Techno Unconscious…(Part 2)

by Richard Reeve on December 6, 2008

in AziMuth

Central Pentecost dance for ordination

[Part 1 of this post, inspired by a question concerning the role of the collective unconscious and our technology, found here.]

…we left off with a question of what myth are we witnessing in the turning of this millennium, within which we have identified the explosion of codes of all sorts: codes that reveal the very building blocks of life and the manner of our cognition; and codes that have eradicated distance and language barriers through modes of instantaneous communication.  We take it all in stride, but as one of my favorite Twitterers Patti Digh recently reminded me, we need to reclaim our awe.

Much of the focus around millennial predictions seems to have overshot the mark, jumping to apocalyptic severity and the placards proclaiming “the end is at hand.”   Now from an archetypal perspective, Genesis and Apocalypse are always present- and reflection on the end, like reflection on the origin, always productive.  But what we are digging at here is something a little different.  What aspect of our collective myth are we riding through with this explosion of communication?

“They were all astounded and bewildered, and said to one another “what does this mean?” But others said, scoffing, “They have had too much new wine.” Acts 2

I propose we all think of our own journey with these issues, considering even the social media tools that brings us to say, this point -> ¤  Consider how the changing frames of reference align with what Jung wrote in a letter to Fr. Victor White:

“But an anticipation of a faraway future is no way out of the actual situation.  It is a mere consolamentum for those despairing as the atrocious possibilities of the present time.  Christ is still the valid symbol.  Only God himself can “invalidate” him through the Paraclete.” Edinger The New God Image, pg. 150

This letter, written in 1953, leaves me pondering.  If Jung were with us today, might he not entertain the possibility that things have begun to shift.  A new symbol is valid in as much as it can be experienced, and that you and you and you, and even you, are engaging with this prospect, why that certainly surprises me.

(Image by yumievriwan via Flickr)

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  • I like Joseph Campbell's idea of the Earth.. or social media seems to call to mind Indra's Net in a whole new way.

    Out side of that apocalypse does seem more like a real possibility then we generally seem to think is really real.. and that makes me a little nervous as I think.. what is needed now is a whole lot of waking up.

    I mean.. we got questions about the future of the oil supply.. there's the possibility that global warming could effect global food supplies, we have our current economic problems.. This along with geopolitical tensions.. often just beneath the surface.. there's just a lot challenges before us, that could, depending on how they are dealt with..

    When you mix this kind of thing with the massive rate of change.. It seems to me that whenever you have high rates of change that we start getting utopic and distopic dreams.. Electricity brought us the frankenstein monster and... on and on.

    I'm reminded of the art proceeding the second world war.. When you look at it you get the feeling that.. some kind of explosion was coming.. I'm not sure how to explain it exactly.. like sitting in the volcano.. as if God was coming or something..

    I think one of the coolest things about technology.. and the accelerating rate of change.. is that there is an increased sense of mystery.. there is a certain sense of awe... I think sometimes we think this is just cool aid... and its not that there isn't a lot of cool aid.. but #1 that doesn't mean that things aren't huge.. and #2 this brings us to the question of cool aid psychology.

    When you think electric cool aid tests.. you think dyonesius.. Nietzsche's lion eating thou shalts.. which is like a little death to intercession.. clearing the way for new dreams to manifest.

    It's odd though.. in social media you often hear of best practices which always make me feel like a method for relieving us of having to have an experience of awe, mystery, and wonder.. and I wonder if perhaps.. our value systems have caused us to cultivate a part of our potential that isn't well suited for the disruption.. and that this might be a core problem.. the generation gap syndrome amplified to the nth degree by our new rate of change.. and here comes the creative destruction... across so many industries.

    I see the resolution of this problem in the Hindu / Buddhist concept of Viveka.. discriminating between eternal and temporal values / truth. Much of what we perhaps thought was the rock.. that we built the foundations of our civilization on.. we are now learning only appeared static..

    In economics we once thought supply and demand was a law.. but now in digital media the supply is infinite.. you can copy that file all day long if you like.. and what does that do to it's value?

    So I think what needs to happen is a distinction between the temporal and eternal... in how we manage change.. because once you start playing with that sword.. you realize that the change isn't really all that fast at all.

    So.. I guess that's kinda what I think on this subject..
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