"Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl inspired us to find meaning in the space between stimulus and response. That space is not conceptual; it is a territory beyond abstract ideas, much deeper than we are accustomed to thinking. When we manage to go beyond that habitual layer, it is as if we end up in the living nature of experience itself. In those vast realms of meaning, we transcend our characteristic tendency to link stimuli with responses through categorization and polarization."
"In those vast realms of meaning, we transcend our characteristic tendency to link stimuli with responses through categorization and polarization. Descending into that space requires slowing down and pausing our habits of meaning. In this delay, something new is born when we broaden the ordinary narrowed subject-object structure of our minds. What would we discover if we were to explore this space between stimulus and response with a master guide in psychology?"
Humans exhibit paradox: extreme destructiveness and self-sabotage alongside unparalleled capacity for learning. Victor Frankl located a deep, non-conceptual space between stimulus and response where meaning resides. Accessing that space requires slowing down and pausing habitual meaning-making to reach the living nature of experience. In those realms, habitual links of stimuli and responses through categorization and polarization dissolve, allowing broader subject-object structures. Abraham Maslow's mature work shifts focus from growth to fulfillment and frames higher realms of meaning and wisdom as valuable sources of meaning. Learning to descend into these depths offers a pathway to change and transcend paradoxical human tendencies.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]