Psyche (si' kee) is the Greek word for 'soul', represented anciently as a butterfly. It shows up in the philosophy of Plato, the theology of St. Paul, and as the root of the word 'psychoanalysis', coined by Freud in 1896. A state is a transitory condition discernable from other states. With the Psyche States Model (PSM), the many states of the human psyche have been consolidated into six abstract states, identified by the following labels: Disturbed, Guarded, Unsure, Liberated, Abundant, and Transcendent. Theoretically, your psyche is in one of these states right now.Rather than categorizing people using professional diagnosis criteria, or popular personality tests, the PSM focuses attention on how much time an individual spends in each state. A focus on the four main states of the PSM turns the PSM into a tool of the majority, since that is where most people spend most of their time. A key message of the PSM is, if you want a better life, spend less time in lower states and more time in higher states. But beware, for the PSM can stimulate extreme introspection.Much of the focus of this book is on the Liberated state because greater inner freedom is within the grasp of almost everyone who is willing to work at consciously choosing their course in life. The destiny of those who decline to choose their own path is to be constrained by whatever context they find themselves in, a context partly inherited and partly self-created. Taking personal responsibility for the blessings and baggage of your family, your culture, and your personal choices is how you accept who you are right now and then move on to higher ground. A smaller book called, A Liberated State Of Being, was derived from this book to allow those interested mostly in an application of the PSM to focus on positive things without having to wade through many pages of theory covering negative topics (see Create Space title 3516151).The PSM is one tool for gaining a better understanding of what motivates and drives human behavior. More accurate assessments of the states underlying human actions means fewer surprises, less reactivity, and more proactivity. Taking the initiative on a regular basis produces many rewards, including expanded liberty and greater abundance for yourself, your loved ones, and your community. Flap your wings little butterfly. Do not underestimate the power of the Butterfly effect. How you decide to live your life can effect many. Your actions can have far-reaching implications.
About the Author: Stephen Smith has a Math degree from San Jose State University, and has worked in the computing field for 25 years, with a focus on systems engineering, systems management, software development, and quality assurance. One of his primary interests is discovering ways that people can overcome the limiting nature of their current context that reduces their freedom to choose their own path. In writing this book he has leveraged his life experiences, his career involving computers, which operate on a state-based model, as well as extensive reading in subjects as diverse as human language and chaos theory to expand on a simple model of the psyche that occurred to him over 10 years ago while reading a book. Though he has great respect for the amazing artistic and objective achievements of humanity, such as math, philosophy, and science (including social sciences such as psychology), he recognizes a manifest complexity in each of his fellow humans, and other living things, that suggests the irreducibility of the soul. We are greater than the sum of our parts! (which is why the Psyche States Model is more influenced by holistic views of the psyche than it is by traditional psychological studies).