Quotes from Tom Butler-Bowdon

we all need a personal theory of what makes people tick. To

The work of both Piaget and Kinsey suggests that while biology is always a dominant influence on behavior, environment is critical to its expression. Even

49 Wilhelm Wundt Principles of Physiological Psychology (1873–74) The book that made Wundt the dominant figure in the new science of psychology. Translated into English by Edward Titchener in 1904.

Honesty, which seems "old-fashioned" to the fast crowd, is the basis of all enduring success, since it brings with it knowledge of the self.

The remarkable writings of Oliver Sacks, for instance, show that the brain continually works to create and maintain the feeling of an "I" that is in control, even if there is in fact no part of the brain that can be identified as the locus of "self feeling.

Neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran's work with phantom limbs seems to confirm the brain's remarkable ability to create a sense of cognitive unity even if the reality (of many selves, and of many layers of consciousness) is more complex.

They may camouflage their true feelings in ingenious ways: To show that they are not vain, they may purposely pay less attention to dress or be overly modest. But

A central idea in Adlerian psychology is that individuals are always striving toward a goal. Whereas Freud saw us as driven by what was in our past, Adler had a teleological view—that we are driven by our goals, whether they are conscious or not. The

In the medical field, it is commonly assumed that the more information practitioners have, the better their decisions. However, this is frequently not so. More

crucial moments of choice most of the business of choosing is already over." Willing is not conscious resolve, but rather being true to what one loves or sees.

The lateral thinking concept emerged from de Bono's study of how the mind works. He found that the brain is not best understood as a computer; rather, it is "a special environment which allows information to organize itself into patterns." The mind continually looks for patterns, thinks in terms of patterns, and is self-organizing, incorporating new information in terms of what it already knows. Given

He looked for ways in which new ideas could come into being via spontaneous insight rather than conflict.

What is humor, de Bono asks, but the sudden restructuring of existing patterns? If

Carl Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious

It is characteristic of insight solutions and new ideas that they should be obvious after they have been found.

It is the feeling of inferiority, inadequacy and insecurity that determines the goal of an individual's existence.

If you know a person's personality type their behavior begins to make sense.

For many years, psychology was surprisingly little interested in happiness.

She discovered Carl Jung's book Psychological Types and it became the theoretical foundation for a lifetime's work, later taken up by her daughter (who became Isabel Briggs Myers).

The cognitive psychology revolution has had a dramatic impact on mental health, and two of its major names are David D. Burns and Albert Ellis. Their mantra that thoughts create feelings, not the other way around, has helped many people to get back in control of their lives because it applies logic and reason to the murky pool of emotions.

Freud believed human beings to be wholly driven by the stirrings of the unconscious mind, but Adler saw us as social beings who create a style of life in response to the environment and to what we feel we lack. Individuals

Whatever he thought he was, it was painfully clear he was not.

In Psychological Types, Jung suggested two contrasting ways in which people saw the world. Some people can appreciate reality only through their five senses ("sensing" types), while others wait for internal confirmation of what is true or real, relying on their unconscious. These

People who use the sensing mode are engrossed in what is around them, look only for facts, and find it less interesting to deal with ideas or abstractions. Intuitive people like to dwell in the unseen world of ideas and possibilities, distrustful of physical reality. Whatever