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With time, the growing child learns how to understand its surroundings which is essential for its independence. This new ability is provided by the Mind. A newborn child is mindless, and gradually raises its own mind, whose main faculty is rationality.
WOB lacks rationality, it is irrational. It is like an animal which according to Aristotle also lacks rationality.
The
ambiguity of the 'Rational'
The term Rational has two meanings:1. It is a faculty of the mind,
and 2. It serves to characterize certain specific beliefs. Rationality
serves among other, for discrimination between objects, their categorization
and association between their qualities. Since WOB lacks these faculties it
is irrational. In this context irrational means that an individual is not
endowed with reason. He lacks the faculties of the mind. In the same
way as a blind lacks the faculty of vision.
If an individual violates the customary principles of rationality, he too is regarded as irrational. Generally he is capable for rational thinking, so that he does not lack this faculty of the mind. His irrationality results from ignoring a norm of the society. The subsequent arguments are concerned with the second aspect of the rational, and its negative effect on the WOB.
Science cultivates a special kind of rational inquiry. Anyone who ignores it is irrational. Yet there are other types of inquiries, , which apply non scientific reasoning. They are equally important as that of science. Like the rational inquiry of metaphysics, of mystical experience, or of the divine. The latter are regarded by scientists as irrational, even dangerous, particularly since obscuring (scientific) rational thinking.
Thought-style
The philosopher Ludwik Fleck realized that concepts like truth or the 'irrational' indicate a particular thinking style by a group of people, or thought-collective. A thought-collective is "a community of persons exchanging ideas or maintaining intellectual interaction". The individuals of a thought-collective share the same thought-style. Truth and falsehood are meaningful only within a specific thought-collective and with respect to a given thought-style and depend on the purpose of investigation. Different views can be equally true (1).
What one thought-collective
considers as irrational, may appear to the other as rational. What is
significant that both were derived by the same rational faculty of
the mind. It is like when observing a red color. Some may regard it
as dark-red, other, as light red, but both sensations were derived by the
same faculty of the eye.
Psychosis
Paranoia is defined
as a mental disorder in which the patient is governed by a system of irrational
beliefs (delusions). This deceivingly obvious definition was studied
in depth by Michel Foucault (2). It serves society to exclude undesirable
people and even to lock them up. These 'irrational beliefs' were derived
by the same rational faculty of the mind which operates in everybody. They
appear to us as irrational since we do not understand psychosis.
It is not the mind that went astray as psychiatry claims. Psychosis is a solution (v. the definition of Solution) by WOB to a challenge which still eludes our understanding. The apparent irrationality is part of the solution. It is a rational attempt by the patient to help himself.
Neurosis
The definition of neurosis is somewhat similar, yet unlike psychosis the individual
is fully aware of his or her irrational behavior.
Again it is the society which makes him (his mind) aware of his irrational
behavior, otherwise he might have lived undisturbed. Like in the case of homosexuality,
which was regarded by Freud as an abnormality. He believed that homosexuals
were predisposed to paranoia.
Paranoia results from a conflict between WOB and society
about the
meaning of gender. (v. in depth discussion of Gender)
It originates in the repression of 'WOB desire' or 'WOB needs'. Since at the
time of Freud WOB demands to find a male partner could not be fulfilled,
WOB had to find an alternative solution and created paranoia.
Id
Freud realized that neurosis originates in the unconscious part of the mind,
by the name 'id', which is governed by irrational instinctive drives.
These drives are none other than WOB messages to the mind which call for its
assistance. These needs cannot be satisfied since society forbids them. Neurosis
results from a conflict between WOB and society mediated by the
mind. It is a solution
to this conflict.
Freud
regarded this solution as disease, which has to be resolved
by psychoanalysis. The patient experiences again his childhood when the conflict
arouse and is urged to solve it with his adult mind. He then realizes his
'irrational' behavior and becomes healthy. Actually psychoanalysis
does not resolve the conflict. It only drives the patient to a new solution
with a better quality of life. Suppose the patient had a phobia which made
him miserable. Psychoanalysis endows him with a better life quality, yet the
original conflict between WOB and society prevailes.
It might even nurture his ongoing creativity.
Jung
Jung extended the exploration of the unconscious in the mind. His archetypes
are unconscious representations of the norms of society. It is important
to realize that Jung's 'unconscious' resides in the mind and not in the
WOB. The newborn baby which is irrational (without a mind) lacks
also Jung’s unconscious symbols and metaphors. Some of them it will
acquire during its education. Others he may never encounter.
Jung's archetypes reside in the collective unconscious of the society
(culture), where he also discovered them. He believed that archetypes enter
our mind by dreams. Actually archetypes are not inborn, in the
same way as our language is not. They are acquired by the mind through education.
Since representing society in our mind they may initiate conflicts between
mind and WOB, which are manifested as psychological diseases.
WOB's
unconscious
Jung's unconscious differs inherently from the unconscious which marks WOB
obscurity. Raise your hand and think of the myriad unconscious
processes which make this possible.
These processes are truly unconscious and cannot be revealed by Freud’s
or Jung's methods. Or take the patient in coma, where WOB reigns, undisturbed
by society, or archetypes and the like. WOB has
a language with which its workings may be explored.
The unconscious occupied the attention of humanity from its very
beginning. Some cultures regard it as an 'Animal' or a 'Devil',
others, regarded it as Divine.
Primordial Sin
For the western religions it all started in the Garden of Eden: "In the middle of the garden He set the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 2:9 (3)). Later on, turning to the serpent, Eve said: "God has forbidden us either to eat or to touch the fruit of that; if we do, we shall die" The serpent said: "Of course you will not die. God knows as soon as you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods knowing both good and evil." (Genesis 3: 3-5 (3)).
Saint Augustine, the father of the concept of primordial sin. explained what it was all about. Why did Adam and Eve fall? Not simply because they fell prey to concupiscence but because they disobeyed God's commandment. Once Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they lost control of their bodies. They blushed and felt ashamed because they were subject to the lusts of the flesh. Consequently, their children were born with the contagion of sin because of the parents' unseemly desire. Lust came from sin. (4).
From the perspective of our thought-style, the primordial sin describes the conflict between WOB and Mind. When Adam and Eve were created, each was a pure WOB. Like a newborn, and Garden of Eden was their protective mother (God was busy maintaining the world). The forbidden fruit endowed them with a mind that ‘knows both good an evil.’ In this fortunate moment, WOB got its interface with nature, and became independent. Yet this very independence was regarded by western religions as a threat.
Procreation
St.
Augustine dilemma was how can one reconcile the concupiscence of man with
the sacrament of marriage? WOB is neither concerned
with procreation, nor with the sacrament of marriage. In order to make
WOB procreate, Nature (God) had to create Lust. If it were not for pleasure,
WOB would never seek a partner . WOB lacks any urge
to produce offspring. It also is unaware of death, and does not sense
its coming. It knows only to sustain the life of the organism
in which it operates. While orgasm is WOB Paradise, it's sequel is procreation.
Realizing this, western religions made Lust a sin which threatens man
and woman during their reunion. Sinners are punished among other with
illnesses, which are cured by saviors.
Gnosis: Insight, or the act of Knowing
Jesus was first of all a healer, who preached how to prevent disease by avoiding sin. Healing was a divine knowledge. Any attempt to comprehend the divine implied also an understanding of death and disease. During Jesus' era which started about two centuries earlier, individuals and sects searched for this knowledge. The most conspicuous was Gnosticism. It asserts that "direct, personal and absolute knowledge of the authentic truths of existence is accessible to human beings," and that the attainment of such knowledge is the supreme achievement of human life (5).
According
to Gnostics, the temporally constructed self is not the true self. The true
self is the supreme consciousness existing and persisting beyond
all space and time. (6) This is where knowledge is to be found. Why search
so far? Since the cosmos as we know it was created by an ignorant semi-god
known as the Demiurge (Greek: dêmiourgos, "craftsman"). Since
Nature is corrupt, Gnosis reveals itself above it. This Demiurge
is non other than the Creator of the Old Testament.
Gaia
Gnosticism implies that WOB is part of this corrupt Nature,
and has to be ignored. Obviously the Gnostic insight led to an A-gnosis
of Nature, and misunderstanding of WOB. Its wording about the "supreme
consciousness" might therefore be rephrased as follows: The WOB that
we carry, is a temporally constructed WOB (self), and not the true WOB
(self). The true WOB (self) is the supreme consciousness existing and persisting beyond space and time, which received recently
the name Gaia.
Gaia is a theory formulated by James Lovelock in collaboration with Lynn Margulis (7). It can be defined as :"a complex entity involving the Earth's biosphere, atmosphere, oceans, and soil; the totality constituting a feedback of cybernetic systems which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on this planet."Gaia maintains homeostasis in the same way as our WOB does. From the present point of view, Gaia is the WOB of Nature. It is a super-WOB in which our WOB exists. Western religions ignore Gaia and attempt to control WOB.
Freud
and Jung: Healers of the primordial sin
Freud
and Jung realized that many modern diseases originate in the myth of the primordial
sin. They are diseases of the mind. Freud and Jung believed that in order
to cure the patient, he has to 'understand' the nature of the conflict. Yet
the proper cure for him would be when society realizes the futility of
this myth. Abandoning it all together, and let WOB enjoy Lust.
Obviously such cannot yet be realized. However, recently the first signs of
such a solution became apparent. They are known as Post-modernism.
Cancer-Yogi the modern Overman
When
Nietzsche declared that God is Dead he meant also the primordial sin. Then he introduced
his Overman. The Overman is a man who at once detaches himself from
his human self while simultaneously affirming himself as the master of his
faculties.From the perspective (thought-style) of this site which intends
to help patients with cancer, this overman is a Cancer-Yogi.
References
1.
Lowi I. The immunological construction of the self. In: "Organism and
the Origins of the Self". Tauber A.I. Ed. Kluwer Academic
Publishers
Norwell USA. p 43-71, 1991.
2. Foucault M. Madness and Civilization. A History of Insanity in the Age
of Reason. Howard R. trans. Random House N.Y 1961.
3.
The New English Bible. Oxford Study Edition 1972
4.
St. Augustine The City of God
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1201.htm
5.
Owens LS. An Introduction to Gnosticism and The Nag Hammadi Library.
http://home.online.no/~noetic/nagham/nhlintro.html
6.
Moore E. Gnosticism
http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/g/gnostic.htm
7.
Lovelock J, Margulis L. Gaia
http://www.magna.com.au/~prfbrown/gaia_int.html
