Over the course of the last few weeks I have been studying 3 different behavioral theories: Materialism, Dualism, and Holism. After much thought, I would classify myself as to having a Dualistic approach to things in life, and would use this approach in my professional future to help someone recover from their injuries. I want to be a physical therapist once I graduate and get my doctorate in physical therapy. I feel that once someone is in tune with their mind and body, they can reach a point of self-actualization that helps them do things more effectively and will push them farther as a person than any other theory would. One would ask, “How is that even possible? There are so many problems you encounter.” Let me explain…
In order to know why you believe something, you must do your homework and study the other theories and what they have against you. In my case: Materialism and Holism. Materialism is great, if you are an extreme science nut and only care about raw data. There are 3 different types of Materialism that Kretchmar explains for us in his book: Measurement, which explains that a person can be explained through empirical quantification; Monistic, which believes that a person is JUST atoms; and Reductive, which explains the person through its smallest parts. Now all of these are great, if you’re just looking to describe the outer shell of a person and their physical make-up. I’m sorry, but telling someone that they are just a collection of atoms and synapses firing that make up their entire being. They’re going to be wanting more than that, it’s just human nature to want more of an explanation of the things we can see and find. This thought process ultimately leads to the belief of Physicism, which treats the person as a collection of cells without any meaning. Philosophers know that there is always more than what meets the eye, and THAT is where Dualism comes into play.
Dualism comes from the Latin word duo meaning “two” and denotes a state of two parts, that is preserved in Metaphysical and Physical duality that work together as a whole with two parts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualism). Now what does any of that philosophically endowed explanation even mean? It’s saying that Dualism can account for that little voice you hear inside your head when you do something wrong. Dualism means that your mind and body are separate at the core, but work and communicate together as one effective team. Now this can’t be the end-all/be-all theoretical idea that explains how behavior comes about, but I feel that it gives us a very accurate lens of behavioral knowledge.
When you dumb down human behavior, two major things are prevalent when we initiate an action: our thoughts, and our actions. Dualism is the explanation that our body sees something, our mind thinks of the proper response, and suggests our body to respond to it. I personally would not value one action over another. I feel that each is necessary in their own place to do what they do best. I feel that when you are running a marathon and your body is physically beaten on the 20th mile that being in tune with that little voice inside your head (the mind) will get you to your end destination at the finish line. The mind can be a great motivator for the body, and the body can also be a great motivator to the mind. When one sees themselves in the mirror at their physical fitness shape, is it the body’s fault for not meeting the world’s expectations? No, it is the person as a whole. That person needs to realize with their mind that they are not in the physical shape that they want to be and, from the mind, motivate the body to move in a way that would increase their fitness. Now let’s take a step back. If a physically unhealthy and overweight person were to come to me and ask me how to get their body to look like an elite athlete, as a dualist, I would instruct them to go learn. Your mind is the sharpest tool you have; and an unhealthy person cannot become physically fit if they have no idea how. The idea behind a Dualistic approach to fitness is caring about what they LEARN. Once the body knows how to do something, it can then go out and do it. It’s like inputting a programming code into a computer. It cannot do what it does not have or know.
A question that might be burning inside of you right now would be, “Now why not Holism?” Well, here’s why…Holism comes from the Greek word meaning all, entire, total and is the idea that natural systems (physical, biological, chemical, social, economic, mental, linguistic, etc.) and their properties should be viewed as wholes, not as collections of parts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holism). My only problem with Holism is that it is great in theory but not in practice. Controversially, our economic crisis can be used as a great picture-explanation of Holism. Our economy runs on a capitalist principle that forces one body of people to be of higher status that another. However, at any point in time, one can rise up and become more important when situation allows it. The distinguishing between two different classes that work as one economical unit would be a Dualist perspective, the Holist perspective would be where wealth is spread evenly over the spectrum of people, deeming everyone and every process as equal. I find this idea flawed because there are certain times where I feel the mind should have more control than the body, and vice versa. I feel that when someone takes away study time to better themselves in sports so they can be a “better” person as a whole, is a bad choice.
How do all of these explanations come together to explain Dualism over Holism and Materialism? Dualism’s biggest flaw comes from the question that asks, “Where does the body stop and the mind begin?” I would say this post from C.B. on his blog http://consciousnessandthebrain.com/property-dualism/ could help explain. In short, he goes into detail on how all the properties of the mind coincide with feelings in the brain; effectively explaining how a physical and metaphysical unit communicates as an effective team. As a therapist I would take the approach of Dualism because I feel it is more realistic to tell someone that their mind can help control what they do. People say “mind over matter” because they know their body is tired, but the human body is amazing and can do way more than we think it can. Sometimes the body needs a push or help from something that it doesn’t know, like the metaphysical world, to push past its limits and expectations. Marines have partners because two people working together is much more powerful than one whom tries to do everything themselves. The mind and body are a group of two marines working together for a common goal: life.
Jonathan Marshall 