What is psychology?
In this article, we are going to be talking about psychology but specifically continuity in psychology. Before leading to the main topic of discussion, let us first discuss what psychology is. Psychology is the study of human behaviour and thoughts, analysis of their feelings and emotions. People who study psychology and specialize in one of the fields often work with organizations who work for human welfare or those which focus on the mental health of people. The study leads to further sub-branches which talk about human health, social behaviour, their consciousness, their thinking process and the way they analyse a situation and react to it, clinical psychology which is related to counselling.
Purpose of study of psychology
Main purpose of the study of psychology is to observe, analyse, predict and then help other people to develop change in their behaviours which is for the betterment of the person himself or the people around him. Psychologists who study the field of science spend their life observing, analysing and helping people to sort out their mental, behavioural and emotional changes or challenges. The practices as a result help the person to become a good human being and a better individual. Sometimes the psychologists use talk therapy to cure a person but there are times when talking isn’t enough and they need to prescribe some medication to patients to feel better again.
What do psychologists do?
Psychologists are available in every field nowadays and in almost every big organization. There are sports psychologists who work as counsellors for players to help them stay positive and to face defeat with a sportsman spirit. They are available as counsellors in schools to guide staff members and students whenever they feel challenged due to some peer pressures or work pressure. To counsel students they may observe their work, their classes or spend some time with the students to help them pull themselves up during hard times of their life. The situations which need a psychologists’ guidance may occur due to any kind of loss or stress or some kind of depression. Our brain plays a vital role in helping us to cope with different situations that occur during our lifetime.
Continuity psychology theory – supporting views
There are many people who debate about how our brain works. One of the common and quite challenged debates is the memory of a person. Some experts argue that our memory is everything that defines a person. According to them, our memory which is stored in the brain can be transferred to another body just by transplanting the brain. The debate states that even a person dies, the consciousness or memories stay there and they can be disseminated to another body and the person can still live into the new flesh. Do you think this is really possible?
This type of theory in psychology is known as continuity psychology which talks about something being transferred from one object to another meaning it continues forever. The appearance may change but the memories or the stuff that is inside stays the same forever.
Opposing views
There is another group of theorists which oppose this idea. According to them if memories are what define a person then why do we forget something that happened to us at the age of 1 when we are 13. We do not remember the day when we walked for the first time or when we started talking. We do not remember the time we saw our parents for the first time ever. If memories were to prove us as humans then does that mean we were not the same person at the age of 1 and then at 13? Does this mean the two people at different age group become so different or become separate individuals? No, this isn’t true. Looking at the facts which oppose the idea of memories defining continuity of a person are so tempting and true that you believe them.
If I die and my brain is transmitted to another person’s body today, that person would not become me when he wakes up. He would not have the same lifestyle as I had or the same way of spending life the way I had, he would only have my memories which might not be compatible with his lifestyle. It becomes a quite complicated debate when we try to go into the depth of it. So, continuity psychology does not seem to be true. If you want to know more about it, click here to learn the details.
Development throughout life
The term development means evolving or changing with time, it also means growing towards betterment. If you notice, a human being goes through a lot of stages in life, infancy to toddler, then preschooler, young child, teenager, grown-up and adult. When we are an adult, we hardly remember the memories we had from our infancy or toddler. We might remember a few things which we did during our young childhood days of being a teenager but our memories are not very strong to be able to keep up with all the details of what we did and who we were as a kid.
Every next stage in life comes with its own challenges which every individual goes through and becomes an expert dealing with. All the stages of life altogether define us as an individual human being and this is how nature has explained the development of a human throughout life. In our life, we remember some things and we forget a few, it does not mean we fail to be a successful human being instead this is how we are supposed to be. Every human being cannot be an expert in everything. If you observe people around you, you will notice that every person has their individual skills and they are expert in it. Your memories are not what define you; instead, they are just a part of your whole personality which makes you who you are.