between absolutism and ignorance

i’ve come across another paradoxical edge in human behavior and perception. personally i admire a sense of not taking oneself or one’s ideas too seriously, i admire not knowing surely who you are (since you’re ever-changing) and what you’re about. to allow theories to just be guidelines and not immutable facts.

i dont think not having absolutes means being ignorant or clueless. i think some where in between the two there is a land of working definitions and theories that can inform as well as mold change and evolve. i admire people who have the flexibility and lack of adherence to certain ideas. in line with that, i am not tied to the idea of disliking such adherence every time 🙂

i’m reading Carl Jung, and he said:

“i can only hope and wish no one becomes “Jungian”… I proclaim no cut and dried doctrine and I abhor blind adherents. i leave everyone free to deal with the facts in his own way, since i also claim this freedom for myself.”

at a different time, he said: “theories in psychology are the very devil. it is true that we need certain points of view for their orienting and heuristic value; but they should always be regarded as mere auxiliary concepts that can be laid aside at any time. we still know so little about the psyche that it is positively grotesque to think we are far enough advanced to frame general theories. no doubt theory is the best cloak for lack of experience and ignorance, but the consequences are depressing: bigotedness, superficiality, and scientific sectarianism.”

(these quotes were collected from Mario Jacoby’s book, The Analytic Encounter.

Jung himself made statements at different points in his life that were discrepant. and this makes sense, we should not hold consistency so dearly that we don’t allow for growth and evolution.

i once had a debate with a friend because i like this quote from Haldane: “I am coming to the conclusion that my subjective account of my own motivation is largely mythical on almost all occasions. I don’t know why I do things.” my friend said “really?” with a lot of incredulity, in her world you cannot trust a person who does not know himself and his motivations. it is a view shared by many. it is logical too, because theorists must stand by their beliefs, or else why would anyone else buy their theory?

the certainty required about what we know is a pressing force, it gives credibility, heft and a certain kind of empirical respectability that “not being sure” does not have. i believe this is what Jung described as “scientific sectarianism.”

there is capitalism/commercialism here. although certainty can be heartfelt, a lot of times the motivation is advertising and making sales: one needs to be shamelessly promoting/marketing one’s views and products… any reservations and concerns are problematic. it is not ok to say “this is a great product for A and B, but…” as a society we don’t like ambivalence. this is not problematic except when there is a conflict of interest between profit and public benefit.

yet there is a different kind of thinking, quotes like “He who thinks he knows, doesn’t know. He who knows that he doesn’t know, knows.” i am somewhat delighted and not surprised to find that Joseph Campbell said this. i’ve also heard another version “wisest is he who knows what he does not know.” these ideas imply that there is some wisdom in the humility of not being absolute. the benefit of this is reflected in the problems that arise from religious absolutism.

so when i read someone like Carl Jung who meanders through his thoughts in his writings, stops, hesitates, adds a real voice of contemplation and thought, and mustering through those thoughts, i do not get bullet points and unequivocal strategies. what i get is wisdom and wealth of experience, that i can take and use.

ultimately this may be the difference between therapeutic wisdom and manual-based therapy. different psychotherapists would disagree with both polarities and fall at different points in the spectrum between.

i understand the need for protocol and guidelines, but it is when protocols and guidelines blind us from the true essence is when i have a problem with it. i love the quote that “even the Buddha wasn’t a Buddhist,” again delightfully similar to Jung telling people not to become “Jungians.”

the Dunning-Kruger effects may contribute to amplification of this dualism. someone like Jung would be a lot less likely to say “my theory is true and always true and EVERYONE should follow it.” people are more skeptical about someone who does not seem to “know their stuff” or “stand by their stuff” whereas someone like Dr. Phil gets his voice heard and spoken OUT LOUD.

i wonder if this need for certainty comes from our basic fear. that somehow following what is staunchly defended vs some loosey goosey insights and ideas makes some of us feel better. i wonder what the personality factors are that determine our leanings to one side or the other. thoughts?

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it’s worth it

emerald lake

we visited the rocky mountain national park this weekend. it was our first trip to Colorado. we had heard stories of altitude sickness, and being neurotic hypochondriacs, we were sure we will be nauseated and dizzy. so we went to the park, drove to bear lake, and we were done with no plans to hike, we’re city people and we’ve never really been “hiking.”

but something kept calling me to explore. there was something about the place that required a deeper level of connection and intimacy, not a touch and go but a real visit.

the names “nymph lake,” “dream lake”  and “emerald lake” enticed me. if a place is called “dream lake” there must be something about it that inspires the spirit. so wearing flip flops and with no plans to hike, we started following the signs and trekking up.

(the 2.5 miles was a very short hike in relative terms, but…) we were getting short of breath, tired, dehydrated, and ran out of water. and it was all uphill. my husband, more cynical than me, was not impressed by my whim to follow these names. he wanted to turn around and return. his fears included running into wild animals, getting lost, getting sick. my fear was he’d be right or it would really not be worth it.

the journey was quite beautiful all the way. there was a view of the mountains everywhere we turned, there were random water falls and streams, there were little carpets of snow that did not melt yet for the shade… yet our impatience to get to the lakes and back, kept us in a bit of a hurry and the bickering didn’t help.

as we kept walking, and it seemed like we’d never find the lakes, we asked people returning on the trail whether the lakes are up front. and twice, two different parties coming back said “keep going, it’s worth it.”

sometimes we would just hear the sound of water and believe we are close. sometimes we would reach a particularly steep area, look up, be intimidated and want to turn around. sometimes we felt lost and almost convinced ourselves we’d never find it.

nymph lake

and when we reached, it was PEACE.

the pictures and the words do not describe what you see for yourself. perhaps if i go again searching for “it,” it may not be the same again. but this time it was pure oneness. like plopping down on the sofa after a long day, it made sense to be there and it didn’t matter how hard it was to get there. it was like a big exhale and reaching home. it was pure wonderment and gratefulness and awe at the universe and all the secrets it holds if we seek to find them.

to state the obvious, this seemed very much like the spiritual journey or what joseph campbell called, the hero’s journey. there was a call that demanded to be answered, there was struggle, difficulty, wanting to turn back. there was impatience about wanting to get to our destination and a lack of appreciation of the beauty that was already around. there were people who had seen “the view” and encouraged others on their way, there were people who were skeptical and it all made sense.

lookout on the way

in fact the return was archetypal too. i’d have loved to pitch a tent and just stay there. that’s what it felt like in the moment anyways. but we couldn’t just live there. we had to come back and on the way it rained and stormed and we told some other people “it’s worth it.” i had to smile about how glorious that rain felt, being refreshed by a cool mountain rain in the forests was the perfect end to the trip.

when i wonder about what would have happened if we just stayed there… what comes to mind is how we get accustomed to bliss if we stay there long enough… it’s not a “high” anymore. in fact if we stop growing and our energy starts getting bored and dormant, we may even start finding faults with bliss. if i pitched a tent there, i know i would have complained about the mosquitoes.

in the end, answering such calls of spirit seem to be worth it, all the way, even when it does not seem like it. as joseph campbell said “follow your bliss.”

dream lake

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