Helplessness: The inability to know-that you don’t know-how

The sense of helplessness stands at the very core of the traumatic experience. This paper suggests that a sense of helplessness arises when, despite the functioning of the cognitive system and awareness of circumstances and feelings, an individual is unable to access practical knowledge. As a result, the subject becomes a victim of one’s own inability to perform, or act, in the real world.     

The problems of consciousness and content in theories of perception

The paper aims to show, first, that O’Regan’s and Noë’s Sensorimotor Theory of Vision and Visual Experiences suffers from circularity, and that evidence from empirical research within perception psychology unequivocally invalidates their theory. Secondly, to show that the circularity in O’Regan’s and Noë’s theory of vision and in other general causal and functional theories of perception (i.e. Gibson’s and Marr’s theories of perception) is the inevitable consequence of mutually conflicting assumption of Cartesian dualism underlying these theories. The paper concludes by outlining the consequences of this conflict of assumptions for psychological theories of perception.     

Evaluating children's use of symbol in some recent research

This paper explores a number of examples of what appeared to be recurring symbolic expressions of spirituality found in my recent research into the spiritual experiences of children in Victorian State primary schools. These expressions appeared in drawings and in conversation. In this paper I use hermeneutic phenomenology and a multidisciplinary approach to the literature, to explore the nature of symbol, in particular, the symbols of island, snake and mountain. I examine the children's use of these symbols, with their multiple meanings and function, to gain a greater understanding of their individual and collective spirituality and well‐being. This study can have applications in religious education. Through their symbolic expressions children may be enabled to explore meaning in their lives, and advance in their spiritual development. Moreover, examination by children of their own symbols may provide a bridge to understanding and exploring core ideas of religious faith, which are mainly expressed in metaphoric language. Exploring symbols can provide a way for children to exercise the imagination, grounded in bodily experience, to achieve open and enriching spiritual outcomes.     

Metaphors for God: Why and How Do Our Choices Matter for Humans? The Application of Contemporary Cognitive Linguistics Research to the Debate on God and Metaphor

This article explores and critiques conservative and liberal theological understandings of metaphor in light of the contemporary research in cognitive linguistics. This assessment is followed by a cognitive examination of the biblical metaphors for God, their unconscious entailments, an assessment of why certain metaphors are more effective than others, and a short discussion of the implications of this effectiveness.     

易学象数对北京明清皇家建筑的影响

各个朝代的帝王及其谋臣们为了维护帝王统治,使帝王江山永固、国运长久,都对皇家建筑进行了精心规划和设计,建设了一系列具有象征意义的城市建筑,力图通过完善的都城建设,达到"自天佑之,吉无不利"的目的.北京明清皇家建筑,是我国目前保存最完整、规模最大的皇家建筑群,集中传输着中国的哲学、美学及艺术等概念.易学象数作为一种隐喻、借喻、象征的工具和手段,在中国传统建筑特别是皇家建筑的规划设计中,有着广泛的应用和体现.本文从三极之道、坤元用六、乾元用九、九五至尊、阴阳象数及河洛象数等六个方面,研究了易学象数对中国建筑特别是北京明清皇家建筑产生的影响.     

Proprioception and Motor Control in Parkinson's Disease

ABSTRACT

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that leads to a progressive decline in motor function. Growing evidence indicates that PD patients also experience an array of sensory problems that negatively impact motor function. This is especially true for proprioceptive deficits, which profoundly degrade motor performance. This review specifically address the relation between proprioception and motor impairments in PD. It is structured around 4 themes: (a) It examines whether the sensitivity of kinaesthetic perception, which is based on proprioceptive inputs, is actually altered in PD. (b) It discusses whether failed processes of proprioceptive-motor integration are central to the motor problems in PD. (c) It presents recent findings focusing on the link between the proprioception and the balance problems in PD. And (d) it discusses the current state of knowledge of how levodopa medication and deep brain stimulation affect proprioceptive and motor function in PD. The authors conclude that a failure to evaluate and to map proprioceptive information onto voluntary and reflexive motor commands is an integral part of the observed motor symptoms in PD.