguments and fights begin. The human necessity for self-interest may lead to trigger the primal emotions that are still linked to these primary beliefs. A context that triggers this emotion may also trigger this belief and trip the physiological response that is required for survival. The development of dialogue as means for evolving beyond our primary beliefs Dialogue is the process of suspending these beliefs and examining other new ideas. The metacognitive interpretation of dialogue is in learning to recognize when the body is responding to a primary belief. Through a structured process of dialogue, behavior may be modified so as to suspend the actions on the belief. This primary belief may be valid but inappropriate for the context. Used with friendly and firm resolve dialogue may be used for resolving conflicts in complex team based contexts. As a method of investigation it may lead to more open-minded endeavors as new researchers learn to use the insights gained through the study of human cognition.

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