Lecture 1

How the past affects the present:

  1. Mind-body debates —> neuroscience, medication, embodiment and mental health

  2. Measurement and classification —> testing, diagnosing, educational assessment and algorithms

  3. Influence and conformity —> social media, misinformation, marketing, workplace culture

  4. Psychoanalysis and identity —> therapy, relationships, popular culture, self-understanding

  5. Lived experience and meaning —> patient-centred care, qualitative research, disability studies

  6. Applied Psychology —> schools, clinics, courts, organizations, policy, technology


Descartes

  • Bro literally had an existential crisis and just began doubting everything under the sun. The one thing he couldn’t doubt was the fact that he was doubting everything. Thus created “I think, therefore I am”

  • Homie literally just applied this IRL and developed physiology, as well as the concept of dualism, which posits that the mind and body are separate entities that interact

  • Created the foundation of neurophysiology


Locke

  • Agreed with Descartes and added his own theories regarding the role of sensory experience in forming knowledge, emphasizing that the mind is a blank slate at birth that is shaped by experiences.

  • Knows everyone’s experiences are unique and cannot be quantified


Leibniz

  • Accepted knowledge occurs as Locke described, but was deadass tweaking and thought that humans’ first experience was like a veined block of marble

  • Thus, we create our own experiences and destiny

  • This idea suggests that rather than being passive recipients of knowledge, we actively shape our understanding of the world through individual perception and interaction, leading to a greater emphasis on personal agency in the pursuit of wisdom


Lockean tradition has been a foundation of the development of psychology in English-speaking countries. The Leibniz tradition has been stronger in continental Europe, placing greater focus on control and organizing functions of an active mind