Operational Psychology is a theory of psychology and personality developed to provide operational definitions of psychological terms including mind, behavior, feelings, including sensations and emotions, personality, mental problems, and mental health which can better explain human nature and which can be used to unify the field of psychology.
 

Definition of Philosophy
Personal Philosophy
Reality [Natural Phenomena]
People, Objects and Events
Truth and Falsity
Concepts, Principles and Techniques
Causality
The Source of Causality
Knowledge and Belief
Verification and Falsification
Proof
The Code of Science
The Scientific Method

I. The Mind
 
Desires, Fears and Priorities
Conscious, Subconscious and Unconscious Desires, Fears and Priorities
Realistic and Unrealistic Desires, Fears and Priorities
The Realization of a Desire or a Fear
Achievable and Unachievable Desires and Fears
Appropriate and Inappropriate Desires, Fears and Priorities
Physiological and Psychological Desires
The Hierarchy of Desires
The Concept of a Problem
The Problem-Solving Process
The Decision-Making Process
 
II. Feelings
 
Physiological Feelings (Sensations)
The Three Basic Sensations
Psychological Feelings (Emotions)
The Four Basic Emotions
 
The Components of a Desire
Proactive Desires
Reactive Desires
Affective Reactions
Impulsive Reactions
Objective and Subjective Reactive Desires

III. The Developmental Sequence of Feelings: The Desire/Realization/Feeling Sequence

IV. Conflicts

V. Mental Problems
 

Un-Peace-of-Mind
 
VI. Mental Health
 
Peace-of-Mind
 
VII. Behavior

VIII. Personality

IX. The Functioning of the Mind: Self-Esteem

X. Selfishness: Personal Selfishness vs. Social Selfishness
 

Cooperation and Coercion
Civilization: Its Beginning and Renewal
 
The Originality of Operational Psychology
Psychology: The Question and The Answer
Summary
Bibliography

A woman named Jane, a man named Dick and a ball are all objects. Jane will be Jane, Dick will be Dick, and the ball will be a ball for a longer time than an event in which Jane throws the ball to Dick.

If the objects known as Jane, Dick and the ball have a relationship in which Jane throws the ball to Dick, then that relationship qualifies as an event.

The earth is an object, and so is the sun, and the relationship of the earth circling about the sun in its natural orbit is an event that lasts much longer than the typical lifetime of a person, and of other objects upon the earth, such as trees, mountains, etc.

Jane, Dick and the ball all may have shorter identities than the event of the orbit of the earth about the sun, but the singular event of Jane's throwing the ball to Dick occurs at a specific point in time and over a limited period of time much shorter than the existence of Jane, Dick or the ball, therefore, at our choice, we can choose to label Jane, Dick and the ball to be objects and the relationship of Jane's throwing the ball to Dick to be an event.

For example, the principle that using muscles increases muscle strength, size and speed can be applied by the technique of lifting weights and other muscle-developing exercises.

Falsification is proving false/denying/disconfirming a proposition, an assertion, a claim of fact, or an hypothesis.
    To deny/falsify is to prove not true, to prove false. To disconfirm is to prove false. To deny/falsify is to prove false [disconfirm] a concept, principle or technique.

1. Physical evidence consisting of people/objects events who/which can be, have been and will be observed/measured by people who have used their normal five perceptual senses of sight/hearing/touch/smell/taste [and using, if necessary, devices such as telescopes, microscopes, and audio amplifiers, etc., to aid and augment their five perceptual senses].
2. Eyewitness reports of observed/measured people/objects/events from credible witnesses. "Credible" shall mean the witness is verified by the observations of other people to be truthful, competent, mentally stable, and not likely to be making eyewitness reports for personal gain but, instead, to provide information which can be used by all people as knowledge to be used for making decisions and for solving problems.

Logical arguments consisting of verifiable and verified premises leading to a conclusion which has to be true if the premises are true. The people/objects/events of the concepts, principles and techniques which are the premises of a logical argument must be verifiable and falsifiable, therefore they must be real, as contrasted with ideas about people/objects/events which are speculations which cannot be verified nor falsified. The verification of the premises must be beyond a doubt; otherwise the unverified premises shall not serve as proof that the conclusion is necessarily true.

II. Scientists must create operational definitions of the terms they wish to use so they can communicate effectively with themselves, with other scientists, and with nonscientists. [3]
    Operational definitions are definitions which present the observations and/or measurements [descriptions] of the people/objects/events who/which are natural phenomena; operational definitions can be used to define complex and abstract concepts, principles and techniques. For example, children often use sentence structures of "_____ [concept/principle being defined] is when _____ [observation/measurement/description of the actions/reactions of people/objects/events being operationally defined]." A child may create an operational definition of love in the following way: "Love is when someone says they like you and they do nice objects for you and with you." The child's observation/measurement/description of the actions/reactions of someone who loves provides an operational definition of the term love.

III. Scientists must follow the scientific method in determining the causality of people/objects/events. [4]

1. Specify the unit of study [the people/objects/events to be studied].
2. Observe and/or measure the units of study to gather data.
3. Create a causal hypothesis which describes and predicts the causes of effects among the people/objects/events who/which are the units of study.
4. Observe/measure more people/objects/events who/which are units of study to gather additional data which can be used to confirm [verify] or deny the causal hypothesis].
5. Determine if or not the additional data confirm/verify or deny the causal hypothesis.

If the data confirm the causal hypothesis, then let other people know of the hypothesis and the scientific method that lead to the creation and confirmation of the hypothesis, and declare the verified/confirmed hypothesis to be a scientific law/law of nature; but if the data do not confirm the causal hypothesis, then either revise the hypothesis to fit the data, or else create a new hypothesis and follow the Scientific Method Steps 4-6.

IV. Scientists must list the scientific principles they have determined to be verified laws of nature, so other people can know what scientists claim to be knowledge. Moreover, scientists must publish/present the observations and measurements of natural phenomena (units of study) by which they created and by which they confirmed/verified their causal hypotheses in order that other scientists may replicate/duplicate their observations and measurements to confirm/deny their causal hypotheses and claims of scientific principles.

1. To understand the motivation/causality of human beings' behavior,
2. To solve the problems of a lack of operational definitions of the psychological terms mind, behavior, feelings, including sensations [physical/organic/involuntary/unlearned feelings] and emotions [mental/nonorganic/voluntary/learned feelings], personality, mental problems, and mental health; and, of course, psychology and psychologist.
3. To help people to enjoy happier and therefore better lives.

[Long Definition]: The mind is an individual's personal system of conscious, subconscious and unconscious physiological/unlearned/involuntary and psychological/learned/voluntary desires, fears and priorities which causes his actions and reactions which are his behavior and which include his feelings as his reactions to realizations of his desires, fears and priorities including his sensations as physical/organic/involuntary reactions of pleasure and pain to realizations of his physiological/unlearned/involuntary desires fears and priorities, and his emotions as his mental/hedonic/voluntary reactions of happiness and unhappiness as sadness, anger and/or fear to realizations of his psychological/learned/voluntary desires, fears and priorities, his personality as his desires, fears and priorities in action and reaction [observable in his actions and reactions], his mental problems [un-peace-of-mind] as his unachievable and/or inappropriate proactive and reactive desires, fears and priorities, and his mental health [peace-of-mind] as his achievable and appropriate proactive and reactive desires, fears and priorities.

A fear is not-wanting a person/object/event.

Desires and fears are interrelated by being opposites.

The opposite of the desire to live is the fear of dying; the opposite of the desire to make money is the fear of not making money, or of losing money; the desire to be loved is the opposite of the fear of not being loved.

A priority is a desire for the achievement of a desire or the avoidance of a fear in preference to the achievement of another desire or the avoidance of another fear.

The term desire(s) can be used to represent/designate all desires, fears and priorities for convenience.

A subconscious desire is a desire of which an individual is not immediately aware but can become aware with a modest effort.

An unconscious desire is a desire of which an individual is not immediately aware but can become aware only with an extraordinary effort.

An unrealistic desire is an unachievable desire and/or an inappropriate desire.

An unachievable desire is a desire which cannot be achieved, which cannot be positively realized, which cannot be actualized, which can only be the content of an idea, a fantasy.

For example, a specific psychological desire for a Seven-Up™ is an appropriate desire which can achieve the general psychological desire for a soda which can achieve the physiological desire for a liquid to slake thirst. The general psychological desire for a soda is an appropriate desire which can achieve a physiological desire for a liquid to slake thirst.

For example, a diabetic may have an inappropriate psychological desire for food that could trigger an insulin reaction that could kill him and thereby not achieve his physiological desire to live.

For example, Sam may have an inappropriate specific psychological desire for Shirley who is not loyal and therefore will not achieve his general psychological desire for a trustworthy mate, and who may not achieve his physiological desire for reproduction (if she is impregnated by another man and fools Sam into thinking the child is his).

A reactive desire is a desire for a reaction to a realization of a proactive desire. [Reactive = For Reaction]

    If an individual has a desire to drink a liquid, he may have environmental choices of water, white and chocolate milk, sodas including Seven-Up™, Pepsi™, and Coke™. He may experiment with his environmental choices and learn that he likes [has a priority for] sodas—Seven-Up™, Pepsi™, and Coke™—better than milk or water, and thus he may learn/develop a general psychological desire for sodas when he experiences a physiological desire to drink a liquid. He may then experiment with tonics and learn that he likes Seven-Up™ in preference to Pepsi™ and Coke™, and thus he may develop a specific psychological desire for a Seven-Up™ when he develops a physiological desire to drink a liquid.

A problem is learning (determining) how to achieve a desire or avoid a fear.

Any and all problems consist of learning how to achieve desires and avoid fears.

Any problem is a desire to learn how to achieve desires and avoid fears. The six-step problem-solving process is a technique by which desires can be achieved, fears can be avoided, and problems can be solved.

The Problem-Solving Process:

    The Decision-Making Process:

    The decision-making process is Steps 4 and 5 of the problem-solving process. It is used only when there are two or more solutions to a problem. With only one solution there is no decision to be made among alternatives.

Feelings are reactions to realizations of proactive desires, fears and priorities.

A realization is the achievement or nonachievement of a desire and/or the avoidance or nonavoidance of a fear.

A positive realization is the achievement of a desire or the avoidance of a fear.
A negative realization is the nonachievement of a desire or the nonavoidance of a fear.

Physiological feelings/sensations/organic reactions are experienced along a continuum.

Pleasure from the perception of satisfaction [satiation]. [Enough is necessarily good.]

Pain from the perception of an excess. [Too much is not necessarily good.]

Psychological feelings/emotions are experienced along a continuum.

Unhappiness is a negative emotional reaction to a perception of the nonachievement of a desire or a nonavoidance of a fear [a negative realization].

Sadness from a perception of a loss or no hope of achieving a desire.
Anger from a perception of a violation/frustration of an expectancy of achieving a desire, a promise, a contract, a law, and/or an ethic.
Fear from a perception of a threat of a loss, of an accident, injury, illness, genetic defect, or a verbal or physical attack.

1. Emotion: Happiness from reacting to a perception of the achievement of a proactive desire [and/or the avoidance of a proactive fear].
2. Emotion: Sadness from reacting to a perception of a loss or no hope of achieving a proactive desire.
3. Emotion: Anger from reacting to a perception of a violation of an expectancy, a promise, a contract, a law, or an ethic.
4. Emotion: Fear from reacting to a perception of a threat of a loss, an accident, illness, injury, genetic defect, or a verbal or physical attack. [7]

1. Synonyms for basic emotions;
2. Combinations of basic emotions;
3. Situations to which individuals react with basic emotions.

1. A proactive desire for a person/object/event.
2. A reactive desire for reacting to the realization of the proactive desire.

[Proactive fears are fears of not avoiding people/objects/events. A fear of not avoiding a person/object/event is a proactive fear.]

Reactive desires include desires for affective reactions and impulsive reactions.

Impulsive reactions to positive realizations of proactive desires (achievement of proactive desires) are generally not a problem for most normal people. They react to their achievement of their proactive desires with positive emotions of happiness and constructive impulses to celebrate.

Impulsive reactions to negative realizations of proactive desires (nonachievement of proactive desires) are a problem for most normal people. They react to their nonachievement of their proactive desires with negative emotions of unhappiness as sadness, anger and/or fear and with destructive impulses to give up hope [sadness], attack themselves or someone else [anger], and/or run away from themselves or someone else [fear].

Constructive impulsive reactions are linked to emotions and include seeking proactive desires which are achievable [they are realistic] and which are appropriate [they achieve psychological and physiological desires], negotiating common desires with other people to avoid conflicts, and initiating the problem-solving and decision-making processes to achieve the negotiated common desires.

• Impulse: (Happiness) To celebrate!

• Impulse: (Sadness) To give up, to become depressed.
• Impulse: (Anger) To attack oneself or someone else.
• Impulse: (Fear) To run away from oneself or someone else.

A positive subjective reactive desire for reacting to a positive realization (achievement) of a proactive desire includes a desire for a positive affective reaction of the emotion of happiness and a desire for a constructive impulsive reaction to celebrate.

A positive objective reactive desire for reacting to a negative realization (non-achievement) of a proactive desire includes a desire for control over negative affective reactions of the emotions of unhappiness as sadness, anger and/or fear and a desire for a constructive impulsive reaction to solve the problem of achieving the proactive desire or to develop another proactive desire to replace it.

A negative subjective reactive desire for reacting to a negative realization (non-achievement) of a proactive desire includes a desire for a negative affective reaction of the emotions of unhappiness as sadness, anger and/or fear and a desire for a destructive impulsive reaction to (sadness) give up hope (become depressed), (anger) to attack oneself and/or someone else, and/or (fear) to run away from oneself or someone else.

The reactive desires function as "If ..., then ...!" Condition/Consequence statements.

Condition: If I achieve my proactive desire for a person/object/event,
Consequence: then I will react with my positive subjective reactive desire
    for a positive affective reaction of happiness and a constructive impulsive reaction to celebrate.

Condition: If I do not achieve my proactive desire for a person/object/event,
Consequence: then I will react with my positive objective reactive desire
    for control of my negative affective reactions of the emotions of unhappiness
    as sadness, anger and/or fear and for a constructive impulsive reaction to achieve
    or to change the proactive desire.

Condition: If I do not achieve my proactive desire for a person/object/event,
Consequence: then I will react with my negative subjective reactive desire
    for a negative affective reaction of unhappiness as sadness, anger and/or fear
    and a destructive impulsive reaction to give up hope, to attack someone,
    or to run away from someone.

1. Desire: _____ (?) [Wanting a person/object/event]
NOTE: A desire is a wanting for a person/object/event; a fear is a not-wanting for a person/object/event; a priority is the importance of each desire/fear compared to all other desires and fears.
    A. Proactive Desire:
        1. Specific Proactive Desire:_____ (?)     [For a specific person/object/event]
        2. General Proactive Desire: _____ (?)    [For a generic person/object/event]
    B. Reactive Desire [For reacting to not achieving the proactive desire]:
        1. Objective Reactive Desire:
            A. Affective Reaction: None: Control Negative Emotions.
            B. Impulsive Reaction: Constructive: To achieve or to change the proactive desire.
        2. Subjective Reactive Desire:
            A. Affective Reaction:
                1. Sadness [Perception of a loss or of no hope of achieving the proactive desire].
                2. Anger [Perception of a violation/rustration of an expectation, a promise, a contract,
                    a law, or an ethic].
                3. Fear [Perception of a threat of a loss, an accident, an injury, an illness, a genetic defect,
                    or a verbal and/or physical attack].
            B. Impulsive Desire:
                1. (Sadness) To give up the hope of achieving the proactive desire,become depressed.
                2. (Anger) To attack someone:
                    A. Oneself.
                    B. Someone else.
                3. (Fear) To run away from someone:
                    A. Oneself.
                    B. Someone else.

2. Realization: _____ (?) [The person/object/event achieved/not achieved]
NOTE: A realization is the achievement or nonachievement of a desire or the avoidance or nonavoidance of a fear; a realization is positive if it is the achievement of a desire or the avoidance of a fear, and a realization is negative if it is a nonachievement of a desire or the nonavoidance of a fear.
    A. Perception. [Perceive the person/object/event who/which is the realization.]
    B. Recognition. [Determine which proactive desire the person/object/event realizes.]
    C. Evaluation. [Determine the extent to which the person/object/event realizes the proactive desire.]

3. Feeling: _____ (?) [The reaction to the realization of the desire]

    A. If the realization is positive because the proactive desire is achieved (the person/object/event is achieved),
        then there is no problem, and the individual has a positive affective reaction of happiness and a
        constructive impulsive reaction to celebrate.
    B. But if the realization is negative because the proactive desire is not achieved (the person/object/event
        is not achieved), then there is a problem, and the individual will then react in accord with his
        reactive desire:
        1. Objective Reactive Desire:
            A. Affective Reaction: None: To control negative emotions.
            B. Impulsive Reaction: Constructive: To achieve or to change the proactive desire.
        2. Subjective Reactive Desire:
            A. Affective Reaction: Negative:
                1. Sadness [Perception of a loss or of no hope of achieving the proactive desire].
                2. Anger [Perception of a violation/rustration of an expectation, a promise, a contract,
                    a law, or an ethic].
                3. Fear [Perception of a threat of a loss, an accident, an injury, an illness, a genetic defect,
                    or a verbal and/or physical attack].
            B. Impulsive Desire: Destructive:
                1. (Sadness) To give up the hope of achieving the proactive desire, to become depressed.
                2. (Anger) To attack someone:
                    A. Oneself.
                    B. Someone else.
                3. (Fear) To run away from someone:
                    A. Oneself.
                    B. Someone else.

The D/R/F sequence links feelings to the realizations and the realizations to the desires which cause [ultimately] the feelings. Because of the preceding desire, the realization has meaning/value, and because the realization has meaning/value, the individual develops a feeling.

Secondary conflicts are differences of proactive desires.

Primary conflicts are differences of reactive desires.

Internal secondary conflicts are differences of proactive desires within oneself (between one desire for a person/object/event and another desire for a person/object/event).

Internal primary conflicts are differences of reactive desires within oneself (between the positive objective reactive desire and the negative subjective reactive desire for reacting to negative realizations of proactive desires).

External secondary conflicts are differences of proactive desires with someone else (you want one person/object/event and someone else wants another person/object/event).

External primary conflicts are differences of reactive desires with someone else (in particular, you want to react with a negative subjective reactive desire (to become sad, angry and/or fearful and to give up, to attack someone else and/or to run away from someone else) and someone else wants to react with a negative subjective reactive desire (to become sad, angry and/or fearful and to give up, to attack you and/or to run away from you).

Unresolved primary conflicts lead to cycles of additional primary conflicts until the cycle is broken by the adoption of a positive objective reactive desire.
 

Minor mentalproblems consist of unachievable and/or inappropriate proactive desires.

Major mental problems consist of negative subjective reactive desires which are inappropriate because they do not motivate the individual to achieve or to change his proactive desires.

Mental health includes achievable and appropriate proactive desires and positive objective reactive desires for reacting to negative realizations of proactive desires.

If an individual has unachievable and/or inappropriate proactive desires but has a positive objective reactive desire for reacting to negative realizations of his proactive desires, then he is likely to enjoy good mental health because he will control his negative emotions and he will develop constructive impulsive reactions to achieve or to change his proactive desires.

But if an individual has unachievable and/or inappropriate proactive desires and a negative subjective reactive desire for reacting to negative realizations of his proactive desires, then he will suffer bad mental health because he will develop negative affective reactions (negative emotions) and he will develop destructive impulsive reactions (to give up hope, to attack someone, and/or to run away from someone) which are likely to lead to conflicts and more negative realizations of his proactive desires which will continue the cycle of conflicts and negative realizations and negative affective reactions and destructive impulsive reactions.

NOTE: Subjective reactive desires can be positive when a person is under a criminal attack. Such an attack would be a good time for a person to develop negative affective reactions and destructive impulsive reactions to control and defeat the criminal and thus defend himself and/or people he chooses to care about.

The internal causes of an individual's behavior [actions and reactions which are effects] are his desires, fears and priorities [his mind]. An individual's desires, fears and priorities which are his mind cause the effects which are his actions and reactions which are his behavior.

Question: What causes an individual to move?
Answer: An individual's desires, fears and priorities cause him to move.

As a perception of himself, an individual's self-esteem is experienced as a judgment of his realization of his desires, fear and priorities:

    If D₁ = To earn $40,000/yr.
          R₁ = Earn $30,000/yr. ...,
      ... then SE_i = R_i/D_i x 100% = $30,000/$40,000 x 100% = .75 x 100% = 75%

    This means that the individual who has a desire to earn $40,000 per year but earns $30,000 per year is 75% happy (and 25% unhappy) with his earnings.

    An individual's self-esteem and resulting happiness/unhappiness can be computed by the following mathematical expression for Total Self-Esteem:

    If an individual has the following D/Desires:

        D₁ = To love and be loved by his wife (numerically described as 1);
        D₂ = To earn $40,000/yr. playing the piano;
        D₃ = To fly his own airplane 4 hours per month;

    ... and if the individual has the following R/Realizations:

    R₁ = He loves and is loved by his wife (numerically described as 1);
    R₂ = He earns $30,000 per year playing the piano;
    R₃ = He flies his plane 2 hours per month;

    ... and if the individual has the following P/Priorities:

        P₁ = .5;
        P₂ = .35;
        P₃ = .15;
        NOTE: All P/Priorities must sum to 1.00: .5 + .35 + .15 = 1.00;

        ... then ...

        SE_T = (R₁/D₁ x P₁ x 100%) + (R₂/D₂ x P₂ x 100%) + (R₃/D₃ x P₃ x 100%);
        SE_T = (1/1 x .5 x 100%) + ($30,000/$40,000 x .35 x 100%) + (2 hrs./4 hrs. x .15 x 100%);
        SE_T = (50%) + (26.5%) + (7.5%);
        SE_T = 84%, meaning the individual is 84% successful/happy (16% unsucessful/unhappy).

    In this example, the individual's wife is extremely important to him, with a priority of .5. When she loves him his SE_T is 84%.
    What if she were to not love him? His R₁/Realization would then become 0, his R₁/D₁ = 0/1 = 0, and his SE_T would then become 34%, meaning he is 34% successful/happy (and 66% unsuccessful/unhappy), which, in turn, means he is basically unhappy compared to when she loved him.
    The SE_T expression shows the functioning of the mind: The [human] mind functions to achieve its desires and avoid its fears according to its priorities.
    The SE_T expression shows that for all the desires, fears and priorities a person may have, the chances that he will be 100% happy are slim though not impossible; but the SE_T expression also shows that the chances that he will be 100% unhappy are also slim though not impossible.

Selfishness is seeking to achieve one's desires and to avoid one's fears and to maximize one's happiness.

But there is a difference between personal selfishness and social selfishness.

Personal selfishness is seeking to achieve one's desires and to avoid one's fears and thus to maximize one's happiness and to minimize one's unhappiness without regard for the desires and fears and happiness and unhappiness of other people.

Social selfishness is seeking to achieve one's desires and to avoid one's fears and to maximize one's happiness and to minimize one's unhappiness by cooperating with other people by negotiating commonly agreed upon desires and fears with other people, compromising one's own desires and fears when necessary but within reason, and seeking to achieve those common desires and to avoid those common fears and thus helping other people achieve their desires, avoid their fears, maximize their happiness, and minimize their unhappiness.

Coercion is refusing to negotiate common desires, fears and priorities (goals) with other people but, instead, threatening to cause or actually causing punishment and/or manipulation of feelings [trying to cause other people to feel ashamed or guilty for not doing what the individual wants them to do].

Civilization began when individuals realized that to achieve most if not all their desires and to maximize their happiness they needed the ready, willing and able cooperation of other people for which they, the individuals, needed to be ready, willing and able to cooperate with those other people. Civilization is renewed in every generation when individuals realize that to achieve most if not all of their desires and to maximize their happiness that they need the ready, willing and able cooperation of other people for which they need to be ready, willing and able to cooperate with other people.

The exceptions will be those individuals who are sociopaths and psychopaths.

Sociopaths are individuals who are personally selfish but are in touch with reality and thus show no clear and obvious delusions and/or hallucinations but may be dangerous to other people.

Psychopaths are individuals who are personally selfish but are not in touch with reality and thus show delusions and/or hallucinations and may be dangerous to themselves and other people.

Thus, a normal individual's selfishness contains the hope of mankind. The normal individual will first be personally selfish but will learn that he benefits from becoming socially selfish, with the result that he will benefit mankind by his social selfishness. This observation realistically raises the hope that men and women will continually strive to learn to cooperate with each other and eventually create a better life for many if not most if not all of mankind.

There are at least two ways in which an individual can create original works:

1. Say something new.
2. Say something old in a new way.

    If The Question for psychology is Why do we do what we do?, ...
    ... then The Answer of Operational Psychology is as follows:

    Our psychological/learned desires ultimately achieve our physiological desires.

Operational Psychology has three basic concepts/principles:

1. Concept: Mind;
    Principle: The mind is an individual's personal system of desires, fears and priorities.

2. Concept: Feelings;
    Principle: Feelings are reactions to realizations of desires.

3. Concept: The Desire/Realization/Feeling Sequence;
    Principle: Feelings develop in a sequence: The Desire/Realization/Feeling Sequence:

1. Desire: _____ (?) [Wanting a person/object/event.]
2. Realization: _____ (?) [Person/object/event gotten/not gotten.]
3. Feeling: _____ (?) [Reaction to the Realization of the Desire.]

4. Concept: Behavior.
    Principle: Behavior is an individual's actions and reactions caused by his mind.
    Principle: An individual's behavior is caused by his desires, fears and priorities.

5. Concept: Mental Problems.
    Principle: Minor mental problems are caused by unrealistic (unachievable)
    and/or inappropriate proactive desires.
    (Wanting persons/objects/events who/which cannot be gotten.)
    Principle: Major mental problems are caused by subjective reactive desires.
    (Choosing to react to negative realizations with negative affective reactions
    and destructive impulsive reactions.)
    Principle: Un-peace-of-mind is a state of being in which an individual

A. Does not get rid of desires which are liabilities because he cannot achieve them;
B. Does not keep those desires which are assets because he can achieve them.

A. Gets rid of desires which are liabilities because he cannot achieve them and they are inappropriate;
B. Keeps only those desires which are assets because he can achieve them and they are appropriate.

A. Get rid of all desires which are liabilities because they cannot be achieved and they are inappropriate;
B. Keep only those desires which are assets because they can be achieved and they are appropriate.

There is a sequence of development of selfishness :

1. Personal Selfishness: The individual is born personally selfish: he seeks to achieve only his desires and to maximize only his personal happiness regardless of the desires and happiness of other people.

2. Social Selfishness: The individual learns that to achieve most of his desires and to maximize his happiness he needs the ready, willing and able cooperation of other people for which he must be ready, willing and able to cooperate with them by negotiating common desires and seeking to achieve those common desires, and thus he becomes socially selfish.

In every generation, normal people change from personal selfishness to social selfishness and thus renew civilization. Abnormal people who are sociopaths or psychopaths will never become socially selfish, but, fortunately, they are a distinct minority. Nevertheless, the normal individual's personal selfishness provides the development of social selfishness which provides hope for civilization as individuals realize that they need each other for a better life.

The developmental sequence of selfishness (from personal selfishness to social selfishness) is a natural sequence and can be used for the basis of a natural morality:

Desire to do for yourself and other people what you would want other people to do for you.

The essence of all law is that no man should [be permitted to] injure another; all the rest [of the law] is commentary.

The essence of all law is that no man should [be permitted to] injure [threaten or cause an actual loss of life/limb/liberty/property] of another [innocent individual who does intend to injure anyone who does not intend to injure him or any other innocent individuals]; all the rest [of the law] is commentary.

On the First Law of Thermodynamics:
Alan Isaacs, John Daintith and Elizabeth Martin, eds.
Concise Science Dictionary.
Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, New York, NY U.S.A.
p. 691.

Siegfried Mandel, ed.
Dictionary of Science.
Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017, 1975.
p. 333.

[2] On Dr. Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity, and E = mc²:

Albert Einstein, translated by Robert W. Lawson.
Relativity: The Special and General Theory.
Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, NY, 1961.
pp. 45-48.

Charles Proteus Steinmetz.
Four Lectures on Relativity and Space.
Dover Publications, inc., 180 Varick Street, New York, NY 10014, originally published by the McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1923.
pp. 8, 44.

Jeremy Bernstein.
Einstein.
Penguin Books, 625 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022, U.S.A, 1976.
pp. 97-98.

[3] The requirement for operational definitions in science:

Keith Stanovich.
How To Think Straight About Psychology.
Scott, Foresman and Company, Glenview, IL, 1989.
pp. 39-40, pp. 67-68.

[4] The requirement for using the scientific method in science:

John Herman Randall and Justus Buchler.
Philosophy: An Introduction.
Barnes and Noble Books, Harper and Row, Publishers,
New York, Revised Edition, 1971.
Chapter Six: The Scientific Methods, pp. 57-73.

[5] On categorizing desires/fears/priorities as physiological or psychological:

Thanks to Oliver Michael (Mike) Siems, Jr., PSW (Masters Degree in Psychiatric Social Work) for pointing out that desires/fears/priorities could be categorized as physiological or psychological.

[6] The Problem-Solving Process/Decision-Making Process:

Dr. Thomas Gordon, Ph.D. (Psychology).
L. E. T. (Leader Effectiveness Training).
Bantam Books, Inc., 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10017, 1980.
pp. 47, 193-197.

Dr. Thomas Gordon, Ph.D. (Psychology).
P. E. T. (Parent Effectiveness Training).
Plume Books, The New American Library, Inc.,
1301 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, 1975.
pp. 237-242.

[7] On the propostion that there are only four basic emotions:

Aaron T. Beck, M.D.
Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders.
Meridian Books, The New American Library, Inc., 1301 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, 1979
pp. 49-52.

John B. Watson.
S. Stansfeld Sargent and Kenneth R. Stafford.
Basic Teachings of the Great Psychologists.
Dolphin Books, Doubleday and Company, Garden City, NY., 1965.
p. 64.

Katherine M. B. Bridges.
S. Stansfeld Sargent and Kenneth R. Stafford.
Basic Teachings of the Great Psychologists.
Dolphin Books, Doubleday and Company, Garden City, NY., 1965.
P. 73.

[8] On the categorization of reactive desires as subjective or objective:

Thanks to Dr. Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D. (Psychology) for pointing out that reactive desires could be categorized as subjective or objective.

[9] On the mathematical expression for self-esteem:

William James.
Principles of Psychology.
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 02138, 1983.
pp. 296-297.

William James.
Psychology: Briefer Course.
Collier Books, The MacMillan Company, 866 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022, Fifth Printing, 1972.
pp. 199-200.

“... [O]ur self-feeling in this world depends entirely on the ratio of what we back ourselves to be and do. It is determined by the ratio of our actualities to our supposed potentialities; a fraction of which our pretensions are the denominator and the numerator our success: thus,
 
Self-Esteem = Success/Pretension
 
Such a fraction may be increased as well by diminishing the denominator as by increasing the numerator. To give up pretensions is as blessed a relief as to get them gratified, and where disappointment is incessant and the struggle unending, this is what men will always do. ...”

J. P. Chaplin.
Dictionary of Psychology.
Laurel Editions, Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017, 1975:

“The psychologist attempts to discover why people do the things they do.”