Where Does Mind End?

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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