OR 87 Book review and connections to my research project

"There is a unique way in which each of us lives through our life: how we understand it, what sorts of questions we face, how we interpret it, how we make our decisions. [The book: Melodies of Living] has the ambitious goal of giving one possible account of what makes people's life trajectories so unique, yet human in a shared world" (Zittoun et al., 2013, pp. 1–2).

" […] we have at heart to account for the uniqueness of human life - each person's melody. We believe that to account for uniqueness, we have to show how people make sense of what happens to them" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 2).

"Other animals are, of course, also able to coordinate themselves, but only the phylogenetic development of semiotic abilities allowed humans to develop culture (art and science), representations of the future or elaborated forms of coordination that can occur even in the absence of real people. Such complex semiotic abilities, coupled with the existence of cultural artefacts and semiotic systems inherited through generations, have enabled humans to develop a unique capacity for imagination […] This inner life, synthesized through constructive imagination, plays an important role in our making meaning of our lives" (e.g. through the internet) (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 3).

Mahmoudi, as she examines the nature of a spiritualized society founded on altruism and reciprocity and based on the principles described in the Bahá'í writings, notes the dual nature of the human being; animals are "captive of the senses" and do not have "the powers of ideation and conscious reflection"; "they are without education and training" and "have no touch with the spiritual world and are without conception of God" (Mahmoudi, 2003, p. 158).

" […] there is an inherent moral dimension in any scientific project, and we cannot do without it. […] First, we do not wish to describe typical trajectories; […] we want to highlight the social and cultural, very often invisible constraints, that guide the ways in which people creatively unfold their lives. […] Secondly, we wish to identify core processes, along specific dimensions, which offer an entry into people's life trajectories in complex societies. Thirdly - if we have to make explicit our normative beliefs of what constitutes 'good development' or a 'good life' - we would probably say that it is a life in which playfulness is experienced, and remains possible. […] play is not only fun, but a serious principle for how we face the challenges of daily life, as well as the important crossroads in life (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 4-5).

" Our lives are unique. […] by our being and acting in the world - we are agents who participate in its changing" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 11).

Karlberg writes a blog called: agency & change. He describes the focus of the blog: Agency - conscious action; free will; the exercise of human capacity.  Change – to pass from one condition to another; to develop;  to transform; to adapt; to evolve.

This blog is premised on the assumption that the prevailing global order is socially and ecologically unsustainable.  Humanity can no longer afford to live in a state of denial.  It is time to recognize our unity and interdependence and translate this recognition into a new social reality in which the self-interested pursuit of power and advantage gives way to

mutualistic cooperation. The question is not if, but when, we make this transition. The longer we wait, the more costly the consequences will be in terms of human suffering and ecological devastation. The purpose of this blog is to explore how human agency can best be exercised in the pursuit of radical social transformation, guided by the principle of the oneness of humanity.

"Our inquiry is based on two assumptions that are necessary starting points for understanding human lives - the irreversibility of time and the semiotic nature of making sense of our human experiences - which have been systematically explored by two developing traditions: a developmental science and a sociocultural psychology. The challenge will be to define a science that accounts for the uniqueness of the individual person through a dialogue between these two traditions (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 12).

Epigenesis: the unfolding development in an organism.

"Gottlieb proposed a hierarchical model for levels of mutual influences on the functioning of a human organism, from chemical processes at the genetic level to culture, in which it appears that genetic processes are dependent on meaning-making and social processes - and vice versa". Gottlieb's hierarchical model of influences in epigenesis has four layers. They are, from the bottom up: genetic activity, neural activity, behaviour, and the environment (physical, social, cultural). (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 18).

[…] "the path of influences from the social environment to gene expression is still poorly understood" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 19).

"Goldstein concluded from studies of war-injured soldiers that it was inherent in human nature for people to make the best out of their actual capacities, and always move ahead in life, whatever war damages they may have sustained. This can be understood as a basic teleological assumption that is also inherent in the notion of epigenesis. All organisms, including humans, have an inherent tendency to strive for as adaptive a relationship as possible between self and environment" (Zittoun et al., 2013, pp. 20–21).

Figure 1.2 Waddington's epigenetic landscape - the spatial metaphor of a ball rolling down a hillside

"In such a metaphorical reading of the life course, neither external nor internal causality will […] explain the trajectory of the ball. Rather, constraints will reinforce or neutralize each other (Zittoun et al., 2013, pp. 23–24).

Inside and outside mutualities

"The principle of progressive movement between the inside (mind, soul, or self) and the outside (Umwelt, environment, context) domains has been the core of William Stern's personalism (Figure 1.3.). The two infinities - of the inside of the self, and of the environment - are in constant forward-orientated movement into each other" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 32).

Figure 1.3 William Stern's view of person <> environment relations (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 33).

Reality and imagination

Figure 3.1. Kaniza's triangles - an example of a visual illusion where we perceive non-existing objects (triangles) through the co-constructive functions of our perceptual systems (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 75).

"The experience of self is primarily constituted in interaction with others and in our experiences of the world; in that sense, self is dialogical. […] our experiences are coloured by our internal world" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 34).

Goffman proposed tools enabling a very critical reading of our society (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 40).

Telos: I take the teleological view that “history is not only a series of happenings, but rather is in a process of development” (Tuomi, 2004). I view humanity as an organic entity that, in its collective life, undergoes evolution towards maturity. Today, humanity stands at the threshold of maturity and the distinguishing attribute of this maturity is the unification of the human race. My belief in the oneness of humankind stands at the center of a conception of existence within which the nature of the fundamental processes and structures of the collective life on the planet are defined. I have included a summary of a perspective on history in the Appendixes: Appendix D: A perspective on history (Nau, 2012, p. 17).

Social framing of lives

"According to Bühler all communication is about something - an external or internal object - from the sender's perspective. The intention to communicate finds its expression ('print-out' or Ausdruck) in a particular message form (the triangle in Figure 5.2) that represents the object or state of the communicative act. Yet, this representation - which is simultaneously a presentation (to the receiver) - in not an immediate 'copy' of the object, as it is presented in terms of signs. […] The sender's intended message (triangle) is turned into a different meaning (the circle in Figre 5.2) by the active transformation of the receiver. […] Communication is, as a result, negotiation of the meanings between co-constructing partners, rather than the conveying of existing information. Hence, meaning is always re-created in microgenesis" (Zittoun et al., 2013, pp. 31–32).

Figure 5.2 Karl Bühler's organon model (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 132)

The idea of the dialogical self, is composed of 'a multiplicity of I-positions', each one addressing some other I-positions and/or some external positions, and the instance when Mr Q. thinks 'I would like an ice-cream', but immediately anticipates an inner critical voice saying 'you cannot eat more sugar today' which echoes his wife's usual remarks, that is, her getting angry with him for not watching his weight. Therefore, since people travel through different social frames, they are populated by different positions. These positions are sometimes methaporically referred to as 'voices', which can be understood as 'expressions of a specific position'. From such a perspective, it is the dialogical intersection of these voices that creates meaning. Hence, intrapsychological, dialogical meaning-making can be seen as

an internalized co-regulation. Therefore, a person will move from one I-position to another I-position, according to fluctuations in time and context (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 148).

This notion is expressed to some extend in Bahá'í texts as a distinct power, an intelligent ego, the spirit, as the paragraph below highlights:

When you wish to reflect upon or consider a matter, you consult something within you. You say, shall I do it, or shall I not do it? Is it better to make this journey or abandon it? Whom do you consult? Who is within you deciding this question? Surely there is a distinct power, an intelligent ego. Were it not distinct from your ego, you would not be consulting it. It is greater than the faculty of thought. It is your spirit which teaches you, which advises and decides upon matters. Who is it that interrogates? Who is it that answers? There  243  is no doubt that it is the spirit and that there is no change or transformation in it, for it is not a composition of elements, and anything that is not composed of elements is eternal. Change and transformation are peculiarities of composition. There is no change and transformation in the spirit. In proof of this, the body may become weakened in its members. It may be dismembered, or one of its members may be incapacitated. The whole body may be paralyzed; and yet the mind, the spirit, remains ever the same. The mind decides; the thought is perfect; and yet the hand is withered, the feet have become useless, the spinal column is paralyzed, and there is no muscular movement at all, but the spirit is in the same status. Dismember a healthy man; the spirit is not dismembered. Amputate his feet; his spirit is there. He may become lame; the spirit is not affected. The spirit is ever the same; no change or transformation can you perceive, and because there is no change or transformation, it is everlasting and permanent.

Consider man while in the state of sleep; it is evident that all his parts and members are at a standstill, are functionless. His eye does not see, his ear does not hear, his feet and hands are motionless; but, nevertheless, he does see in the world of dreams, he does hear, he speaks, he walks, he may even fly in an airplane. Therefore, it becomes evident that though the body be dead, yet the spirit is alive and permanent. Nay, the perceptions may be keener when man's body is asleep, the flight may be higher, the hearing may be more acute; all the functions are there, and yet the body is at a standstill. Hence, it is proof that there is a spirit in the man, and in this spirit there is no distinction as to whether the body be asleep or absolutely dead and dependent. The spirit is not incapacitated by these conditions; it is not bereft of its existence; it is not bereft of its perfections (“Abdu”l-Bahá, 1982, sec. 24 July 1912).

"The inertia of frames: routines and habits occupy a great of our lives, and they free us from decision-making so as to enable us to focus our attention on various activities […]"(Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 153).

Individual development (ontogenesis), interactions and the frame they generate (microgenesis) and historical changes (sociogenesis) are mutually dependent (Zittoun et al., 2013, sec. 159).

"Our minds are dialogical, meaning that a person is involved in a constant process of communication with a social and material world, assuming new positions from moment to moment" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 165).

"There is no access to reality (of the world or of the self) without the lens imposed by our ways of knowing. We clearly assume a constructivist position on this point. To know is

always to create meaning, which, in turn, will restrain our experience of the world. Our knowledge is always semiotically mediated, since we use signs to construct meaning. These signs, as far as the construction of self-identity is concerned, are narratively structured. Thus, change implies a transformation in the ways signs are organized and in the structure of our life narratives. As these transformations occur, new restraints are formed. Fortunately, culture allows us a very flexible use of signs and is complex enough to facilitate a multiplicity of constructions" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 179).

The transformational power of self-observation: " In observing himself a man notices that self-observation itself brings about certain changes in his inner processes. He begins to understand that self-observation is an instrument of self-change, a means of awakening. By observing himself he throws, as it were, a ray of light on to his inner processes, which have hitherto worked in complete darkness. And under the influence of this light the processes themselves begin to change" (quoted in Ouspensky (1949/2001), quoted in Hayes and Cruz (2006,p.282) Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 195).

[…] repetition is a central process in changing our lives (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 197).

Social guidance through a model that consists of three zones, the zone of free movement (ZFM), the zone of promoted action (ZPA) and the zone of proximal development (ZPD) (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 212). "The difference between totalitarian and democratic political systems can be phrased in simple terms - in totalitarian system ZFM = ZPA, in democratic, ZFM > ZPA. This provides an explanation of the function of oppositional voices in democracies - their presence is necessary for the dominance of the social power" (footnote 39, Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 214). I would question the necessity to have oppositional voices in democracies and favour the perspective that Karlberg puts forward: "our present 'culture of contest' is both socially unjust and ecologically unsustainable […] and the development of non-adversarial structures and practices is imperative" (Karlberg, 2004).

"TLC and the human life course: if we take TLC [the teaching learning complex] to be the central feature of learning, […] then learning appears as a central feature of development, not only in childhood, but also in youth, adulthood and old age" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 217).

"Summary: the many ways (of learning) to contribute to life-course development

[…] learning is one of the motors of the creation of the continuities and variations of one's life melody. Like imagination, learning demands a distance from immediate action, distancing which is enabled by the semiotic and social nature of human experience. In contrast to imagination, learning is always oriented toward present situations of what IS and past situations, and it aims at facilitating the definitions of new actions in what will be, in reference to pas and new conditions. […] learning requires imagination precisely to reflect upon experience, and to imagine alternative solutions; and even the most socially guide knowledge always demands personal reinvention. Thus, learning - from facts, books and life - is one of the ways through which melodies of life are expressed, created and transformed" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 257).

"Summary: humans play and so they develop […] At a collective level, playing with boundaries between what is and what could be is the tool of social change and innovation. […] the social world also guides humans from the outside - the environment sets the stage fo

human playing. The on-going challenge is, for humans, to play with social constraints" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 311).

"The power of social guidance lies precisely in its camouflage. It episodically and redundantly provides its input - in very many varied forms - to persons, and then leaves those persons to their own resources to consolidate and reassemble the received suggestions in their personal forms" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 313).

"The quasi-existential question - do people feel free while they are really constrained, or are they actually free within the illusory constraints of the social - vanishes as it becomes one of the many variations of human play with boundaries" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 316).

"[…] the very way in which we understand ourselves as humans depends on the shape of narratives circulating in the semiosphere: films and novels give us templates to think about our lives" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 333).

"[…] it is not the objective life situation but rather the subjective perception and construction of one's life situation that constitute individual reality. This ability to surpass 'objective' conditions, reconstructing them and creating new meanings […] is as much central in old age as it is throughout life, as we have tried to show in these pages" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 351).

Chapter 11: 'Old age' as living forward

" […] it seems justified not to restrict the term ageing psychologically to a rather limited stage of life (e.g. beyond the 70's) and to include the whole life span between early adulthood and old age in research on ageing…" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 356 in Thomae (1963, p. 366)).

How possible future events shape present actions

" […] the life space is organised in time. Only the present exists; past and future only exist if they are made actual in the present, as plans, goals or expectations" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 137).

How belief in an 'afterlife' may shape development and ageing may be a research question that can contribute further understand of development processes across the lifespan. Our present actions are guided by future events that may or may not happen. A person having booked a vacation in two weeks will probably start preparing for the journey at least a few days before leaving and will act accordingly. A person that beliefs that life doesn't end with her or his physical death may start to prepare and act accordingly. The person may have beliefs as to what qualities may be necessary to develop in this life and that these qualities may be useful in the next life. This attitude will have an effect on present living and being in the world whether or not there is a next life. The idea that future possibilities may affect our present actions is stated here: " […] the meaning-making of past experiences (and future possibilities) that can impact on the present situation at any time" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 377).

"What one has acquired during life as cognitive styles of describing, analysing, evaluating and deciding will thus be preserved". […] " This is what we have thematized in this book as Melodies of Living". "This makes even more sense from an evolutionary perspective since an organism will only memorize those learning experiences that have been proved to be functional, that is, serving an adaptation goal. The theory [continuity theory] also hints […]

that individual ageing is determined by events and decisions already taken during earlier periods of the lifespan". […] "In the view of continuity theory, subjective reality has priority over objective reality" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 357).

" […] we have to face a methodological basic issue - all psychological phenomena are fictional extensions beyond what has actually happened in a person's life" (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 369).

Figure 12.1 Emergence of the subject

"[…]the uniqueness of our melodies precisely emerges there where we experience the world, and where we step out of it to reflect on it. […] it occurs precisely at the meeting point of the many semiotic streams in which we are immersed (see Figure 12.1) (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 376).

What still needs to be done

"Studying through a focus on microgenesis is a methodological imperative. Any science of human development needs to focus on the study of transitions in order to grasp the detailed change processes underlying microgenesis, and, by consequence, also ontogenesis and human development at large. […] Human lives cannot be studies without a consistently developmental theoretical focus and its matching methodologies " (Zittoun et al., 2013, p. 378).

References

“Abdu”l-Bahá. (1982). Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by Abdu’l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912 (2nd ed.). Bahai Pub Trust. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/dp/0877431728

Karlberg, M. (2004). Beyond the Culture of Contest. George Ronald Publisher Ltd. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/dp/0853984891

Mahmoudi, H. (2003). Obligation and Responsibility in Constructing a World Civilization. In A. Boyles (Ed.), The Bahá’í World, 2002-2003, An International Record (World Cent., p. 348). World Centre Publications.

Nau, J.-M. (2012, February). Exploring Learning Processes within a collaborative study circle; cultural-historical activity theory perspective on individual and social transformation. Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Retrieved from http://jmnau.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/master-thesis/

Tuomi, M. T. (2004). Human dignity in the learning environment: Testing a sociological paradigm for a diversity-positive milieu with school starters. Institute for Educational Research.

Zittoun, T., Valsiner, J., Vedeler, D., Salgado, J., Gonçalves, M., & Ferring, D. (2013). Human Development in the Life Course: Melodies of Living (p. 445). Cambridge University Press.