Opinion: How to Study Humanistic Psychology

SYNOPSISOne of the most important ideas which is being discussed at the moment is the notion of levels of consciousness. It is a deeply embarrassing notion, because it suggests that some people are further on in their mental development than others, and are actually thinking differently from the average. This is a disturbing idea for many people, because it seems to threaten the democratic ideal. Of course it does not. What I am trying to do in this article is to give evidence for the belief that Humanistic Psychology comes from, and relates to, a higher level of thought than the everyday thinking of black and white, yes or no, either/or, one or zero—and which is generally labelled as ‘dialectical logic’, or ‘second-tier thought’. In this article I am trying to explore some of the facets of this conceptual jewel.