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Opinion VS Reason
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Conversations
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Sometimes I miss our conversations. This one, it's a tough one, but it has to be done.
“One Plus one” I begin “equals two”.
“In your opinion” she counters.
“No, no, always. One plus one equals two”
“How do you know?”
“Let me give you an example.”
I pull a couple of pennies from my pocket, I came prepared.
“But what if you add another penny?” She asks
“then you’re changing the question, or premise….”
“Or used walnuts instead..”
“It wouldn’t matter….”
“You never liked one!” she sobs….”You think your numbers are so perfect….”
Freud & Jung
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
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At the moment I'm reading Carl Jung 's "Memories, Dreams and Reflections". And I'm loving it. It suits the cast of my mind perfectly, it was written for me.
And it stirs the thought of how out of fashion Freud and Jung have become.
Personally, I've always been a fan. "But the times, they are a changin" and you don't get blog anywhere now-a-days without a CGI of a firing neuron or an MRI scan. It would help to know a little NLP.
I'm not dismissing these advances, they are great advances, but as much as they sift and measure there seems to be equally much that they miss.
Freud. Very unfashionable, with his Ego, SuperEgo, Id, Eros and Thanatos. SO much mumbo jumbo....Many new psychologists know of him only by reputation, he is studied anecdotally in university, superficially, there are different theories, Stanley Milgram, BF Skinner and Bandler and Grinder amonst them, that are far more "current" and "hip".
That's not to deride or undervalue them. But Freud and Jung were amonst the first to move into this area. And they were mapping the human mind, the landscape of the unconcious, the soul. And they did great work. Great work.
My boy, at 4, maybe 5 years old, we're out camping in Jasper and I'd been teasing him. He has a fit, a rare (for him) tantrum - "I'm going to poke your eyes out with this stick, then kill you and marry my Mom.!" That's a quote. I watched him while I sipped my coffee, unable to express the impression his outburst registered. It was a classic Freud moment. Up until then I'd been a little leery, I had my own theories as well. That changed everything.
They studied the layering and ordering of personality, the concious and unconcious motivations. They were, in a sense, adventurers mapping an unknown, undiscoverd world. And, with the tools they had, pen and paper, conversation, patients, they did a remarkable job. An incredible job. Think of drawing a map of the world, without Google Maps or an Atlas to aid you, you have to discover it all yourself first. A very big job.
They were working on the big picture. I read studies now, they are tiny pictures, parts of a mosaic. Elements of personality and intelligence mapped by divisions of psychologists, psychiatrists and neurosurgeons in different universities. There is no "Whole Theory of Human Personality", just as there is no "Unified Theory" in physics. But these guys, Freud and Jung, they were undertaking the tremendous task of mapping the entire human personality. In Carl Jung's case, the "Soul".
If you doubt Freud's substance or impact try reading Bruno Bettelheim's "The Uses of Enchantment". It sits on my folklore and fairy tales shelf in the office. No, you can't borrow it, buy your own. It's a masterpiece. It doesn't tell you anything you didn't know already, that you didn't intuit or understand or somehow in a deep way comprehend. But it uses Freud's theories to reveal plain truths in plain language, which in itself is a sort of genius. Think of Newton and the Apple. He was not the first to discover gravity, but he certainly was the first to notice it.
SO it's back now to reading Carl Jung. He suits me, somehow, his stories, experiences are not mine, but the world's. And while I don't recognize the events, the places or time, I recognize the humanity and emotion in his writing. The commonality of our experience. It's a great read.
Quotes: Carl Jung
"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed."
"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves."
"Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent."
"The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it."
Quotes: Sigmund Freud
"America is a mistake, a giant mistake." and "America is the most grandiose experiment the world has seen, but, I am afraid, it is not going to be a success." and "Yes, America is gigantic, but a gigantic mistake."
"Everywhere I go I find that a poet has been there before me."
"I have found little that is "good" about human beings on the whole. In my experience most of them are trash, no matter whether they publicly subscribe to this or that ethical doctrine or to none at all. That is something that you cannot say aloud, or perhaps even think."
"If you can't do it, give up!"
"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."
"The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water."
"Time spent with cats is never wasted."
"What a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult."
"What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books."
"The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing."
"The first requisite of civilization is that of justice."
The Singularity continued in part 3
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
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For a book I didn't particularly enjoy it's stirred up some thought.
First of all - "The Singularity" - as I've noted in my previous 2 posts. It's not going to happen. Certainly not in the manner that the scientists predict. Certainly not at all in the manner predicted by the trans-humanist video I linked to in a previous post on the topic.
"The Singularity" is a fantasy, a scientific heaven, if you will.
My reasoning is thus. First of all we have to contend with various socio-cultural factors that will seek to limit the spread and distribution of wealth - however it is measured. These factors alone would prove enough to derail the best of Utopias.
But more importantly, chances are if it was possible the singularity would have already been reached by another civilization around another star.
I don't subscribe to to the view that we are at all alone in the universe. Isolated, yes, but a necessary isolation imposed upon us by our clumsy and evolving technology. I believe that the universe, where possible, thrives with life. Much of it unrecognized and/or unacknowledged by ourselves. And were it possible for the technology of any species or race to reach this level, then it already would have been reached. The universe, conservatively, is already some 14.7 billion years old. We're relative newcomers on the scene. The Singularity, were it possible, would have been reached and it's ripples would have spread to us. We would have "Made Contact" or been assimilated.
So rather than using the Fermi Paradox against Extra Terrestial life, I'll use it against the the technophile's dream of a virtual heaven or paradise. Not to upset their plans, but the future will be even stranger than we have imagined.
The Road Less Travelled
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"You're going to hell, ya know" he yells down cheerfully. It was one of those moments when I could see the high road from the trail I was on.
"Why don't you come on up here and follow me?" he suggests, and I can tell he wants some company. True, the view up there is better, you can look down at all the world, but somehow I like the path I've chosen, winding as it does down through the forest. The trees filter the sunlight, variegated foliage dappling sunlight on the forest floor, mossy logs and undergrowth, the path is comfortable, mysterious. The many bends hide the view, there are surprises lurking. And going on with a cheerful wave at my neighbor the forest swallows me up.
His path is up, forever up, and mine winds forever down, but for some reason they cross again and again. They're never too far apart, and whenever I come to a fork, no matter how many times I take the path that leads away from his I always find him again running parallel. On occasion I've had to walk his when they've run together, I don't like it. The view down is spectacular, but the trail is rocky and precarious. You must always keep you eyes on the path.
Sometimes he has company. When he does they make a great raucous, singing and clapping and praising the lord, cymbals and bells and loud conversations meant for me to overhear. Then in time they quarrel, parting ways at a fork in the road, some will find me on my path and praise my judgement, walking alongside me and chattering like imbeciles. I shake them at the forks in the road, letting them choose the path up I continue my slow meandering down.
"You're going to Hell, ya know" they say as we part, some good natured, others less so.
The path up the mountain, it's rocky and steep, it affords splendid views to those who'd take a break and look, but they keep their eyes on the path, only looking down to recommend the trail they're on.
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