Edited by Steve Bamlett, Wednesday, 28 Oct 2015, 15:43
As part of his introduction to me as his tutor, one of my group, Loukianos, sent me a link to a recently finished film directed by him about life in Crete. He has given me permission to share his achievement with others on my request. He is not responsible however for the comments on the film which are my own alone.
The film is accessed by the following link (BUT YOU WILL PROBABLY NEED TO COPY THE LINK INTO YOUR BROWSER):
"Like most Arts, Film is one that you have to deal with many different kinds of people from different cultures and different point of views and it is really important to create a bond with everyone you work with in order to do the best you can as a team for a common goal." He goes on to quote the Japanese genius of film, Akira Kurosawa:
"Human being share the same common problems. A film can only be understood if it depicts these properly."
I wanted to share this because it helped me to think about the whole issue of Theory of Mind (ToM). Believing that others have a 'different' mind to yourself, with contents that, in our view, need not reflect the truth as we see it is one way of describing ToM. However, it includes the belief that the contents of that other person's mind (true or false) can cause changes in the behaviour, ideas or feelings of that person.
In practical terms, this has been used by human, and other animals - if you follow some of the chimp observations in the DD210 'Animal Minds' - to 'deceive' others. If you can create a 'false belief' in someone, you can help to cause an action or thought or feeling in them they would not otherwise have had: trust in a wife who is told by her deceitful husband that he loves only her, for instance, or 'tactical deception' such as we see in 'games' ('bluff') or war.
What we forget is that that ToM also enables us to accept and share and work with our differences from each other and build new things, using the differences in our knowledge, skills and values, to work collaboratively, to 'create a bond with everyone you work with' in Loukianos' words. We do this by 'sharing our differences openly and warmly'.
This is how I read Loukianos' film. It is aimed at helping us to see a culture that, for some of us (me, for instance) is 'different' in lots of ways. I see the film as telling me a lot about what we do when we are looking at others, wanting to understand them - the beautiful image of the girl who looks from outside the house at a window but through to the warm space of the tradition, which strangely enough is where we as audience are looking from in viewing the film. There is also the older woman who returns our look upon her with a wink that makes us share her difference.
To me this is as much about as ToM as our wonderful scientific experiments, although Art works differently. We have to read it qualitatively not quantitatively. But Psychology opens us to both.
Forgive me group for wanting to share my thoughts. they may mean nothing to you and there is no reason why they should. But if they do, let me know how Loukianos' film helps you to jump boundaries - to see and evaluate difference from your own point of view. OPTIONAL as ever.
All the best - and thank again Loukianos.
IGNORE WHAT I HAVE TO SAY THOUGH. Enjoy the film. I think it is beautiful.
Psychology: Creative Resources
As part of his introduction to me as his tutor, one of my group, Loukianos, sent me a link to a recently finished film directed by him about life in Crete. He has given me permission to share his achievement with others on my request. He is not responsible however for the comments on the film which are my own alone.
The film is accessed by the following link (BUT YOU WILL PROBABLY NEED TO COPY THE LINK INTO YOUR BROWSER):
https://vimeo.com/143453118
I wanted to share this because it helped me to think about the whole issue of Theory of Mind (ToM). Believing that others have a 'different' mind to yourself, with contents that, in our view, need not reflect the truth as we see it is one way of describing ToM. However, it includes the belief that the contents of that other person's mind (true or false) can cause changes in the behaviour, ideas or feelings of that person.
In practical terms, this has been used by human, and other animals - if you follow some of the chimp observations in the DD210 'Animal Minds' - to 'deceive' others. If you can create a 'false belief' in someone, you can help to cause an action or thought or feeling in them they would not otherwise have had: trust in a wife who is told by her deceitful husband that he loves only her, for instance, or 'tactical deception' such as we see in 'games' ('bluff') or war.
What we forget is that that ToM also enables us to accept and share and work with our differences from each other and build new things, using the differences in our knowledge, skills and values, to work collaboratively, to 'create a bond with everyone you work with' in Loukianos' words. We do this by 'sharing our differences openly and warmly'.
This is how I read Loukianos' film. It is aimed at helping us to see a culture that, for some of us (me, for instance) is 'different' in lots of ways. I see the film as telling me a lot about what we do when we are looking at others, wanting to understand them - the beautiful image of the girl who looks from outside the house at a window but through to the warm space of the tradition, which strangely enough is where we as audience are looking from in viewing the film. There is also the older woman who returns our look upon her with a wink that makes us share her difference.
To me this is as much about as ToM as our wonderful scientific experiments, although Art works differently. We have to read it qualitatively not quantitatively. But Psychology opens us to both.
Forgive me group for wanting to share my thoughts. they may mean nothing to you and there is no reason why they should. But if they do, let me know how Loukianos' film helps you to jump boundaries - to see and evaluate difference from your own point of view. OPTIONAL as ever.
All the best - and thank again Loukianos.
IGNORE WHAT I HAVE TO SAY THOUGH. Enjoy the film. I think it is beautiful.
All the best
Steve