2 - Conference on Human Development – March 2010 (pg 2a)
A MODEL OF THE “DEVELOPMENTAL SELF”©
The single most important factor for well-being throughout the life-span is the nourishment and effective education and training of the Developmental Self.
This education and training needs to start at birth and can and should continue until the end of life. Although Self is fully integrated with the spectrum of energy we call body and brain, it needs to be understood and worked with developmentally separately from the approaches used to educate and train the body and brain. This should make sense since we understand that developing the body’s potential is uniquely different from developing the brain’s potential. Self needs its own unique focus of education and training that is different from what either the body or brain require.
Both the science of brain research into neuroplasticity and the science of quantum mechanics in physics (Schwartz and Stapp, 2005) lead us to question the deterministic model of body/brain. In most cases the emotional problems of children and adults can be effectively explained by a new developmental model and either prevented, reversed or rehabilitated. Working with the four facilities of Self, which creates four tracks, maximizes the healthy wiring of the brain of children or rewiring of the brain of adults and allows for healthier behavioral choices. The body/brain model has created many unwanted challenges for parenting as well as today’s adults, and if we continue on this path, will affect the emotional health of society for generations to come.
Since ‘Cogito Ergo Sum’ the focus has been to see if through reason, logic or direct experience we can establish the source of consciousness, the source of what seems like free will, the source of thought. (Schwartz, 2008, Raymond and Barrissi, 2006) Does Descartes’ homunculus exist (Rozemond, 1998) and is there even a necessity for hypothesizing anything other than the brain as the source of free will, or consciousness? This conversation continues unabated, and rather than falling into the debate by (1) trying to prove or disprove the existence of Self, or (2) finding where it is located, let us assume that Self is real to see what the various implications of that line of reasoning would be. I pursued the line “What if…” and the results were thankfully surprising.
“What if…” in addition to body/brain there was a Self?
1. If Self was real, wouldn’t it have to be developmental, just like the body and brain?
2. How would we functionally define a Developmental Self?
3. If Self was real and developmental is it possible to educate and train it and will that have a positive effect as one goes through the various stages of the life span?
4. Does approaching development strictly from body/brain explain many of the emotional crises individuals face in life – starting in childhood?
5. If Self was real how would that impact our approach to human development?
I explored these questions for years, and as the answers slowly unfolded I found myself with a coherent hypothesis. I then began creating applications for the hypothesis looking at development across the lifespan. The results were positive.
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