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Tom Adi speaks on the solution to uniting America through cognitive modelling

Hope for a Nation: Will this Unite Americans Across Party Lines?

By IGI Global Scientific Publishing on May 10, 2017
Hope for a Nation: Will this unite Americans across Party Lines?
With the election of Donald Trump, America has seen an onslaught of political protests, startling headlines and brawls between political parties. Some shout to impeach him, while others say he is what will “Make America Great Again.” For decades, people have been looking for the solution to bring contesting opinions together and with this escalation, America needs to find the solution.

But what if the answer is closer than citizens think? It is not what people think about politics, but how people think about politics. Tom Adi, a lead researcher and teacher at The Readware Institute in Gainesville, Florida, believes that it is all a matter of cognitive modelling and social development.

What is cognitive modelling and how does it relate to American political parties?

Cognition is based on language. The sounds of the alphabet represent two abstract dimensions: process types and process modes. Process modes are closed self, closed group, open self and open group. This sequence represents many cognitive principles, one of which is the stages of human socio-cognitive development. There appears to be an intrinsic tie between social development and cognitive development.

The lowest level of cognitive development "closed self" is associated with the lowest level of social development. Closed self, i.e. being selfish and self-centered is associated with primitive cognitive skills: concrete thinking. Although the next mode of "closed group" is more advanced, socially and cognitively, it is still a very low level of human socio-cognitive development, characterized by non-flexible generalizations. American society is strongly organized in closed groups: parties, clubs and other exclusive organizations. Here we find Democrats, Republicans, nationalists, feminists, etc.

The next level of socio-cognitive development is the "open self" mode which takes place inside a closed group. People here are not bound by norms. They can think in the abstract, but they still see themselves as part of a closed special group (intellectuals), and they don't really care about other groups or even their own group. Open-mindedness, loose definitions, and abstract thinking enable them to be hypocritical and dishonest.

To be socio-cognitively mature, you need to develop yourself up to the mode of "open group." Here you have an open mind inside an open group. You are a caring and discerning human being. You can balance your interests with those of others. Your abstract thinking is checked by universal, transcendent principles. Most importantly, you are open to inspiration and guidance by something beyond yourself and beyond this world. Your cognitive processes are guided by inspired interpretation of abstract models.

Why do you think the majority of Americans are organized in closed groups?

The choice of norm-setter heavily determines the level of cognitive development. A citizen who strongly belongs to a separate subgroup of society automatically chooses this mode of functioning. The leaders of this group are role models. They are the socio-spiritual anchors, the lords, the politicians and the norm-setters. The cognitive level of functioning is limited to concrete thinking and non-flexible generalizations. Partisanship, tribalism and racism may be rampant in this mode of functioning. They don't think. They follow. Their leaders think for them.

In your opinion, do you believe that America will ever be able to settle their political differences?

For Americans to unite, they need to abandon their socio-emotional idols:“my parent is my lord" (closed self), "my party leaders are my lords" (closed group) and "I am the lord” (open self). All that must be abandoned and instead, they need to be what they say they are: "One Nation Under God." They need to consider the creator alone as their lord and norm-setter. In order to get their daily supplies of subconscious interpretations of language-based cognitive models, they need to pray to the creator instead of listening with awe and reverence to party leaders, celebrities and pundits.

Continually, Americans need to be able to think about concepts and systems, through being charitable to the underprivileged and to other parties, groups and foreign nations. They need to understand what is happening in the American system through caring about what is happening in the systems of other nations. Finally, to be able to make proper mental judgments, they need to be certain of the fact that they will be judged after death.

A sincere thank you to Tom Adi for taking the time to speak with IGI Global and sharing his thoughts on politics and cognitive modelling. For more information on his research, please take the time to review his video lecture on cognitive modeling systems.

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