Confucius and Gautama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Confucius and Gautama - Essay Example First of all, Confucian philosophy is based on the principles of decent way of life in order to create a strong and functioning state where people happily live together and respect each other. Thats why Confucian philosophy is engaged with obedience and mutual respectful treatment of citizens of a state. While Gautamas principles mostly talk about some abstract enlightenment people should try to attend throughout their lives and the process of ascension above everything material and temporal. Still those who say that these philosophies are similar also right, because the ways that Confucius and Buddha propose to become good and descent are concerning obedience and respect, tranquility and personal growth. Even though Confucius and Gautama can frequently be considered as quite similar, still their philosophies are about different things. Confucius considers state as the highest priority for every citizen and human, when Buddha says that people should strive to the personal enlightenment and mental

Making Sense Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Making Sense - Essay Example to decide whether whatever going on is true or false, and whether it is good or bad. Making sense is a way to fulfill the curiosity of a person, and can be understood in levels of experiences which include; the five senses, affections and the memories whereby without these the experiences would be just plain data. Thus, to make sense of the data situational analysis is important i.e. what would be most suitable in a particular situation which would in turn lead towards good decision making. Moreover, to make good decisions, authenticity is the key, which is further characterized by experience, understanding, judgment and decision to decide if we are responsible or not. The most interesting part of making sense in this chapter was the proposition that we as humans are all truth seekers, we want to make sense of the world because we keep wondering, and we are always striving to remove the confusion around us, also because we are curious. These are all those realities which we can`t ign ore, and even practically speaking makes perfect sense as that is why we want to make sense of the world. Chapter 4: Making Sense, Epistemology This chapter focuses on the epistemology of making sense i.e. the philosophy behind making sense, which can be divided into four levels. These levels or stages include experience, understanding, judgment and decision. ... The external factors of perceptions include senses while the internal factors include affect (emotions etc). Further comes understanding and we can distinguish experience from understanding by considering that while experiences are singular, understanding involves concepts which are multiple and complex. To understand meanings, one should be innately curious which arouses the Eurika Movement i.e. the insights. Also, interests for understanding may b natural or cultivated while interests depend on the internal factors, thus in other words understanding involves intellect. On the other hand, judgment involves verification which implies that it means evidence. Experience and uncertainty principals are required to make judgment. Moreover, being judgmental means being reasonable. The most interesting and insightful part of this chapter involve the curiosity principal which is a must to understand, i.e. the Eureka Moment is induced by the tension of enquiry i.e. being curious. Therefore, b eing curious is naturally a pre-requisite of developing an understanding or in other world for understanding concepts intellectually. Chapter 5: Practical Wisdom This chapter aims at critically understanding the concept of morality and goodness, what we view as the moral agents etc. Also, this chapter intends on appreciating the structures created by humans which makes us authentic people. Lastly, to help us understand the levels of transcendence is also another purpose of the chapter. Firstly, we need to understand that morality is a characteristic found only in humans, and not found in other natural species, i.e. the Flora, Fauna or other cosmic forces. Morality is related to rationality and it is grounded in our religion, philosophy and hedonism. Next comes the concept of moral

Analysing The Use Of Electroconvulsive Therapy In Prisons Psychology Essay

Analysing The Use Of Electroconvulsive Therapy In Prisons Psychology Essay An inmate with depression may provide many difficulties into the penal system. Among other things depression may make an inmate more prone to violent as well as suicidal tendencies. In cases such as this it is important for an inmate to receive swift treatment as, in this state, they are a hazard to themselves as well as others. Electroconvulsive therapy is a treatment method that has been used to effectively treat individuals with severe depression for many years. It has been found to treat the illness faster and more effectively than many other depression treatment options. This manuscript briefly discusses depression within the penal system as well as goes into detail about electroconvulsive therapy and how it is effectively employed to assist those suffering from severe depression. An inmate within the penal system suffering from a mental illness presents unique challenges to the staff as well as fellow inmates within these facilities. Statistics indicate that inmates suffering from a mental illness are more prone to disciplinary problems within the correctional system and are also more prone to recidivism after release (James Glaze, 2006). One may surmise that, as the severity of the illness increases, the identified risks increase accordingly. This makes it extremely important for the staff of the facility to treat the illness in the quickest and most effective way possible. The standard first-line treatment for most mental disorders involves pharmacological or psychotherapeutic treatments or a combination of both (Potter, Rudorfer, Manji, 1991). In some cases pharmacological and psychotherapeutic methods take too much time or the inmate may not be able to tolerate the medications. In cases such as this, there are other methods which may be utilized in orde r to treat the inmates mental illness. This manuscript will focus upon the mental illness of depression while briefly discussing the effects it introduces into the penal system. It will also identify and discuss the method of electroconvulsive therapy and how it may be a prudent method for treating severe cases of depression within inmate populations. Due to time constraints the issue of informed consent in permitting treatment is not discussed. Literature Review In order to compose a manuscript upon the subject of depression and electroconvulsive therapy, a solid definition was needed. Definitions were provided through the use of the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary for electroconvulsive therapy (Electroshock Therapy, 2010) and from WordWeb for depression (Depression, 2010). Additionally, the DSM-IV provided the symptoms which accompany a diagnosis of major depressive disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) while the United Kingdom Advocacy Network (1995) provided a list of mental illnesses which ECT has been used to treat. James and Glaze (2006), through the Bureau of Justice Statistics, also provided statistics upon the mental illnesses and symptoms which are found within the penal system of the United States. It is upon this information that the manuscripts conclusions are partly based. The history of electroconvulsive therapy is discussed within the manuscript. Finger (2006) discussed how experiments upon the effects of electricity upon the brain can be traced back to Benjamin Franklin. Electroconvulsive therapy did not take its current form until 1938 when Cerletti and Bini started using electricity to treat those with mental illness (Endler, 1988). Weiner and Krystal (1994) discuss how the mainstream use of ECT declined greatly after the discovery of psychotherapeutic drugs in the 1950s and 1960s. Even though this is the case, Scott (2005) discusses how ECT is still the primary course of treatment for cases of severe depression. ECT has been proven to be an effective means through which depression is treated. Janicak, Davis, Gibbons, Ericksen, Chang, and Gallagher (1985) as well as Rudorfer, Henry, and Sackheim (1997) found that ECT performed better in controlled studies than any other form of treatment for depression. Other studies have shown that ECT also outperforms antidepressants in average effectiveness (Abrams, 1997) as well as the speed of its effects (Rudorfer, Henry, Sackheim, 1997). While the administration of ECT is an effective treatment of depression, it is not curative. Sackheim, Haskett, Mulsant, Thase, Mann, Pettinati, Greenberg, Crowe, Cooper, and Prudic (2001) found the relapse rate of ECT patients to be around 90% within the first six months after treatment. The chance of relapse can be lowered by either a continuation of treatment through the use of mood stabilizers and antidepressants (Sackeim, 1994) or through maintenance ECT treatments for approximately four to six weeks after the initial sessions (Rasmussen, 2003). Gagne, Furman, Carpenter, and Price (2000) found that the best results were produced through a combination of psychotherapeutic drugs and maintenance ECT sessions. Due to the controversial nature of ECT, the process of administration is briefly discussed within the manuscript. This was provided jointly by the Royal College of Psychiatrists (1995) as well as the Salford Community Health Council (1998). In this way, the facts about ECT may be better understood and controversial feelings about the treatment may be alleviated. As with any treatment, ECT produces certain side effects within the patients who choose to undergo this form of treatment. One such side effect includes memory and cognitive impairment. Scott (2005) discusses how this is a common side effect that is associated with ECT sessions. While this may be the case, Lisanby, Maddox, Prudic, Devanand, and Sackeim (2000) found that the memories that are lost are more likely to be of an impersonal nature rather than personal. It has been reported by Calev (1994) and Weiner (2000) that patients suffering from cognitive and memory losses improve substantially once the treatments are completed with few patients complaining of residual effects. Discussion Severe Depression in Inmate Populations Depression, as defined by WordNet, is a mental state characterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity (Depression, 2010). A survey conducted in 2006 by the Bureau of Justice Statistics on mental health problems of inmates within the penal system provides insight into the possible impact that depression may have upon those within the penal system. The survey found that within the 12 months prior to the conduction of the survey 23.9% within state prisons, 16.2% within federal prisons, and 30.4% within local prisons had experienced five or more symptoms indicative of major depressive disorder (James Glaze, 2006). Symptoms that are included within a diagnosis of major depressive disorder include thoughts of revenge, persistent anger or irritability, or whether the individual has ever attempted suicide among other symptoms (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Symptoms such as these may cause an inmate to act out violently against fellow inmates or staff as well as forcing staff to place the inmate under a suicide watch. This requires the institution to spend precious resources which may be better utilized elsewhere within the compound. In cases such as this, it would be helpful for the institution to have a treatment option at their disposal which could treat the inmates suffering from these symptoms swiftly with few side effects allowing them to integrate into the penal system with as few difficulties as possible. Electroconvulsive Therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is defined by Merriam-Webster Online as the treatment of mental disorder and especially depression by the application of electric current to the head of a usually anesthetized patient that induces unconsciousness and convulsive seizures in the brain (Electroshock Therapy, 2010). Early experimentation on the effects of electricity upon brain function may be traced back to Benjamin Franklin (Finger, 2006). ECT, as it is recognized today, was first used to treat mentally ill patients in 1938 by Cerletti and Bini (Endler, 1988) at which point it became a mainstream treatment. In the 1950s and the 1960s, psychotherapeutic drugs were discovered (Weiner Krystal, 1994) replacing ECT as the premiere treatment for certain forms of mental illness though its use continues to this day. ECT has been utilized to treat a large array of conditions including (United Kingdom Advocacy Network, 1995): Various neuropsychiatric conditions Mania Schizophrenia Post-natal depression Anxiety Hypomania Post-traumatic stress disorder Puerperal psychosis Currently, the only condition that ECT is the primary form of treatment for is that of severe depression (Scott, 2005). This is due to the fact of the severe symptoms caused by severe cases of depression such as extreme suicide attempts, suicidal thoughts, and refusal to eat. As is evidenced above, ECT has been proven time and time again through research and practice to be an effective means to treat several different psychological disorders. In fact, there have not been any controlled studies conducted where any other treatment has outperformed the effectiveness of ECT in the treatment of depression (Janicak, Davis, Gibbons, Ericksen, Chang, Gallagher, 1985; Rudorfer, Henry, Sackheim, 1997). It has been calculated that the average response rate of patients with major depression to ECT treatment is 70% to 90% compared to the response rate of antidepressant medications which are most commonly the primary treatment prescribed for depressive disorders which is 60% to 70% (Abrams, 1997). There has even been evidence presented showing that ECT produces the desired effects faster than that of antidepressants (Rudorfer, Henry, Sackheim, 1997). While the facts discussed above provide a strong argument for the use of ECT as a primary treatment for individuals suffering from severe depression, just as with antidepressants, it is not a curative treatment. Relapse in patients that have undergone ECT sessions have been found to be around 90% within six months after treatment (Sackheim, Haskett, Mulsant, Thase, Mann, Pettinati, Greenberg, Crowe, Cooper, Prudic, 2001). Therefore, in order to maintain the benefits of ECT sessions, it is necessary for a patient to receive future treatments within in the form of antidepressants and/or mood stabilizer medications (Sackeim, 1994) or weekly maintenance ECT sessions for approximately four to six weeks (Rasmussen, 2003). Gagne, Furman, Carpenter, and Price (2000) found that patients that received a continuation of a combination of the two treatment options were less likely to suffer from a relapse than those patients who received only antidepressant treatment. Therefore, if the patient i s administered the proper treatment options after the cessation of regular ECT sessions the patient should continue to reap the benefits that were provided during the initial sessions. Administration As one may presume, ECT is a precise treatment method which, if administered improperly, may inflict more damage to an individual rather than aiding in their recovery. Researchers continuously review data as well as run tests on the many different aspects of ECT and how each one affects the outcome of an individuals ECT session. This section briefly summarizes the procedure that is followed when administering ECT to an individual. During the administration of ECT the first thing that happens is an anesthesiologist administers a general anesthetic as well as a muscle relaxer. This causes the patient to fall asleep as well as causes all of the patients muscles to relax preventing the muscles from convulsing during the administration of the electrical shocks. As the anesthetic is administered the patient is also given oxygen which continues for the duration of the session. After the induction of sleep, a small electric current is passed through the brain of the patient through two small pads that are placed in specific regions on either both sides or the same side of the scalp causing mild convulsions within the brain. Once the procedure is over it may be necessary for the patient to undergo more sessions of ECT in order to receive the most positive effect possible from the treatments (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1995; Salford Community Health Council 1998). Side Effects As with any form of treatment through which something is being administered to an individuals body, ECT does produce certain side effects. The side effects most concerning to individuals during the decision of whether or not to partake in ECT are that of memory and cognitive impairment. Individuals upon which ECT has been administered have been found to suffer from amnesia in respect to events that happen both before and after an ECT session (Scott, 2005). While this may be the case, research has shown that the event memories that are lost are more likely to be of an impersonal rather than personal nature (Lisanby, Maddox, Prudic, Devanand, Sackeim, 2000). However, it has been reported that after the completion of a course of ECT, the patients memory losses improve substantially with a few patients reporting residual difficulties (Calev, 1994; Weiner, 2000). Conclusion Severe depression may introduce many different problems into an inmate population such as violent as well as suicidal tendencies. These are two propensities which a prison staff tries to suppress as quickly as possible. It has been found that sometimes, in severe cases of depression resulting in strong suicidal urges, psychotherapeutic drugs may not take effect quickly enough. In cases such as this, ECT may be the wisest treatment option available. Studies have found that ECT treats severe depression faster and more effectively than standard drug treatments which, in cases of violent and suicidal tendencies within the inmate population, is of the utmost importance. Once the initial ECT sessions have been completed, it should not be difficult for an inmate to receive continued treatments, both psychotherapeutic as well as ECT, to maintain the same positive effects that were produced by the initial treatments due to their incarcerated state. In this way, the inmate who suffered from th e severe depression may be reincorporated into the prison population without posing a risk to themselves or others due to mental illness.

Focus Groups Essay -- essays research papers

Focus Groups   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Focus groups are a qualitative form of marketing research that can help a marketer assess consumer needs and feelings in a way that simple questionnaires can not. In a focus group, you bring together a small group to discuss issues and concerns about the features of a product. Participants are usually paid a fee for their time. A marketer can gain valuable information such as gaining a customer’s attitudes and determining advertising persuasiveness. The group is typically run by a moderator who maintains the group's focus. Some recent topics of interest regarding this subject are focus groups for advertising, Online focus groups, and political focus groups.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Traditional focus groups usually deal with a consumers reaction to a product, whether it be good or bad. In today’s ad-packed media, marketers need to worry about how consumers react to their advertising. Many marketers have set up focus groups to do just that: gauge how efficient an ad is, whether or not the group was interested, and if the ad and brand name can be recalled from the spot.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Companies such as Motorola have used focus groups to gauge the effectiveness of commercials. When the company chose to launch the â€Å"Wings† campaign, they were unsure of what song would be appropriate for the T.V spot. An overwhelming response from a focus group led to the use of the Rolling Stones song â€Å"You Can’t Always Get What You Want†. Marketers at Motorola raised concerns of whether or not the song was appropriate, based on the title. After a positive response from their focus group, the company ran the ad. â€Å"overwhelmingly positive focus-group response to the Rolling Stones as a transgenerational and transgeographic icon confirmed people were more interested in the emotion of the music than the lyrics.† (Adage.com, Snyder)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While traditional focus groups and their face to face method of collecting data has proven to be effective, the internet has proven to be both more effective and more convenient. A traditional focus group normally consists of about 10 people, while an online group can reach thousands of participants. The DiscoverWhy group is one such group that holds online polls and focus groups for various companies. In order to test the effectiv... ...se the information wisely can gain valuable insight to difficult problems.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://adage.com/search97cgi/s97_cgi?action=View&VdkVgwKey=%2E%2E%2F%2E%2E%2F%2E%2E%2Fadage%2Fwww%2Fnews%5Fand%5Ffeatures%2Ffeatures%2F19980420%2Farticle2%2Ehtml&DocOffset=35&DocsFound=92&QueryZip=focus+group&SearchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fadage%2Ecom%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%3Faction%3DSearch%26QueryZip%3Dfocus%2Bgroup%26Filter%3Dadage%255Fbak%252Ehts%26ResultTemplate%3Dadage%255Fresults%252Ehts%26QueryText%3Dfocus%2Bgroup%26ResultStart%3D31%26ResultCount%3D10& http://adage.com/search97cgi/s97_cgi?action=View&VdkVgwKey=%2E%2E%2F%2E%2E%2F%2E%2E%2Fadage%2Fwww%2Finteractive%2Farticles%2F20000327%2Farticle1%2Ehtml&DocOffset=17&DocsFound=92&QueryZip=focus+groups&SearchUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fadage%2Ecom%2Fsearch97cgi%2Fs97%5Fcgi%3Faction%3DSearch%26QueryZip%3Dfocus%2Bgroups%26Filter%3Dadage%255Fbak%252Ehts%26ResultTemplate%3Dadage%255Fresults%252Ehts%26QueryText%3Dfocus%2Bgroups%26ResultStart%3D11%26ResultCount%3D10& http://www.adcritic.com/corporate/ http://www.mtv.com/sendme.tin?page=/mtv/news/chooseorlose/features/feature_0306.html

Our Brain’s Negative Bias/ Why Our Brains Are More Highly To Capture Negative Events

Brain’s â€Å"negative thinking† and â€Å"negativity† refers to those events that are not constructive and negate our feelings and desires. Conniff’s ideas on negativity stresses that even with all positive things in life, one negative thought or event becomes the focus of attention of a person. According to him problems are in a way part of our life. Only problems lead to success. Because problems crave our way to find solutions and eventually new opportunities in life are established. Until and unless there will be no problem, no one will ever go to work or strive for better.Hence, our brain has the capability to approach for the solutions in a positive way by positive thinking. Positive thinking makes a person courageous and strong enough to face hardships in life. Positive thinking generates new ideas to work on and prevent one from withdrawal. With every new problem and hardship every person faces some kind of mix attitude and behavior. Some negative feelings are produced that discourages a person and insist on withdrawal. Simultaneously positive thinking encourages us to overcome the problem and find new solutions to tackle it and think of better.Positive thinking approaches while negative thinking evokes withdrawal. However, both the systems are distinctly separate and operate independently. Smith et al (2003) demonstrated that negative stimuli grab more attention of the individual than positive stimuli. They measured PI component of ERP (event related brain potential) as an index for measuring attention allocated to particular stimuli. They investigate how the event is processed and how the positive and negative information is differentiated. Positive and negative stimuli evoke attention differentially. Negative stimuli grab attention more than positive stimuli.Certain negative stimuli capture attention more than negative stimuli which elicit lesser response. This research confirms the idea of confinn’s that negative stimuli evoke stronger response. Researchers measure electric responses. Paul Rozin and Edward Royzman in their research â€Å"Negative stimuli, Negative dominance and Contagion† hypothesize that all animals and humans give greater attention to negative and threatening event and stimulus as compared to positive one. According to Peeters et al (1989) the reason that negative stimuli grasp more attention is their infrequent and sudden occurrence.As positive stimuli are presumed to be natural and everyone is adapted to their occurrence, hence no one is shocked when they occur. But negative stimuli are rare one and it is usually unnatural and unrealistic to have it and no one wants or assumes it to happen, but when it does it creates shock, anger and fear. The negative bias and negative events are more dominant and prevalent as compared to positive ones. Secondly they postulate that there is no urgency in positive stimuli and their frequent occurrence makes us adaptive to it.But negative stimuli are very rare and sometimes, dangerous and alarming, that requires urgent reaction to it. Negativity always contaminates positivism. Like even small amount of pollution can easily contaminate large area of pure atmosphere. Some negative stimuli are threatening and create fear that produce an urge a need for defense and escape from that environment. Paul Rozin describes three different neural systems designed to escape from danger. The three neural systems are at different levels of Central nervous system.One is at the level of spinal cord, at limbic system and at the level of cortex. The reflex mechanism at the level of spinal cord let the person withdraw immediately from painful stimulus like touching a hot stove. The person immediately withdrew hand from the stove without giving it a thought and before the stimulus reaches the cortex. Rozin suggests that always being playful and happy may never let us progress in life and look for new opportunities. He also propos es that positive reactions are only short lived while negative actions have long lasting effects.Even men who have done something wrong their outcomes last even after they die. Further, the effects of negativity are much stronger that even small amount of negative stimuli can destroy positive effects. The example he quoted is that small amount of tar can ruin a whole barrel of honey while a small amount of honey can do nothing to the barrel of tar. Thus, the negative stimuli are much stronger and potent. The chapter 3 in Conniff’s book and the remaining two articles are in conformity with each other support the idea of negativity having more influence than positive events.I agree with conniff’s idea about negativity bias because in our day to day observation we can see that negative events affect our emotions more strongly than do positive events. One more thing that I can suggest is that negative stimuli evoke stronger response when they occur first time in a sudden. However, the same negative event or stimulus occurring repeatedly can lower the response generated as humans and animals become adaptive to it and gradually they change their environment or behavior in a way to either avoid it or become accommodated with it.Hence, negative stimuli occurring again and again may not produce same response as that was produced at first time. References Coniff, Richard (2005). The Ape In The Corner Office. Chapter 3 (pp. -33-39). N. Kyle Smitha

Science and Shamanism

Just like Science, Shamanism started a very long time ago. As Shamanism is considered as archaic magico-religious phenomenon in which the shaman is the great master of ecstasy, Science is also known as an ancient part of life in which its masters are called Natural Philosophers and later are known as Scientists. There are many commonalities and similarities between Science and Shamanism. Shamanism without their knowing also incorporates scientific methods while performing and making potions from herbs. Same with Shamans, Scientist also perform tasks and experiments by using special tools.Both Shamanism and Science respond to society’s needs. A very good example is by healing. Scientist conduct experiments and tests to discover medicines that can cure illness just like shamans. Thus, we can say that Science and Shamanism somewhat are related to each other, but however there are still factors that keep them apart. First, Shamanism in terms of healing is not really accepted by we stern Science, why? Because both of them can heal certain patients their sources of healing are undoubtedly very different. Shamanism is a range of beliefs, rituals and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world.They heal people by mending souls. Shaman gains knowledge or power to heal an individual by entering the spiritual world or its dimension. The shaman may acquire many spirit guides in the spirit world, these guides direct the shaman in his/her travels. The spirits are always present in the Shaman though others only encounter one when there is a Shaman around. The Shaman heals by returning ‘lost' parts of the human soul from wherever they have gone to. The Shaman also cleanses excess negative energies which confuse or pollute the soul.Science on the other hand is a systematic enterprise of knowledge about nature and organizing and condensing that knowledge into testable laws and theories. These laws and theories are used by scientist to invent things and cure diseases by making medicines and vaccines. Scientists perform research toward a more comprehensive understanding of nature, including physical, mathematical and social realms. Since Science is a complex branch of understanding and has many fields of expertise, thus Scientist don’t call or rely on spirits but rather use scientific knowledge.Scientists study different fields of science to gain knowledge and use that knowledge to help people. This knowledge is used in biomedical research. Biomedical research is a research concerning medicines that cure people scientifically unlike shamans that use spirits in healing. This is another factor that sets shamanism apart from science. Another factor that sets Science and Shamanism apart is the basic implicit principle in Shamanism that there are two realities and that the perception of each depends upon one's state of consciousness.In this principle 2 realities are stated. The first is â€Å"OR† or â€Å"ordinary reality † in which those in the â€Å"ordinary state of consciousness† (OSC) are the ones that are involved in this. Scientists and ordinary people are considered to belong in this â€Å"OR†. On the other hand Shamans believe that they do have another kind of reality. They call this the â€Å"NOR† or non-ordinary reality in which those in the â€Å"shamanic state of consciousness† (SSC) are the only ones who can experience this. And lastly, people who believe that Science is more accurate never relied on Shamanism.Not only in medical purposes but also in anything that Science can prove and study. Thus, a boundary between people who believe in Science and the ones who have faith in Shamanism is made. Since Scientists study things very carefully before ordinary people deal with it, most of the western people believe that Shamanism is just a fiction. On the other hand the ones who believe in Shamanism also think the same way western people think. Because of th is line people who have their own beliefs never tried or tested both. A very great example is during ancient times.Since then Science never believed and accepted that spirits are real. Historical origins prove the attacks of the Church on such pioneering scientists as Galileo and Copernicus during the Renaissance and Reformation. Up to the present Scientist never believed spirits. One of the great scientists that never believed spirits is Einstein. He believed â€Å"spirits† or â€Å"souls† are otherwise anathema and not acceptable as part of the paradigm. This results to the limitation of the parameters of science by decreeing that certain prior phenomena cannot have existence.It also resulted to limitation of science whose Achilles heel is founded upon an unproven belief: the belief that spirits, including souls, cannot exists. Science has never disproven the theory of the existence of spirits. Thus, disproof of theory, or falsification, is a cornerstone of scientifi c method(cf. Popper). As long as the theory of spirits cannot be falsified by science the line between Shamanism and Science will never be gone. However this factors that separate Science and Shamanism apart can still be bridged.As we all know healing both in Science and in Shamanism do have processes. These processes can be studied by science which I think has the greater knowledge to prove things. Once Science has discovered the way shamans heal they can infer scientific methods on the way and methods Shamans perform their healing. Not only that, from what I’ve read like Science, Shamanism can also be studied. Studying Shamanism can be one of the bridges that can unite the two. Another way to bridge the two is by scientist not only studying the Shamans’ methods but also by performing and being one of them.Thus, Scientists can train ecstatically and traditionally for them to have a greater knowledge of how Shamans communicate with spirits. In this ways scientist can p erform trances that can make them one of the Shamans and be on the â€Å"shamanic state of consciousness†. These trances will also help them feel and experience how Shamans talk with what they call spirits and how Shamans experience the non-ordinary reality. Lastly, as Scientists engage and be part of shamanic society there they can prove or falsify if Shamanism is either true or just a fiction.In order to bridge these two Scientists who have more knowledge and grasp of experimenting must use themselves as experiment samples for them to achieve what they want. If they have proven that Shamanism can be true then maybe somehow they can make a way to connect the way Shamans perform their methods because they themselves are also Shamans. In this way scientific method will therefore be broader and can be used in Shamanism. Thus, Shamanism can be considered a branch of science.