Developmental Psychology 2
Developmental Psychology 2
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Introduction
Since the late 19th century until now the study of the human mind and behavior, psychology has grown with a high rate (Wilhelm Wundt, 1879). In the field of self-consciousness, it was discovered that most people behave based on what is in their mind regardless of how their mind acquired these ideas. Two key theories are examined in this essay; The Generic mutation theory and the mind theory. Also, it investigates the mind development of Keanu Reeves from the time he was born to the time he becomes an adult and faces the reality of life. In the mind theory, Keanu Reeves starts his life as a child who does not know what he is and later on he comes to realize that the life he is living as an adult is based on how his parents programmed him. This case of study analyses the life of Keanu Reeves as the main character and the challenges he faces due to his ability and inability to know who he is and where he comes from in the movie matrix.
Background
Following the plot of the movie Matrix, Keanu Reeves comes from a programmed society whereby all adults’ characters are based on the teachings and beliefs they were given by their parents while they were young, most probably below seven years. He is a man of good ambitions and capable of saving his society from the mental slavery that is negatively affecting most parts of the world. He has the self-confidence and support from his friends who help to think outside the box and understand who he is, what is currently going on and where they are headed. Keanu Reeves is believed to be living in a false society whereby characters like Morpheus were allegedly freed. At first, Keanu Reeves fight and opposes Morpheus who is a threat to that society as being the most dangerous man alive, with his reasons are undefined to the society, but they become great friends and even more than family. This is after Reeves comes to discover the true world and what they have been living is based on how their minds were programmed while they were still children who could not be able to make decisions of their own.
Although Reeves comes from a mentally slaved society, he becomes the savior and a good role model for his people in his society. He was independently able to live a life free from the negativities like bad desires, negative emotions, lack of knowledge and poor beliefs that are misleading them. In comparison to his friends, his main obstacle is to save every child and adult from mental slavery that is enforced via their leaders and ensure the society is heading in the right direction. It took him years to achieve this but also with the help of his friends.
Summary of the Mind Theory
It states that the ability to attribute mental beliefs, intents, knowledge, and emotions are to oneself or others is different from other persons. People differ in beliefs according to their origin or where they spend most of their lives. Cassidy, Hayes, and Roche (2011) trained four separate frames of the same, opposite, more than, and less than increased intelligence scores one standard deviation in seven of eight participants with developmental disabilities. They suggested the Theory of mind concept of cognitive functioning, which most individuals acquire naturally without programmatic interventions, may be a function of basic relation frame skills that can be remediated when they are absent (The psychological record,61). In this theory, it is well shown that adult characters are as a result of the training or life experience that they were given while they were young children.
Mind theory is based on three main stages, one between 4 to 5 years whereby a child begins to note and absorb different characters from people around him/her. The second one is from 5 to 6 years whereby the child will try to exercise what he/she has absorbed in the early stage and chose the best characters that suit her/him. The last stage is believed to be the definitional stage which takes place from 7 years until adulthood. At this stage, the child will have a specific character which he/she does not hide, and he thinks it is the best according to what the future holds for him/her. With these three stages, it is possible to predict what a child above seven years old future life after you have closely observed her/his present characters.
Mind Theory Applied to Keanu Reeves
In Keanu Reeves life about the mind theory, his childhood life was greatly programmed by his parents. From the time he was born, he started being taught some beliefs such as one should never resist enforcing orders from his leaders regardless of whether they are correct or wright. He is also not trained to be a worrier like other children’s and results in a life that he had to live in fear. His childhood friends call him a coward every time they cross each other’s path, but he is unable to fight back as based on what he was always taught to be humble. In the end, as he departs from his family, he is fully programmed and acts on more than 95% based on the commands that were informed in him. At this moment he does not recognize who he is and his purpose in life, which later on results into depression.
He meets Morpheus, a character that marks a new chapter by putting an end to all the beliefs and knowledge that were programmed in Keanu’s mind. Now Keanu is freed from the mental slavery and starts to think accordingly with the situation and responding with the right actions. One of them is how the government was oppressing the poor in denial of education to society. He intervenes and starts opposing while educating people and opening their minds to the importance of education and its benefits. It is a war between him and the government with no hopes of winning it but confident that he will not lose it while he is still alive. At the end with the help of his friends who have an independent mind like him, together they can overcome the great obstacle that was denying their country from development.
From Keanu’s life we can know that if one can discover that his/her life is being affected on how he was raised and taught, there is a possibility to change while in adulthood by reprograming the mind willing to change the way of thinking.
Summary of the Generic Mutation Theorem
It explains the formation of new species and new varieties that are formed by mutation through the jerky process. Hugo de Vries (1901) observed that these new varieties and species function as raw materials of evolution to the human. There are three types of Mutations which are; Base substitutional, insertions and deletions which brings the change in humans. Mutation mostly occurs due to errors during DNA replication resulting in the chemical instability of purine and pyrimidine bases. The mutation affects the mind through germ-line mutations whereby a cell in the reproductive system (germ cell), giving the change to become more numerous over time. The mutation results in a generic disorder if there is a deleterious effect on the phenotype of the offspring. According to biological factors, while an embryo is going through the formation process to a child, it chooses the best characters from the DNA of both parents.
The baby, later on, undergoes mutation leading to a child with specific characters. Some of the Offspring’s characters are most probably as a result of their fathers’ characters. This results in a similar way of thinking about their background family. Furthermore, there is another abstract on a mutation that the state’s mutation process is the most fundamental mechanism in evolution. In 1935, R.A a fisher proved his fundamental theorem of the original section, providing a model in which the rate of change of mean fitness is equal to the generic variance of species. Fisher did not include mutations in his model but believed that mutations would provide a continual supply of variance resulting in the continued increase in mean fitness, thus providing a foundation for neo-Darwinian theory. In this study, we examine Reeves life in a mutation.
Generic Mutation Theory Applied to Keanu Reeves
In Keanu Reeves life, it is evident that some of his characters like self-confidence, kindness, being caring and strength to stand for what he believes, were characters observer from his parents even before he was born. His father was a strong man who believed in justice but feared that his endangering the life of his son by teaching him his character since he was already a threat to his government. Therefore he taught his son the ways of the society according to the laws of the corrupted government. His mother on the other side was brave and courageous, a woman who would make good decisions that would benefit everyone. With this character being present in Keanu Reeves parents, they were carried and went through mutation to result to his Intelligence and Persistence characters that fort against the government to result in a triumph to his people.
Furthermore, Keanu Reeves grows to an adult who becomes stressed about what he is and his purpose. He continuously tries to answer the biggest question of his life, about who he is, and sees like all his past life was a lie and it never existed. At this point, the real DNA characters inside Reeves are starting to appear, and they overcome what he was informed during his childhood. , later on, he meets Lawrence, a character that helps him understand what is happening to him. Reeves life suddenly changes slowly, and one day he finally finds the answer of who he is through the help from his friends. After discovering what he is, he decides to venture into the real world and live in reality. He sees that it is not enough for him and his friends, but it is important to save the whole society if possible.
With a strong mind and he starts his purpose in life and later on saves more people from mental slavery if it wasn’t for Keanu Reeves his society could not have been set free from mental slavery such as lack of education, high taxation, Increased injustice in courts and corruption.
Conclusion
Through characters like Reeves from the movie Matrix, the two theories are well applied and shown how they can affect people’s lives in our case of study. Reeves had been programmed to do what the law requires him to do in regardless of the negativity, but after he becomes an adult and knows what he wants, he changes all of that to something great. It is evident how the mind theorem had shaped the life of Reeves while he was still young and programmed his way of thinking to something that his parents wanted of him. But later on, the generic mutation theorem intervenes and helps him to acquire his destiny and become what he was to convert by the appearance of his parents’ characters in him. Lesson learned through the two theories include that one developmental psychology is an essential aspect to the society for a brighter future and it may occur or be caused by various factors.
References
Burman, E. (2016). Deconstructing developmental psychology. Routledge.
Morss, J. R. (2017). The biologizing of childhood: Developmental psychology and the Darwinian myth. Routledge.
Slater, A., & Bremner, J. G. (Eds.). (2017). An introduction to developmental psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
Cozolino, L. (2017). The neuroscience of psychotherapy: Healing the social brain. WW Norton & Company.
Shackman, A. J., & Fox, A. S. (2016). Contributions of the extended central amygdala to fear and anxiety contributions of the extended central amygdala to fear and anxiety. Journal of Neuroscience, 36(31), 8050-8063.
Baillargeon, R., Scott, R. M., & Bian, L. (2016). Psychological reasoning in infancy. Annual review of psychology, 67, 159-186.
Oakley, B. F., Brewer, R., Bird, G., & Catmur, C. (2016). Theory of mind is not a theory of emotion: A cautionary note on the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test — Journal of abnormal psychology, 125(6), 818.