Is the Universe Conscious? (page 13)

Historically, depth psychology (from the German term Tiefenpsychologie), was coined by Eugen Bleuler to refer to psychoanalytic approaches to therapy and research that take the unconscious into account. The term has come to refer to the ongoing development of theories and therapies pioneered by Pierre Janet, William James, Sigmund Freud, and Carl Jung. Depth psychology explores the relationship between the conscious and the unconscious and includes both psychoanalysis and Jungian psychology. [1]

In practice, depth psychology seeks to explore underlying motives as an approach to various mental disorders, with the belief that the uncovering of these motives is intrinsically healing. It seeks the deep layers underlying behavioral and cognitive processes. Archetypes are primordial elements of the Collective Unconscious in the psychology of Carl Gustav Jung. Archetypes form the unchanging context from which the contents of cyclic and sequent changes derive their meanings. Duration is the secret of action. [2]

Depth psychology states that psyche is a process that is partly conscious and partly unconscious and partly semi-conscious. The unconscious in turn contains repressed experiences and other personal-level issues in its "upper" layers and "transpersonal" (e.g. collective, non-I, archetypal) forces in its depths. The semi-conscious contains or is, an aware pattern of personality, including everything in a spectrum from individual vanity to the personality of the workplace.
The psyche spontaneously generates mythico-religious symbolism or themes, and is therefore spiritual or metaphysical, as well as instinctive, in nature. An implication of this is that the choice of whether to be a spiritual person may be beyond the individual, whether and how we apply it, including to nonspiritual aspirations.
All minds, all lives, are ultimately embedded in some sort of myth-making in the form of themes or patterns. Mythology is therefore not a series of old explanations for natural events, but rather the richness and wonder of humanity played out in a symbolical, thematic, and patterned storytelling.

The initial work and development of the theories and therapies by Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler and Otto Rank that came to be known as depth psychology have resulted in three perspectives in modern times:

still thinking

Welcome to the discussion soft & gentle I am mulling over what you said.

frankiespeakin and Satanus....I think this takes us back to what Terry said on page 1 of this thread

Words only have the meaning that we give them.

Words without clear instances of reality can trip us up.

We very often use words as a kind of substitute for meaning ---instead. These are anti-conceptual.

Maybe the issue is that we just don't have the correct words to explain it. And what IS real? And how do we define it? When we go into the minute world of quarks and beyond...real loses meaning. We are now in the world of the unreal and none of it makes sense. If we limit 'real' to being only what we can measure...then what about the majority of 'reality' that we are not able to measure. Does that not exist? The act of measuring alters our idea of reality.

Satanus, I do think 'aware' may better a more useful way of explaining the type of consciousness that we humans have...thanks for that.

frankie...I think you may be on to something there, maybe the universe does behave in an 'unconscious' manner. Something akin to the automatic functions we have with no 'conscious' input.

Lots of food for thought today... ...thank you everyone. And lots of reading to follow up on.

Satanus

Semiconscious (low awareness level) was always my impression of the source. If the universe was the same, or similar, that would seem agreeable.

S

soft+gentle

thanks ST - it is worth mulling over as I have borrowed from great thinkers.

some people say that the subconscious is structured like language ( including the patterning and rhythyms of language). I find this quite fascinating so long as we don't think of language as a closed system or as generating one meaning. Taking it further, once a language has been mastered it is beautiful and harmonious but gobbledegook when we first hear it spoken or see it written. Moreover native speakers are unconscious of the deeper structures of their language but are able to speak the language fluently and easily.

The universe or phenomena, once we start looking at its codes and rhythyms, have eerie resonances and echoes with what we are made of and it is truly marvellous to consider whether or not the subconscious resonates with external stimuli without our being conscious of it (by conscious I mean able to put into words). In this sense would it be possible to say that the subconscious is more in tune with the universe/phenomena (like native speakers are with their own language - particularly when they can convey a whole paradigm in one word to other native speakers without understanding any of the grammer and rules) than it is possible to articulate or find words for but which generate possibilities for patterns of life changing action nevertheless?

still thinking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PZ4_75nT6_M

AwareBeing

Hey all, check out this research done by a former jw.

The subject is related to this thread.

It's called astrotheology!

http://videos.universaltruthschool.com/

http://www.universaltruthschool.com/

Enjoy; AB

still thinking

I Love Hitch...and this is a nice quote of his.

Xanthippe

I am not sure if the universe is conscious. We know that we are conscious. This is why I have wondered to myself, as Hitchens suggests, if our consciousness has evolved to continue after death. This is my own thought, Still, it is not connected to any religion or philosophy. Perhaps organic life on planets are the only conscious things in the universe so far, but perhaps some of this organic life can evolve into something else. Would this make the universe conscious? Seing as you are doing a 'what if' thread here and telling me to think for myself I hope you will accept this thought of mine and not insist I prove it, or start wheeling on the bearded magician.

Is the Universe Conscious?

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