I have been wondering recently what the ideal man looks like today. In a broader sense what does the ideal person look like? But in terms of applying Jungian theory it may be easier to look at the question from the perspective of a single gender, in this case a man. And possibly we can infer something about the ideal woman from there. Firstly let's contextualise the question. When I talk of an ideal man (today) what I am referring to...
“Whilst it is questionable whether or not honesty is always the best policy, what is beyond doubt is that truth is superior to any policy." To be frank I have always had an ambivalent relationship with truth. Without making a messy and perhaps inappropriate confession let me just say I have not always been convinced of its preeminent value in the greater scheme of things. The question 'is truth the most important thing?' comes up in the Matrix Workshop. And I...
Okay I admit have a fetish for numbers , and couldn't resist the allure of this post. As 2010 draws to a close I want to reflect on a few of the lessons I have learnt during the last year. And then not to be found betraying the teleological principal of my greatest teacher, C. G. Jung, I promise my next post will be 11 ideas for 2011. Okay here goes… Personally this has been a big year for me. A challenging year...
Can you personally make a difference? Can you, as a single human being, in a world population of six billion (and counting), actually make a difference, have an impact? I know that the not so new age would have you believe you can, like the positive thinkers before them they are into the warm fuzzy feel good stuff. You can't blame them really its sells and let's face it like any religion the not so new age is a business. But forget...
There is great disorder under heaven, the situation is excellent. (Mao Zedong, as quoted in Living in the End Times, Slavoj Zizek) Nothing is ever lost, not even the blood pact with the devil. (C. G. Jung, CW 9.1) This post takes a closer look at the 'apocalyptic' era that we are living in. It is a follow on and amplification of the apocalyptic theme first raised in my last post These are Strange Days. My intention is to better articulate the...
In 1980 the iconic American Jungian, founder of the so called Archetypal or Imaginal School, James Hillman made the following observation. I find today that patients [coming to Hillman for analyses] for are more sensitive than the worlds they live in. Rather than patients not being able to perceive and adapt 'realistically' it is the reality of the world's phenomena that seems to be unable to adapt to the sensitivity of the patients. I am astounded by the life and beauty...
One of the classics of contemporary cinema The Matrix addresses a timeless question. What in analytical psychology we would call an archetypal question. Simply: is this it? Is this life, the world and this reality, fundamentally, essentially and absolutely real or not? If we conclude that it is fundamentally real, and furthermore that this is not only it but this is all there is to it, , then that is really that. The question is answered; and we can...
This post is a brief look at what creates meaning in our lives. And a list of a few of the containers in which the gift of meaning is to be found. To watch this post as a video click here . Meaning is not the province of reason, it is an irrational phenomenon. We cannot arrive at meaning (in the sense we use the word here) through a process of logical deduction. Meaning is not quantative, it cannot be measured using...
This post is largely drawn for a recent conference by OPUS (an organisation for promoting understanding in society) appropriately named: Man to Superman, Humans, Robots and Communities. The conference was held at the University of London, 9 October 2010, and included two presentations. The first by Dr. Simon Western was entitled: cyborgs and entanglements: locating ourselves in a strange land Dr. Western tackled a number of interesting issues. The most fascinating of which was Actor-Network-Theory. Very simply the premise of Actor-Network-Theory (ANT) is that...
Frequently in life and in the pursuit of meaning we find ourselves frustrated. Despite the best of intentions and the most carefully laid plans we sometimes find our efforts thwarted. An annoying situation to be sure, but one which we no doubt all encounter at some point or another. Even, I suspect, the most spectacular achievers. The difference with these high achievers is that they are able to successfully overcome adversity. Or so we are given to believe. This post is an...
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