Behavior

NamelessRiver

I have seen meditations techniques being described as means to affect how we feel and ultimately how we act [ok, biting my tongue here in relation to what I said in the Ethics thread :P], but they usually try to go from a change of perspective (for example, seeing the faults of anger) to a change in behavior, or evoking a certain feeling (for example, compassion) that ultimately leads to behaving in a certain manner.

When you act without a correspondent perspective or feeling it might seem a bit forced but my question is: can behavior influence feelings\perspectives the same way feelings\perspectives influence behavior? That is, if I act a certain way will the correspondent feelings or perspectives develop naturally, like it tends to happen the other way around?

I know posting this in a buddhist forum is a long shot, because it seems more related to psychology, but what do you guys think? If anybody can point me to sources of information on the subject I'd appreciate too.

fivebells

Yes, for instance if you steal, you will tend to see the world as full of thieves.

federica

This is exactly, I believe, the same question HH the DL asked neurological scientists.
Scientists expound that emotions and feelings, perceptions and views manipulate our behavioural responses.
He was also asking whether the reverse was possible...
Scientists adamantly presume that cannot be so.
HH the DL wanted to know why.
They couldn't tell him......

RenGalskap

federica wrote: »

This is exactly, I believe, the same question HH the DL asked neurological scientists.
Scientists expound that emotions and feelings, perceptions and views manipulate our behavioural responses.
He was also asking whether the reverse was possible...
Scientists adamantly presume that cannot be so.
HH the DL wanted to know why.
They couldn't tell him......

If that's true, I wonder what group of scientists he was talking to. I was under the impression that the chicken and egg relationship of thought and behavior was widely accepted. The article I linked to in the Instant Karma thread describes a study that shows behavior causing thought. To the best of my knowledge this isn't particularly controversial.

If you think about it, the brain must respond to all perceptions, including the perception of our own behavior. If the mind was incapable of responding to our own behavior, it would be malfunctioning. To follow up 5B's example, if we steal, we have to explain/justify the stealing to ourselves. The behavior makes it necessary to create certain thoughts.

Some group of researchers in Britain recently published a paper that claims to show that we choose our sexual morality based on our reproductive strategy. In other words, our sexual morality is a result of our sexual behavior, and not the other way around.

aMatt

NamelessRiver wrote: »

can behavior influence feelings\perspectives the same way feelings\perspectives influence behavior? That is, if I act a certain way will the correspondent feelings or perspectives develop naturally, like it tends to happen the other way around?

Yes of course. Thoughts are behaviors of the mind, emotions are behaviors of the body... and both reflect the actions of the hands and feet as mirror.

When people take acting lessons, they are told to sit this way and that way, to stand or walk in a certain way. Those actions get them deeper into the character, because as they walk, they feel, and as they feel the character, they think more like the character and can express the emotion of the character.

DairyLama

NamelessRiver wrote: »

That is, if I act a certain way will the correspondent feelings or perspectives develop naturally, like it tends to happen the other way around?

Definitely. It could be argued that's how the precepts work.

P

Barra

Absolutely.
Long ago I read advice that you should put a smile on your face even if you don't feel particularly 'smiley'. So I made it a habit to form a pleasant face. That alone makes me feel better. Lots of times I'll be walking around and notice that people will spontaneously smile at me. Having forgotten how I 'put' my face, my reaction is - oh, aren't people nice! Which makes me feel great.
Just try it, and you'll see that it works!

FoibleFull

Yes ... cognitive dissonance, for one:

www.answers.com
psychological theory of human behavior. The theory suggests that conflicts between behavior and beliefs create a sense of discomfort, or cognitive dissonance, that the individual subconsciously attempts to eliminate by modifying his or her beliefs.

And, for two:
Cognitive behavioral therapy works on the principle that if you change your self-statements, you will change your behavior. For that matter, so does Buddhism (but Buddha did it better!).

lamaramadingdong

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” Thich Nhat Hahn

zombiegirl

have you ever seen the movie "What the bleep?" this is slightly 0T, but it brings up a similar topic with an interesting view. they suggest that what we think about has the ability to change the way our minds are actually wired. the neurons in our brain have thousands of synapses (the actual number is still debatable, though) which have the ability to communicate with all of the other neurons and muscles and glands, etc. this can allow us the ability to associate ideas.

in the documentary they used the example of love. say you go through a particularly hard break up and you basically, get your heart broken. for a certain period of time, everything reminding you of love is going to be associated with hurt. your brain has built neuron pathways associating these ideas. the basic premise is, "yes, you become what you think about."

i guess my point is, if they are correct and this is possible, then surely behavior can form associations in your mind as well. though, i would think that the feeling/perspective achieved would just be a result of the external result received. for example, if you smile at others and others smile at you, you have formed a positive association between giving positivity and receiving it. if every time you smiled, someone hit you in the head with a rock... i don't think you'd smile very often, haha. obviously this doesn't typically happen, as the most common response to being nice to others is others being nice to you. i think you could also argue that some people form positive associations from negative behaviors, such as theft or lying, because it has worked for them and produces positive results. they are likely to stop only when it ceases to achieve a positive result.

so in my opinion, yes, it is completely possible to go into the world with no preconceived feelings or perspectives, just a behavior... but without those feelings or perspectives reaffirming the behavior, the end result of whether or not the behavior is deemed favorable or not would be entirely dependent on the results received.