Psychology for a thousand sayings: How much dialectic and education hides in sayings?

Abstract

This article is part of a trilogy whose objective is to address the relationships that can be discerned between proverbs, namely, those predominantly dialectical and cause-and-effect. Specifically, this article concerns the identification of the dialectical relationship underlying proverbs, understood as sharp and judgmental sayings in common use, of popular origin, that, in a figurative and picturesque way, often embrace psychological teachings of significant wisdom. To establish these relationships, we have used the adversative coordinating conjunction but, a word used to join two clauses or elements that express opposite or contrary ideas. Becoming aware that we are contradictory and paradoxical by nature demands that we abandon the desire to reflect our reality only from one side of it. We are also compelled to do so by the dialectic between proverbs, which constitutes a generative force for our personal development, regardless of our race, class, nationality, profession, or occupation. In our opinion, recognizing this type of relationship could provide a fertile ground for teaching higher education students not only the dialectical method but also the development of morally biased values.