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Index of Papers
Link to Dr Little’s collection
of papers on mental health and social policy, click
here to review.
Link to Dr Little’s collection of papers
"Why we do what we do: a paradigm for social science",
click
here to review.
These books can be downloaded
for US$4.99 follow instructions at site.
Preliminary papers
These two papers represent preliminary thinking on both psychological and sociological issues.
They were published in the UNESCO journal impact of science on society in the early eighties.
Creativity and conflict in psychological science, written about 1982, in particular summarises the problem I set out to solve. Had I known it would take 20 years, I might have reconsidered.
Overview and summary of the foundations and practical consequences
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The paper makes no attempt at detail and is not tightly referenced to the main papers. Thus this paper sets out to achieve the limited aim of providing insight into the overall conceptual structure of the work of Dr Little. More...
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General theories of cause, knowledge and
psychology
General Theory of sociology and culture
Mental health, mental illness and other
applications of the theory of psychology
- Definitions
of insanity and mental illness and the impossibility of temporary
insanity
- Nouskills:
Skills of the Mind
- Psychological
theory and its impact on mental health practice and policy
- A
strategy for mental health policy and the process theory of
psychology
- Mental
health and social policy
Paper presented to the World Federation
of Mental Health Biennial Conference Melbourne 21-26 February
2003
- The cause of violence
- The causes of depression
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Depression is a known major health issue throughout the free world (WHO report). This paper is the application of the model to this major affliction and offers a complete solution to the cause of depression leading to social policy for reducing the incidence and impact of depression in a population. The paper also shows how current official public and typical academic opinion in fact exacerbates depression in a population in exact opposition to stated intentions. In addition the paper lays out the power in the application of strategic thinking to intellectual problems, resolves the body/mind problem, defines the nature and role of causality in human affairs, defines the nature and role of the ’unconscious’ in human affairs, lays the foundation of a new paradigm for social science, matches existing data on depression to the model and offers full explanation where often none exists (for example, why negative schema do not correlate with depression), specifies and makes clear the crucial role of self-management, and defines fully the nature and structure of the human spirit and its role in human affairs. Depression emerges as a psychological affliction manageable only by the person afflicted, with the paper showing how this is most unlikely unless the person understands their own psyche, knows how to manage it, and believes they can. Continue ... (NB: Requires Acrobat Reader)
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General issues arising from the
theories
Strategic thinking in science and philosophy
These papers follow the development of Dr Little's insight into role of strategic thinking. The first two papers were written beginning 2002, the paper Strategic thinking in academic judgement and editorship was written end of 2003. The final paper written in 2005 is the realisation of the work; the paper Toward a better standard of judgement than peer review critiques peer review, finding it seriously wanting, and offers an alternative system of judging the quality and integrity of intellectual effort intended to increase the overall level of human wisdom..
The implications are significant, for example, were the more rigorous standard applied, then much of the world's intellectual legacy would be nullified, the world would need to begin again in many areas. Second, there would be a sharp reduction of accepted work, with emphasis on intellectual substance as defined in the paper. Third there would be significant changes in the management and editorship of journals, and a shift away from university position as the basis of acceptability and status, including a de-emphasis of scholarship and referencing, both seen as signifying very little to nothing in relation to real intellectual substance. Fourth, there would be progressive social re-building of respect for rational thought, with the core of rationality, science, having a clear and defined structure that intrinsically enforces appropriate ethics. Ethics do not make a scientist, it is the following of science as properly conceived that makes a scientist, ethics being subsequent to the commitment to science and reflecting the essential discipline of the endeavour making science's motto my own: May passion ever move me, but reason be my guide. But not manipulated reason, or the overly elaborated logic of philosophy, but the reason as derived and arising from the very nature and structure of science itself.
Are only academics intelligent?
Are academics necessarily the only ones able to deal with complex issues and questions? Should we expect academics to acknowledge sources regardless of whether or not it is peer reviewed? If good ideas exist outside academe, what expectations should apply to those academics dealing with related topics and ideas? These and other issues are highlighted in the episode involving Professor Graham Macdonald of Canterbury University, the Royal Society of New Zealand, and the New Zealand Government funding agency The Marsden fund and its trustees and funding committees, and myself. Read more...
Strategic human resource management
Political papers
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