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Your Own Resolution to Succeed is Most Important
We want our words to echo for eternity, and be looked up to as people who always strive to be honest as often as possible with people. It is important for us to examine our lives, determine where we are and what we need to do to be the kind of person we want to be. We come to know ourselves and qualities assigned to the internal environment because of our responses. Self-perception is perfectly compatible with usually socially defined. This arises from the continual pressures to attain perceptual economy, maintain stable orientations to the invariant features of variegated experiences, and ensure predictability of events. If we have to attend to the peculiarities of all stimuli manifestations that we encounter, that task alone would overload our capacities and leave us no time to process the inputs and coordinate responses to them. Furthermore, we would be stuck with a meaningless flux of unique and nonrecurrent events that would make anticipation impossible. Lately, I have reflected on many of the wonderful experiences I have had in my life. As I have expressed gratitude to my Heavenly Father for these marvelous blessings and opportunities, I have realized perhaps more than ever before, how critical the formative years of my life were. Many of the most important and life-changing moments of my life occurred when I was a young man. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
The lessons I learned over the past few years have formed my character and shaped my destiny. Without them, I would be a very different man and in a very different place than I am today. I know many great men and women. Although they have different backgrounds, talents, and perspectives, they all work diligently and persistently towards achieving their goals. It is easy to get distracted and lose focus on the aspects that are most important in life. It is important to prioritize values that are important to us so that we can keep our eyes focused on the aspects of life that really matter. Create inspiring, noble, and righteous goals that inspire your imagination and create passion in your heart and excitement in your soul. And then keep you mind constantly focused on your goals, working towards them consistently so that you can achieve your dreams. The imposition of constancy demands a rather sophisticated implementation of an interpretive system of relation judgments regarding distance, location, movement and so on. It is this categorization of stimuli into the objects with dispositional qualities and knowledge of the lawful relationships among the properties that enables us to progress to prediction. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
The Light of God helps us to discern right from wrong. When we allow temptations to drown out the still voice of our conscience—that is when decisions become difficult. Awareness of what things are is apprehension of how they fit into an orderly sequencing of events: the characteristics of objects are defined by the causal system connecting them. The advantage for prediction of events is obvious: active adjustment and manipulative intervention are facilitated. If we advance confidently in the directions of our dreams, and endeavors to live the life which we have imagined, we will meet with success. When it comes to temptation, say “No!” instantly and emphatically. Avoid temptations. Persons who occupy special status as sources of origins of activity attend to its apparent goal-direction. Activity sources in the inanimate World, such as volcanoes, may explode erratically, but the consequences of the eruption (for example, the lava flow) are grossly predictable and therefore avoidable. However, if a person explodes with anger over something we have done, avoidance of the ensuing harmful consequences is not such a simple predictive matter. An angry person many succeed in harming us in a number of alternative ways, any of which can be adjusted to take account of the avoidance activity we might take. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
Personal causality possesses equifinality. Equifinality means that there are many paths to the same end—there are multiple ways to reach a final goal. The means are varied, but the eventual goal is invariant. The dispositional imputations that permit us to predict this goal is invariant. The dispositional imputations that permit us to predict this goal and take adjustive action to adapt to contingently variable means depend upon our identification of the purpose and intents of the actor. Thus, the dispositional qualities that lend stability, coherence, and predictability to the interpersonal environment involve judgments of aims, wishes, desires, emotions, motives, and other qualities not imputed to the impersonal environment. We glean how the individual attributes dispositional characteristics to others. Symbolic interactions view the person as perceiver of one’s World. Role-taking provides a much clearer understanding of the impact of others’ presence (real, imagined, or anticipated) on an individual. Role-taking refers to a central process by which actors take into account the others’ responses to them. The actor needs to take into account, not only the dispositional qualities of the other, but the dispositions the other attributes to the actor. For this reason, an actor’s perception of the other takes on a reactive quality. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
We all possess spiritual gifts. Some are blessed with the gift of faith, others the gift of healing. The importance of others’ dispositional attributions becomes obvious if we think about the total reinforcement we in experience in our everyday lives. Much of it flows directly from other persons (acceptance, affection, approval, and so forth) and most of the remainder is mediated by them. During the developmental years this dependency is even more intense. It is during that period that, through the process of role-taking, the self emerges, and the person learns to control and evaluate his or her behaviors. In the same way, the person learns the processes that are effective in self-monitoring and self-evaluation. The importance of others’ dispositional attributions becomes obvious if we think about the total reinforcement we experience in our everyday lives. Much of it flows directly from other persons (acceptance, affection, approval, and so forth) and most of the remainder is mediated by them. It is during that period that, through the process of role-taking, the self emerges, and the person learns to control and evaluate his or her behaviors. In the same way, the person learns the processes that are effective in self-monitoring and self-evaluation. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
How do we know if we are wise or foolish? When we hear inspired counsel, we obey. That is the test of the wise or foolish. From our perspective the paramount thing learned through the process of role-taking is how the self will be responded to by others. As we have seen, others’ reactions are a function of the dispositional inferences they make about persons and their actions. Thus, it is evident that in order to anticipate, much less control and manipulate, these responses, the individual must come to view his or her own activity from others’ (dispositional) perspectives. Since the ultimate referents of these perspectives are internal qualities, it follows that individuals learn about their internal environment by the same reflexive process. In short, they learn to see themselves in the same dispositional terms and to view their activities and actions as expressing these attributes. The adoption of this perspective transforms mere behavior into conduct. Therefore, they separated themselves one from another, and went forth among them, every person alone, according to the word and power of God, which was given unto one. We give thanks to our Creator, God, for this wonderful life where each of us has the opportunity to learn lessons we could not fully comprehend by any other means. Lord, please let us meet our dreams, bring us success, justice and peace. Let us see your greatness in amazing ways. You are an amazing God. Bless it be. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Love if the Greatest thing in the World
Love is the greatest thing in the World. Friends and romantic partners tend to have certain characteristics in common, such as age, education, and even intelligence. Similarity related to attraction has a long history of empirical support. As covenant-keeping men and women, we need to lift each other and help each other become the people the Lord would have us become. Generally, persons are attracted to others who are similar in social background characteristics and value. The idea that romantic partners or friends would be similar seems pretty intuitive. Studies of friendship suggests that people also have a preference for leisure activities with others who are similar to them. The degree of similarity with respect to opinions, personality traits, and social background characteristics of stimulus persons has for the most part supported the similarity-attraction relationship. Agreement with another leads the person to anticipate rewarding interaction, and where it actually facilitates joint pleasurable activities, it also can be expected to lead to attraction. Agreement in activity preferences, attitudes, and values not only ensures that persons will hit upon mutually satisfying activities, but that they will be able to carry them out with a minimum of friction. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
Next to inspiring talks, music, TV shows, food, and prayers that always touch our hearts, persons are attracted to others who agree with their opinions, but dislike others whose views are divergent. Agreement is rewarding and disagreement punishing, either because liking an agreeing other and disliking one who disagrees provides a balanced cognitive state—one that is psychologically pleasant and comfortable. Or because agreement satisfies a person’s affectance needs, the need to feel secure in dealing with the World. Another general explanation is the persons tend to anticipate that individuals who are similar to them will like them. Homogamy or similarity in social background characteristics and accompanying similarity in interests, attitudes, and values in marital partners is in part the result of structural aspects of society that favor higher rates of interactions among persons similar in these respects, leading to increased chances of their forming a relationship regardless of these similarities. It is important to help create an environment where the Spirit of the Lord can abide. We need to work together to lift each other up and the rising generation and help them reach their divine potential as heirs of eternal life. We should be able to rejoice with each other as we try to become our very best selves. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
There is so much more of happiness to be had when we can rejoice in another’s success and not just in our own. Similarity appears to have stronger effects in the early stages of a relationship because of the kinds of rewards and costs persons experience at later periods in their relationship. Similarity is a filtering device, as it influences each person’s anticipation of future rewards in general, and in particular the reward of being liked. One of the strongest associations on attraction is the correlation between liking and the perception of being liked in turn. People are insecure concerning their acceptance by others, similarity appears to be more powerful factor in influencing their choice of associates than when they feel more secure. We want to feel like we are a precious gift, and would like to express our love for our companions. Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith and hope and charity. Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith and hope and charity. Like all gifts which come from above, words are sacred, and must be spoken with care, and by constraint of the Spirit. Attitudes seem less important at later points in a relationship when there are other bases for reciprocity of liking. In the long run, the need for a relationship with someone we love is so strong that it overcomes differences. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
Physical attractiveness has been shown to have effects similar to central traits or master statuses when it comes to dating. Physical attractiveness accounts for a large part of the variance in dating partners’ responses to each other, including the desire to continue the relationship. Physically attractive people are liked. Attraction may result from the rewards of esthetic satisfaction. Persons may receive rewards from others as a result of their forming a relationship with an attractive other, either because this conforms with a cultural norm that persons toward whom one is attracted is supposed to be physically attractive or because one’s ability to form a relationship with an attractive or because one’s ability to form a relationship with an attractive other attests to one’s own desirability in the eyes of others. Studies have shown that for males at least, that a male romantically involved with an attractive female enhances his status. Both males and females attributed personality traits of higher social desirability to pictures of attractive persons than to pictures of those of average attractiveness or those judged relatively unattractive. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Respondents also predicted that more attractive people would have more favorable life experiences, including higher occupational status, more successful marriages, and in general greater happiness. Attractive people are more likely to win election, attractive university professors get higher evaluations, and attractive people are usually treated more leniently in the legal system. Physically attractive people are also seen as intimately warmer and more responsive, illustrating the effects of selective perception and perceptual accentuation. Research has also suggested that the effects of the cultural stereotype of the physically attractive are often to bring about behavior on the part of the perceiver that, in the manner of a self-fulfilling prophecy, elicits behavior on the part of the perceived person that further enhances the attractiveness of that person. When people are told that someone is attractive, they are more likely to believe it. Research also shows that small babies prefer to look at attractive faces than less attractive face. Further, children tend to prefer attractive child. And adults think that attractive children are more intelligent and successful. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
These findings show that people often attach beneficial qualities to attractive people. This is sometimes called the physical attractiveness stereotype—the tendency for people to assume that attractive people possess other socially desirable traits in addition to their looks. To some extent, this is true. Some research shows that physically attractive people are more popular and out outgoing. However, these small differences may be due, in part, to self-fulfilling prophecies: because being physically attractive is socially desirable, attractive people may become more confident and outgoing and so may be more confident and outgoing and so may be more popular with others. Also, it is important to note that physical attractiveness has its drawback. In particular, more attractive people are often the subject of unwanted advances and resentment from less attractive individuals. Nevertheless, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. God, strengthen us in the power of your might. Guide us against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the Heavenly places. Protect our soul and grant us discernment to recognize your truth. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
California’s Circle of Fear
The purpose of a career is so that leaders can shape a better World by strategically exploring, planning, and creating future paths, where their actions and choices also facilitate continuous learning and growth in the work force. The structural imperative of the job, requires values that give a wide range of psychological variables, especially intellectual flexibility. Empirical evidence is substantive that complexity of work beneficially affects the socialization and self-creation of the individual. More specifically, as jobs increase in status and prestige, they also increase the degree of autonomy, creativity, and discretion allowed in the worker. The career also tends to be more satisfying and rewarding. People in work situations that provide little opportunity for upward mobility tend to limit their aspirations, seek satisfaction in activities outside of work or alienation from work. These displaced workers will create strong peer associations in which interpersonal relations take precedence over other aspects of the job, and develop loyalties to the local unit rather than to the larger organization. The second dimension, being low in organizational power, also has negative psychological and behavioral consequences for the individual. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
Individuals who are stifled at work become pettier, bossier, and more authoritarian; use subordinates for their frame of reference; and rely more on coercive than persuasive techniques of control. And the third dimension is when people are underrepresented in their career field, they find it harder to be taken seriously; are more isolated and excluded from informal peer networks, and may be oppressed. All of these dimensions represent behavioral consequences of disadvantaged position is the work force. Breaking these cycles of development is difficult because the tendency is for the individual’s competence, confidence, and power progressively to increase (or decrease); and the perceptions and expectations that others have of the individual become solidified. This model can produce a set of structural conditions that contribute to the development of self-actualizing or self-defeating people. Self-actualized people are motivated to try out new experiences. They will feel secure enough about one’s own personality—strengths, weaknesses, and uniqueness—to expand one’s horizon. In contrast, people who are self-defeating let external influences serve to frustrate, thwart, or destroy one’s own intention of interests by internalizing and letting negative forces dictate their abilities. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
The structure of opportunity brings in the workers assessment of the future, via prospects for upward mobility, as a factor in present adjustments. People relate to the present in part in terms of their expectations and prospects for the future to be stuck is a very different work experience than being up and coming. There is ample evidence on work in American society to suggest substantial dissatisfaction and alienation of workers from their jobs. In a recent department of Health, Education, and Welfare report, only 43 percent of workers who perform professional jobs (doctors, lawyers, teachers) and just 24 percent of labor workers (construction workers, retail, manufacturers) reported that they were satisfied with their jobs. The socialization consequences of work settings can reflect either processes of relatively passive compliance and adaptation to external exigencies or process of self-determination and expansion. Therefore, a critical element of career philosophy is to support internal mobility. Internal mobility is the extent to which employees move into new careers within an organization, based on their performance. It is a measure of how well some corporations encourage employees to develop and stretch themselves so that they can advance and live a productive life. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Employees who are successful keep their skills and knowledge fresh and current. They show up to work on time, are professional, have good hygiene, maintain a reputation for being optimistic and adaptable. Highly competent employees develop and sustain meaningful professional relationships, and they stay informed about current trends influencing the corporation, economy, and their specific career field. Re-socialization can take place in various institutional settings established for this purpose, such as in peer groups, church, and compensatory education programs. The specific objectives of these contexts vary from political socialization (or brainwashing) to religious conversion to various types of reeducation such as workshops and meetings. Delinquency is seen primarily as a group phenomenon and the task of rehabilitation is one of changing the shared delinquent characteristics. Participation in some of these contexts is voluntary, and in others involuntary. Most of these contexts can be characterized as involving intense small-group interaction where the socialization ratio is large, and where the interaction environment is totalistic or closed. Under these circumstances, one’s sense of reality is most effectively restructured. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
The Democratic Communist program used brainwashing as a source of reeducation. Along with the physical coercion, the lack of sleep, and various forms of psychological stress, physical and financial assault to weaken their target’s hold on past beliefs and identities. It was a process of identity casting used in the situation. From the beginning, it was made clear that the target’s life and rights did not matter, and that they must perish, and in one’s place must arise a new person, resurrected in the Communist mold. Often times that meant an individual was killed and their identity was given to a different person. The original person’s major status identifications, such as doctor, priest, teacher, as well as the individual’s name, were undermined and replaced by the identity of criminal. Perhaps the most significant assaults upon the now prisoner’s identity occurred during the process of confession. Confession, which was the major technique employed by the captors to involve the prisoner in the process of one’s own reform, required thorough and compelling self-examination of every action, attitude, and thought, and always from the people’s perspective. A series of denunciations of friends and associates was required as an essential part of the confession. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
Making these denunciations not only generated feelings of guilt and shame in the prisoner, but it subverted the structure of one’s own life. Even when the prisoner was aware that one’s confession was wild and one’s denunciations invalid, one usually began to behave as if one were a criminal. If the prisoner would not, then the opposition forces would have someone impersonate the individual to act out the behavior the oppressors wanted to convince the public that the prisoner’s refashioned identity was emerging. This may be considered the rebirth. In this case, the boy’s initial situation was purposely amorphous: The prisoner is left on one’s own to figure out why authorities are doing what they are doing and what they must do to get out of trouble. The new conscript soon discovered that the only avenue for release was through participation in the delinquent peer group, which was the primary source of pressure for change. The main interactions took place in daily group discussion session. In these group sessions, the essential ingredients of identity assault included confession of past transgressions through a minute re-examination of the past, including one’s former identities, with the assistant of a reform vocabulary and the constant pressure of the peer group. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
Usually these targets are easy to break because they are alienated from their past identity, unhappy with themselves or their lives, lack a strong sense of self and identity, and carry a burden of guilt. The main task for the group is to channel this discontent into the creation of the new self. Initially, the major technique used to make the prisoner receptive to change was fear. It was simply fear of physical punishment and harassment. However, as the effects of confession, self-betrayal, and group attack began to take hold, it became a fear of psychological annihilation (hitting rock bottom psychologically). There is also another strategy, which was to use love to manipulate the prisoner. Love is used as the most coercive and cruel power of all. Either love or fear was used to strengthen the group’s hold over the individual and make the individual more vulnerable to radical re-socialization. However, when a target is resistant, the program may fail. Although the individual may be physically weaker, psychologically they are stronger. And as the participants in the program group, the corruption becomes exposed because people hear about the torture and they start to see. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
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Them Mens Hitted theyselves Cruel
Success happens when we are truly ready, not just when we want it. Be patient. Set yourself up for success. And, always believe that you day is on the way! The individual can be both cause and the consequence of society. The family is typically seen as the source of the child’s inadequacies, which the school must correct and overcome. The process of social comparisons is ubiquitous in the classroom. The age homogeneity and lack of formal status differentiation in the class cohort make it a fertile ground for the operation of social comparison process as a means of social differentiation. This differentiation occurs largely on the basis of perceived ability and achievement, and each student knows where he or she stands with respect to his or her classmates. The class, therefore, serves as a reference group for the student, not necessarily in the normative sense (although it may indeed be a source of norms and values) as much as in the comparative sense (that is, as a standard of evaluation). The family, by contrast, is primarily a normative reference group. There may even be a boomerang effect, under these circumstances, in that the socialize may develop in ways opposite to those intended by the agents of socialization within these contexts. #RandolphHarris 1 of 12
Parents are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. The conscience obligates people to their offspring, compelling them to be good citizens and to think of their children as investments so they can be the cause of a successful society, not the consequence of a World gone wrong. The role of a parent is much more than the social construction of reality or the product of the state. Parenthood is of a divine origin, and it to include goodness and perfect love so that your children turn out to be God’s work and glory. God is extremely concerned with the work and development of his eternal children. One of the inborn structures of the mind or personality is the id. The id is an unorganized chaotic mentality, and the sole aim of which is the gratification of all needs, the alleviation of hunger, self-preservation, and love, the preservation of the species. As people develop, it is important to teach them to gain control over their emotions, attention, and behavior in early years, as they are coming in contact with the environment. #RandolphHarris 2 of 12
One needs to be conscious or aware of the mental processes which occupy one at any given time. The ego is a processing awareness of the environment, henceforth strives to curb the lawless id tendencies whenever they attempt to assert themselves incompatibly. Neurosis is a conflict between the ego and the id. The ego, aware of the forces of civilization, religion, and ethics, refuses to allow motor discharge to impulses emanating from the lawless id, and will block them from attainment of the object towards which they aimed. The ego defends itself against these impulses by repressing them. In the real World, we see adults who are driven by the id. They are emotional savages, unable to control their urges and act out. Imagine if the World was ran by people like that. People who did not speak, but acted out of emotional urges and them pretended they did not know what they did wrong. The World would be in a stage of chaos. Sometimes the id can break through as a substitutive formation on paths over which the ego has no control, and obtrudes itself on the ego as symptoms. As a result of this process, the ego will find itself more or less impoverished, its integrity threatened and hurt, and hence it continues to combat the symptom in the same way as it had defended itself against the original id impulses. #RandolphHarris 3 of 12
This whole process constitutes the picture of the neuroses, or rather of the transference neurosis, which compromise hysteria, anxiety hysteria, and the compulsion neuroses, in constriction to the so-called narcissistic neuroses, melancholic depression, and to the psychoses, schizophrenia, paranoid conditions and paranoia proper, in which the underlying mechanisms are somewhat different. In a psychosis, the illness results from a conflict between the ego and the outer World, and the narcissistic neurosis from a conflict between the ego and the super-ego. For just as the ego is a modified portion of the id as a result of contact with the outer World, the super-ego represents a modified part of the ego, formed through experiences absorbed from the parents, especially from the father. Fatherhood exposes us to our own weaknesses and our need to improve. Fatherhood requires sacrifice, but is a source of incomparable satisfaction, even joy. The ultimate model is our Heavenly Father, who so loves us. Fathers manifest that love as they labor in the service and support of their families daily. If by his example as well as his words, a father can demonstrate what fidelity to God looks like in daily living, that father will have given his children the key to peace in this life and eternal life in the World to come. #RandolphHarris 4 of 12
The super-ego is a modified part of ego, formed through experiences absorbed from the parents, especially from the father. The super-ego is the highest mental evolution attainable by humans, and consists of a precipitate of all prohibitions and inhibitions, all the rules of conduct which are impressed on the child by his or her parents and by parental substitutes. The feeling of conscience depends altogether on the development of the super-ego. Therefore, mechanisms of the neurosis are attributed to the unconscious factor of the mind. Psychoanalysis calls it the psychology of depths because it is the role of the unconscious mental process. Neuroses are characterized by anxiety, depression, or other feelings of unhappiness or distress that are out of proportion to the circumstances of a person’s life. They may impair a person’s functioning in virtually any area of his or her life, relationships, or external affairs, but they are not severe enough to incapacitate the person. Affected patients generally do not suffer from the loss of the sense of reality seen in persons with psychoses. The psychoanalytic approach to treat neuroses involves helping the patient to become aware of the repressed impulses, feelings, and traumatic memories that underlie his or her symptoms, thereby enabling that individual to achieve personality growth through a better and deeper self-understanding. Also, people are so over zealous to label others that they do not seem to understand the difference between being a little sad and being depress. So, sometimes people report that they are depressed, when they are actually just sad. #RandolphHarris 5 of 12
Despite their growing abilities, some children and adults sometimes find it difficult to regulate their thoughts and emotions in ways that allow them to succeed at new tasks. Many psychiatrists prefer physical approaches, such as psychotropic drugs to treat neuroses (including antianxiety agents and antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs). This will allow the patient to face and overcome new developmental challenges, from getting along with others to learning novel academic skills. In addition, at these times, close relationships with meaningful authority figures, including teachers, managers, parents, law enforcement, the President, veterans, people who serve the country, doctors, a leader of the church, or a lawyer can help children and adults learn to regulate their own behavior. Contextual dissonance could be a source of the distress. That refers to the situation of being a member of an underrepresented group in a classroom (or other contexts, for that matter) in the basis of a trait or characteristic that is disvalued by the majority group, and it impacts the individual’s self-esteem. There could be a social identity context such as race and social class, competence context, and value context, and being an underrepresented subgroup on any of these dimensions can have a negative effect on the student’s self-esteem. #RandolphHarris 6 of 12
That is why I do not see having pride in one’s heritage as a bad thing. When people feel a sense of pride about who they are, they are more willing to deal with being an underrepresented group peacefully and they are able to communicate their needs and concerns to an authority member in a healthy way. When someone upsets them, they know it is better to walk away than acting out or seeking revenge. Mental health is more than just labeling someone. To assess someone’s mental health, you really have to get to know that individual and understand their psychology. The negative consequences of an underrepresented status within the immediate interaction context, in relation to social comparison process, operates more forcefully at the face-to-face level rather than when society is the frame of reference. That is why there can be negative consequences of school integration for self-esteem for certain individuals, and negative psychological consequences of being in the underrepresented status on the job. That is why the classroom organization is important for learning of general social norms. We should be patent, but approach our goals with a sense of urgency. We cannot stroll to our goal. Build momentum by taking consistent and daily actions towards what you want. #RandolphHarris 7 of 12
School is important as a transitional institution between the family and job. Conduct in the family and conduct on the job are governed by contrasting normative principles. School provides the bridge between these two institutions by exposing the child to a set of experiences that facilitate learning and internalizing the norms of independence, achievement, universalism, and specificity. The goal of school, in producing competent citizens is carried out not only through the formal program of instruction aimed at developing cognitive skills, but also through the less conspicuous development of other general norms. Because the interaction between teacher and pupil is much more role specific, and more temporary, the distinction between the person and the position becomes much clearer in the school than it is in the family. The child comes to see that teachers, unlike mothers, are interchangeable. Also, they are paid to be fair and look out for your best interest, but it is important to understand that this is a formal relationship, and to see it as that. Independence and achievement are norms that are more relevant to the conduct of pupils, and because they are the basis for evaluating pupils, they have greater psychological consequence for the child. #RandolphHarris 8 of 12
Independence refers to doing thing on one’s own, and connotes such others attributes as accepting responsibility for one’s acts and being self-motivated. We are accountable and will be judged for how we use what we have received. This eternal principle applies to all we have been given. Cheating and formal testing are two aspects of classroom operations that bear directly on the norm of independence. Achievement is perhaps the strongest norm of all. The concept denotes activity and mastery, the striving against some standard of excellence. It is closely tied to the main mission of the school—to teach students to evaluate the extent of their learning. Being constantly evaluated in the classroom, and the evaluations are public means that the implications of this situation go beyond the mere learning of social norms, they go to the heart of the child’s conception of self. Success, based on one’s own efforts, is good for self-esteem and builds confidence in one’s abilities. Failure is not, and public failure is worse. It also has fewer resources than does the family for protecting the child’s self-respect in the face of failure. However, even for those who are more successful on academic criteria, school can be hard on self-esteem. They must constantly work to maintain their status, and few go through this socialization experience without experiencing some failure. #RandolphHarris 9 of 12
Nonetheless, by attempting to avoid feelings, these students, by their actions, increase the probability of actual failure. This is one of the serious, unintended, and undesirable consequences of classroom socialization. Sometimes pressures are generated that lead to patterns of adaptation that are considered undesirable. The educational system perpetuates the economic order and contributes to the integration of youth into the labor force, mainly through a structural correspondence between its social relations and those of production. The relationship of the educational system is supposed to replicate the hierarchical division of labor which dominates the workplace. And some people do not do well in school because it may be a harsh and alien place that devalues much of what they have learned in their family context. For these children, school may be more difficult because it is also a re-socialization situation and the values that they are learning to conform to, as well as the education they are receiving may scare their family, who may be in the poverty segment of society. The relationships between children and teachers are powerful mechanisms for change. When student feel that a teacher believes in them and supports their growth, they feel more confident both academically and socially at school. #RandolphHarris 10 of 12
When children feel more secure at school, they are more prepared to learn. What is fairly distinct about socialization in childhood peer groups is the effect it has on the child’s development and validation of the self; the development of competence in the presentation of self through role-taking and impression management skills; and the acquisition of knowledge left residual or avoided by adults in their socialization of children. The key to the importance of the peer group in the socialization of these domains is the friendship bond. Friendships are based on egalitarian relationships of mutual support and acceptance, where a wider latitude of behavior is allowed than in most other relationships, and where there is no explicit responsibility on the part of friends to change or shape each other’s development (in contrast to parent/child relationships). Since a great deal is tolerated in friendships, the individual is freer to explore and express a wide range of behavior and self-conceptions without fear of condemnation. Friendship relationships are especially appropriate for the mastering of self-presentations and impression-management skills, since inadequate displays will usually be ignored or corrected without severe loss of face. #RandolphHarris 11 of 12
Create a great reputation. A solid reputation is like a fine art, easy to ruin and hard to create. Typically, success in athletics and academics is very important for boys and girls, but girls are also more concerned about being popular with peers. Hence, status in the peer group and classroom functions to provide an alternate source of self-esteem and perhaps to repair self-esteem damaged by other factors. For many if not most of those arriving at school for the first time, the community is the most varied institution in which they have ever experienced—perhaps ever will experience. To become leaders in our diverse society, students today must have the ability to work with people from different backgrounds, life experiences, and perspectives. Dear Lord, we pray to you for the well-being of our families. Creator grant us the strength of heart, mind, and body so that we may be to stand forthcoming trials and tribulations we have to face. Almighty Father, make us so strong as to be able to face the touch obstacles of life, profession, and education so we have exposure to peers with a deep and wide variety of academia interests, viewpoints, and talents in order to better challenge our own assumptions ad develop skills we need to succeed, and to lead, in an ever more diverse workforce and increasingly interconnected World. And it really helps when you have no one to talk to about abuse or bullying when a person in a position of authority lets you know they know. It gives a person hope that someone will save them and to just hold on. That reduces the likelihood of an individual hurting one’s self to escape the torment. #RandolphHarris 12 of 12
The Glory of God is Intelligence
Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this Earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. We are of infinite worth to our Heavenly Father. The school, like the family, is an institution whose explicit mandate is to socialize people. In each case, this mandate is directed toward children. The school’s mission, however, is defined more narrowly than that of the family. It is primarily concerned with the formal instruction of children and the development of their cognitive skills (but here again, more is learned by the child than that which is explicitly taught). That is why if I could afford to, I would send my children to private school so they can learn about God as part of their enrichment material, and also so they would not pick up the habit of swearing from their friends, and also because they would have to wear a uniform, which is more likely to get them ready to conform to the career World. Next to the family, the school is the institution in which the child is most directly involved. And like the family, this involvement is largely involuntary. However, in most other respects, family and classroom constitute quite different socialization experiences for the child. #RandolphHarris 1 of 12
School is important in life because people need to gain knowledge and intelligence through their diligence and obedience so that they can have an advantage in the World to come. The classroom is composed of one adult and around twenty-five bright young children of both genders and approximately the same age, drawn from a relatively small geographical area. The major status distinction, which is important so students can learn to respect authority figures besides their parents, is between the teacher and pupils. There is a law, irrevocably decreed in Heaven before the foundations of this World, upon which all blessings are predicated—and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. The relationship between teacher and student is more of a limited scope (that is, more role-specific), and of shorter duration than is that between parent and child. The procedure of annual promotion from grade to grade provides the child with the experience of establishing and severing relationship with adults at regular periods. This being the case, we all should place the pursuit of light and truth, and intelligence, uppermost in our selections of goals, since we may have them eternally. #RandolphHarris 2 of 12
The glory of God is intelligence. School is the first socializing agency in the child’s experience that institutionalizes a differentiation of statues based on achievement. However, many parents can tell that their babies are intelligent and understand because, for example, when Leo (age 1) is asked to dance, but the music he likes is not on, he will not. However, when classical music is playing and he is asked to dance, he starts smiling and moving his hands and arms and head and legs, and even motions like he is conducting the composition. Other children Leo’s age when playing with a horse make the sound a horse makes when walking. Or watch their parents cook and when playing, get a pot and pretend to cook and taste the food and share it with their family. The homogeneous age composition of the class is an especially consequential feature of classroom structure. It provides the child with a standard of comparison for evaluating his or her competencies. It also provides the teacher with a standard for evaluating each student. Formal and public evaluation of performance is one of the hallmarks of the school experience, and, as we shall see, it has substantial consequences for the child’s self-esteem. #RandolphHarris 3 of 12
As you can see, it is important for children to be around their peer group, as they are all developing at the same relative level and can teach each other things. Ostensibly, school is primarily concerned with the cognitive development of the child—the acquisition of knowledge, the development of analytical and verbal skills, and other competencies. However, in the course of this socialization experience, other things are also learned, such as general norms and beliefs, and other aspects of the child are affected (personality characteristics, self-esteem). It is also important to understand, and this may or may not be fair, but grades are about social reinforcement, expectancy effects, and social comparison processes. The most conspicuous socialization process in the classroom (as perhaps, in the family) is social reinforcement. Teachers rely on several reinforcers in attempting to shape the student’s behavior and development—praise, blame, privileges, and, most important, grades. Grades represent the most concrete evidence of official (teacher’s) approval or disapproval of the student’s performance. #RandolphHarris 4 of 12
However, grade may also be used to reinforcement more than just the development of cognitive competencies. Teachers are likely to reward those students who conform to the social order of the school with higher grades and punish violators with lower grades, independent of their respective academic and cognitive accomplishments. An ABC10 Journalist, Gabrielle Karol reported on Beyer High School (Modesto, California USA), where sophomore Cedric Wright got in trouble for slapping his best friend. Cedric Wright was supposedly defending another student his best friend punched in the arm. The kids were all supposedly playing around like people do in the locker room. However, both Cedric and his friend were sent to the principal’s office. Cedric got a two day in-school suspension, where he sat in an intervention center, and was not allowed to go to class. Cedric Wright’s parents got upset and filed a complaint because the best friend did not get an equal punishment for a similar offense. Mr. James Wright thought his son had a bias applied against him because he is African American. After the complaint was filed by Cedric’s parents, it was then that Cedric’s best friend was punished. #RandolphHarris 5 of 12
Ignorance is expensive; in fact, it is the most expensive commodity we know anything about. Certainly, we make many mistakes through ignorance. After an investigation, the school claims there was a miscommunication, and that is why Cedric Wright was the only student punished initially. In this case, conformity to the social order meant that certain personality characteristics were rewarded (for example, dependability, consistency, perseverance, identification with school, punctuality, and tact), while others are punished or disapproved (for example, creativity, aggression, and independence). Sometimes people feel that certain families or students are out of control because they are successfully, well integrated and solid middle class, which is against an outdated negative stereotype that a small segment of the population would like to adhere to. There seems to be a significant positive relationship between the grade-point average of high school students and the first set of personality characteristics listed and second set of characteristics. Similar evidence reflects that grades are more than scholastic achievement of students. #RandolphHarris 6 of 12
Where there is no law, there is no transgression. In a study of 639 National Merit Scholars, it was found that differences in scholastic achievement were not related to grades. However, two personality variables were significantly and positively related to grades: citizenship and drive to achieve. However, it was found that neither of these two variables had a significant effect on actual achievement measures, and both were negatively related to measures of creativity and mental flexibility. There is evidence that teachers directly reinforce certain personality characteristics and discourage others through the use of grades and other reinforcers. Less obvious than social reinforcement, but perhaps no less pervasive, are expectancy effects and social comparison process. Expectancy effects, better known as self-fulfilling prophecies, are part of the broader process of defining situations and thereby constructing realities. The concept refers to the capacity of beliefs or expectancies to alter a state of affairs so that it comes to be congruent with the original belief. If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences. #RandolphHarris 7 of 12
The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the originally false conception come true. This specious validity to the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a region of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he or she was right from the very beginning. Self-fulfilling prophecies are usually always negative, as attested by the literature on race relations, deviance, and stereotyping. However, research of self-fulfilling prophecies in the classroom demonstrates that greater intellectual growth can be produced if the teacher expected that than if he or she did not. The findings were equivocal, as teacher’s expectations had a significant effect on pupils’ IQ gains for first and second-graders. The fear that many people have, however, concerning the self-fulfilling prophecy in the classroom is not with regard to the effect of the teacher’s high expectations, but rather his or her low expectations of certain students. Especially in schools where the student body is racially or socioeconomically mixed, parents and policy makers fear that the teacher would have lower expectations for the underrepresented or lower-income students, and that these expectations will be communicated in differential treatment. #RandolphHarris 8 of 12
A careful study gives credence to some of these fears. A class of Black children was followed from kindergarten through second grade. There were numerous and subtle ways in which the teacher transmitted her expectations of their competencies or incompetencies to these children in a process that became self-fulfilling. According to Gabrielle Karol, a journalist from ABC10, data from California state assessments from 11th grade students found that 64 percent of African American students did not meet state standards in English, compared to 33 percent European American students. In math, 93 percent of African American students failed to meet standards, compared to 64 percent of European American students. While subconscious stereotypes can lead to biases in judgment that people are not aware of, we need to help educate teachers and others in positions of power to erode these outdated standards of prophecy. At the same time, we need to encourage parents to be more active in their students’ education and ask them to investigate why their students are underperforming. If parents get involved, they can act as agents to educate teachers and let them know that they will not stand for unfair treatment, or help to correct the educational problems their kids are manifesting. #RandolphHarris 9 of 12
We need to help prepare leaders in education and to generate knowledge to improve student opportunity, achievement, and success. Sometimes people will try to demonize your children and ruin their lives because their own children are deviant and your kids make them look bad. Even though we may not think we are guilty of our sin because of our ignorance, neither can we receive the blessing, which is predicated on obedience, without rendering obedience to that law. Therefore, we are denied the blessing through our ignorance. If it is a traffic law one has violated through ignorance, the penalty is assessed exactly as one had known. Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. The goal of school is to have an exceptional and collaborative community of faculty, students, and alumni dedicated to improving lives and expanding opportunities through the comprehensive study and effective practice of education. We want our kids to grow to become innovative leaders in the community, entrepreneurs, and explorers of the World. It is also important the teachers understand that we expect a diverse, moral development of our children, an international education policy, and organizational leadership. #RandolphHarris 10 of 12
We want our children to be taught by renowned experts, who are passionate about education and preparing students to become transformative leaders. With that being said, it is important to be honest and let parents know when their children could do better and how, or to directly communicate that to the student. Never miss an opportunity to remind children the pivotal importance of a strong education. College is the key to success and a better life. Higher education encompasses more kinds of experiences, and more kinds of different experiences, than there are people in your classroom, and there is a place for every one of you. Commit to the goal of a higher education, and share your plans with others. Write it down, tell your parents, teachers, coaches, friends and extended family. Share your educational dreams with anyone who will be supportive. College education leads to higher incomes, lower unemployment rates, better access to health care, and it will give you the freedom to understand yourself differently. With education you will have a vaster range of life experiences. #RandolphHarris 11 of 12
It is impossible for anyone to be saved in ignorance. No person is truly enlightened unless he or she knows God. Education will help you learn to have meaningful conversations with people and give you a wide range of viewpoints. Education teaches people to even reconsider their own view point. By attending college, you will encourage dreams that you have never dreamed. Every person has extraordinary gifts, and education will help you build your future. Dear Lord, as we continue in life, help us never to forget to devote our time of praise and worship to you. We know, God, that you are the one who sustains us and we are so grateful that you blessed us with this amazing life on this beautiful planet. God, we know that you are renewing our minds. We pray that all of our instructors, professors, and administrators will also experience the love of God. We will grow and learn, and as we strive, we will become more like our teachers. Please give them wisdom, strength and courage to be the best authority figures. Help them stay healthy as they do teach us. Lord, if they do not know you personally, we pray that they come to know you and in doing so that their instruction and working is glorifying to you. Bless it be. #RandolphHarris 12 of 12
Oysters Rockefeller–Leaving the Family and getting into Adulthood
Miracles happen all around us. Our supreme focus should be on the spiritual miracles that are available to all of God’s children. However, a myth supported by most theories of pre-adult development is that at the end of adolescence you get yourself together and, as normal, mature adult, you enter into a relatively stable, integrated life pattern that can continue more or less indefinitely. This is a rather cruel illusion since it leads people in early adulthood to believe that they are, or should be, fully adult and settled, and that there are no major crises, or developmental changes ahead. Instead of this rather tranquil picture of adult development, there are several key issues that must be resolved sequentially through adulthood; one is the process of becoming one’s own person. Unless the individual goes through some level of inner turmoil and reassessment at this time, further development will not occur and overall mental health will be affected adversely. Pain is a part of the unique human experience, accepting it is a sign of maturity. In many societies, adulthood is confirmed at different stages, when individuals have exhibited various kinds of psychological and social behaviour. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
Consistency and change in adulthood is dependent upon a variety of individual, social, and historical variable, in particular, health, education, and socioeconomic status. Stressful life events and adaption to them are central to socialization. Role transitions occur because of such life events, such as periods of depression, economic prosperity, war, marriage, birth of a child, and death of a loved one. For instance, during the Great Depression, people who experienced this cultural event early in their work careers were more negatively affected in the long run than were those already established. And although most members of society may shape their life courses by such social clock, it by no means determines the precise pattern of an individual’s life course. Individual sequencing that is divergent from norms, as well as historical events that upset the age-grading clock, may alter patterns either for individuals or entire age cohorts. An individual may postpone higher education to find him or herself, this deviating from both the age-grade norms and work ethic norms as well. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
Historical events, such as wars or depressions, or the construction of a sports complex in a low-income community, impinge upon the timing of life events, such as marriage, completion of education, and childbearing. For people from deprived families, changes in the family division of labour usually means getting a job which results in accelerated movement toward the adult World. Also, families who are dominated by a mother, usually makes an individual more vocationally aware and more likely to view values of job security and family life as important when they become adults. Nevertheless, although there are changes that will be difficult when an individual becomes an adult, it does not mean that the transition needs to be characterized by stress and turmoil. An individual may become a different person by virtue of changing physique, changing major social roles and changing participation. Cognitions to new situations and situational adjustments can be enjoyable. We know that buying a first house is much more than just finding a cute place and getting a decent mortgage. A whole host of factors play into this big life decision: location, interest rates, the length of time you plan to spend in the house, and the projects people will commit hours, days, and years of their life to. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Homeownership is a rite of passage most of us dream of. Many people spend years thinking about their own house and designing to make it a space that is truly theirs. Pride of ownership is a major reason why people yearn to own a house. From the landscape, type of house, curtains, appliances, furniture, paint colors, wall paper to the light fixtures, type of bathtubs and the creative uses for different spaces in the house are decorative ideas that make people happy. When it is your house, you can do what you want with the space. Not only that, but you can listen to the type of music you like, watch TV shows that bring you pleasure, and have a sense of privacy, stability, and security. It is making an investment in your future. Also, homeowners can get mortgage deductions on their tax returns. The joys of home ownership really come to life when you have a housewarming party! It is a blessing to have friends, family, and coworkers over to celebrate the house that you own. You can have food and drinks and talk about life. Staying put in one place for long periods of time also creates social benefits that range from friendships with neighbors to community involvement and consistent educational opportunities for children. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
This proves that the assumption that major life transitions must be experienced as a crisis ignores the joys of life like child birth. New born babies are a big joy for many parents. The new born child is so cute and adorable and not something everyone can have; a baby is not something you can buy at the store, they are generally a mix of you and your partner, meaning that no one else can create the same bundle of joy that you can. The scent new born baby is the best, they smell so clean, their skin is soft, and they have cute cheeks, and cut little thighs with roles, and the babies sound so gentle. All they want is to be loved, protected, and fed. As they grow, they learn different things like how to give hugs. Jillian and Justin’s son Leo is just like a bright ray of sunshine with his gold hair. He has a big bright smile and is so smart. He just turned one year old and when he is hungry, sometimes he will walk over to the pantry and start looking for something to eat. He also like to dance. When he hears classical music, he reaches out his arms like he is dancing with a girl and sways them from side to side. And then sometimes when he wants to sit on the couch, he will climb up there, but cannot sit himself up right because he is still so young and gets frustrated and it is just so adorable. Or sometimes when he wants to be held, he will cry a little so you will pick him up. These are joys that only parents will experience. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
When grown children leave home, a lot of them choose to marry, and this allows for the possibility of new roles and personal growth. When people get engaged it is usually because they are in love. They met someone who has characteristics they like and makes them happy. It is part of trusting a person. People are excited to be engaged to their best friend—it is so romantic. Love is an overwhelming emotion, as individuals are excited to see what the future holds for them. That is why engagement is one of the most precious moments in everyone’s life. It is a beautiful and priceless time, as it is a symbol of love. You have someone who will be there to laugh with you, lift you up and to love you unconditionally through your journey in life. A faithful partner will love you selflessly. Human love is a wonderful adventure. Respecting someone, as though each of you are treasures that belong to each other reminds us that the Lord, our God is with us. God sees and hears you, and will bless your marriage with radiance and happiness. When you meet your soulmate it is utter proof that your years of prayers for a great partner have not go unheard. It teaches you that preparation for a marriage is more than just rings, flower arrangements, selecting a church or rose garden. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
Love is a process that revolves around the relationship, socialization, and social change. Being engaged to be married is an in depth spiritual process. You will know that God is at the center of our relationship. Finding someone you can spend your life with is truly a miracle. God said, “For I am God, and I will show miracles unto all those who believe on my name.” That is why we must firmly center our faith on God the Father and his holy plan. Faith in God allows us to understand and accept God’s will for eternity. Being a child of God is a miracle. Receiving a body in his image and likeness is a miracle. The gift of life is a miracle. The potential for eternal life is a miracle. While it is good to pray for and work for physical protection and healing during our mortal existence, our supreme focus should be on the spiritual miracles that are available to all of God’s children. No matter our ethnicity, no matter our nationality, no matter what we have done, if we repent, no matter what may have been done to us—all of us have equal access to these miracles. We are living miracles, and more miracles are ahead. Such a process is credited with bringing about social change over generations and redefinition of our roles over time. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
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It is not polite to be too attentive to other people’s business, under some circumstances the members of actor’s group may define too great an interest in the behavior of out-group members as a form of treason. The Bible explains that we should not meddle in other people’s business, but we should worry about our own affairs. Do not put your input into matters that do not concern you, it only creates more problems. Many people want to know your business not to help, but just to know it and have something to gossip about. However, when are minds are set on God, we do not have time to meddle in another person’s situations. “Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before,” 1 Thessalonians 4.11. We can never truly be inside of the mind of another person, nor understand what they are experiencing. Even in the interactive form there may be a reason to deceive—to protect secrets and self-image, for example. There may be things about an individual that they personally have a hard time accepting and they would rather not have their business spread all around town like the 5 O’clock news. This may cause difficulty when an individual moves into a new situation. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
Not only that, when you disclose highly sensitive information about a person, they may be embarrassed to face people from their past and it could leave them vulnerable to abuse and extortion. Not only that, the information disclosed may be less than complete and “accurate” because others do not really know what they are disclosing. Privacy has been under assault for years. Far from just minding our own business, privacy is central to virtually every liberty we tend to take for granted, not the least of which is freedom. The rights in relation to a person’s seclusion and private affairs is the foundation upon which our rights exit. It is not legal nor ethical to intrude upon a person’s seclusion or solitude, or into his or her person affairs. Nor is it lawful to publicly disclose embarrassing private facts about an individual, nor publicity placing one in a false light in the public eye. Violating one’s right to privacy is not only illegal, but it is dangerous. Privacy is more than just about who is reading your electronic mail; privacy is about who controls your life. Everything we consider personal and intimate concerns, from doctor-patient confidentiality to discussions with our spouse are functions of privacy. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
Erosion of privacy affects not only what information is available to self-interested parties, but the decisions one can make without the coercive influence of those same parties. People will sometimes shamelessly hijack one’s personal information, and these self-declared advocates just into someone’s personal life only in part for their concern, not for one’s well being, but more to satisfy their own personal convictions. During the vilification, slander, and violation of personal information the target may get attacked, receive death threats because of the sheering willing of these parties and of the government to set aside the constitution in pursuit of their own agendas. At stake is not only the right to be left alone, but the right to make fundamental decisions that have a bearing on the quality of life without interference or intrusion. At issue as well is the point at which decision may be arbitrarily made for the “common good” and whose interests are being served. And it is abundantly clear that experimenting on someone and exposing them to things you know are poisonous is torture. Not only that, but enforcing the beliefs of special interest groups over an individual is stripping that individual of their humanity, and is called oppression—the very thing countries have one to war over on numerous occasions. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
Embedded within American society is the belief that independence and individualism are virtues. There is a high value places in the right to privacy and a fear that, be invading the privacy of others, our own converted privacy is lost. However, our unwillingness to speak out and become involved has covered up scandals and illegal and unethical behavior by individuals and organizations. Our silence allowed these offenses to continue unimpeded, and people have suffered as a result. There is no justice in silence, for justice cannot be served until the silence is broken. Social pressure also works against speaking out and breaking the conspiracy. Those who speak out risk being resented and derided by the people who resent having the status quo disturbed, their lives interrupted, or the need to change, even if it is for their own good, People with the courage and conviction to speak out are often not well thought of by society. However, when the conspiracy is uncovered people might be criticized for not speaking out and could also face legal consequences. If it is related to any crimes or violence, the authorities will have to take action. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Social ills, personal crises, and even petty annoyances cannot be attended to or corrected until someone stops the conspiracy of silence that enables them to continue and allows us to redirect out thoughts and actions to a more beneficial course. It is almost a tenet of faith that behavior is motivated by a desire for social approval. If deviant behavior is what is desired for social approval, the actor will play this role when it is a reference group the actor is trying to please. The sad state of ethics and virtues is not a new development. The chain of silence can only be broken if people are able to reach consensus and agree to abide by and enforce a strong moral tradition. It takes courage to stand up for one’s values and ethics. However, some people do not speak out because they relish the perceived control, power, and excitement of being able to keep someone else’s deep, dark secrets. Many people have a certain craving for the titillating and juicy stories of someone else’s pain and suffering. If others assume that the attitudes and behaviors actor uses in one role represent the essence of the person, they will expect him or her to use those attitudes and behaviors in many other instances, and actor will develop a preference for this pattern because he or she is rewarded for doing so. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Abuse is the treatment of others or self in a way that causes injury or offense. It harms the mind and the spirit and often injures the body as well. It can cause confusion, doubt, mistrust, and fear. It is a violation of the law of society and is in total opposition to the teachings of God. The Lord condemns abusive behavior. In cases like these, if people expect actor to behave in a somewhat unusual manner, actors should try to meet those expectations, if they wish reinforcement. The use of the same behaviors for many roles may result in self-reinforcement. A role merger often saves effort when many roles are to be played, it gives actor an improved basis for predicting how others will react to him or her, it permits him or her to use a set of behaviors that are particularly satisfying more frequently than would otherwise be the case, and so forth. It is designed to provide high rewards, and if there were any alternative that were particularly profitable, there would have been no innovation to begin with. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
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One basic the basic concepts of forgiveness is that one must be truly repentant, having satisfied justice before forgiveness can take place. There should be no license for sin. God is merciful, but he is also just. An eternal aspect of justice has been decreed by divine law, that God is not mocked: for whatever a person does, is what they shall get back in return. History is made by strong individuals who issue commands to the masses about how to play the game; these leaders fit into the World. This is not the way spiritual history is made; it is made by exceptional people who do not fit into the World, who have a conception of the World other than that given in the games people play. What these people do not realize is that, even with the self-sacrifice of their lives, the most they can achieve is a small change in the rules by which these communal games of humankind are played. Self – (or social) evaluation can come about through a process of comparison with others. An individual’s judgment of how well he or she is doing is formed not only directly, on the basis of appraisals by others, but also indirectly, as a result of comparing his or her situation with that of others. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8
Even in self-evaluations resulting from social comparison, however, normative factors come into play. In the first place, such factors mat specify the group with which the comparison must be made. And second, the comparison has consequences for self-evaluation only to that extent that the standard against which an opinion, performance, or situation is compared has normative force—that is, constitutes an expectation level that carries with it the implication of ought or should. It can be horribly mortifying when we experience the prospect of becoming hopelessly trapped in someone else’s story. And if one can find any way out of our culture, then that is a trap too. Just wanting to get out of the trap reinforces the trap. Many of the classic investigations of reference group behavior have concerned themselves with the consequences of conformity to the perceived prescriptions of some valued group for attitude stability or change. However, what is one to do when they do not want to conform to the group, are not accepted by the group, and the group is like a pervasive cancer, acting as a source of oppression at every move one makes to advance oneself. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8
Sometimes hardworking people with a lot of promise and determination get stuck in awful places. However, what one may consider awful, others might consider a paradise. And it may seem no matter how hard we try to upgrade our lives, nothing seems to work out. One might have thought that years ago, they would be in a better situation. Then they look and are still in the same place and trying even hard to keep a roof over one’s head and advance. Another year rolls around, and they think to themselves, within six months from now, I know I will be in a better place, I cannot see being in this same situation any longer than that. Yet, three more years pass, and they are still in the same place. The influence of a reference group on attitudes or behaviors is a factor that should be considered. The salience of a reference group can increase a subject’s resistance to the propaganda directed against the group or increase the frequency of responses conforming to the norms of that group. That is why some people choose to join church, it helps them to be thankful for the everything in their lives, and they realize that at some point, through an increase in faith, that their hard work and determination will pay off. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8
Still, there is also an account for the ability to maintain a deviant perspective by its anchorage in a significant reference group or individual or have demonstrated that adoption of new reference figures (as through the development of close friendships) is associated with adoption of a new, at times deviant, perspective. For example, the fact that adolescents who use drugs are more likely to report drug use among their friends does not necessarily mean that such use is a consequence of selecting a particular reference group; the choice of reference group may be contingent on drug-taking behavior, or both may be consequences of particular combinations of residential, social, and other statuses. That is why parents who have lived in bad neighborhoods and low-income communities work hard to send their children to school, so they can provide a better environment for them so they do not have to be in a community with gang activity, crimes, and drugs. However, some people are jealous of people who are good, no matter what their situation is, and what do whatever they can to see that person fail. It brings them joy to see someone they do not like struggle and suffer. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8
And then the cycle continues where the good person has to figure a way out of an oppressive situation that they were never meant to experience. As you can see, there are consequences of reference orientations. Yet, love changes everything. Medical studies about young children report that nurturing and supportive parenting can lead to improved physical health and possibly greater intelligence later in life. Kids need love, care, and people to teach them things. The effect of nurturing could be even stronger the younger the child is because it is possible that the brain is more sensitive to change earlier. People who have families are generally more happier and satisfied, and the motivation helps them to live a healthier life. People with families are motivated to eat healthier, exercise more, drink less alcohol, and put themselves in dangerous situations less often. In turn, this suggests that attitudinal similarity may be a potent factor in the formations of groups, which subsequently function as powerful references groups in inducing further attitude change. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8
You have all you need to stand strong and firm and true because you have the Lord on your side. Notwithstanding the afflictions about us, notwithstanding the sordid things we see almost everywhere, notwithstanding the conflict that sweeps across the World, we can be better. I do not know what we did in the preexistence to merit the wonderful blessings we enjoy. We have come to Earth in this great season in the long history of humankind. It is a marvelous age, the best of all. As we reflect on the plodding course of humankind, from the time of our first parents, we cannot help feeling grateful. We promise to love the Lord, to honor him all the time—daytime and nighttime, Summer and Winter, good times and bad times—love the Lord and let that love show by the way we live. We also take time to thank God, take time to ask for help, take time to seek guidance, and then take time to listen. Take time for that still, small voice which will whisper to us, help us, and give us courage. Both laboratory experiments involving the choice of partners for limited kinds of interactions and investigations of friendship choices in the real World have pointed to some sort of similarity as one principle underlying the selection and acceptance of groups that function as normative referents. However, the question immediately arises, similarity with respect to what? #RandolphHarris 6 of 8
Social psychologists tend to emphasize similarity with respect to individual values, attitudes, and other personality characteristics. Another factor is the social structure, which may make one group (individual, category, status, and so forth), more salient than another, in terms of its appropriateness or in terms of its power to confer rewards; the other is normative structure, which may be define one group (individual, category, status, and so forth) a more appropriate or more rewarding. Our Heavenly Father does bless us when we show our love for him in all things. We will stand witness in all places—both public and private, in secret, in dark or in light places; in church, school, home, or cars; in mountain places, or beach places; on the street or in the park. The potency of physical structure is dramatically demonstrated in a field of experiment in which the functional distance between apartments turned out to be a powerful determinant of friendship formation among persons who are similar to one another on a variety of social characteristics. Structural factors also come into play in those situations in which individuals adopt as a point of reference group whose values are quite dissimilar from their own. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8
It is given unto you to judge that you may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain that you make know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. Stand as an example of a worthy child of God in all places. Heavenly Father, we come to you asking that you come into our lives and heart. As we are learning to discern the prompting of the Spirit, there are so many distractions. It is experience that helps us know good from evil. It is experience that helps us recognize the promptings of the Spirit. Experience can also help us recognize when good feelings are lacking. Dear Father God, we thank you for this wonderful free gift of Salvation and the knowledge that there is nothing left for us to do except to believe in you as our Savior. Thank you for your perfect righteousness and for giving us eternal life, which a special place reserved with us in Heaven, for all eternity. There are no words that can express our love and gratitude for this amazing free gift of grace—thank you. You Father God, are amazing and loving and graceful. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8
Soul Food with Soul Doctors
Sometimes our enemies treat us like we are a physician and therapist, albeit a wrongheaded and mistaken one. This miserable affair has generated at least one desirable result for me, namely, that I would become personally aquatinted with you. Would you be kind enough to let me know when and where I might meet and talk with you, God? Heavenly Father, perhaps we could arrange this by telephone. In the pleasure of this expectations, I am your most devoted. Many of us would like to personally meet with God, and we can. When we pray with faith, we will feel God’s love as his spirit speaks to our souls. No matter how alone or uncertain one may feel, at times, we are not alone in this World. God knows us personally. As we pray, we will come to know him. As we study and ponder the scriptures, we will hear God’s voice, know his words, and come to have an intimate relationship with him. God will reveal his eternal truths to us, and his love and guidance will emanate from our very souls. On social behavior, exchange behavior should express or promote collective solidarity rather than individual benefit. We want our loved ones to learn to recognize the voice of the spirit. Our testimonies are strengthened as we talk about sacred truths. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
For as long as there have been households, there have been rules to direct household life. Most who are able to recall their teenage years, will remember their parents vehemently proclaiming, “As long as you live in my house, you will abide by my rules!” And the Earth is God’s household, so we must exercise proper conduct in the house of the Lord. God has taught us to give up our wicked ways and our Worldly desires and to live decent and honest lives in this World. The Holy Spirit, our comforter, helps us to behave. God’s spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. Whenever people encounter one another in social interaction, communication is in progress; roles are being formed, enacted, and negotiated; attributions are being made, both to other and self; and identities are being validated or revised. Our goal is comprehensive know, we hope to gain intellectual orderliness within the narrow slice of reality we have chosen to acknowledge. Beneficial events of all kinds, whether they involve spirituality, money, good, smiles, or simple social attention, are valuable in exactly the same general sense: people for whom they are beneficial act in a way that tends to produce them. Such action is often called rational behavior. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
Worthiness is essential to becoming like God. All benefits have psychological and material properties. The capacity to provide some benefit to another is often called a resource. In generalized reciprocity, the reciprocal transaction starts with a noncontingent free-gift, and it can become one of a series of such transactions between two long-term partners. Once such an exchange relation has formed between two people, the paired contributions defining a transaction often lose their paired contingency. A helpful act is performed, not in response to any specific benefit received, but rather in honor of the social exchange relation itself, that relation being a series of reciprocating benefits extending into the experiences past and the anticipated future. Whether or not accounts are kept, in whatever form, is an empirical question given to the situation. A selfless person is one who is more concerned about the happiness and well-being of another than about his or her own convenience or comfort, and is willing to sacrifice, and purge from his or her mind and heart, personal wants, and needs, and feelings. Instead of reaching for and requiring praise and recognition for oneself, or gratification, the selfless person will meet the human needs for another person. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
People engage one another in two qualitatively different modes, a transactional mode in which each provides the other with benefit, and a mode called incorporation in which both (or all) parties contribute to collective gain. The two modes differ both in social process and in the typical motivation of the participants. Transactions involve reciprocal, but separate, benefits performed by persons motivated to enhance their own gains, as in bargaining over the units in a trading relation. Incorporation, by contrast, is based upon a special form of exchange in which separately obtained benefit is not possible. It takes two to dance the tango. If it is done well by both parties, both parties benefit from a single socially produced event. If either one fails to perform properly, neither one will benefit. Value is produced in the social process from behavioral contributions that have little or no value take by themselves. Sometimes the benefits of social exchange are immediately appreciated by all participants (though not necessarily in equal degree), and sometimes the productive process generates a tangible new resource that can be divided through acts of distribution. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
As a parent, can you take precious time to listen to your son or daughter tell you about what the young people are wearing, or what the teacher said? If you do, without interrupting, you may find they will talk to you even when they are really troubled because they have learned you listen. Human beings respond to principles of beneficial and negative feedback, or reinforcement. They tend to acts so as to optimize across a set valued (beneficial) inputs. What do people value? They value whatever it is they optimize. Human beings respond to principles of reinforcement. It is important to remember there can be no successful change in any of us unless we recognize a need to change. That must come first. With the recognition of the need to improve, may we now suggest as a part of the process of cultivating and nurturing the attribute of selflessness we begin to develop an attitude of service—the ongoing desire for the well-being of others. A beginning would be feeling empathy for those who need uplifting, then acting with caring thoughtfulness. Lord, please provide us with the knowledge and ability that we may see you in our fellow human beings. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
God, please provide us with great discernment that we may have sympathy for others, and open our hearts that we may love each other as you love us. Renew in us your spirit. Free us and make us one. God has compassion on those who sin, and he desires that we have that same compassion. He wants to turn our hearts of stone—as a result of hurts, betrayal, cynicism, or selfishness—into hearts of flesh that long to love God and make his love known to the World. As we go through our day, let us take some time to ask that God would give us a heart of compassion for the lost. Let us pray that through this heart of compassion, we will be moved to become a part of what God is doing to take the gospel to hurting people around the World. May God’s love be infused in our hearts and we spread kindness. This is the heart of God. By God’s grace, may it also be our heart. God will change our lives for the better, and make it possible for us to know him. We will discover peace with God. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Come Inspire My Mind
Each moment and every day, we trust our love to God. Cover us with your protection, and carry us through hard times, and lead us to love and happiness. You are children of the Almighty. Limitless is your potential. Magnificent is your future, if you will take control of it. The future is bright with promise, hope, faith, and achievement. The World will become better than we have ever known. There must be purpose. We are here to accomplish something, to bless society with our talents and our learning. We must also recognize the fact that life is serious, and there are great risks, but we can overcome them by disciplining ourselves and seeking the unfailing strength of God. Our lives can go wrong if we never give ourselves time to think carefully and logically about our plans. And, we can end up with the wrong values, careers, and relationships. However, if one has made a mistake, if one has become involved in any immoral behavior, all is not lost. Memory of that mistake will likely linger, but the deed can be forgiven and one can rise above the past to live a life fully acceptable unto God where there is repentance. God has promised that he will forgive us of our sins and remember them no more against us, as long as we ask for forgiveness and stop repeating those sins. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
Repentance means to change one’s way of life as the result of a complete change of thought and attitude with regard to sin and righteousness. Repentance also means looking at something that you did in the past, recognizing that it was sinful—that it broke God’s good and beneficial laws—and concluding that one needs to change for the better. When an individual repents, they ask for forgiveness, turn to God, and commit to a new way of living and to the transformation of the human heart and mind from carnal to spiritual. Repentance is characterized by an understanding of the seriousness of sin, a deep desire to be forgiven, and a determined commitment to change behavior in order to stop sinning. Godly sorrow produces genuine repentance, which results in permanent changes that ultimately lead a person toward salvation. Common-sense is riddles with errors, prejudice, and superstition. Popular ideas about love, fame money or goodness simply does not stand up to reason. Many people seem proud about being led by their instincts or passions (jumping into decisions on the basis of nothing more than how they feel), which is much like being dragged dangerously along by a group of blindfolded wild horses. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
People can go forward with a renewal of hope and acceptability to a far better way of life, but there will be scars that will remain. The best way, the only way, is to avoid any entrapment with evil. You have within your instincts, powerful and terribly persuasive, urging one at times to let go and experience a little fling. However, do not do it. You cannot do it. You are children of God with tremendous potential. God has great expectations concerning you, as do others. Do not be let down for a minute. Do not give in to an impulse. There must be discipline, strong and unbending. Flee from temptation. There is nothing in all this World as magnificent as virtue. It glows without tarnish. It is precious and beautiful. It is above price. It cannot be bought or sold. It is the foundation of self-mastery. When you fall in love, what is really going on is that you have seen in another person some good quality which you like. Perhaps they are calm, disciplined, or eloquent. The underlying fantasy of love is that by getting close to this person, you can become a little more like they are. They can help you to grow to your full potential. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
Let virtue garnish your thoughts unceasingly. Love is in essence a kind of education: you could not really love someone if you did not want to be improved by them. Love should be two people trying to grow together—and helping each other to do so. Which means one needs to get together with the person who contains a key missing bit of your evolution: the virtues one does not have. We should accept that we are not complete and allow our partners to teach us things. A good relationship has to mean we will not love the other person exactly as they are. It means committing to helping them become a better version of themselves—and to endure the stormy passage this inevitably involves—while also not resisting their attempts to improve us. Find your purpose in life. Choose the things you would like to do, and educate yourselves to be effective in their pursuit. Pray to the Lord earnestly for direction then pursue your course with resolution. There is not anything you cannot do if you will set your mind to it. You can be excellent in every way. There is no need for you to be a scrub. Respect yourself. Do not dwell on unkind things that others may say about you. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eyes. You are worthy of the Kingdom of God. There is no adequate substitute for this marvelous blessing. There is attached to people who live a life of virtue, a promise of marvelous and wonderful blessings. We shall wax strong in the presence of God. Everyone likes beautiful things. However, we tend to think of them as a bit mysterious in their power over us and, in the greater scheme, not terribly important. We like beautiful things because we recognize in them a part of the good. There are lots of good things we aspire to be: kind, gentle, harmonious, balanced, peaceful, strong, dignified. These are qualities in people. However, they are also qualities in objects. We get moved and excited when we find in objects the qualities we need, but are missing in our lives. Beautiful objects, therefore, have a really edifying function, as they invite us to evolve in their direction to become as they are. Beauty can educate our souls. It follows that ugliness is a serious matter too, for it parades dangerous and damaged characteristics in front of us. It encourages us to be like it: harsh, chaotic, and brash. It makes it that much harder to be wise, kind and calm. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Study your options. Pray to the Lord earnestly for direction. Then pursue your course with resolution. Love life and look for its opportunities, and forever and always be loyal to God. Never forget that you came to Earth as a child of the divine Father, with something of divinity in your background. God did not send you here to fail. He did not give you life to waste it. God bestowed upon you the gift of mortality that you might gain experience—beneficial, wonderful, purposeful experience—that will lead to life eternal. God wants us to have the opportunity to grow and experience, to teach and lead, and encourage other. May God bless you richly and abundantly. We need censorship. Continuous exposure to a storm of confused voices is seriously bad for us. With education, we need to learn more than just maths or spellings, but how to be good: we need to learn about courage, self-control, reasonableness, independence, and calm. God, your heart is full of wisdom, truth, and love. You lead us to enjoy the beauty in creation, to engage each day with love in our hearts. You teach us to live lives brimming with your love and goodness. We are blessed to live in your care. Thank you that you guide us into true love and happiness by your gentle hand. We choose to give our lives to you each day, God. Bless it be. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Randolph Harris II International Institute 