REVIEW

Guide : Dr Neena David

Kshipra Tikale Furniture and Interior Design PGDPD 2012 National Institute of Design , Ahmedabad

DAY 1
The class started with the story of Psyche in search of Eros. For me, Psyches journey depicted a mans journey from birth to death as her journey from being mortal to being immortal. It was easy to relate oneself with her journey in search of love as if the souls in search of Moksha (as many religious ideas advocate). One also got to know about how the discipline developed and the key perspectives in psychology. Also a discussion was brought between four words of Nature vs Nurture; Freewill vs. Determinism. I concluded all these factors together guide us. For example : My parents have been responsible for teaching me my values and ethics (Nurture) , my company throughout life has helped me in retaining these values( Nature/Environment). Now based on this conditioning, my choices are developed (Freewill).But the word Determinism is still being not clear to me. Being a Hindu, I believe in the cycle of Karma. And Hinduism advocates ones karma and others karma are related. So is this where determinism comes in the scene? In such case, it will be better to say Freewill as being aware of the consequences and instead of having the authority to make choices. Movie Screened: Forrest Gump A weakling in the dense forest of so called Strong???

DAY 2
Now, the talk was about how we perceive things and thoughts. To sense a thing and associate it with different concepts learnt in past, present surroundings etc, synthesizing the information leads to perceiving something. Phew! So simple it sounds, yet so complicated! A term Perceptual Laziness was also introduced with the example of perception of a door, which was very interesting and very convincing as well. Now, does this laziness differ between a layman and a creative person? As its said, the abstraction can be identified more easily by the Creative people makes me conclude the creative society more active at perceiving than the normal ones. The theory of Perception in terms of form, shape and beliefs and how it can be manipulated was very interesting. As a design student, it was easy to connect with the fact of perception as we have been trained in the same only with the help of some other terminologies. While the consciousness and the biological rhythms make me wonder how programmed our body is with respect to physiological as well cognitive approach. When we talk about consciousness, the question also arises about unconsciousness. Whether it was Freud and Jungs theory or Activation Synthesis theory, the unconsciousness seems to be realized in dreams and thus serving the purpose of dreams perhaps. At the end of the day, the different theories only differed in how the dreams are processed. Thoughts - Exhausted Mind Sleep Restless thoughts Dreams Sleep Fresh Mind! Interesting! Special Mention : Dr. Ramachandras vision on Neurology of aesthetics.

DAY 3
Emotions: We keep playing with in our very day to day life. Yes I agree , in the process of evolution we have some primal instincts programmed in us which combined with cognitive state gives excellent results of emotions. Emotions are something which I value in life. And it was really fascinating to know the factors behind it and how the equations result in some complex emotions .The non verbal cues of facial expressions, body movements and postures convey these emotions in striking way. The TED talk of Amy Cuddy was very sensible. Being analytical in nature, I was able to calculate how the power postures work. The postures when you tend to get bored consist of stretching the muscles, thus making the body to feel activated (limbic system responsible.) I could observe the power posture also involved the same. While the statement of Fake it , till you become it, works as a function of High Internal Locus of Control. A complete working model of stress coping. The discussion in the class also went for Culture and Emotions where I could relate to Emotions Memory The first day of Nature vs Nuture ; Freewill vs Determinism. Both emotions and thoughts are mind- processed analyzed perceived notions . So the Buddhist philosophy of having thought and emotion as one thing, makes it sensible. The thing I couldnt relate to why I need to meditate. The process of Meditation gives me shivers. And the process of closing my eyes, to recollect the memories of sadness/troubles panics me (though in order to be repressed on their own) for getting into depression ( am I phobic ?). Movie Screened: Amadeus - Gods Love The movie made me feel almost numb. It was kind of revision of the chapters conveyed since the last two days. The bottom line I draw is Happiest will always take happiness from others, while the miserable keep being envy and jealous till the end.

DAY 4
The theories for defining a personality of a being and the related traits displayed were very amusing. I most of the theories, generalized 5 terminologies were developed to define and defend a particular consistent state of mind. The question arosed in my mind was only 5 things can define anyone , then why its said - Human mind of complex nature. I guess the percentage of perceptual laziness increased in me, and I had skipped the permutation and combinations can happen within these 5 factors. For me, psychoanalytic as well as human perspective both made sense in one way or the other. What striked me the most was the self theory of Carl Rogers which I could easily relate to the life of Mahatma Gandhi. His strive was always to achieve the highest level of idealist human beingness. Now the ideal term leads to the complexities involved. The subject of psychological Disorders was really disturbing and I was able to feel the negatives vibes because of the perceived notions ( imbided in my limbic system). Yes , its not wise to call these challenged people with some disrespective names. As Joshua Walker says , May be no ones crazy . Everyone is little mad. How much depends on where you are in the spectrum . How much lucky you are . Karma again ?

And yes , it was very astonishing that the creative/ artisitic people and this challenged people ( May be challenged by God from view of Salieri ! ) have so much in common ( as per the research ). And to add more , the fact of everything making sense astonished me more.

DAY 5
Looking forward to todays session. Each and every day of this module was thought provoking. It was difficult to articulate all the electrochemical signals in the brain developed in these four days. I have this keen habit of observing people and analyzing their actions. Now, I can confidently be more precise in the process due to theories discussed in class. Surely, the functioning of human mind is clearer than earlier and it has opened doors to more curiosity. Its depressing the sessions getting over soon, but my high internal locus of control conveys though for a short period , how beneficial it has been to me and how I can make most of the knowledge acquired. I appreciate for taking the sessions on a very comfort level. Thanks a ton.