Taking a snapshot of the human system

PREFACE 7

We know a lot about the world, and about ourselves. The scientific method has slowly but surely dissected our physical, biological, psychological, and social nature. The reductionist agenda has led to the accumulation of vast amounts of ever-detailed discoveries over the last centuries reported in hundreds of thousands of scientific articles. We are made of atoms following physical laws in a 13.7 billion-year-old expanding universe. We have evolved from simple self-replicating molecules by natural selection. A complex network of billions of neurones generates our behaviour and experience, and makes us exquisite observers of nature and of our nature. And, we are cultural beings, standing on the shoulders of our ancestors’ knowledge and forming societies which dominate all other life forms.

Yet, despite all this detailed knowledge, no effective overarching framework to classify, describe, and manage the complexity of human nature exists. Current debates are unnecessarily implicit, unstructured, and incomplete. Not that any human-focused discipline says anything wrong. Each has created a set of fitting and useful descriptions of the specific phenomena they study and treat, but we also need a framework, or a set of tools, that allows us to describe all human processes within a single model. Today, the biopsychosocial “model” tries to fill this gap. Its holistic maxim states: you must consider all three aspects whenever you study humans and their disorders. However, this conceptual framework barely passes as a fundamental and unifying model of humans, but is rather the explicit acknowledgement of the existence of separate biological, psychological, and social processes.

The helping professions should be especially concerned as they often work together in multi-disciplinary teams or are faced with multi-dimensional disorders. A global framework should holistically study human processes and treat disorders. Students of the human disciplines must work too hard to make sense of the diversity of drivers of human processes in their own field, in which they want to become an expert, and in all other fields, to which they want to be an observer. Patients are even more struggling to build up a simple global picture on what causes and modulates their symptoms and associated handicap. Of course, any area of society would practically benefit from a more effective holistic framework. Not to speak of the intellectual satisfaction to better understand ourselves and our place within the world.

In this book, we propose a conceptual framework on how to construct effective holistic models of the human system. Be patient in the introductory chapters. We do not present the overarching framework ad-hoc, but search for hints to its structure from historical debates, weaknesses of current frameworks, known organising principles of human nature, and requirements imposed on an overarching framework. We then use our framework to derive the simplest non-trivial model of the human system, and apply this four-domain model to all types of human processes such as behaviour, experience, and internal body processes. While we focus on clinical case studies, disorders and psychotherapy, we also show the universal application of the model to all human activity and even extend to other life forms. We then move from the single human perspective to interpersonal relationships and social networks, which we describe with multi-person four-domain models derived from our framework. The models naturally describe the move from natural sciences to social sciences, and provide a clearer perspective on cultural evolution and all other activities of societies including media, politics and economics. We conclude the book with a broader vision on how our framework fits into the scientific world view using an information paradigm.

The book should be especially useful for students of the human disciplines to master the complexity of human nature. Patients can learn how their disorders affect them at different levels. And, seasoned academics and clinicians might see the advantages of re-phrasing what they already know within one single framework. We hope you will find our ideas interesting, and spread them eagerly. Please share your comments with us. Enjoy the book!

CHAPTER ONE: EXPLORING THE COMPLEXITY OF THE HUMAN KALEIDOSCOPE 11

STUDYING THE IMAGE OF THE HUMAN KALEIDOSCOPE

INSPIRATION FROM THE MECHANICAL KALEIDOSCOPE

ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES

BIOLOGICAL INFLUENCES

PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCES

OBSTACLES TO A GLOBAL FRAMEWORK

BENEFITS OF A SIMPLE GLOBAL FRAMEWORK

CHAPTER TWO: SEARCHING FOR A GLOBAL FRAMEWORK 27

INTUITIVE FRAMEWORKS AIDED BY THE GODS OF THE GAPS

SIMPLISTIC FRAMEWORKS WITH MINIMAL USE OF THE GODS OF THE GAPS

THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD OF INCREASINGLY SPECIALISED FIELDS

SMOOTHING THE BODY-MIND DICHOTOMY

THE INFORMATION-PROCESSING AND BIOLOGICAL MEMORY REVOLUTION

ENGEL’S BIO-PSYCHO-SOCIAL MODEL: THE FIRST EXPLICIT ATTEMPT TO AN OVERARCHING FRAMEWORK

FRAMEWORKS INSPIRED BY BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL AND EVOLUTIONARY IDEAS

CHAPTER THREE: HOW AN OVERARCHING FRAMEWORK SHOULD LOOK LIKE 38

WEAKNESSES OF THE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL AND RELATED APPROACHES

PROPERTIES OF AN OVERARCHING FRAMEWORK

REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD FRAMEWORK

PART II: THE FOUR-DOMAIN MODEL 44

CHAPTER FOUR: DERIVATION OF THE FOUR-DOMAIN MODEL 44

ONE-DOMAIN MODEL: EVERYTHING IS PHYSICS

TWO-DOMAIN APPROACH: HUMANS IN AN ENVIRONMENT

THREE-DOMAIN APPROACH: INFORMATION GATHERING AND UTILISING SYSTEM

FOUR-DOMAIN APPROACH: DISTINGUISHING ON TRANSPORTABILITY OF HUMAN MEMORY

CHAPTER FIVE: UNDERSTANDING THE FOUR-DOMAIN MODEL 54

COMMUNICABLE MEMORY: THE REPLICATOR OF CULTURAL EVOLUTION?

OUR CULTURAL CONTENT AS A LIST OF MEMES

CONFINED MEMORIES ARE A.M.E.S

THOUSANDS OF ELEMENTS IN EACH OF THE FOUR DOMAINS

OPERATIONALISING THE FOUR-DOMAIN MODEL

EXAMPLES

PART III: UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BEHAVIOUR AND EXPERIENCE: A STATE VIEW 66

CHAPTER SIX: WHAT DRIVES ORDINARY BEHAVIOUR? 66

A GIRL EATS ICE CREAM ON A RIVER BOAT

A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT SITTING HIS FINAL EXAM

A TEENAGE GIRL READS A BOOK

A MAN EATS CHOCOLATE AT NIGHT DESPITE BEING ON A DIET

THE EXECUTIONER STARTS THE FIRE OF THE STAKE WITH A SHACKING HAND

A RUSSIAN SPY BETRAYS ATOMIC WEAPON SECRETS

THE CLOWN JUGGLES IN THE CIRCUS

A VIOLENT TEENAGER

A MAN KILLS HIS WIFE AND TWO DAUGHTERS

A SORROWING WIDOW

CHAPTER SEVEN: WHAT DRIVES A DISORDER? 76

ENGEL’S MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION PATIENT

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ENGEL’S APPROACH AND THE FOUR-DOMAIN MODEL

STUTTERING

LIVING WITH ADDICTION

STRESS-RELATED DISORDER IN RESPONSE TO BULLYING

CANCER

CHAPTER EIGHT: AN ALTERNATIVE DISORDER FRAMEWORK 85

CLASSIFICATION OF DISORDERS

LACK OF A GENERIC DISORDER FRAMEWORK

THE BALANCE BETWEEN SHARED AND UNIQUE ELEMENTS

FROM INDIVIDUALS’ STATES TO A GENERIC DISORDER-SPECIFIC MODEL

EVOLUTION OF A DISORDER OVER TIME

PART IV: INTERVENING IN HUMAN BEHAVIOUR & EXPERIENCE: A STATE VIEW 91

CHAPTER NINE: CHOOSING THE APPROPRIATE STATE FOR A DESIRED PROCESS 91

TOWN COUNCIL TRYING TO FIGHT GRAFFITI

COACHING A YOUNG SPORTS TALENT

INVESTMENT BANKS MOULDING YOUNG GRADUATES

MOVING A CENTRALISED ECONOMY TOWARDS A MARKET ECONOMY

SELF-MANAGEMENT AND SELF-REALISATION

TREATING STRESS: MULTI-DIMENSIONAL APPROACH

TREATING CLAUSTROPHOBIA: ONE-DIMENSIONAL APPROACH

CHAPTER TEN: HOW INTERVENTION TECHNIQUES CHANGE THE STATE 98

GRADUAL DESENSITISATION

SOCRATIC DIALOGUE

TIME OUT

FREE ASSOCIATION

ACTIVE LISTENING

ENACTMENT OR ROLE PLAY

SUPPORT GROUP

MEDITATION AND RELAXATION

HYPNOSIS

PSYCHOTHERAPY INTERVENTIONS AS PROCESSES CHANGING THE INFORMATIONAL STATE

CHAPTER ELEVEN: GENERIC PSYCHOTHERAPY FRAMEWORK 107

HOW PSYCHOTHERAPY SCHOOLS INTERVENE TO MOVE THE SAME ELEPHANT

ANALYTIC THERAPY

BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY

COGNITIVE THERAPY

SYSTEMIC THERAPY

GESTALT THERAPY

CHAPTER TWELVE: GENERIC TARGET-ORIENTED INTERVENTION FRAMEWORK 112

DIAGNOSIS

TARGET

PRIORITISING INTERVENTION

ANALYSING THE IDENTIFIED STATES FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

INTERVENTION

CONCLUSION

PART V: MULTI-PERSON MODELS 119

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: TWO-PERSON MODEL 119

CHARACTERISTICS OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND INTERACTIONS

EXAMPLES OF INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND INTERACTIONS

THERAPEUTIC PROCESS AND THE THERAPIST-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP

TREATING AN INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: CULTURE 126

THE CULTURE WITHIN US

CULTURAL EVOLUTION OR THE SPREADING OF MEMES

THE DYNAMICS BEHIND MEMES

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: MULTI-PERSON MODEL FOR SOCIAL GROUPS 132

SOCIAL NETWORKS AND AGENT-BASED MODELLING

GROUP BEHAVIOURS

EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL GROUP PHENOMENA

TREATING SOCIAL GROUPS

PART VI: ENDING ON A WIDER PERSPECTIVE 138

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: REVIEWING THE FRAMEWORK 138

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: TAKING A WIDER PERSPECTIVE 149

THE TOWER OF INFORMATION

LIFE, ANIMALS, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, TWINS

HUMAN DISCIPLINES FROM AN INFORMATION PERSPECTIVE

SHIFTING TO A MEME PERSPECTIVE

A FRESH LOOK AT INTERESTING TOPICS

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: SPREADING THE MEME 160

INFORMATION-DRIVEN FRAMEWORK WILL PREVAIL

MAKING PEOPLE USE THE FRAMEWORK

REFERENCES 163