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 Inward
Journey
"In a Nutshell"
THE CRITICAL THEORISTS
In the early 1920's, a group of European philosophers began to gather
at the newly formed Institute of Social Research in Germany in older
to discuss social and historical problems from a new perspective.
Although Marxism and the ills of the worker were the inspiration
and theoretical basis of the Institute's program, the group, which
came to be known as the Critical Theorists, also began to develop
in an eclectic way. Such members as Theodor Adorno, Eric Fromm and
Hebert Marcuse combined precepts from psychology with historical
analysis. Placing history at the center of their approach to philosophy
and society, they called for an interdisciplinary science of historical
analysis. Their views although varied, in a general way suggested
that a new paradigm (which had not yet been called psychohistory)
should combine tenets especially derived from political science
and economic theory as espoused by Marx, with psychoanalytic theory
derived from Freud. Thus, for instance, they tried to discern the
interface of an evolving personality of an Individual with the laws
that govern and operate in a given economy Simply stated, they sought
to combine a Marxian or neoMarxian viewpoint which stressed analysis
of the overall structure of society (political systems and modes
of production), with Freudian findings about the structure of personality
and the unconscious. In essence, the critical theorists felt that
in order to design a comprehensive view of man, such fields as psychology,
sociology, anthropology, economics, history, philosophy and political
science would have to be combined. Fragmentation of the social sciences
had resulted, and worse, the various disciplines had become mainly
theoretical exercises in analytic thinking rather than actual vehicles
for change. The critical theorists not only wanted to describe the
human condition, they sought to change society by pointing out its
ills and suggesting ways to alter conditions. In modern times, these
ideas of the critical theorists can be used to explain such diverse
situations as President Clinton’s sex scandal and the collapse
of such mega-corporate structures as Enron, Arthur Anderson and
WorldCom.
COLLECTIVE CONTSTRUCT REALITIES
The term "group-fantasy" in general, refers to a worldview
which may or may not be substantiated. It could be based upon fact,
conjecture or faith. Accepted natural laws could be seen as group-fantasies.
They are constructed realities formulated by human observation or
experimentation to explain natural phenomena. They are not actually
laws so much as lawful interpretations, and therefore would be subject
to change as more data is accumulated.
Group-fantasies can also revolve around generally accepted interpretations
of historical events. The recent rash of suicide bombers in the
Middle East is a case in point. Not only was each subject promised
martyrdom, they were also promised scores of virgins waiting for
them in heaven after they murdered the infidel. This psychosexual
delusion, which serves to cathect powerful polymorphous perverse
id desires through the guise of the superego, is couched as religious
belief. Through this collective imaginary worldview, people are
able to act out repressed anger, secret wishes, and prohibitions
which are linked to their common heritage and discomfort with the
infiltration of Western views and values into their culture.
PERSONAL MYTHS
Dr. Stanley Krippner notes that "any version of reality is
at its core a mythological construction." He emphasizes the
importance for an "observing ego" to reflect on the substance,
meaning and ability to verify the personal myth. Myths are not "falsehoods,"
says Krippner, but rather they are cognitive mechanisms that are
either "functional or dysfunctional." On a group level
they "provide the understanding and guidance that determine
the success [or failure] of the culture." On the individual
level, they also tend to direct the course of one's life. Highly
complex structures, they involve, on the exterior, our general attitudes
and beliefs, and on the interior, “the basis of our unconscious
patterning."
GROUPTHINK
Cultural myths and group-fantasies are closely tied together. Structured
hierarchically within civilized settings, they determine greatly
the course society takes. Their vehicles of indoctrination can range
from intimidation to persuasion to promises and propaganda. Everything
from corporate marketing techniques to community projects, governmental
elections, media topics of the day, to war, are all ruled by construct
realities. Without them society could collapse, but with them, the
consciousness of the society is structured. Cultural crises are
closely associated with the destruction of generally accepted views.
Stock market crashes, social unrest and post-combat trauma are all
linked in this way.
CLIQUES & CLANS
In the case of subgroups of a culture such as fraternities, policy
makers or scientists, extreme forms of peer pressure can produce,
according to Janis, a "group norm which bolsters morale at
the expense of critical thinking.” Guiding factors associated
with maintaining agreement, conformity, continuity, homogeneity,
sameness, stability and unity tend to predominate. "Shared
illusions," can be created in a variety of ways such as when
the group blindly follows a misguided leader, or "when a dissident
begins to voice his objections to a group consensus." Concerning
deviants, Janis noted that at first (in general), the group rallies
to convert the renegade, but if the group repeatedly fails, communication
diminishes and eventually the dissident is excluded. In the George
Orwellian sense, "Groupthink...tends to override critical thinking."
EXTRATERRESTRIALS
The group-fantasy that the earth has been contacted by extraterrestrials
stems from an ancient wish to make sense out of the universe. From
a deMausian perspective, it is a search for love; from a Jungian
view, it is a search for meaning and for God. Major adherents have
traditionally been society's stargazers, from astrologers in ancient
days to astronomers and so-called ufologists today. As witnessed
by the extreme popularity of 19th science fiction writers like Jules
Verne and George Du Maurier, to Orson Welles famous War of the Worlds
radio play in the late 1930’s (which was an updated rendition
of H.G. Wells famous book), to present day movies, such as ET, Startrek,
Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, X-Men, X Files and
Men in Black, there is a powerful need for humans to believe "We
are not alone."
THE HERDING INSTINCT
A major problem to consider in analyzing group-fantasies is understanding
the psychology of group dynamics. The group, itself can have many
levels (or subgroups) to it. For instance, there is the family unit,
cohorts or friends, the local community, professional colleagues,
the local culture or historical period. Just as the group attempts
to cause the individual to conform, so too does the individual try
to transform the group. Take the case of body piercing. Sometime
in the mid-1990’s, a few bold adolescents began to get first,
their noses and eye-brows pierced. At about 1997, this morphed into
the piercing of the belly button, septum, labret, nipples, genitals,
cheeks and tongue. Within the next three years, by 2001, the number
of students with their tongues pierced increased probably. Clearly,
the need to belong to the tongue-piercing group easily outstripped
any fear associated with the pain and continuing discomfort that
this procedure entailed.
QUANTUM JUMPS
The terms "paradigm" and "paradigm shifts" were
placed into general usage by Kuhn in his book The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions. We are aware that accepted premises, observations,
laws and theories are influenced by the prevailing worldview. Kuhn
has also utilized the word "myth" to describe obsolete
scientific theories. Sounding much like Janis, Kuhn states, “Normal
science...often suppresses fundamental novelties because they are
necessarily subversive of its basic commitments.” However,
as contemporary "laws" of science are to some extent "arbitrary"
by their nature, eventually they often yield to new and more comprehensive
tenets. Scientific revolutions, for Kuhn, occurs when science can
no longer explain "anomalies." A qualitative shift takes
place in accepted views and "a new set of beliefs comes into
play. Society, in turn, becomes "qualitatively transformed”
often enriched, but in the case of such discoveries as how to split
the atom, seriously threatened as well.
CULTS
In Evans' text Cults of Unreason, he suggests that cults appear
as "stop-gaps" for people in society ways for them to
deal with life's mysteries and also the unsettling feeling associated
with the rapid pace of our times. “These gaps, we will have
to agree, need plugging. And if science and present day philosophy
are unprepared to offer help, while the great world religions offer
only outdated, timeworn and implausible concepts, then the field
is ripe as never before for pseudoscientific philosophies, quasi-technological
cults and new messiahs to emerge. They are in fact already here.”
Evans lists as cult figures, L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology,
Tuesday Lobsang Rampa a reputed Tibetan lama and prolific author
purportedly residing in the body of a British fellow, ufologist
George Adamski whose "encounter in the Mojave desert with a
long haired Venusian wearing dark glasses and ski pants with whom
he engaged in telepathic contact reads like a desperate travesty
of the most simple-minded science fiction," Wilhelm Reich,
renegade psychoanalyst who claimed to have discovered the secret
force of the universe, i.e., orgone energy, and Gurdjieff, "a
fiercely moustachioed Russian Greek who supposedly offered some
important slice of Wisdom of the East to Western man." The
Evans text predominantly looks at these individuals In a negative
way, however, some of these individuals, particularly Gurdjieff,
will be discussed in this treatise in a positive way because of
his model of the psyche which attempts to place the will in the
center of the personality, rather than the primitive Freudian id.
ESOTERICISM
& SEED MEN
P.D. Ouspensky,
an ardent Gurdjieffian, discusses the role of the occult, which
he calls the esoteric, as a repository of secret knowledge. In his
text New Model of the Universe, he writes, “In order to understand
the possibility of the existence of the inner circle and the part
played by the esoteric schools in the life of humanity, it is necessary
to be in possession of such knowledge concerning the essential nature
of man and his destiny in the world as is not possessed by modem
science.... According to the idea of esotericism, as applied to
history, no civilization ever begins of itself. There exists no
evolution which begins accidentally and proceeds mechanically. Only
degeneration and decay can proceed mechanically.... Esoteric schools
are hidden from the eyes of ordinary humanity; but the influence
of schools persists uninterruptedly in history.... Esoteric knowledge
can be given only to those who have been seeking it with a certain
amount of consciousness” (pp. 29-31).
Ouspensky states further that esoteric knowledge does not have to
be found in secret societies. It does, however, involve the transmission
of knowledge to an inner circle of humanity who believe that: (1)
things have an inner meaning; and (2) things are connected, but
only appear to be separated. Knowledge is present to all, but only
people endowed with the ability to see behind the veil can appreciate
esoteric knowledge. Metaphysician Dane Rudyar suggests that esoteric
schools, inevitably tie into other dimensions and higher states
of existence. Certain individuals, according to Rudyar, often referred
to as avatars, are actually "seed men" who one way or
another have within their being knowledge that can lead a culture
to transcendence. Seen in this light, individuals such as Freud,
Jung, Einstein, and Gurdjieff could be seen as “seed men”
as through their work, they have helped transform society.
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