Sequential Problem Solving by Fredric B. Lozo (free children's ebooks online txt) 📖

to treated?

13       Everyone Rule               What would the world be like if everyone made this same decision?

15       Greater Good Rule         Will this decision produce the greatest good for the greatest number?

Adult   Higher Authority Rule    Is this what God wants me to do?

Religious people often experience great internal conflict when faced Many religions advocate gentleness and helping others, as well as protecting the weak from harm: a seeming contradiction. Does one have priority over the other? Part of the answer may involve the Triune brain and the absence of thought involved in impulsive aggression. Sometimes helping others may involve protecting violent people from themselves and that may require the use of force. Often gentle, kind people find the use of force quite foreign, and are especially vulnerable to harm from people that are termed "unattached." [9]

DEALING WITH THE "UNATTACHED" PERSON.

"Unattached" people refers to people that have a defective conscience. [10] Their actions are motivated by a lifelong distrust of others and a supreme belief in their own ability. They have no need for other people. Their brains seem to function at a very low evolutionary level, but at times they are superficially charming and persuasive. These people are manipulative and often become sociopaths, and their behavior is thought to have been molded before they were six months of age by insufficiently attentive caretakers.

"Unattached" people, people who bonded inadequately with their parents, are frequently very hard to convince with logical arguments due to their deep distrust of other people and the pattern of control battles continue throughout their lifetime. [11] This sad picture is drawn from the experiences of those professionals who deal with them on a regular basis. The sociopath's irreversible behavior patterns seems to be founded, physiologically, in well established repetitive memory pathways. Perhaps modern science will find ways to help such unfortunate people, possibly through more effective chemical intervention that makes a person feel less threatened, so that they can learn more productive way of treating other people.

Mercifully, some spiritually enlightened people are able to reach older "Unattached" people and to help them to learn to trust others and achieve that measure of "peace that surpasses all understanding" spoken of by the Apostle Paul in his Letter to the Phillipians in chapter 4, verse 7: "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

We are all saddened when others fail to respond to logic and kindness and the use of force is necessary, but the periodic necessity of using force to protect others is often unavoidable. Our own internal conflicts of loneliness brought on by dealing with sociopaths is perhaps brought on by our own fear of not being loved by others. The realization of that phenomenon might help us to resolve our own internal conflict in dealing with the manipulative sociopath.

One of the problems with dealing with unattached people or sociopaths is the difficulty of recognition. At one time, they seem friendly, intelligent, well adjusted, and exhibit apparent sincerity in wanting to be a friend to others. At other times, their behavior seems to snap over, instantaneously, to that of a selfish ten year old. In Kohlberg's view of moral decision making, the age of ten is when a person begins to use the Everyone Rule (what would the world be like if everyone did the action in question). Sociopaths often do not consider others, rather seek instantaneous gratification of their own impulsive needs, much like a ten year old.

Sociopaths are often superficially charming, yet frequently exhibit certain adverse character traits. They are:

   untrustworthy  vs     trustworthy
       disloyal       vs.    loyal
        selfish        vs.    helpful
      unfriendly     vs.    friendly
    discourteous   vs.    courteous  (polite)
       mean           vs.    kind
       rebellious     vs.    obedient  (a team player)
       wasteful       vs.    thrifty
      cowardly       vs.    brave
          dirty          vs.    clean
        profane        vs.    reverent

Other peculiar traits include speech pathologies, and primary process (crazy) lying. Speech pathologies include "baby" talk by an older person. Crazy lying includes the child caught with a stolen candy bar in his hand who replies, "What candy."

While often charming, unattached people are basically self-centered and lack values that guide their conduct with other people.

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS—VALUES.

Sequential problem solving and dealing with interpersonal relations involves weighing various values and determining what is appropriate or inappropriate behavior. It is, therefore, desirable to have a firm grasp of our own values. What does society expect of us? What do we expect of others? What do we expect of ourselves?

The values of the English speaking countries came largely from Great Britain. The English Common Law system and the Judeo-Christian values expressed in it originated, in part, with King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable.

King Arthur and his knights left us with some simple guidelines:

  THE KNIGHT'S MOTTO—BE ALWAYS READY.

  THE KNIGHT'S CODE:

      On my honor I will do my best—
      To do my duty to God and my King;
      To obey the Knight's Laws;
      To  help other people at all times;
      To keep myself physically strong, mentally alert, and morally straight.

   THE KNIGHT'S LAWS. The Knight is to be:

      Trustworthy—I will not lie, cheat, or steal.
      Loyal—I will not tolerate those who lie, cheat, or steal.
      Helpful—I will help other people at all times.
      Friendly
      Courteous
      Kind
      Obedient
      Thrifty
      Cheerful
      Brave
      Clean
      Reverent

The underlying values of Knighthood and the Bible were eventually passed on to the Scouting movement for boys and girls by General Sir Baden-Powell about 1908. [12] The priority expressed in the Knight's Code is God, country, others, self—the same sequence as in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF MOSES:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

2. Thou shalt not make any graven images.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain.

4. Thou shalt remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.

5. Honor thy mother and father (that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord hath given thee).

6. Thou shalt not murder.

7. Thou not commit adultery.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

9. Thou shalt not lie.

10. Thou shalt not covet.

The Ten Commandments and the underlying message of the Bible, of helping one another, provide us with the framework for appropriate interpersonal relationships. When the human factor in problem solving is kept in mind through a list of values and a code of conduct, personal problem solving becomes a matter of analyzing internal conflict (fear, arrogance, laziness, or loneliness). When a problem presents itself and action seems slow, it is helpful to recognize the ways people evade problems.

PROBLEM SOLVING EVASIONS.

1. SUBLIMATION—sublimation is a compromise involving the gestation phase of problem solving. This often includes hobbies or other relaxation things that tend to disengage the left brain and allow the right brain greater autonomy. These relaxation devices allow the right brain to both synthesize new solutions and recall long unremembered solutions, as well as create new things for the fun of it. This activity occurs naturally. Sometimes sublimation activities are a compulsion driven by feelings of abandonment, as are other compulsions like substance abuse, gambling, and compulsive spending.

2. ANGER—anger is often an immature reaction to frustration or stress, and is not considered a part of higher neo-cortex thinking; it is rather a reptilian reaction in MacLean's Triune Brain scheme.

Anger is also a step in the Grief Process described by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross that progresses through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance.

3. REGRESSION—a return to the "Good Ole" Days. This problem evasion mechanism is farther from the problem solving pathway than anger. It involves the return to behavior of an earlier age.

4. DISTORTION—these problem evasion mechanisms pass even farther from problem solving toward problem evasion.

   i. PROJECTION—attributing unacceptable thoughts and feelings to someone else: "They don't like me."

   ii. REACTION FORMATION—forming good feelings for a tyrant to minimize bullying: the terrorized victim reaction.

   iii. INTELLECTUALIZATION—continuing research to find fool-proof solutions, rather than taking a chance at failure.

   iv. DISPLACEMENT—prejudice, racism. Sarcasm and cynicism are frequently used in expressions of superiority over others.

5. REPRESSION—This is the final evasion of problem solving and the most severe. It is a denial mechanism that involves blocking from consciousness that the problem ever existed.

Problem Solving Evasions.
   1. ANGER.
        i. Tears.
       ii. Rage.
   2. REGRESSION—"If things were only just like the Good Ole Days."
   3. DISTORTION.
        i. PROJECTION—Attributing one's own feelings to someone else: "He hates me."
       ii. REACTION FORMATION—Adopting favorable emotions toward an abusive-domineering bully. "If I love the terrorist, maybe he won't hurt me."
      iii. INTELLECTUALIZATION—"I'll wait until it is totally safe before I do anything. I'll continue to research the problem."
      iv. DISPLACEMENT—racial prejudice, cynicism, sarcasm.
   4. REPRESSION—"This is now not important enough to spend time on. I can't even remember why it was once important."

 * * * * *

Interpersonal Problem Solving.

1. Aristotle. Rhetoric and the Poetics. F. Solmsen, ed. New York: The Modern Library, 1954.
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2. Magid, Ken and Carole A. McKelvey. High Risk: Children without a Conscience. New York: Bantam Books, 1987.
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3. Maslow, A. H. Motivation and Personality. New York: Harper and Row, 1954.
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4. MacLean, Paul. Triune Concept of the Brain and Behavior. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1973.
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5. Sagen, Carl. The Dragons of Eden., New York: Ballantine Books, 1977.
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6. Vygotsky, Lev. Thought and Language. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1962.
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7. A Committee of College and University Examiners. "Educational Objectives and Curriculum Development." Taxonomy of Educational Objectives—Handbook 1: The Cognitive Domain. Benjamin S. Bloom, ed. New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1956.
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8. Kohlberg, Lawrence. "Moral Education for a Moral Transition." Educational Leadership 32 (October 1975): 46-54.
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9. Magid, Ken and Carole A. McKelvey. High Risk: Children without a Conscience. New York: Bantam Books, 1987.
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10. Unmasking the Psychopath—Antisocial Personality and Related Syndromes. William H Reid, Darwin Dorr, John I. Walker, Jack W. Bonner, eds. New York: W.W. Norton, 1986.
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11. Cline, Foster. Understanding and Treating the Severely Disturbed Child. Evergreen, CO: Evergreen Consultants in Human Behavior, 1979.
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12. Handbook for Boys. New York: Doubleday-Page and Co., 1911.
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APPENDIX 1

Outline Styles

1.
   A.
       1.
          a.
          b.
       2.
   B.
2.
3.

I.
     i.
    ii.
   iii.
II.
III.
IV.

APPENDIX 2.

PERSUASIVE ARGUMENT FORM.

First establish topic, audience, and personal position. Then gather information and organize the argument.

1. Introduction.
      Establish friendly intentions with the audience by using a
sincere complement.
      State the topic of the argument.
      State your personal position.
      State three points you intend to make in the argument.

Arrange these points (A) second best point, (B) weakest point, (C) strongest point. This is known in the study of rhetoric as the Nestorian Order. It achieves interest at the beginning and finishes strong.

2. The Body.
      A. The first point, but the second best argument.
         1. First example illustrating point A.
         2. Example 2.
         3. Example 3.
      B. The second point and the weakest point
         1. The first answer to the audience's anticipated question
about some weak point.
         2. Answer 2
         3. Answer 3
      C. The third point and the strongest.
         1. First example illustrating point C
         2. Example 2
         3. Example 3

3. The Conclusion:
         Restate your position to the topic.
         Restate your reasons in the same order as in the introduction and body: A, B, C.
         Introduce a fourth benefit from taking the position and make it a personal, human interest benefit to leave the audience in a good frame of mind.

APPENDIX 3

Argumentative Fallacies

Deductive reasoning is stating a series of valid relationships with a reasonable conclusion.

   When it rains the streets get wet.
   It is raining.
   Therefore the streets are wet. [1]

Several reasoning fallacies exist: (1)formal deductive fallacies, which occur because of an error in the form of the argument, and (2) informal false content fallacies.

(1) A formal deductive fallacy might switch a premise with the conclusion:

   The streets are wet.
   When it rains the streets get wet.
   Therefore it is raining.

This conclusion is fallacious because there are other reasons that could have caused the street to be wet: snow melt, a street sweeper, etc.

(2) Several informal false content fallacies are: LOGIC ERRORS:

* The "STRAW MAN" deception.

This is deceptive attack on an opponents position using a similar but different position.

"The President states that he is