Can Our Leaders Psychoanalyze Our Enemies?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                            

I just watched a discussion with Dr. Eric R. Mandel as the person interviewed on JBS program with Shakar Azari,   In the News, Iran Nuclear Talks.  In it, Dr. Mandel was explaining that there is a difference in thinking patterns of people in the Middle east Islamists like Iran compared to the USA.  What we've been doing is thinking that they are thinking like we do.  They're slightly different, especially about "lying, and when it's permissible".  They have a few different scruples (my word).  I wondered if our psychologists are aware of this;  that depending on what part of the world you are from can determine how your thinking patterns are?  

"Dr. Eric Mandel is the founder and Director of MEPIN™, the Middle East Political and Information Network™. MEPIN is a private Middle East research analysis read by members of Congress, their foreign policy advisors, members of the Knesset, journalists, and organizational leaders. He regularly briefs members of Congress and their staffs about the current geo-political situation in the Middle East.                                       

He also meets with members of the Israeli leadership and think tanks.    Dr. Mandel is a regular columnist for The Jerusalem Post, contributor to The Hill and The Forward, and regularly appears on i24 TV news, writing and speaking about America’s geopolitical challenges in the Middle East; Iran, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Hezbollah, Saudi Arabia, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

He was an excellent speaker and explained how such people in our government high up just didn't get their ambitions and how far they have gone in dealing with the nuclear energy and other problems.  

From my experience in reading and writing about Israel's history with Persia/Iran and other adversaries that we've had, I can certainly see his point.  It is especially important to understand Iran today, being they had been holders of a vast empire.  They'd like to get back to that point.  

The Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy said that "The psychological views delineated by Aristotle were the dominant paradigm for Muslim philosophers, as modified by Hellenistic variations expressing Platonic perspectives. The 9th to the 12th centuries is the period of rigorous philosophizing that characterizes classical Islamic philosophy, and it is the period and subject with which this article is concerned. It is divided as follows:"

"1. Sources and First Expressions: Al-Kindî and Razi

Aristotle's philosophy of mind in Islamic philosophy is a combination of what we would today call psychology and physiology, and is not limited to investigations of our rational faculty. However important, the “mind” or intellect, with its practical and theoretical aspects, is only part of the falâsifa's “science of the soul.” Their main sources are found in three Aristotelian treatises: On the Soul (De anima), On Sense and Sensibilia (De Sensu et Sensibili), and On Memory and Recollection (De Memoria et Reminiscentia). The last two belong to a series of nine short physical treatises, called accordingly Parva Naturalia, and include two that deal with the related topic of dreams and prophesying by means of dreams."

As a defender of Israel, he wrote: In October, I wrote an article for the JewishMedia News Service www.jns.org, and I say that our young people sound like they are very apathetic to Israel, and I ask, why?                                                                           

, “Young American Jews and Israel,” citing a statistic from a recent Cohen and Kelman poll: 50 percent of young American Jews would not consider the destruction of Israel a personal tragedy. In contrast, 80 percent of their elders                                                                             

      — American Jews over the age of 65 — reported that Israel’s destruction would be a personal tragedy for them. I based the article on an observation by Daniel Gordis in his new book, “The Promise of Israel.” He writes: ““…when the ingathering of exiles after two thousand years does not strike a chord of sheer awe, Jews have lost sight of the real significance of Israel’s recreation. When Jews the world over do not recognize that the delegitimization of Israel affects them…a renewed discourse is desperately needed.”             

"One problem is a lack of information. There are people across the age spectrum who want to advocate for Israel but don’t feel comfortable with their level of knowledge or in speaking up. That’s where I help, he said. "          

"The people who are our adversaries have their own set of facts. Winston Churchill said, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” Once a lie is put out to the public, there is no accountability, and the media go back to the same people again and again to ask for facts and quotes, even if they are not true."

                                           

           There are pathological and compulsive liars.  I fell for one on line today, showing a picture of 4 sisters; and I fell for it; I clicked and all of a sudden the computer went crazy, bells, ringing, noise, and it said, "DO NOT TURN YOUR COMPUTER OFF.  And I did and was saved.  I'll never do that again.  You can't even trust your metallic computer these days, and I knew better.  What does that say of me?  Gullible.  So we gullibles who like people must be cautious, especially when we're watching news on TV.  

Not only is this so true of the people who run our government, but us too, analyzing  things we watch and read and citing from what perspective they are coming from in their presentations.  We have to beware of becoming like the worker ants who just react without any personal thinking.  

Resource:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-mandel-3007a0144?challengeId=AQHYnHGDHTEIRgAAAX3Z4Z9prh4yaQnliNVkGMaZyeIPdoVdWmowN2Qv_lQEQIuXveXJUmLK1oj8PLgOXbsFecDoenW3eyI8kA&submissionId=08b481eb-da95-c216-6d25-45d06149cc3d

https://www.jpost.com/author/eric-r-mandel

https://mepinanalysis.org/

https://www.jns.org/writers/eric-r-mandel/

not secure:  http://www.jewishledger.com/2012/12/conversation-with-dr-eric-r-mandel-%E2%80%A8/