Essential Self Research Articles

Biochemical characterization of the feedforward loop between CDK1 and FOXM1 in epidermal stem cells

The complex network governing self-renewal in epidermal stem cells (EPSCs) is only partially defined. FOXM1 is one of the main players in this network, but the upstream signals regulating its activity remain to be elucidated. In this study, we identify cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) as the principal kinase controlling FOXM1 activity in human primary keratinocytes. Mass spectrometry identified CDK1 as a key hub in a stem cell-associated protein network, showing its upregulation and interaction with essential self renewal-related markers. CDK1 phosphorylates FOXM1 at specific residues, stabilizing the protein and enhancing its nuclear localization and transcriptional activity, promoting self-renewal. Additionally, FOXM1 binds to the CDK1 promoter, inducing its expression.We identify the CDK1-FOXM1 feedforward loop as a critical axis sustaining EPSCs during in vitro cultivation. Understanding the upstream regulators of FOXM1 activity offers new insights into the biochemical mechanisms underlying self-renewal and differentiation in human primary keratinocytes.

Empathy and Self-Empathy in the Anthropological Dimension of Modernity

Purpose. In the article, the author questions rethinking the phenomena of empathy and self-empathy as modes of self-understanding of humanity and the inner intention to self-exploration of human spirituality. Theoretical basis. The research is based on the phenomenological dimension of modern anthropology and axiology. Originality. The change of the traditional intersubjective approach in the understanding of empathy to an introsubjective one and the affirmation of self-empathy as one of the defining existences in human beings, which is adjusted by the altruism-egoism value scale and forms the skills of unconditional empathic action towards the Other as a mode of self-exploration in the spiritual essence of a person are argued. Conclusions. The commonplace in a wide palette of research views on empathy is the construct for the Self – Other disposition and the intersubjective approach emphasizing the object of empathy. Transformation of the intention vector of empathic consciousness from the object to the subject of empathic action opens up deep possibilities of spiritual improvement as a way of self-awareness in the human essence. The transformation of the intention vector of empathic consciousness from intersubjective (I in the Other) to introsubjective (I through the Other) has the potential for spiritual development according to the altruism-egoism value scale. Empathy as an introsubjective position of self-exploration is inseparably connected with self-empathy, which in the mutual integration of its three main components – benevolence towards oneself, reflexivity towards one’s own experience and a tendency to understand one’s fate as common to all mankind – forms an important regulator of self-understanding of a person’s spiritual potential and the possibility of the practical extrapolation for these skills to an empathic way of communication at all levels of anthropo-being. Anthropological accentuation on the inner essence and meanings of human existence is carried out through intuition and self-altruism as the fading of pragmatic interest in the socially conditioned Self (Ego) and immersion in the essential Self – the bearer of the universal spiritual in a person. Self-empathy is considered in the context of the ideas of Stoicism as a deep self-immersion in the human essence and sensitivity to immediate emotional internal states, as a construct of emotional intelligence and a way of realizing individual uniqueness in the context of the metamodern concept of atopy. Self-empathy is defined as one of the key existences in human beings, which forms the skill of altruistic (unconditional) implementation of empathy.

Enhance Knowing Thyself and Self-Development Based on Personality Types Through LKMM Implementation

Getting to know and developing oneself is a task in every stage of human life development. Knowing and developing oneself into a potential individual, various approaches and methods should be used to achieve the goals. LKMM is one of the many approaches and ways to help students recognize and develop their own self potential. What does the abbreviation LKMM stand for? The abbreviation LKMM stands for the following characteristics: L (Latihan) K (Keterampilan) M (Manajemen) M (Mahasiswa) which means Students Skill Management Training (SSMT). The aim of this journal article is to re-mix the theme of "self-recognition and development" which is conducted in LKMM activities based on theories of self-recognition and self-development. Two methods are used to summarize this review, namely a literature review as a theoretical framework and a personality type assessment for volunteer participants and a lecturing method in three days LKMM activities. The results of the assessment and its interpretation supported by a lot of theories are presented in this review. The main elements discussed in this article are the essence of self, knowing thyself, and one's own potential, self-development, and LKMM as a training program and the guidelines of its implementation. This activity was held in collaboration with the HMPS PGSD committee and the Counseling Service Center and Campus Ministry of the University of Flores. The target group is third semester PGSD students at Flores University. The element of novelty of this article is that within the scope of PGSD at the University of Flores, there has never been a psychological examination related to the types of personality traits that can be used as a reference for fostering self-recognition and development of students.

Mission Transformation in the Millennial Era

Christians generally understand mission as an attempt to preach the gospel to people who do not yet believe in Jesus. If someone has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, then the mission to that person is considered complete. With this understanding, some Christians then possibly misrepresent Christianity, they are trapped by religious worship traditions and put aside the essence of self as the “image” and “likeness” of God. Using a qualitative descriptive method this study raises facts in the lives of Christians In Jakarta, Indonesia. Through this study’s results, Christians are expected to understand their essence as followers of Jesus. Changing the paradigm of Christianity and salvation is very important for transforming every Christian’s mission definition. In this millennial era, the church must focus on mature faith to teach the purpose of human life in the world and eternity..

Exploring the cultural perspectives and implications of infertility among couples in the Talensi and Nabdam Districts of the upper east region of Ghana

BackgroundInfertility remains a major clinical and social problem, affecting approximately one in every 10 couples. It is a reproductive health condition that is silently experienced with deep repercussions in the essence of self. In Ghana childbearing is considered a social prestige, where the couples are unduly pressurized to bear children for purposes of genealogical continuity.PurposeThis study explored the cultural perspectives and implications among males and females experiencing infertility in the Talensi and Nabdam districts of the Upper East Region of Ghana.MethodsThis study used an ethnographic design to explore the perspectives of couples on socio-cultural beliefs about infertility on 15 participants made up of 8 male and 7 female couple units. Participants were selected using a purposive sampling technique while semi-structured interviews were used to explore the cultural implications on male and female couple units. The data were analysed using Tesch’s method of analysing qualitative data.ResultsTwo broad themes and five subthemes emerged from the data analysis regarding the cultural implications of infertility. The major themes and subthemes include: (1) Varying cultural perceptions of infertility (Cultural beliefs and perceptions regarding causes of infertility, cultural consequences of infertility and traditional remedies for infertility), and (2) family dynamics stemming from infertility (abuse from family members, and parenthood as a standard for family inheritance).ConclusionsThis study adduces evidence of the cultural implications of infertility in rural Ghana. Considering the cultural inclination of most Ghanaian communities, especially the current study setting, it is imperative that policymakers and public health practitioners should consider fertility interventions that are culturally sensitive. Also, culturally sensitive intervention programs that are targeted at increasing the awareness of the rural population on fertility and its treatment should be considered.

Professional counselors in training perceptions of forgiveness and wellness

ABSTRACT This exploratory study examined professional counselor identity through the relationship between wellness and forgiveness in counselors in training (N=72). Participants perceived themselves as experiencing high levels of wellness on the 5F-Wel. The Creative Self and Essential Self predicted HFS-Situations, and the Creative Self accounted for HFS-Others and HFS Total. Implications for counselor education are discussed.

John Dewey, Eastern Philosophy, and the American Avant-Garde: Art and Education in Becoming

Abstract This article begins with a brief comparative analysis of John Dewey’s pragmatic naturalism and several prominent themes from Zen and Confucianism often associated with Dewey. These conceptual themes are then used to examine the combined influence of Dewey and Eastern philosophy on two leading 20th Century American avant-garde artists, John Cage and Allan Kaprow. It is then argued that the work of these artists suggests avenues for cultural enrichment and personal growth and renewal through the arts that reject the dualistic and reductionist premises of Western liberal individualism and its excesses; the disembodied and detached subject of Descartes; the invariant “true” or essential self of Plato; de-situated and compartmentalized views of human experience; and the supposition that the arts are superfluous adornments to the more practical affairs of daily living, all of which tend to disrupt democratic forms of life but remain commonplace in prevailing sociocultural norms and institutional practices (including formal schooling) in the U.S.

Privacy without persons: a Buddhist critique of surveillance capitalism

Much has been written about artificial intelligence (AI) perpetuating social inequity and disenfranchising marginalized groups (Barocas in SSRN J, 2016; Goodman in Law and Ethics of AI, 2017; Buolamwini and Gebru in Conference on Fairness, Accountability and Transparency, 2018). It is a sad irony that virtually all of these critiques are exclusively couched in concepts and theories from the Western philosophical tradition (Algorithm Watch in AI ethics guidelines global inventory, 2021; Goffi in Sapiens, 2021). In particular, Buddhist philosophy is, with a few notable exceptions (Hongladarom in A Buddhist Theory of Privacy, Springer, Singapore, 2016; Hongladarom in The Ethics of AI and Robotics A Buddhist Viewpoint, Lexington Book, Maryland, 2020; Hongladarom in MIT Technology Review, 2021; Lin et al. in Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications fo Robotics, MIT, Cambridge, 2012; Promta and Einar Himma in J Inf Commun Ethics Soc 6(2):172–187, 2008), completely ignored. This inattention to non-Western philosophy perpetuates a pernicious form of intellectual imperialism (Alatas in Southeast Asian J Soc Sci 28(1):23–45, 2000), and deprives the field of vital intellectual resources. The aim of this article is twofold: to introduce Buddhist concepts and arguments to an unfamiliar audience and to demonstrate how those concepts can be fruitfully deployed within the field of AI ethics. In part one, I develop a Buddhist inspired critique of two propositions about privacy: that the scope of privacy is defined by an essential connection between certain types of information and personal identity (i.e., what makes a person who they are), and that privacy is intrinsically valuable as a part of human dignity (Council of the European Union in Position of the Council on General Data Protection Regulation, 2016). The Buddhist doctrine of not self (anattā) rejects the existence of a stable and essential self. According to this view, persons are fictions and questions of personal identity have no ultimate answer. From a Buddhist perspective, the scope and value of privacy are entirely determined by contextual norms—nothing is intrinsically private nor is privacy intrinsically valuable (Nissenbaum in Theor Inq Law 20(1):221–256, 2019). In part two, I show how this shift in perspective reveals a new critique of surveillance capitalism (Zuboff in J Inf Technol 30(1):75–89, 2015). While other ethical analyses of surveillance capitalism focus on its scale and scope of illegitimate data collection, I examine the relationship between targeted advertising and what Buddhism holds to be the three causes of suffering: ignorance, craving and aversion. From a Buddhist perspective, the foremost reason to be wary of surveillance capitalism is not that it depends on systematic violations of our privacy, but that it systematically distorts and perverts the true nature of reality, instilling a fundamentally misguided and corrupting conception of human flourishing. Privacy, it turns out, may be a red herring to the extent that critiques of surveillance capitalism frame surveillance, rather than capitalism, as the primary object of concern. A Buddhist critique, however, reveals that surveillance capitalism is merely the latest symptom of a deeper disease.

Reconciling essential and socially constructed selves: Han Chinese travelling to Tibet and the making of assemblage self

In post‐reform China, Han Chinese urbanities traveling to Tibet have contributed to a new literary genre that documents tourist mobility as a means of self‐finding and self‐exploration. The sample of data in this study consists of 28 book‐length travel writings by Han travellers, and the primary research question addresses the relationships between tourism mobility and self‐making, a widely debated issue in cultural and tourism geographies. Engaging with the conceptual tension between an essential self and a socially constructed self, this study argues that while Han writers' travels to Tibet are germane to the hunt for an essential self as a hidden treasure to be redeemed, the self is by no means merely introspective, but intrinsically relational and constituted by social, embodied and materially mediated practices. For the purpose of reconciling and synthesizing the two theoretical positions, this study proposes an alternative concept known as the ‘assemblage self’, which tries to capture how the more‐than‐human and more‐than‐representational dimensions of mobilities can speak back powerfully to the phenomenology of the self. This concept is relational and performative in the sense that it is constituted by networks of discourses, practices, and materialities. We develop this concept by engaging with the recent literature on more‐than‐representational mobility as a conceptual nexus connecting the concepts of the essential self and the socially constructed self.

The process of learning the autogenic training relaxation technique and its benefits on the wellness of people living with HIV

BackgroundVarious mind-body practices are used by people living with HIV to promote their general well-being. Among these is autogenic training (AT), a self-guided relaxation technique requiring regular practice for observable benefits. However, little has been written about the process of learning this technique, which is obviously a prerequisite to regular practice. This study therefore aims to describe the process by which people living with HIV learn AT.MethodsThe study is a descriptive qualitative study using semi-structured interviews and a thematic analysis with a mixed approach. Fourteen participants living with HIV completed sessions to learn autogenic training over a period of 3 months.ResultsThe process of learning AT was approached through three themes: initiating the learning process, taking ownership of the technique, and observing its benefits on wellness. To initiate learning, participants had to express a need to take action on an aspect of their well-being and their openness to complementary approaches to care. Taking ownership of the technique was facilitated by guidance from the nurse researcher, the participants’ personal adaptations to overcome barriers to their practice, regular practice, and rapid observation of its benefits. Finally, the participants reported the observation of benefits on their wellness, including personal development, mainly in terms of the creative self, the essential self, and the coping self. This perception of the technique’s benefits was part of the learning process, as it contributed both to the participants’ ownership of the technique and to reinforcing their AT practice.ConclusionsPeople living with HIV see learning AT as a progressive process, in which wellness is a major outcome and a contributing factor in developing a regular practice.

As If You Were There

What is involved in framing a counterfactual? Let’s say I have a daydream about living in Shakespeare’s time. Who would I be and what would I do? Well, I’d go to the Globe, that much I know for sure, and bring a notebook. Of course, it is impossible for me to have lived in Shakespeare’s time, for the “me” that is having this revery is the result of genealogies, circumstances, and relationships that cannot be displaced from the second half of the twentieth century without tearing apart the structure of all world history. To have this imagination, I must first assume that there is a “me” that can be transported into times and places whose definition excludes that “me.” Perhaps the concept of an essential self or soul derives from the wish to pursue such scenarios beyond the point at which they crash into inescapable contradictions.

A Psychospiritual Exploration of the Transpersonal Self as the Ground of Healing

This paper focuses on the transpersonal Self as the psychological and spiritual healing factor in psychotherapy and addiction recovery, and illustrates the importance of bringing awareness of the Self and the energy of wholeness into focus with clients in the therapeutic process. The concept and experience of Self is explored through the psychospiritual therapeutic model of Internal Family Systems and through a spiritual lens of the nondual wisdom traditions derived from Advaita Vedanta and aspects of Kashmir Shaivism. Obstacles to the recognition of Self, approaches to facilitating this recognition, and the therapeutic benefits of knowing the essential Self are examined through the author’s personal experience with these models and their use in overcoming depression, anxiety, eating disorders and addiction. Psychotherapeutic interventions that support making contact with the Self are examined as well as the implications of Self-knowing on personal relationships, behavior and inner experiences, as well as how one relates to others and the world.

ADDRESSING THE CAUSES OF CONFLICT-RELATED SEXUAL VIOLENCE WITH THE BUDDHIST DOCTRINE OF LACK OF A PERMANENT SELF AND MEDITATION TRAINING

ABSTRACT Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) against both male and female combatants, as well as civilians, remains a reality of war despite global efforts to address it. International humanitarian law (IHL) unequivocally condemns sexual violence in armed conflict, and there are specific measures addressing this issue in IHL. However, Buddhist teachings and practices to address sexual violence in armed conflict have not been extensively researched, despite the prevalence of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict involving Buddhist communities. This article examines Buddhist teachings and practices relevant to addressing this challenge, identifying where these align with IHL, as well as proposing how Buddhist teachings may reduce the likelihood of CRSV. It is proposed that insight into the Buddhist teaching on lack of a permanent, essential self, as expounded in the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta, coupled with meditation, is a practical means of dispelling the toxic conceptions of gender that exacerbate sexual violence in armed conflict and of fostering compassionate behaviour towards others. As brought to light by recent neurological research, Buddhist meditation practices lessen the ‘self’-focused outlook common to humans and increase the capacity for compassion, active empathy and resilience to peer pressure. Training in Buddhist meditation, supported by explanation of relevant Buddhist teachings, may therefore significantly reduce the cultural and individual attitudes that currently exacerbate the risks of CRSV.

Essential Self of Natalie Waite in Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson

In light of a 2016 biography and 2020 feature film about writer Shirley Jackson, contemporary readers are rediscovering Jackson’s work. One novel of interest is Hangsaman (1951). This is a book in motion, with shifting realities and narratives that are mirrored in the author’s naming schemes. Moments of disorientation in Hangsaman originate in, and reflect, the inner life of protagonist Natalie Waite. There seem to be multiple Natalies who struggle at times to be whole, and at other times to be a different person entirely. Along with these vicissitudes in personality, the protagonist takes on variations on the name Natalie. At the point at which she is at the greatest risk of losing herself completely, Natalie adopts a new name, the gender-ambiguous Tony. Natalie is ultimately saved from slipping away and becoming Tony through the author’s device of false starts, i.e., opportunities for characters to relive and rename events in a new light, in a different reality. Natalie’s internal journey has been, all along, tracked by her public and private names.

IEC 61499 Device Management Model through the lenses of RMAS

Abstract The RMAS (relational-model multi-agent system) architecture has been proven promising towards the introduction of autonomic intelligence for industrial agents, and suitable for the enforcement of some parts of the reference model in the IEC 61499 standard, for distributed adaptive automation and control systems, namely the Resource model and the Function Block model. In this paper, the analysis is extended to the Device Management model. The RMAS is overlaid on the structures of this model in order to demonstrate that it can constitute factual and promising means for the expression of essential self-* capabilities of autonomic industrial agents. The analysis here conducted covers also some aspects of the XAI (explainable artificial intelligence), due to their relevance in industrial context. RMAS results a fundamental step for the factual introduction of AI in industrial playground, as a technology framework for the explainability, controllability, and quality of the intelligent automation solutions for industry.

A Lacanian Reading of Orhan Pamuk᾽s The Black Book

From long time ago up to now, and in the trend of the human’s thought development, question about identity and the essence of self has been always an attractive matter for thinking. Searching for a lost soul mate, that can be supposed as a reflection of ourselves has been a great challenge for human beings, as well. The present research focuses on a type of psychoanalytic criticism which is based on ideas developed by Jacques Lacan in regard to Orhan Pamuk’s The Black Book. Lacan as a psychologist with a post-structuralist viewpoint believes that the unconscious is structured like a language. He states that language, the signifying chain with a perpetual sliding of the signified under the signifier, never provides "ultimate meaning" or a "transcendental signified". Accordingly, this study represents a Lacanian reading of Orhan Pamuk᾽s The Black Book with emphasis on the main roles of the "other", and language in forming of the unconscious and individual identity. Galip, the protagonist of the novel, apparently is in search of his lost wife "Rüya". But in fact, following this lack, he starts his search for knowing himself through a chain of signifiers. However, this search does not lead him to reach to a complete ultimate meaning of his "self". His bewildered subject cannot anchor at a fix point of integrated and wholeness of the "self".

A DREAM OF THE SELF: IDENTITY IN THE “INNER CHAPTERS” OF THEZHUANGZI

AbstractThis article examines self and identity in the “Inner Chapters” (neipian內篇) of theZhuangzi莊子. Previous scholarship on this topic has tended to support its arguments by defining the “Way” (dao道) as either a normative order or an objective reality. By contrast, this article argues that the Way is a neutral designation for the composite, ever-changing patterns of the cosmos that does not provide normative guidance.Within this cosmos, the human “self” (shen身) is likewise defined as a composite, mutable entity that displays “tendencies” (qing情) of behavior and thought. Two of these tendencies include the positing of unitary agents and the creation of “identities” (ming名)—imaginative constructs used for self-definition. As a result of combining and reifying the two tendencies, most humans conflate their identities with their larger selves. The result is a simplified vision of an essential self that gives rise to normative judgements, blinds humans to the changing cosmos, and creates problematic social structures.The text advocates that one should retrain the tendency toward identity by cultivating an inviolate “sense of self” or “virtue” (de德) that is empty of specific identity. Virtue acts as an emotionally safe space in which the mirror-like mind can temporarily take on the identities of other creatures. This practice increases practitioners’ empathetic understanding of the world, detaches them from destructive social structures, and has the potential to generate new versions of human society.

АФФЕКТИВНО-ДЕСТРУКТИВНАЯ МОДЕЛЬ БУНТА-РАЗГУЛА «БОЛЬНОЙ» РУССКОЙ ДУШИ В ТВОРЧЕСТВЕ К. КИНЧЕВА

From the point of view of the original author’s meta-disciplinary theories of synthetic linguistic personality and cognitive-pragmatic programs, the article shows that the “heroic” model of consciousness / cognitive-pragmatic programs of the rock poet K. Kinchev is actually an attempt of senseless self-destructive rebellion. Reproducing A. Bashlachev’s cognitive model, K. Kinchev produces not salvational “breakthrough to freedom”, but destructive and affective states: irresistible love-hate; “harmonization” of consciousness by “dissolution” of one’s “essential self”, most often through unrestrained drinking; doom and the feeling of impending tragic outcome. Good turns into evil here, life - into death, truth - into lie, faith - into disbelief; aspirations for an individual’s spiritual revival, freedom, justice, sincerity turn into affective illusions.

More than our Body: Minimal and Enactive Selfhood in Global Paralysis

This paper looks to phenomenology and enactive cognition in order to shed light on the self and sense of self of patients with locked-in syndrome. It critically discusses the concept of the minimal self, both in its phenomenological and ontological dimension. Ontologically speaking, the self is considered to be equal to a person’s sensorimotor embodiment. This bodily self also grounds the minimal sense of self as being a distinct experiential subject. The view from the minimal bodily self presupposes that sociality comes after the self, or that in other words, the essence of self remains independent of our social interactions and relations. In this paper, I rely on the idea of enactive autonomy and Heidegger’s and Merleau-Ponty’s views of human existence as primordially social, to argue for the contrary. The self is fundamentally relational and this is also reflected at the level of the subjective experience of being a self. I indicate how a strong relational view of selfhood can serve as a preliminary heuristic to make sense of the situation of the patient with LIS and conclude with some practical implications concerning patient autonomy, our ethical responsibility toward the patient, and the possibilities for improving the life of patients with LIS.

Irremedial Work and Act‐Person Merger: Constructing Irredeemable Selves in Death Penalty Trials

Irremedial work is an interpretive practice aimed at establishing a vital connection between a person's untoward behavior and his true self. Fifteen death penalty trial transcripts are employed as strategic research materials to examine how an individual's transgressions and the thoughts and feelings purportedly associated with his misconduct are merged with his self. A qualitative content analysis of these data identifies four recurring themes in the prosecution's efforts to fuse defendants’ alleged crimes with their real selves: sacrilege, culpability, malevolence, and act‐person merger. The argument presented in this study can be extended by investigating bottom‐up irremedial work, the responses of those defined as irredeemable, and by considering cases where act‐person merger is experienced as an authentic expression of an individual's essential self.