ArlenJ.com
July 28, 2020
Soviet revolutionary and politician Leon Trotsky was staunchly anti-capitalist. He believed social classes cause perpetual struggle. His goal was to end such divisions with Marxist principles. He believed social classes inhibited conscious connection and turned people into servants of materialism. His views on the foregoing, which he called “reshaping of man” were summed up in his 1924 work Literature and Revolution.
Man will make it his purpose to master his own feelings, to raise his instincts to the heights of consciousness, to make them transparent, to extend the wires of his will into hidden recesses, and thereby to raise himself to a new plane, to create a higher social biologic type, or, if you please, a superman.
Lev Vygotsky used that quote in his 1926 doctoral dissertation called Psychology of Art. He concluded said dissertation with a quote from Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza:
That of which the body is capable has not yet been determined.
Trotsky and Spinoza shaped many of Vygotsky’s theories, particularly his focus on self-empowerment.
Who is Lev Vygotsky?
Vygotsky was born in Belarus in 1896, which was then part of the Russian Empire. He was admitted to Moscow University in 1913. He studied medicine for a year before transferring to law school. Vygotsky never earned a degree because the Bolshevik Uprising in 1917 disrupted his studies. He became a prominent representative of the Bolshevik government in Gomel (Belarus) thereafter.
The Psychological Institute of Moscow invited him to be a research fellow in 1924. Though he completed his aforementioned Ph.D in 1926, it was not published until sometime in the 1960s. Vygotsky died of tuberculosis in 1934 at age 37. But by then he had made his marks in philosophy, politics and psychology, particularly as they relate to the concept of self-talk.
Vygotsky Circle and self-talk
Vygotsky first explored self-talk as a psychological concept in the 1920s. His work is often cited as foundational research in the realms of cognitive development and social development theory. Russian neuropsychologist Alexander Romanovich Luria was establishing himself at Moscow University’s Clinic of Nervous Diseases at that same time. He was a preeminent researcher on various types of neurosis. Vygotsky and Luria teamed up in 1925. The two men set out to understand “elementary and higher mental functions” in both adults and children.
A highly influential network of scientists, educators and doctors became Vygotsky collaborators. They expanded on his work from the late 1920s until the beginning of World War II. This group incorporated Vygotsky’s theories into their own work and further flushed out concepts related to social and interpersonal relations.
The Vygotsky Circle was integral towards from development of Soviet science. They were particularly interested in childhood development. The consensus was that children needed one vital tool to become self-regulated adults. This was the beginning of positive self-talk. The Vygotsky Circle sometimes referred to it as “private speech” or “inner speech.”
ALPHA by Prodigy Mindset Internal Monologue System (IMS)
Positive self-talk is, for whatever reason, discounted as a scientific field of study in 21st century academia. Dr. Paul Karoly, professor of psychology at Arizona State University, told ArlenJ.com that books and articles are often written about internal speech and its relevance to motivation, learning, and psychopathology. But he said self-talk as a discipline is mostly observed as assessments administered to college students to measure their confidence levels.
The ALPHA by Prodigy Mindset Gym™ helps men connect with their authentic selves. Every man has an internal monologue system (IMS) that is integral to self-confidence and actualization of full potential. Muhammad Ali told everyone daily he was “the greatest.” He manifested positive self-talk into one of the most storied boxing careers of all-time. The IMS works in same way. It exists on mid-level brain frequencies that men are trained to connect with reflexively. The 21-day ALPHA training cycles focus on mental repetitions. Positive self-talk becomes second nature and a powerful tool for men of all ages.
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