Born to Learn: A Transactional Analysis of Human Learning

In a world suffering from global warming, riddled with constant warfare, and struggling under the weight of money and banking crises, Born to Learn: A Transactional Analysis of Human Learningasks what would happen if we learned to perform human transactions in a different way. What if we were able to improve our social and psychological messaging in classrooms and in learning situations everywhere? What kind of effect could it have on our nation and the world?

From the instant we first draw breath to the moment when we take our last, humans instinctively use transactional analysis (TA) to get what we need to survive. The overwhelmingly important factor, frequently overlooked in this process, is our environment’s influence, often negative, on these transactions. At the same time, many of the socioeconomic and political problems we face today, including resource depletion, dysfunctional systems, global warming, and money and banking crises share a root cause—humans discounting relevant phenomena, problems, opportunities, alternatives for change, and ability to change.

Richard John Stapleton, PhD, asserts these problems are not caused by humans making mistakes exercising free will, but instead are caused by natural cause-effect chains determining human feelings, thoughts, and decisions and physical environments, and therefore humans are not to blame or praise. On the other hand, by cooperating with each other and by focusing on the real causes of problems, rather than focusing on fixed ideologies, dogma, and doctrine, hopefully we can cause positive changes and generate real solutions for the long run.

Born to Learn: A Transactional Analysis of Human Learningaims to give readers a more comprehensive understanding of how our lives are shaped and controlled by both social and psychological messaging as well as offering tools to pursue a better future.

Richard John Stapleton, PhD, has taught a variety of subjects at Georgia Southern University, including entrepreneurship, organizational behavior, operations management, management information systems, and business policy using the case method. Stapleton also taught at US Air Force NATO bases in Turkey, Greece, Holland, Germany, and Italy.

A prolific author, Stapleton has written numerous papers, articles, and books, including Managing Creatively: Action Learning in Action, The Entrepreneur: Concepts and Cases on Creativity in Business, Attitudes of Family Business Owners Regarding Policies for Transferring the Wealth of Family Businesses, Academic Entrepreneurship: Using the Case Method to Simulate Competitive Business Markets, and many, many more.

Since retiring from Georgia Southern University in 2005, Stapleton has written articles on social, political, and economic entrepreneurship. Samples of his work can be found on his website, www.effectivelearning.net.