In this tenth post, I assert that homeostasis is a singular unifying principle for all living beings. Homeostasis operates at all levels of nature in every living system: in molecules, cells, tissues, organs, organisms, societies, ecosystems and the planet as a whole (Lovelock, 2009). Tissue homeostasis regulates the birth (mitosis) and death of cells (apoptosis);Continue reading “The General Theory of Behaviour X: Homeostasis Theory of Well-being”
Category Archives: A General Theory of Behaviour
The General Theory of Behaviour XI: Theory of Obesity
This eleventh post takes me back to the beginning – the theory of obesity that led me to design the General Theory. This occurred via the realisation that the theory applied to all behaviour. Inside every one us there exists a tension between comfort and discontent. When we assuage the discontent, we find comfort. WhenContinue reading “The General Theory of Behaviour XI: Theory of Obesity”
The General Theory of Behaviour XII:Stopping the Obesity Crisis
In this 12th post in the series, I look at the implications of energy ‘dyshomeostasis’, when normal homeostasis breaks down. Health is regulated by homeostasis, a property of all living things. Homeostasis maintains equilibrium at set-points using feedback loops for optimum functioning of the organism. Long-term disruptions of homeostasis or ‘dyshomeostasis’ arise through genetic, environmentalContinue reading “The General Theory of Behaviour XII:Stopping the Obesity Crisis”
Psychology as a Natural Science. Part II: Theory
Psychology begins by identifying, observing and taking measures of natural phenomena that can be investigated experimentally and then modelling the findings using theories. Identification of natural phenomena requires terminology and definitions to refer to the same set of psychological processes. Unfortunately, as noted by others, scholars often use such terms in diverse and idiosyncratic waysContinue reading “Psychology as a Natural Science. Part II: Theory”
The General Theory of Behaviour III: Homeostasis, Balance, Stability
The fixity of the milieu supposes a perfection of the organism such that the external variations are at each instant compensated for and equilibrated…. All of the vital mechanisms, however varied they may be, have always one goal, to maintain the uniformity of the conditions of life in the internal environment…. The stability of theContinue reading “The General Theory of Behaviour III: Homeostasis, Balance, Stability”
The General Theory of Behaviour V: It All Started with a ‘Dangerous Idea’
“The stability of the internal environment is the condition for the free and independent life.” Claude Bernard’s statement about the ‘milieu intérior’. The starting point for ‘A General Theory of Behaviour‘ is Claude Bernard’s ‘dangerous idea’, quoted above, the concept of the ‘milieu intérior‘. This idea was put on the back burner for several decadesContinue reading “The General Theory of Behaviour V: It All Started with a ‘Dangerous Idea’”
The General Theory of Behaviour IV: Claude Bernard’s ‘Milieu Extérior’
“The stability of the internal environment is the condition for the free and independent life.” Claude Bernard’s statement about the ‘milieu intérior’. The starting point for ‘A General Theory of Behaviour’ is Claude Bernard’s ‘dangerous idea’, quoted above, the concept of the ‘milieu intérior’. This idea was put on the back burner for several decadesContinue reading “The General Theory of Behaviour IV: Claude Bernard’s ‘Milieu Extérior’”
The General Theory of Behaviour I: Enjoying the Heat
My book, about the General Theory of Behaviour, begins with a story… It is a hot summer’s day. A couple are on holiday at a hotel with an outdoor swimming pool. After breakfast, the couple decide to spend a lazy morning beside the pool sunning themselves, reading and swimming. They go to the far endContinue reading “The General Theory of Behaviour I: Enjoying the Heat”
The General Theory of Behaviour II: A Redesign for Psychological Science
Science is beautiful when it makes simple explanations of phenomena or connections between different observations. Stephen Hawking It has been said that advances in science come not from empiricism but from new theories. With this thought in mind, A General Theory of Behaviour has the potential – or so I aim to convince the readerContinue reading “The General Theory of Behaviour II: A Redesign for Psychological Science”
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