Extended Thoughts from
A Succinct Summary of
the Theology of Gary Marvin Davison
Thus, humanity is an infant in
time. Very few human beings understand
either their own place in Eternity or the psychological factors that determine
the course of their lives. Given the
enormous stretch of time that transpired after the birth of the universe and
the formation of Earth prior to the evolution of humanity, humankind’s search
for meaning is still in a nascent stage.
Until the very recent
development of Enlightenment thought, humankind mostly sought answers to
Existence in religious myths induced by perception of natural events and
supposition as to how those events came to be in Creation. The insights of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler,
Newton, and then Einstein challenged the literal truth of Creation myths and
introduced scientific discovery as a better source of explanation for natural
phenomena and reasons for human behavior.
In the course of the 20th
century two great psychologists worked their way through the confused morass of
nascent social science to establish the foundations of human behavior:
Sigmund Freud found that much of
human behavior may be explained in mostly unremembered but formative events,
including especially those events that shaped the person in infancy, but also later
events recorded in the unconscious or in the even more recondite subconscious. As the individual moves through life, she or
he acts first to satisfy basic human needs and impulses of the Id, then to
situate the Ego safely in the world, with the presence of a Superego of varying
morality largely derived from the values learned from one’s parents.
B. F. Skinner, while utilizing
very different terminology and gathering information with much more rigorous
scientific techniques than were employed by Freud, would actually find much of
value in Freud’s notions of determinative experiences in infancy and
youth. Further, Skinner’s concept of
primary reinforcers resonates with Freud’s conception of the id. But Skinner also placed extreme importance on
secondary reinforcers (money, love, aversive and pleasant experience) that
determine behavior throughout life beyond infancy and youth, combining with
those early life experiences to produce the behavior and observed personality
of the person at any given time in life.
Taking early and ongoing
experience to together, the human being behaves as she or he does as a result
of positive reinforcers (rewards), punishments (aversive experiences), and
negative reinforcers (the withdrawal of punishment as a reward for altered behavior)
that operate on the human organism immediately, in the context of past
experience.
Humanity is still working
through the insights of the Enlightenment.
The impact of scientific discoveries and the explanatory power of those
discoveries turned many people away from religion. Some religious people developed theologies
compatible with science, transforming religious myth into metaphor and acting
upon the best in the ethnical systems of the major traditions. Others clung to the religions of the past.
Whichever response to the
Enlightenment taken, most people have not been able to handle the truth that
behavior is not the result of free will but rather determined by operant
conditioning as described by Skinner.
My own Buddho-Daoist Christian theology
incorporates the insights into Existence and exalted moral codes from the
pertinent three belief systems into a philosophy guided by Rationality. Religious Truth is metaphorical and sensed, having
much in common with art and nature. I am
consciously influenced by religion as thus conceptualized and stand in awe of Existence
and the Great Gift bestowed upon me by Life;
any behavior of mine, though, including those behaviors influenced by
religion, I evaluate via rational cognitive processes, with a clear
understanding that those cognitive processes operate in a context governed by
the principles of operant conditioning.
Thus, I do not have free will,
but by building a strong information base, I can use abundant knowledge to make
better decisions, with decision-making ability distinguished from free
will: Decisions occur not as the result
of volition, but rather as the result of human intelligence utilized to
understand the environmental context that determines behavior, so as to realize
the political, social, and cultural environment most likely to produce the best
possible Life for humanity.
Joy is felt in the moment as
elation under given circumstances and in the context of accumulated personal
experience.
Happiness is enduring
satisfaction with the course of one’s life.
Joy is to be evaluated for
consistency with exalted ethical conduct and regarded with great gratitude as
Divine Gift.
Happiness when achieved will
accompany the person all through life.
The Happy person will embrace
the wonder of religion, nature, and art while acting according to the
principles of scientific and rational thought, knowing that the activation of
intelligence upon a strong information base so as to make the best decisions
possible under the principles of operant conditioning provides a basis for
optimism that by establishing the proper environment the best Life for all
people awaits the future of humanity.
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