Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Mental Footnotes. Knowledge Constructivism From Logical Thinking and Personal Beliefs to Social Rationality and Spiritual Freedom

  • Psychological Exploration
  • Published:
Journal of Religion and Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cognition is an efficient but limited system that deals with mundane tasks. Daily life demands the system to save energy in order to be able to solve other more relevant tasks. Reasoning out every single problem would immeasurably increase our mental load and fatigue. Our minds avoid this waste of resources by taking shortcuts when reasoning. Outputs from previous episodes of reasoning turn into pieces of implicit information. These outputs go on to constitute the meanings that we give to things or circumstances, which in turn become the general framework where other reasonings occur. These implicit meanings determine the manner in which we represent our social environment and, therefore, our emotions and behaviors. These “mental footnotes” set the way in which we contemplate and conceive the world and deal with reality. World order capitalizes on the mechanisms of the mind to control and guide humanity. The better we understand these processes, the better we can control and restructure them. Academic psychology often ignores the power of the discipline to set humankind free from those meanings that restrict spiritual and human development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The Manhattan Project was a research and development project that produced the first nuclear weapons during World War II (Bernstein 1976).

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. In G. H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 8, pp. 47–89). New York, NY: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Oxford: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barwise, J. (1993). Everyday reasoning and logical inference. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 16(2), 337–338. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00030314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Causes and treatment. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. New York, NY: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkowitz, L. (1993). Aggression: Its causes, consequences, and control. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berkun, S. (2008). Making things happen: Mastering projects management (Rev ed.). Newton, MA: O’Reilly Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, B. J. (1976). The Uneasy Alliance: Roosevelt, Churchill, and the Atomic Bomb, 1940–1945. The Western Political Quarterly, 29(2), 202–230. https://doi.org/10.2307/448105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Besson, L., Chasman, S., Leterrier, L., & Yuen, C. (2002). Transporter [Motion picture]. France: Euronext EPC/TF1 Films Production.

    Google Scholar 

  • Besson, L., & Morel, P. (2008). Taken [Motion picture]. France: EuropaCorp/M6 Films/Grive Productions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Binet, A. (1916). New methods for the diagnosis of the intellectual level of subnormals. In E. S. Kite (Ed.), The development of intelligence in children. Vineland, NJ: Publications of the Training School at Vineland. (Originally published 1905 in L’Année Psychologique, 12, 191–244).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouchier, D. (2004). The accidental immigrant: American observed. New York, NY: ASJA Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bower, G. H. (1981). Mood and memory. American Psychologist, 36, 129–148. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.36.2.129.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brase, G. L. (2014). The nature of thinking, shallow and deep. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buela-Casal, G. (2003). Evaluación de la calidad de los artículos y de las revistas científicas: Propuesta del factor de impacto ponderado y de un índice de calidad [Evaluation of quality in papers and scientific journals: Proposal of a weighted impact factor and an index of quality]. Psicothema, 15, 23–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carpenter, W. B. (1852, March). On the influence of suggestion in modifying and directing muscular movement, independently of volition. Proceedings of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 147–153. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/NK5ruv.

  • Carrato Vaz, E., & Martínez Amoros, R. (2010). Síndrome de Diógenes: A propósito de un caso [Diogenes sindrome: A case report]. Revista de la Asociacción Española de Neuropsiquiatría, 30(3), 489–495.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassetta, B., & Goghari, V. (2014). Theory of mind reasoning in schizophrenia patients and non-psychotic relatives. Psychiatry Research, 218(1–2), 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2014.03.043.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Castro, C., Moreno-Ríos, S., Tornay, F. J., & Vargas, C. (2008). Mental representations of obligatory and prohibitory traffic signs. Acta Psychologica, 129, 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.03.016.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clinton, W. J. (1999). Public paper of the president of the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. States Goverment Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, B., Fisher, S., Stojel, M., & Becker, K. (2014). The relationship of thought suppression and recent rape to disordered eating in emerging adulthood. Journal of Adolescence, 37(2), 113–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.11.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, D. C. (2007). Timeless truths in changing times: 366 daily devotions. Cleveland, TN: Pathway Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Darling, C., Gamble, F., Lefferts, M., Virk, R., Gamble, K. C., & Gagné, S. (2011). Thrive: What on earth will it take? [Motion picture]. United States: Clear Compass Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekman, P. (1965). Communication through nonverbal behavior: A source of information about an interpersonal relationship. In S. S. Tomkins & C. Izard (Eds.), Affect, cognition, and personality. New York, NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, A. (1958). Rational psychotherapy. Journal of General Psychology, 59, 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221309.1958.9710170.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Falzer, P. R. (2004). Cognitive schema and naturalistic decision making in evidence-based practices. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 37(2), 86–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2004.02.002.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud, S. (1954). The origins of psycho-analysis: Letters to Wilhelm Fliess, drafts and notes: 18871902 (M. Bonaparte, A. Freud, & E. Kris, Eds.; E. Mosbacher & J. Strachey, Trans.). New York: Basic Books, Inc.

  • García Alba, C. (2003). Procesos de pensamiento en adolescentes anoréxicas [Cognitive functioning in anorectic adolescents]. Revista Española de Neuropsiquiatría, 87, 9–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garfield, E. (1994). SCI Journal Citation Reports: A bibliometric analysis of science Journals in the ISI database. Philadelphia, PA: Institute for Scientific Information Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gil Lemus, L. M. (2008). Desensibilización y reprocesamiento con movimientos oculares [Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing]. Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría, 37, 206–215.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, G. P., & Johnson-Laird, P. N. (2010). Conceptual illusions. Cognition, 114(2), 253–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2009.09.014.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm, J. Y. W. (2006). Todos los cuentos de los hermanos Grimm [All tales of the Grimm brothers]. Madrid: Editorial Rudolf Steiner & Mandala Ediciones.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammond, P. (2011). This has been said before. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasher, L. N., & Zacks, R. T. (1979). Automatic and effortful processes in memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 108(3), 356–388. https://doi.org/10.1037/00963445.108.3.356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hergueta, T., & Weiller, E. (2013). Evaluating depressive symptoms in hypomanic and manic episodes using a structured diagnostic tool: Validation of a new Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) module for the DSM-5 “With Mixed Features” specifier. Bipolar Disorders, 1(21), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/2194-7511-1-21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilgetag, C. C., Theoret, H., & Pascual-Leone, A. (2001). Enhanced visual spatial attention ipsilateral to rTMS-induced “virtual lesions” of human parietal cortex. Nature Neuroscience, 4(9), 953–957. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0901-953.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huarte de San Juán, J. (2008). Examen de ingenios para las ciencias [The examination of men’s wits]. Barcelona: Linkgua Ediciones S.L. (Original work published 1575).

    Google Scholar 

  • Icke, D. (1999). The biggest Secret. Wildwood, NJ: Bridge of Love Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jodorowsky, A. (2015, April 12). Sobre la neurosis social [About social neurosis]. Plano sin fin. Retrieved from http://planosinfin.com/sobre-la-neurosis-social-alejandro-jodorowsky/.

  • Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1983). Mental models: Towards a cognitive science of language, inference and consciousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson-Laird, P. N., & Byrne, R. M. J. (1991). Deduction. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson-Laird, P. N., & Byrne, R. M. J. (2002). Conditionals: A theory of meaning, pragmatics and inferences. Psychological Review, 109(4), 646–678. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.109.4.646.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson-Laird, P. N., & Savary, F. (1999). Illusory inferences: A novel class of erroneous deductions. Cognition, 71, 191–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(99)00015-3.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, C. G. (2009). The red book: Liber novus (S. Shamdasani (Ed./Trans.), M. Kyburz, J. Peck, Trans.). New York, NY: Philemon Series & W.W. Norton & Co.

  • Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1973). On the psychology of prediction. Psychological Review, 80(4), 237–251. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0034747.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (2000). Choice, values, frames. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keefe, R. S., Arnold, M. C., Bayen, U. J., & Harvey, P. D. (1999). Source monitoring deficits in patients with schizophrenia; a multinomial modelling analysis. Psychological Medicine, 29(4), 903–914.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kenrick, D. T., Griskevicius, V., Sundie, J. M., Li, N. P., Li, Y. J., & Neuberg, S. L. (2009). Deep rationality: The evolutionary economics of decision-making. Social cognition, 27, 764–785. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2009.27.5.764.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Khemlani, S., & Johnson-Laird, P. N. (2009). Disjunctive illusory inferences and how to eliminate them. Memory & Cognition, 37(5), 615–623. https://doi.org/10.3758/MC.37.5.615.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, T. S. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leder, H., Belke, B., Oeberst, A., & Augustin, D. (2004). A model of aesthetic appreciation and aesthetic judgments. British Journal of Psychology, 95(4), 489–508. https://doi.org/10.1348/0007126042369811.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K., Lippit, R., & White, R. K. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created social climates. Journal of Social Psychology, 10(2), 271–301. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1939.9713366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marinoff, L. (1999). Plato, not Prozac! Applying philosophy to everyday problems. New York, NY: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, R. E. (1992). Thinking, problem solving, cognition. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCallum, R., & Lucas, G. (1999). Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace [Motion picture]. United Estates: Lucasfilm.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michaels, L., Rosner, L., & Waters, M. (2004). Means girls [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muñiz, J. (2010). Las teorías de los tests: Teoría clásica y teoría de respuesta a los ítems [Tests theories: Classical theory and item response theory]. Papeles del Psicólogo, 31, 57–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neisser, U., & Weene, P. (1962). Hierarchies in concept attainment. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64(4), 640–645. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0042549.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pérez, C. (1991). De la guerra del Golfo al orden mundial [From the Gulf War to the new world order]. Buenos Aires: Grupo Editor Latinoamericano.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petrie, A., & Petrie, J. (2004). Mother Teresa: The Legacy [Motion Picture]. United States: Petrie Productions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pitagorsky, G. (2007). The Zen approach to project management: Working from your center to balance your expectations and performance. New York, NY: International Institute for Learning Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner, M. I. (1980). Orienting of attention. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 32, 3–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/00335558008248231.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Premack, D., & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1(4), 515–526. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00076512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rath, J. F., Simon, D., Langenbahn, D. M., Sherr, R. L., & Diller, L. (2003). Group treatment of problem-solving deficits in outpatients with traumatic brain injury: A randomised outcome study. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, 13(4), 461–488. https://doi.org/10.1080/09602010343000039.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rayenda, B., Chee-Wooi, H., & Zamri, A. (2014). Moon phase effect on investor psychology and stock trading performance. International Journal of Social Economics, 41(3), 182–200. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-04-2012-0134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, J., & Ormerod, T. C. (1997). Rephrasing between disjunctives and conditionals: Mental models and the effects of thematic content. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 50A(2), 358–385. https://doi.org/10.1080/713755713.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rooney, A. (2011). The story of physics. London: Arcturus Publishing Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, S. T. (2002). Understanding propaganda: The epistemic merit model and its application to art. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 36, 16–30. https://doi.org/10.2307/3333623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandelin, K. G. (2012). Attraction and danger of alien religion: Studies in early Judaism and Christianity. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck Gmbh & Co. KG.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P. (1975). Helplessness: On depression, development, and death. San Francisco, CA: W. H. Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seligman, M. E. P. (1990). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. New York, NY: Pocket Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shin, N. Y., Lee, T. Y., Kim, E., & Kwon, J. S. (2013). Cognitive functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 44(6), 1121–1130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrauger, J. S., & Schoeneman, T. J. (1979). Symbolic interactionist view of self-concept: Through the looking glass darkly. Psychological Bulletin, 86(3), 549–573. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.86.3.549.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simon, H. A. (1955). A behavioral model of rational choice. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 69, 99–118. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884852.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, C. W. (2009). Explaining and inducing savant skills: Privileged access to lower level, less-processed information. Philosophical Transaction of The Royal Society Biological Science, 364(1522), 1399–1405. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solomons, T. V., & Kucyi, A. (2011). Does meditation reduce pain through a unique neural mechanism? The Journal of Neuroscience, 31(36), 12705–12707. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2843-11.2011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, N., & Trabasso, T. (1982). Children’s understanding of stories: A basis for moral judgment and dilemma resolution. In C. J. Brainerd & M. Pressley (Eds.), Verbal processes in children (Vol. 2, pp. 161–188). New York, NY: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, S. S. (1946). On the theory of scales of measurement. Science, 103(2684), 677–680. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.103.2684.677.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Teasdale, J. D., Segal, Z. V., Williams, J., Mark, G., Ridgeway, V. A., Soulsby, J. M., et al. (2000). Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(4), 615–623. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-006X.68.4.615.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, V. A. (2000). The task-specific nature of domain-general reasoning. Cognition, 76(3), 209–268. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-0277(00)00082-2.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Time. (1923-). New York, NY: Time, Inc.

  • Tolle, E. (1999). Practicing the power of now. Novato: New World Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres Castillo, A. (2009). Acción colectiva y subjetividad: Un balance desde los estudios sociales [Collective action and subjectivity: A balance among social studies]. Folios, 30, 51–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsarion, M. (2008). Architects of control: Mass control and the future of mankind [Motion picture]. Northen Irland: Blue Fire Film.

    Google Scholar 

  • Unnombrealazar. (2012, May 14). Manipulando el factor de impacto: Siempre volvemos a Gualberto Buela-Casal [Manipulating the impact factor: Always returning to Gualberto Buela-Casal] [Web log]. Retrieved from http://unnombrealazar.blogspot.com/2012/05/manipulando-el-factor-de-impacto.html.

  • Vigo, R. (2009). Categorical invariance and structural complexity in human concept learning. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 53(4), 203–222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmp.2009.04.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vilchez, J. L. (2013). The locus of stimuli meaning in the influence of attention on movement: Meaning-Dependent Activation Model. The Journal of Mind and Behavior, 34(2), 165–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vilchez, J. L. (2015). Effects of mental footnotes on the trajectory movement in a driving simulation task. Journal of Motor Behavior, 47(3), 211–225. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222895.2014.974492.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vilchez, J. L. (2016). Mental footnotes: Knowledge constructivism from logical thinking to personal beliefs and therapy. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 19(2), 157–164. https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2016.234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vilchez, J. L., & Tornay, F. J. (2012). Irrelevant stimuli produce a path deviation in a driving-simulation task. Cognitive Systems Research, 17–18, 81–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsys.2011.11.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von Bertalanffy, L. (1932). Theoretische biologie: Band 1. Allgemeine theorie, physikochemie, aufbau und entwicklung des organismus [Theoretical biology: Vol. 1. General theory, physical chemistry, and construction and development of the organism]. Berlin: Gebrüder Borntraeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Von Bertalanffy, L. (1950). The theory of open systems in physics and biology. Science, 111(2872), 23–29. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.111.2872.23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, N. F., Harden, K. P., Buchwald, D., Vitiello, M. V., Pack, A. I., Stachan, E., et al. (2014). Sleep duration and depressive symptoms: A gene-environment interaction. Sleep, 37(2), 351–358. https://doi.org/10.5665/sleep.3412.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J., & Jackson, D. (1967). Pragmatics of human communication. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Web of Science (1900-). Philadelphia, PA: Thomson Reuters.

  • Wells, A. (1997). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: A practice manual and conceptual guide. Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wenders, W. (Producer/Director). (1976). Kings of the Road [Motion picture]. Germany: Wetdeytscher Rundfunk Köln, Wim Wenders Productions, Wim Wenders Stiftung.

  • Whitfield, T. W. A. (1983). Predicting preference for familiar, everyday objects: An experimental confrontation between two theories of aesthetic behaviour. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 3(3), 221–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(83)80002-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • YuChi, L., & Payne, H. (2014). The BodyMind Approach™, medically unexplained symptoms and personal construct psychology. Body, Movement and Dance in Psychotherapy: An International Journal for Theory, Research and Practice, 9(3), 154–166. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432979.2014.918563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zubko, A. (2004). Treasury of spiritual wisdom: A collection of 10,000 inspirational quotations. Jawahar Nagar, India: Motilal Banarsidass.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jose Luis Vilchez.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Jose Luis Vilchez Tornero declares that he has no conflict of interest in this study, and all the research has been implemented under the ethical standards.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Vilchez, J.L. Mental Footnotes. Knowledge Constructivism From Logical Thinking and Personal Beliefs to Social Rationality and Spiritual Freedom. J Relig Health 57, 2343–2361 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0591-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0591-5

Keywords

Navigation