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A traditional form of Adult Developmental Science exists today
The contents of the human mind are formed by outside influences, and by our response to outside events.
"All his actions, movements, words, ideas, emotions, moods and thoughts are produced by external influences. By himself he is just an automaton with a certain store of memories of previous experiences, and a certain amount of reserve energy." Ouspensky, Psychological Lectures
In the West, developmental psychology is concerned largely with childhood, in part because there appears to be an assumption that development of the individual stops before adulthood. Because of this misconception, both these disciplines have shown little concern with the developmental psychology needed to help such people, and so they have drawn conflicting conclusions about the need for and the possibilities of such a discipline.
In ancient times there was a different kind of psychological science, but we have to understand what this actually means. Although therapeutic in nature, its concept of therapy was developmental: it sought to remedy mental distress by developing, not suppressing, the innate potential of the individual. In the present age, knowledge of the full development possible to man is not widespread, although many ineffectual or incomplete teachings about it exist. For this and other reasons, few people today understand or even begin to fulfil this possibility in their lives.
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