Wellbeing and control (theme)

What is wellbeing? What is control? What is the relationship between the two? Wellbeing can be defined as a subjective state of mind, in terms of health and in terms of the satisfaction of needs – but it goes beyond that.

If needs are not satisfied but a person nevertheless believes they are able to control circumstances such that they can see a way to the needs becoming satisfied, then wellbeing need not suffer.

For higher levels of need, the journey may confer more wellbeing than the goal. Also the measurement of wellbeing is not simple – our experience of an event (take, a holiday, for example) in the moment may be quite different from when we look back. We may hate it at the time but in retrospect think much better of it (or vice versa).

Wellbeing is not just the satisfaction of needs
‘Wellbeing is not just the Satisfaction of Needs’ proposes that a definition of wellbeing in terms of needs, and control over meeting un-met needs, is a useful high level framework for unpacking the meaning of wellbeing.

What is Control
’Unmet Needs Require Control’ considers control broadly across the spectrum from the individual to the state. The role of control in satisfying unmet needs has been identified.

Knowledge is Power to Control
’Knowledge is Power to Control’ – Orientation and purpose have been identified as prerequisite of control, and mastery as a necessary feature of highly skilled and confident ability to control.

Representations of Reality Enable Control – Part 1
‘The Representation of Reality Enables Control – Part 1’ looks at language and thought, mental models and computational approaches to how the mind represents what it knows about the world (and itself).

Representations of Reality Enable Control – Part 2
‘Representations of Reality Enable Control’ shows how different levels of description can be used to represent the knowledge that enables us to meet our needs and deal with the unexpected.