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  • [Music]

  • now you know I used this picture to

  • represent my class and you might not

  • know anything about this picture it's

  • it's a picture of Jonah being thrown up

  • out of whales belly after spending three

  • days inside it it's an old biblical

  • story it's a myth it's a fairy tale

  • that's that's one way of looking at it

  • and and I don't mean that derogative

  • manner we know for example that some of

  • the Grimm's brothers fairy tales are

  • perhaps fifteen thousand years old

  • they've been traced way back they're

  • really really old and old stories are

  • strange and they're strange because well

  • they've been told generation after

  • generation after generation and so you

  • could imagine that something retold over

  • such an expand of expansive time has

  • been reduced to its gist many many times

  • and nothing that's in the story anymore

  • is superfluous it's all meaningful in

  • some sense it's sort of like a meta

  • story that's one way of thinking about

  • imagine that you took a hundred books

  • hundred adventure books and you had to

  • extract out the central features of an

  • adventure book now it's hard to do that

  • it's like you're averaging across them

  • or something like that

  • distilling them in some manner then you

  • get a meta adventure and it would be

  • like a myth upon which all adventures

  • are based and this story is actually one

  • of those stories and I'm going to tell

  • you what I think the story means and I'm

  • not saying that this is all it means

  • because most stories of this sort are in

  • some sense inexhaustible just like great

  • works of art are inexhaustible there

  • there's more information in them than

  • you can possibly articulate that's what

  • makes them profound that's why you go

  • look at them otherwise someone could

  • just tell you about the painting and

  • that would be the end of that but that

  • doesn't work so so that Jonah is being

  • spit up by this whale and of course on

  • the face of it that's an impossibility

  • because well

  • you can't live inside a whale that's why

  • it's impossible now you may remember and

  • likely do that you all know a story

  • about someone who is inside a whale

  • that's Pinocchio right and you know you

  • go to that movie maybe even as an adult

  • you watch that movie and Geppetto is

  • down there in the whale in his little

  • boat you know it's big cavernous inside

  • you don't really care that that's

  • there's a bunch of things you don't care

  • about you don't care that those are

  • drawings and not real people you don't

  • care about that and you don't care that

  • the inside of a whale isn't a cavern and

  • you don't care that Pinocchio is a

  • puppet for that matter none of that

  • matters to you at all and that's because

  • you're really strange creatures and you

  • don't even notice when you're doing

  • something absolutely absurd and that's

  • one of those times when you are but if

  • someone taps you on the shoulder and

  • says you know you're just watching

  • drawings of a puppet puppets can't

  • really move autonomously and now he's at

  • the bottom of the ocean you have no idea

  • why he's going to rescue his father and

  • you're just sitting there annoyed and

  • you're okay with that and you'll say

  • shut up because I want to finish

  • watching a movie and so that's

  • interesting you see that tells you

  • something about your unconscious if

  • you're psychoanalytically minded because

  • you're doing something that you cannot

  • account for now you might say well it's

  • it it's enjoyable

  • well that's deep man you're really

  • really going a long ways with that the

  • question is a why is it comprehensible B

  • why is it enjoyable see just exactly

  • what are you doing there and you think

  • that whatever you are doing there is so

  • valuable that you'll actually pay to do

  • it weird very very weird and you know

  • when you read about let's say the

  • archaic rituals of tribal people and you

  • ask yourself just what are they up to

  • you might think well they're up to the

  • same thing that you're up to when you go

  • see a movie so and then you might also

  • notice that the

  • most expensive artifacts or among the

  • most expensive artifacts that human

  • beings create our movies they spend

  • hundreds of millions of dollars on them

  • and we consider that a good deal and you

  • know it drives our technology to because

  • the high-tech movies like the Marvel

  • movies that require so much computer

  • animation they actually drive the demand

  • for high-end graphics chips so our

  • technological advance forward is

  • actually motivated in part by our desire

  • to represent things fictional II in ever

  • more spectacular manner so Jonah well

  • let me tell you the story of Jonah and

  • I'll tell you why I'm gonna tell you it

  • this is from Camille Paglia who's a

  • critic of the modern University and a

  • very brilliant woman I would say very

  • controversial incredibly rapid speaker

  • and she can think so fast it's just

  • unbelievable she's really fun to watch

  • if you like that sort of thing

  • vicious adversary in an argument she

  • says the number one problem in academia

  • today is not ignorant students but

  • ignorant professors who have substituted

  • narrow expertise and theoretical

  • sophistication a preposterous term for

  • breadth and depth of learning in the

  • world history of art and thought art is

  • a vast interconnected web work a

  • fabricated tradition and over

  • concentration on any one point is a

  • distortion here's here's a problem I had

  • I wrestled with this when I was trying

  • to understand some of the things that

  • I'm going to teach you about there's

  • some things that you kind of have to

  • grasp as a whole you know sometimes you

  • have a flash of insight and a bunch of

  • things that you didn't know we're

  • related fall together that that's

  • supposed to happen in psychotherapy when

  • you link different disparate patterns of

  • behavior together because you've linked

  • them say with a single cause and you get

  • this like excited feeling

  • of illumination and possibility and

  • there are forms of communication that

  • require the simultaneously the

  • simultaneous realization of a multitude

  • of disparate phenomena like a movie can

  • be like that

  • you know you you listen to a movie you

  • watch movie and then you don't know what

  • the hell is going on and then something

  • happens near the end and bed everything

  • clicks together and it's cuz you've sort

  • of seen the thing as a whole and a lot

  • of the things that we a lot of the ways

  • that we interact with the world that are

  • mysterious are like that there and this

  • is what peg lay is referring to is that

  • and this is a psychoanalytic proposition

  • I would say or a romantic proposition

  • now the idea roughly is that way out in

  • the periphery of reality are all those

  • things that not only do you not know but

  • you don't even know you don't know right

  • there you're completely blind to their

  • existence and then there's unknown

  • things that you have some suspicions

  • about and then there's unknown things

  • that you can start to imagine and and

  • act out and dramatize and so all of that

  • is on the periphery of our knowledge

  • that's a psychoanalytic dictum where the

  • thoughts come from well partly they're

  • nested in dreams dreams are the

  • birthplace of thoughts fantasy it's not

  • that surprising fantasy is the

  • birthplace of ideas you know if you're

  • thinking about what you're gonna do in

  • the future

  • you enter into a reverie a dream state

  • and you contemplate multiple

  • possibilities and then you start

  • thinking them through

  • use your imagination to search beyond

  • where you are and the collective human

  • attempt to do that is our mysterious

  • humanistic artistic tradition which is

  • very difficult to justify from a formal

  • articulate point of view

  • what good is dance like what is it that

  • you're doing when you're dancing

  • well you don't care because you like to

  • dance why well you don't know what you

  • do it's built into you music musics a

  • human universal cultures use music to

  • organize themselves right they use music

  • to catalyze their identities they use

  • music to unite around you know in in

  • more archaic societies less

  • differentiated societies let's say no a

  • mask that represents part of the family

  • tradition will have a particular design

  • and there'll be a particular song

  • written for it and there'll be a

  • particular dance about it and the song

  • and the dance or something like the

  • symbolic representation of a mode of

  • being in the world like maybe the mask

  • is a wolf mask and so you act out the

  • wolf and there's music that goes along

  • with that and you think well what are

  • you doing when you're acting out the

  • wolf and part of that is what you're

  • trying you're trying to understand

  • wolves

  • you know it's an image it's imitation in

  • part and you know if you live in the

  • natural world and if you hunt and if

  • you're preyed upon then understanding

  • the things that you're hunting and

  • preying upon is useful and there's also

  • pull out perhaps useful things to learn

  • from them and so we play this strange

  • symbolic game with the world like

  • children pretending that's another way

  • of thinking about it and we do that to

  • act out and to begin to understand

  • things we don't understand like how to

  • act that's now for me the most important

  • question in life is not what the world

  • is made of and in fact I would say

  • that's a relatively new preoccupation of

  • humankind you know we didn't really

  • formalize you could say that the ancient

  • Greeks originated laid the groundwork

  • for the emergence of an empirical

  • science and then it emerged more

  • formally with bacon and Descartes and

  • Newton five six hundred years ago not

  • very long like a blink blink to the eye

  • in human terms before that people were

  • engineers they could build things and so

  • forth but they didn't know how to

  • they weren't scientists they didn't

  • really conceptualize the world as an

  • objective place we do that automatically

  • because science has seeped so far into

  • our set of presuppositions that doesn't

  • make us good scientists by the way but

  • it does make us believe that the

  • fundamental reality of the world is an

  • objective reality and I'm not going to

  • dispute that particularly but leaves one

  • set of questions unanswered

  • probably by its nature because it wasn't

  • designed to answer the question then

  • that question is how should one conduct

  • oneself in the world and that's an

  • important thing since you're alive and

  • hypothetically you'd rather stay alive

  • and well you're alive you probably don't

  • want to suffer any more than you have to

  • and no more stupidly than you have to

  • and it might also be good if some of the

  • things that you want it actually

  • happened and so you know you're

  • motivated to know how to act and and

  • people are always telling each other how

  • to act we're sending each other

  • information all the time about how to

  • act we do that with our the expressions

  • on our face and of course when we talk

  • to people we always look at their face

  • and that's because their face tells you

  • what they're up to

  • you know if they're smiling and paying

  • attention to you well then you can

  • assume that you're doing something right

  • and if they're looking annoyed or

  • disgusted that's a particularly bad one

  • then you might think you might take a

  • hint

  • from that especially if you know three

  • or four people are doing it at the same

  • time and so we're reflecting we're

  • reflecting some ideal to one another

  • constantly and the more attentive you

  • are the more likely you are to act in

  • accordance with that ideal and the more

  • like you likely you are to move towards

  • it you may not even know what the ideal

  • is in an articulated sense in fact you

  • probably don't you know you could come

  • up with a well you know a good person is

  • nice and friendly and you know

  • cooperative and yeah yeah you know

  • that's all just cliche but you don't you

  • know your conception might be very

  • Hollow it's very likely that it's very

  • Hollow even though you may be able to

  • act in a very sophisticated manner

  • alright so anyways this is a story I'd

  • say oh it's a meta story it's it's what

  • would happen if you collected a bunch of

  • stories and then you extract it out a

  • story from them and it's sort of a story

  • about destiny and it's couched in a

  • religious language but that's okay

  • because most of these distilled stories

  • are form the foundation of religious

  • texts and religious texts and myth and

  • myths and stories are as I said part of

  • the outer perimeter of our society they

  • have a they have a coherent nature and

  • it's all and they form a foundation and

  • it's on that foundation that everything

  • that you take for granted rests even if

  • you don't understand the foundation so I

  • can give you an example there's a

  • metaphysical idea that underlies Western

  • civilization and that metaphysical idea

  • is that the individual has transcendent

  • worth that's that's the idea from which

  • the notion of natural rights is derived

  • and of course our legal system is

  • predicated on the idea that you have

  • certain natural rights they're enshrined

  • in the Bill of Rights for example and in

  • the in the states when the bills Bill of

  • Rights was being formulated when the

  • legislation Ridge the legislation that

  • found that the state was being

  • formulated the formulators said we hold

  • these

  • truths to be self-evident what does that

  • mean

  • they're axioms of faith right there

  • they're propositions and there's no

  • proof for them there they're a mode of

  • operation in the world and so the

  • hypothesis is something like well if I

  • treat you like there's something about

  • you that has transcendent value implicit

  • intrinsic value whatever that might be

  • and there are stories about that and

  • we'll talk about that and you do the

  • same to me and then we set up a body of

  • laws that recognizes the sovereignty of

  • the individual so that the law itself

  • has to act with respect towards every

  • individual even if that individual has

  • done something reprehensible which is

  • very weird if you think about it

  • then our society will work better and

  • well perhaps that's true but for better

  • or worse that is what this society is

  • predicated on and that's a very very

  • very very very very old idea and it's an

  • idea that people came to with great

  • difficulty because it was over thousands

  • of years that people learned how to take

  • their little tribal groups which are

  • always squabbling with one another right

  • because there's human beings they're

  • very violent and tribal groups are by no

  • means civilized it's there's no noble

  • savage like the Europeans thought if you

  • study tribal groups in the world today

  • the murder

  • the death rate by violence is

  • unbelievably high so something unites a

  • tribe within a tribe it's often kinship

  • but then tribes come together to form

  • larger civilizations and they have to

  • determine some sort of meta principle

  • that guides them so that they can

  • cooperate and come together without

  • destroying one another and they have to

  • extract out a principle by which the

  • society might function and that has to

  • work and then as societies get bigger

  • and bigger and bigger and bigger and

  • bigger they have to bring more and more

  • of these diverse traditions together and

  • extract out something from them that has

  • power and functional utility and that

  • allows people to unite

  • and so this is one of the stories that

  • talks about that it's a story about

  • individual responsibility and what

  • happens when it's not heated so you know

  • because we could say you are a social

  • creature right to the core and most of

  • your environment is other people and

  • those other people want something from

  • you and you want something from them so

  • you're gonna play games with them you're

  • either gonna be good at it you're gonna

  • be bad at it but you're gonna play games

  • with them and so the game might have

  • rules really sophisticated rules in fact

  • and you'd expect that because as your

  • behavior more and more approximates an

  • ideal assuming such a thing exists then

  • you're more and more sophisticated and

  • the nature of the ideal is perhaps more

  • and more complex and and difficult to

  • understand you get a hint of this though

  • you can get a hint of this because you

  • will see if you pay attention to your

  • own soul your psyche your unconscious

  • you'll see that there are people that

  • you admire and that there are people

  • that you have contempt for and that's

  • and it isn't necessarily that you're a

  • hundred percent accurate in your

  • judgment you know it's not such a bad

  • idea to criticize your first impressions

  • but those states exist and so there's a

  • reason you admire someone and there's a

  • reason you have contempt for someone

  • there may be multiple reasons and that's

  • a hint to your intrinsic value structure

  • it's a hint about your intrinsic value

  • structure right you wouldn't admire

  • someone unless there was something about

  • them that you valued and perhaps that

  • you would also like to be able to do and

  • he wouldn't despise someone or have

  • contempt for them if you didn't feel

  • that something they were doing was wrong

  • and that it would be wrong if you did it

  • too and so you're bringing to bear on

  • the situation an implicit morality and

  • you have to do that because as I said

  • you can't act without a morality because

  • if you're gonna act you're gonna try to

  • make things better that otherwise why

  • bother and if you're acting to make

  • things better than some things have to

  • be better and some things have to be

  • worse and that's a value structure so

  • you have one

  • all right so Jonah he gets a call from

  • God and God tells them that there's a

  • city Nineveh that's falling into moral

  • disarray now what does that mean well

  • it's a universal story it's like all

  • cultures are always falling into

  • disarray it's their nature just entropy

  • does that right things change the world

  • changes the environment changes and the

  • culture doesn't keep up very well and

  • then of course it has corrupt elements

  • and so it's an interior eternal story

  • the individual is always placed in

  • relationship to a culture that's

  • somewhat corrupt and then the question

  • is well what do you do about it and if

  • the answer is nothing well then it'll

  • just get more corrupt and if the answer

  • is be corrupt - then it will just get

  • more corrupt so the answer has to be to

  • oppose the corruption because that's the

  • only way it's going to stop now god

  • threatens to destroy this city because

  • of its corruption and I don't think you

  • need to presume anything particularly

  • metaphysical about that to understand it

  • it's very straight forward that the more

  • corrupt the culture is and the less

  • Trust is possible between individuals

  • the less productive of the culture is

  • going to be because why do anything if

  • some corrupt person is just gonna come

  • and take it you know it might even be

  • that the culture is so corrupt that if

  • you are good for something and you

  • produce resources you're actually more

  • likely to get killed because you have

  • something of value so like this just

  • you're just not going anywhere with that

  • and why would you work if you didn't

  • have any sense that you know you

  • store up the value of your work for some

  • reasonable time in the future so if the

  • society is corrupt and there's no trust

  • its degenerating and you know it might

  • live for a while but isn't it last very

  • long and so that's the idea corrupt

  • societies collapse that leaves open what

  • corruption means anyways Jonah

  • thanks no no bloody way I'm not going to

  • that City they can go to hell as far as

  • I'm concerned and that's really what he

  • thinks and why in the world should I do

  • anything about it anyways and these are

  • good objections it's like why would you

  • do that and you'll face this believe me

  • in your life you will face this in fact

  • you already do always constantly

  • continually in small ways perhaps when

  • you're interacting with people who

  • aren't treating you properly and when

  • you're acting and those might be your

  • parents they might be your friends they

  • might be people at your workplace they

  • might be professors they're playing a

  • crooked game and you don't like it and

  • you know it's crooked

  • and so then the question is well what

  • should you do about it well if you know

  • you're correct know it's crooked it's

  • not so good to play along with it I mean

  • we'll say that you know it's crooked by

  • your own standard of values it D

  • degrades you to play along with it

  • you're gonna stand up and oppose it well

  • no probably not

  • you're probably gonna do what Jonah did

  • jump on a ship and get the hell out of

  • there and you know that's a logical

  • thing to do but it doesn't solve the

  • problem and I think this has something

  • to do with human ethical responsibility

  • because there are other old stories and

  • I'll tell you one likely where the son

  • of the king the Lion King the son of the

  • king he goes off and he's some pathetic

  • adolescent and then he's shamed by the

  • reappearance of his old girlfriend into

  • turning into something vaguely useful

  • and he opens his eyes and he goes back

  • and he fights scar and you know it's a

  • scene of hell right because there's fire

  • everywhere and he fights scar finds

  • skaar killed his father he casts him

  • into the pit roughly speaking and then

  • the rain comes and then you know the

  • movie returns to its beginning

  • fundamentally it's a paradise paradise

  • lost' Paradise Regained that's the movie

  • and and I mean that's the story of human

  • beings you know you're in a place that's

  • working out pretty well something

  • happens to knock you off your perch

  • you're down in the chaos for a good

  • amount of time and maybe you never get

  • out but maybe you learn something down

  • there maybe a strength in your character

  • then you pop up to a new place and maybe

  • it's better better aim better you now

  • I'm not being overly optimistic about

  • this I know perfectly well that people

  • encounter impediments during their life

  • that they find almost impossible to

  • recover from but it's the best shot you

  • have so anyways Jonah runs away but God

  • isn't very happy about that because it's

  • actually Jonah's destiny it's necessary

  • for Jonah to repair the city so God

  • sends a storm and you know the waves are

  • high and and and I think what that means

  • is because the water is often a symbol

  • for the unconscious and that's because

  • things lurk down there in the water and

  • that you could pull up that that are

  • useful monstrous things that you can

  • pull up they're useful you can fish for

  • them you can go fishing in your own

  • being for answers which is what you do

  • when you try to think right you ask

  • yourself a question and you wait maybe

  • an answer appears it's like where did

  • that come from you didn't know what the

  • answer was before it appeared but it

  • just popped into being out of nowhere

  • who knows so you fish so anyways the

  • waves come and the boats gonna be

  • knocked over it and that's what happens

  • I think when you know when you know you

  • should do something I mean everyone has

  • the this experience I believe perhaps

  • you would be willing to put up your

  • hands if this experience is foreign to

  • you okay

  • just part of your telling you you should

  • do something and it's hard

  • to do it effortful and maybe you're

  • afraid of it and so you don't do it you

  • just procrastinate right and so how do

  • you feel about that good I mean so what

  • do you feel that you're betraying

  • yourself your anxiety actually gets

  • worse not better even though you know

  • you can put it off moment to moment but

  • that doesn't help because every time you

  • put it off the anxiety just grows a

  • little bit you're not proud of yourself

  • you have a sense that you're making

  • things more chaotic than they should be

  • you know and if you do that long enough

  • and I'm sure many of you have had that

  • experience if you do that long enough if

  • that becomes habitual things will get so

  • stormy around you that you'll fall right

  • into the into the chaos into the watery

  • chaos and maybe you'll drown so it's not

  • a very good idea to run from your

  • destiny let's say whatever that might be

  • and you need a destiny you need a place

  • to aim at because that's what gives your

  • life meaning and you need meaning in

  • your life because life is hard so you

  • know you need something to buttress

  • yourself against that so anyways they

  • wake joan up and jonah says that's

  • probably my fault because like i'm

  • running away from something i'm supposed

  • to do and you know god isn't very happy

  • about that so why don't you just throw

  • me over to overboard and the crew isn't

  • very happy about that but the waves are

  • really starting to come up and joan is

  • pretty insistent that he's the cause of

  • the problem and so they draw they draw a

  • lot and and jonah is chosen and so they

  • decided to toss him into the ocean and

  • immediately everything's calm so he's a

  • center of chaos because he's not doing

  • what he's supposed to do fine well then

  • that whale comes up and swallows him and

  • then he's in the whale for three days

  • now that's a weird thing the whale

  • that's the way all that

  • Gepetto's ian that's a dragon it's the

  • thing that you have to go out there and

  • conquer to get something of value now

  • when you've made an error when you've

  • fallen off the pathway when you deviated

  • from what you know you should do it

  • produces a state of internal chaos and

  • worry and concern you're you're thrust

  • into the unknown you're thrust into

  • unknown territory and chaos you don't

  • know what to do and that's often

  • symbolized by the encounter with a with

  • a monster

  • like a dragon something that lives under

  • the water that's and I think the reason

  • for that is as far as I've been able to

  • tell is that human beings because we've

  • been prey animals for forever in our

  • battle with carnivorous lizards for

  • example and alligators and even

  • dinosaurs because there were dinosaurs

  • around at the time of our most distant

  • ancestors there was even a cat at one

  • point that was that was adapted with

  • teeth to pierce human skulls so it had a

  • head that was exactly shaped to grab you

  • here and put a tooth through the back of

  • your skull so like we've come through

  • some rough times man and we have a

  • system in our mind that's a threat

  • predator detection system that's the

  • thing that makes little kids think about

  • monsters in the dark right because well

  • there is monsters in the dark parents

  • always say well there's no monsters in

  • the dark it's like that's not true the

  • dark is full of monsters there might not

  • be any in your room right at that moment

  • but that doesn't mean there aren't

  • monsters in the dark and crimes take

  • place like criminals don't get up at

  • 6:00 in the morning and like you know

  • have breakfast and go rob a bank they do

  • it they do that sort of thing at night

  • people do the things that are fit for

  • the night in the night and lots of

  • predators are nocturnal and you can't

  • see very well in the dark and kids

  • aren't stupid

  • you know they've evolved to stay pretty

  • damn close to the fire because the kids

  • that wandered away from the fire got

  • picked off by hyenas and lions and you

  • know crocodiles and whatever else the

  • hell was out there to eat the unwary so

  • the circuit that we use to to defend

  • ourselves against predators as we've

  • evolved cortically that circuit has has

  • come to represent what we don't know in

  • general because the Predators of course

  • inhabit where we don't know and so

  • evolution is a conservative force and we

  • use the circuits that we've evolved to

  • represent new things and so the unknown

  • the chaos is often represented by a

  • monster that swallows you up and pulls

  • you down and you know when you're

  • feeling terrible you don't say well I'm

  • feeling up you say I'm feeling down well

  • why is that well down is worse I guess

  • you're flat on the ground when you're

  • down or you're in a hole or something

  • like that you're hiding in a hole

  • you know it's down and you're threatened

  • by something you know maybe you're

  • threatened by your own inadequacy that

  • might be part of it maybe that's partly

  • what you imagine as a monstrous force

  • because you know your proclivity towards

  • procrastination and your weakness of

  • character is part and parcel of why you

  • happen to be in the underworld and

  • that's the underworld the mythological

  • underworld that's where you go when

  • things fall apart and if you understand

  • that if you know that that's what that

  • means then you have one of the keys that

  • opens up ancient stories to you and you

  • understand things you could live can be

  • an organized going very well and then

  • something comes up and poof everything

  • changes some axiom that you were living

  • by and it might be the existence of a

  • partner might be a job it might be your

  • health any of those things go on and you

  • go somewhere when that happens you go

  • somewhere it's a state of being you're

  • still in the same world but it's not the

  • same at all anymore

  • everything about it is different it's

  • all negative and dark and you don't know

  • what to do you're confused and so what

  • do you do down there in the underworld

  • when things have fallen apart especially

  • if oh if it's the worst possible case

  • scenario and you

  • realize that you actually had something

  • to do with your demise that's really

  • annoying you know when something bad

  • happens to you and then you know you

  • grind yourself into bits trying to

  • figure out what the hell happened and

  • then you realize that well you were

  • playing a causal role now sometimes

  • you're so depressed you assume you're

  • playing a causal role and you work it's

  • not easy to figure out by any stretch of

  • the imagination and it isn't that

  • everyone who does something terrible is

  • at fault for it but sometimes you find

  • that you are off the path somehow and

  • maybe even that you knew it and they

  • didn't attend to it and that's why all

  • of this hit the fan and so then down

  • there in that chaos you decide that

  • you're going to do what you're supposed

  • to do instead and then maybe you get to

  • rise up again renewed if you're lucky

  • and then you can go fix the city and

  • that's what this story's about and

  • that's why I picked the image to

  • represent the course because really what

  • happens you see with the psychoanalysts

  • the road due to health if you're not

  • doing well which means that as you act

  • in the world you're not getting what you

  • want there's something wrong with your

  • the match between your presuppositions

  • and your actions habitual and the way

  • the world is responding to you and so

  • it's not turning out for you and the

  • question is well what can you do about

  • that

  • and one answer might be to examine

  • yourself for presuppositions and action

  • patterns that are not serving you well

  • and to find out what they are and what

  • to do about them and maybe some of that

  • is maybe you're not moving forward

  • because of fear and maybe that fear is

  • grounded in terrible experiences that

  • you had in the past that you've never

  • been able to understand and maybe one of

  • the ways of gluing yourself back

  • together and expanding your personality

  • so that you could in fact live properly

  • in the world is to go back to those

  • terrible events and untie them and

  • straighten them out and understand them

  • and drop them and that's what

  • psychotherapy is about in large part

  • psychoanalytic behavioral doesn't matter

  • what are you afraid of what are you

  • avoiding what are you failing to develop

  • maybe from fear maybe from avoidance god

  • only knows maybe from disgust how can

  • you get over it

  • how can you reclaim those parts of your

  • self

  • now I said in the first lecture that I

  • was going to try to provide you with a

  • schema into which you could place the

  • theorists that we're going to discuss

  • and it requires going down deep to do

  • that and there are presuppositions in my

  • presupposition and this is a

  • psychoanalytic presupposition it's

  • predicated on a poetic tradition I would

  • say don't an ancient tradition I learned

  • most of it from reading Jung it was Carl

  • Jung that helped me understand that

  • we're nested inside a dream that we have

  • to be because we don't know everything

  • we have to take things as Givens and the

  • things that we take it as Givens are

  • nested inside stories and we accept the

  • stories as valid and then outside the

  • stories is the absolute unknown you know

  • and that's partly the stories are tricky

  • you know that one of the classic stories

  • it's a variant of the the Jonas story I

  • would say is st. George and the dragon

  • and that that story was represented in

  • during the Renaissance and during

  • medieval times thousands and thousands

  • of ways it's like the story of st.

  • Patrick who chased the snakes out of

  • Ireland same idea and that the typical

  • st. George story is the Hobbit or Harry

  • Potter so in the second volume of Harry

  • Potter correct me if I have any of these

  • details wrong you remember there's that

  • snake the basilisk so this is Magic

  • Castle right you guys have no problem

  • without Magic Castle no problem there's

  • an or if he's an orphan he goes to the

  • Magic Castle to learn how to be more

  • than normal right the muggles he has a

  • muggle family we're not too happy with

  • the muggle family like as

  • representatives of normal people they

  • they have some blacks now of course the

  • reason for that is that well that's what

  • teenagers often feel about their parents

  • right they fail Jesus these couldn't

  • really be my parents I must have some

  • other parents who are like

  • together those are like magical parents

  • right parents that live in the sky and

  • of course Harry Potter has earthly

  • parents that's the muggles and Dursley I

  • think is the kid he's at one he's a

  • wonderful piece of work and you know

  • ill-formed a spoiled ill-formed

  • selfish very far from the ideal he's a

  • foil for Harry and of course he's

  • appreciated and doted on and Harry is

  • actually punished for his virtues that's

  • a classic story right to to be punished

  • for your virtues I mean if you look at

  • the story the central story in

  • Christianity the central story and

  • Christianity is about someone who is

  • precisely punished in the worst possible

  • way for the highest possible virtues

  • that's what it makes it an archetypal

  • story because there isn't anything more

  • unfair than that and so it's a limit in

  • a sense you it can't be worse than that

  • being punished for being you know

  • unworthy it's like yeah yeah well at

  • least makes sense but to be punished

  • because you have your act together and

  • you're a good person that's real

  • punishment and that's what happens to

  • Harry so luckily he finds out that he's

  • magical which is quite convenient and

  • off he goes to Wizarding school and you

  • know that's actually like taking that's

  • actually like going and studying the

  • humanities I mean it was when they still

  • were you know because you it's through

  • the humanities that you that you make

  • contact with the magic of your culture

  • and that makes you more than merely the

  • child of your parents because you are

  • more than merely the child of your

  • parents you're the child of nature and

  • you're the child of culture and until

  • you understand what that means

  • understand that you have two sets of

  • parents like the divine hero always has

  • two sets of parents you you can't

  • construe yourself properly as an

  • individual you're not situated properly

  • in the world you don't know what your

  • responsibilities are you can't orient

  • your values properly and you will suffer

  • for that because as far as I can tell

  • because life is so difficult you have to

  • do something that's

  • truly worthwhile in order to justify it

  • and so well that's what all these

  • stories tell you that's what the story

  • of Jonah is telling you it's like you

  • have an ethical duty to straighten

  • things up and if you don't do it you're

  • gonna be sorry and that stories echoed

  • everywhere while now st. George

  • well let's go to Harry Potter well

  • that's what we were talking about so he

  • goes off to the Magic Castle and he's

  • learning to be a wizard and he's kind of

  • an interesting character a because he's

  • not really good and we find out I think

  • that's because does he have a piece of

  • gold amarti in him he's not what happens

  • yeah and that's what that means is that

  • to be good

  • truly good you can't just follow rules

  • that's that's very clear in the Harry

  • Potter story and you also have to be

  • able to understand and malevolence and

  • in order to understand malevolence so

  • that you can withstand it you have to

  • understand that part of you that's

  • malevolent because if you don't you're

  • naive and if you're naive you're easy

  • pickings and so that's a union idea too

  • and the Union idea is that part of

  • personality development is to understand

  • your shadow and the shadow is those

  • things about you that you do not want to

  • admit to and you can learn about your

  • shadow by reading history you know you

  • can read about Auschwitz you can read

  • about the concentration camps in Russia

  • and you can imagine yourself as a guard

  • instead of as a heroic rescuer of

  • unfortunate victims which would be very

  • very unlikely and once you can imagine

  • yourself as a guard which is a

  • terrifying thing to do then you

  • understand something about yourself and

  • I actually think and I think this is

  • also from students studying young that

  • you cannot have proper respect for

  • yourself until you know that you're a

  • monster because you won't act carefully

  • enough you know if you think well I'm a

  • nice person I'd never do anyone any harm

  • it's like you're no saint you can be

  • sure of that and the harm that you do

  • people can come in many many ways and so

  • if you regard yourself as harmless

  • inoffensive nice well why do you have

  • any reason to be careful

  • you're like a teddy bear sitting on a

  • shelf even if you throw it at someone no

  • one's gonna get hurt

  • but that isn't what you're like because

  • you're a human being and human beings

  • are some vicious creatures and there's

  • utility in knowing that because it's

  • also the case you know in the Harry

  • Potter series Harry could stand up

  • against full-dome art and understand

  • them and speak his language because he

  • was infected by him to some degree a

  • very very interesting idea anyways in

  • the second 10 the reason I'm telling you

  • this and this is worth thinking about

  • it's like how long were each of those

  • books like 500 pages they're long eh and

  • there was how many of them seven and how

  • many of them were sold I mean how many

  • of you read every Harry Potter book

  • right that's how many of you read at

  • least one okay how many you saw the

  • movies it's like you're all in a cult

  • you are I'm telling you really that's

  • the truth it's really the truth so in

  • the second volume there's this snake

  • that's zip it around there the basilisk

  • right and it lives in the underground

  • that's chaos that's chaos and that's

  • because wherever you are you're on thin

  • ice and underneath you're thin ice is

  • chaos and here we are in this

  • unbelievably civilized environment and

  • everyone's getting along so perfectly

  • but you know we've got hot guard lights

  • with electricity the sewage system is

  • working no one's hungry it's like we can

  • be peaceful but if any of that fell

  • apart and it could easily fall apart

  • because it's a bloody miracle it ever

  • works at all then the chaos that's just

  • underneath the surface is going to come

  • up right now and it's useful to know

  • that because it makes you properly

  • grateful if you really understand it it

  • makes you proper

  • be grateful for the bloody miracle that

  • it is that you can be here in peace

  • so anyways there's this snake that's

  • underneath the surface and it's you know

  • no joke that thing it's big and it's

  • ancient it's always been there and what

  • happens if you look at it it turns you

  • to stone right it paralyzes you well

  • that's the more that's the Gorgon that's

  • Medusa the woman with the head of snakes

  • and if you look at her it paralyzes you

  • what does that mean well you're walking

  • through the jungle and big snake appears

  • what do you do you freeze and no bloody

  • wonder because you're a prey animal and

  • that's what they do when they see things

  • that are going to eat them and so the

  • snake well lots of people still die from

  • snakebite and our ancestors were and I

  • mean our ancestors like you know tens of

  • millions of years ago when they were

  • living in trees and weren't very big

  • they made a nice snack for a snake and

  • there's a woman named Lynn Isbell who's

  • an anthropologist at UCLA who's

  • correlated the presence of carnivorous

  • snakes with the acuity of primate vision

  • and what she found was that the more

  • snakes around the better the primates

  • could see so and we're particularly good

  • at picking up patterns like snake

  • camouflage in the lower half of our

  • visual quadrant you know and people

  • generally don't like snakes you can

  • learn to handle them but no snake fear

  • appears to be an eight to Nate in

  • chimpanzees and it tends to increase as

  • you age rather than decreasing you can

  • overcome it but well my daughter had

  • snakes and one day her snake bit her it

  • was a fairly big snake and she hadn't

  • paid attention to it for a while so it

  • nailed her and from then on she had very

  • difficult time grabbing the snake it was

  • like bitten once you know shy

  • permanently she also told me years later

  • she had nightmares about snakes all the

  • time when she had a snake in her room

  • it's like you know and I think it was

  • probably the smell so anyways so Harry

  • Potter decides he's going to go

  • after the basilisk rake he's gonna go

  • out there and face the thing that he's

  • most afraid of so he does that wait out

  • in the depths so it's like Jonah going

  • down into the depths and he faces the

  • basilisk and it bites him and you know

  • that's a that's right because if you go

  • down into the depths you can get bitten

  • like it's no joke and this is a hero

  • story but the thing about the hero

  • stories it's actually real the thing

  • that you're facing is actually dangerous

  • and even though facing it voluntarily

  • might be your best bet and is likely

  • your best bet because that's the central

  • story of humanity that doesn't mean

  • you're going to succeed it's the real

  • thing so anyways he gets bitten right

  • and he's gonna die now he's rescuing

  • Ginny so that's the st. George story if

  • you go after like dragon dragons like to

  • capture virgins god only knows why I

  • think it's because I think it's because

  • one of the things that male humans have

  • done from the beginning of time is chase

  • the damn predators away and I suspect

  • that the males from god only knows how

  • long ago who were particularly good at

  • that were rewarded with female attention

  • and why the hell not so it's deeply

  • rooted inside of us that idea of facing

  • the unknown and freeing the woman so the

  • idea there is that if you it's a male

  • idea and in large part I can talk about

  • the central female myth and I will as we

  • proceed the idea is that if you're this

  • sort of person who can stand up against

  • the unknown and the frightening then

  • you're also likely if you develop into

  • that sort of person then you're also

  • likely to develop into the sort of

  • person that other people will find

  • attractive so you know and that's why

  • young believed that the inside the

  • shadow was the anima which is like a

  • female figure and so his idea was

  • something like you know if you look

  • watch movies there's always this beta

  • male guy if there

  • romantic movies and he's a nice guy and

  • he's the friend and you know the woman

  • tells him everything but she doesn't

  • like him a bit she likes the guy who's

  • like God an edge and and who's capable

  • of I would say mayhem but at least of

  • aggression now that doesn't mean she

  • wants them to be aggressive but what it

  • does mean is that she wants him to be

  • able to be aggressive that would be good

  • and so he's the romantic target and so

  • he's the person that's incorporated the

  • shadow and he's someone that is

  • respectable and perhaps useful and so

  • well that's a very old story

  • so let's let's think about this for a

  • minute I've already offered you a

  • proposition

  • and I think it's an important

  • proposition and I'm I'm offering you

  • this proposition so that you can make

  • sense of art and literature and

  • mythology and religion and dance and all

  • those strange ritualistic things that

  • human beings do which seem central to us

  • including including not least the in

  • eradicable tendency of us to seek out

  • stories of heroes I should finish the

  • Harry Potter story so Harry Potter goes

  • down there to rescue Virginia no it's

  • that's not her name what is it

  • Ginny yeah but there's a there's a

  • formal name for that it's a variant of

  • Virginia anyways which is a very

  • divergent so um and it gets bitten

  • didn't yes Ginevra that's it he gets

  • bitten and the bite is poison and so

  • there is dying which doesn't seem to be

  • so good and then what happens and again

  • you guys swallow this it's no problem

  • so what's his name the Dumbledore

  • character he's got a bird right so he's

  • the wise old man he's the ruler of the

  • castle he's the ruler of the Magic

  • Castle he's the Magic King you know he's

  • like God the Father as far as Harry

  • Potter is concerned and he has a bird

  • what kind of bird is it it's a Phoenix

  • right and one of the things that's very

  • strange about a Phoenix is that well

  • it's immortal but in a strange way you

  • know it lives and lives I think a

  • hundred years and it gets older and

  • older and then one day poof it bursts

  • into flames and turns into an egg and

  • then you get a new Phoenix so that's a

  • symbol of transformation it's a symbol

  • of transformation the bird is a spirit

  • or psyche and so here's what it means in

  • part you know you know how when you

  • learn a lesson in your life that that's

  • not very pleasant right it's not like

  • when you learn something important it's

  • best day of your life it's often the

  • importance of what you learn is often

  • proportionate to just how wretched it is

  • to learn it you know you learn things

  • the hard way you learn things by getting

  • hit because obviously if what you're

  • doing is working you get where you want

  • there's no learning in that and that's

  • happy it's when you're doing something

  • and you hit an obstacle and maybe yeah

  • bloody well hit it hard and then you

  • know you recoil and then you down into

  • the depths you go and you have to sort

  • yourself out and you realize that you're

  • you know this particular kind of idiot

  • and that you should probably fix that

  • and that's really annoying and difficult

  • and you know and maybe you're down in

  • the dumps and anxious for quite a while

  • and then you get it repaired more or

  • less and you know you put yourself back

  • together

  • that's the Phoenix poof into flames bang

  • egg new you and so you know that's the

  • ability to learn now human beings are

  • very strange creatures right because

  • we're very malleable compared to most

  • animals you know like grizzly bears now

  • and grizzly bears a thousand years ago

  • it's like whatever they're the same

  • thing they do the same thing

  • there's no transformation about human

  • beings we have this massive brain and

  • you know it's a pain because it means

  • you have to take care of human children

  • until they're 40 and and that's a big

  • burden and so you know we pay a big

  • price for it it also makes childbirth

  • very difficult and and it's costly you

  • have to eat a lot because you have a big

  • brain because it uses up a lot of energy

  • and so you know you pay a price for it

  • but the advantage is your plastic you

  • can learn now learning is a strange

  • thing because you can think of it as

  • just acquiring more information but you

  • could also think of it and this is more

  • accurate as finding out something that

  • you're doing wrong so that's sort of

  • built into you like a character a

  • character element of your character a

  • presumption of your perception or a deep

  • habit it's really built into you it's a

  • neural structure right it's a little

  • I've and you have to kill it because it

  • isn't working

  • properly and the pain that you go

  • through in part when you're suffering

  • because you did something stupid is it's

  • something like your your the neurology I

  • can never get this quite right it's the

  • pain of the death of that structure and

  • that could be a huge chunk of you you

  • know if you really have to go through a

  • massive revision it's like the person

  • that comes out the other end might

  • hardly be the same at all

  • you know that happens for example if

  • you're trying to combat alcoholism which

  • is just you know a wretched thing to do

  • because well all your friends are

  • alcoholic all your family drinks too

  • much the only thing you know how to do

  • when you're socializing is to go to the

  • bar and drink too much you know and you

  • spend like 20 hours a week on it it's

  • like it's not just that you're addicted

  • to the substance it's like that's how

  • you live and so if you want to stop

  • being an alcoholic

  • not only do you have to stop drinking

  • alcohol but you have to stop seeing all

  • your drunk friends and then maybe you've

  • had them for your whole life and you

  • have to have continual battles with your

  • drunk family and then you have to figure

  • out something to do with that 20 hours

  • that's now like hanging around your neck

  • like an albatross and so you have to let

  • that whole part of your personality die

  • and a new part has to spring forth and

  • that's what the Phoenix is and the

  • Phoenix is the capacity of the person to

  • transform and so when Harry gets bit by

  • the snake that freezes him he gets

  • seriously injured the Phoenix comes in

  • Christ some tears in his wound it

  • prepares him bang he's back to life and

  • the strange thing is that that's okay

  • with all of the viewers now why would

  • that be there's nothing about it that's

  • rational nothing right Magic Castle

  • that's not rational giant snake

  • underneath it that's a little more

  • irrational

  • turning you to stone going down there to

  • face it being rejuvenated by a Phoenix

  • it's like yeah yeah that's okay we can

  • we'll watch that clue

  • well swallow it will be completely

  • engaged in it and the reason for that is

  • because it's a myth it's about how

  • people it's a meta story about how to

  • act about how to conduct yourself in the

  • world to face the things that you're

  • afraid of that would otherwise paralyze

  • you to let the death of what is

  • insufficient about you occur and then to

  • wait for the rebirth

  • okay so science is about what the world

  • is and myth and drama and dream and the

  • unconscious all of that let's say the

  • aesthetic and artistic and fantastic

  • side of humanity that's more about how

  • things should be it's more about how to

  • act they're there lessons in how to act

  • and they're abstract lessons people are

  • capable of abstraction right so you say

  • well there's something good about you

  • and there's something good about you and

  • there's something good about you and and

  • there's some bad about you and you and

  • you and so we'll take all the good

  • things and make one good thing out of

  • that we'll take all the bad things and

  • make one bad thing out of that and then

  • we sort understand the difference

  • between good and bad and we get better

  • and better and better and better at that

  • over the centuries as we distill that

  • and then we have a figure of ultimate

  • good and a figure of ultimate evil and

  • that helps us understand what those two

  • things are those are the hostile

  • brothers that's a very common

  • mythological motif and you could say

  • well they're at war inside you and and I

  • think that that's a universal truth it's

  • an existential truth

  • the domain of ethics and morality is how

  • are we in the world and what how should

  • we be what's the good and the reason I'm

  • telling you all this apart from the fact

  • that you should know it because this is

  • what you should know if you go through

  • university is that it bears directly on

  • issues of health you're trying to

  • accomplish something say if you go see a

  • psychotherapist you know you could say

  • well I'm trying to get healthy but you

  • know that's not really right what you're

  • trying to do when you go see your

  • therapist just get your life together

  • and that's not the same thing you know

  • like mostly when I'm acting as a

  • therapist it's not like I'm directly

  • treating mental disorder like mental

  • disorders aren't there just not neat

  • little boxes it's not like someone has a

  • fully functioning life but they have an

  • anxiety disorder and then you bring them

  • and you treat the anxiety disorder and

  • they go back to their fully functioning

  • life it's like it's not like that at all

  • the disorder is tangled out into their

  • life you know if you're depressed

  • well usually your your workplace isn't

  • going very well and your relationships

  • with the people around you are damaged

  • and you know you're connected in the

  • actual world with all of these things

  • and so when you come to see a therapist

  • you have to work on putting your life

  • together in a sustainable manner and

  • that's certainly not just removing the

  • mental illness is very rare now and then

  • you see someone who's depressed whose

  • life is together and they're just

  • depressed something's gone wrong

  • probably biochemically and so with

  • someone like that you can often give

  • them in SSRIs I can't give them to them

  • but I can recommend them recommend they

  • go see a doctor anyways and that

  • sometimes just does the trick because

  • you know their life is actually pretty

  • good they just can't see it but that's

  • bloody rare man it's usually the case

  • that someone comes and sees you and

  • things are in a serious state of chaos

  • and all of that has to be addressed and

  • some of its psychological and a lot of

  • it's just practical its embedded out

  • there in the world that's what the

  • behavior cycle behavioral psychologists

  • are particularly concerned about so

  • anyways psychology especially the

  • clinical end is predicated on it's

  • necessarily predicated on the question

  • how is it that we obtain the good how do

  • we aim at the good and what would that

  • be when my clients for

  • come to see me one of the things I often

  • ask them is okay well let's say you look

  • a year ahead what do you want what are

  • we aiming at what would what wouldn't

  • your life isn't the way you want it to

  • be how would it look if it was the way

  • you wanted it to be or at least partly

  • that way and we aim at that right we

  • look for impediments psychological

  • impediments fears avoidance strategies

  • that sort of thing and we develop

  • strategies and we try to move towards

  • that I would say ideal all right to

  • understand the categories of myth we'll

  • say you we have to understand something

  • about the nature of categorization now

  • categorization is a tricky thing and

  • we're gonna run through some complicated

  • ideas relatively quickly you know you

  • think you put things in the same

  • category because they're similar but the

  • problem is is that first of all that's

  • not an answer it's just a restatement of

  • the initial proposition and second of

  • all you can put things in the same

  • category that are by no means identical

  • and you often do that and third it's

  • things are things that are similar are

  • often also importantly different and so

  • picking which element of similarity you

  • know like let's say oh if you have a

  • group of books well are they the same

  • well obviously no because well unless

  • they're you know all the same book but

  • the category of books is a pretty

  • strange category because the content of

  • the books differs completely well you

  • could still make a group of books and

  • you pick some arbitrary element that

  • unites them and consider that grounds to

  • make a category there's other categories

  • more scientific categories and

  • scientific categories tend to actually

  • contain things that are very very

  • similar in across multiple dimensions

  • like protons are like that as far as I

  • can tell there's nothing that

  • distinguishes one proton from another

  • and the same with electrons and you know

  • the set of triangles is like that

  • because you can define it precisely but

  • most of the categories that human

  • Jews aren't so neat and the problem with

  • that is that unless the categories are

  • neat like scientific categories it's

  • very difficult to investigate them

  • scientifically so for example you might

  • do research on a group of people with

  • anxiety disorders but the problem with

  • that is that the anxiety disorder

  • category is so heterogeneous that it's

  • almost impossible to identify the

  • commonalities across all the people who

  • are in that category and that's partly

  • because the category isn't actually a

  • scientific category it's a hybrid

  • category it's a practical category I can

  • give you an example of that

  • no I can't because I must not have saved

  • it anyways many of the DSM categories so

  • these are categories for psychopathology

  • require if you're part of that category

  • imagine there's seven symptoms that you

  • could have or eight symptoms that you

  • could have that would put you in that

  • category like antisocial personality

  • eight symptoms you steal you kick you

  • hit you bite you you know you're abusive

  • I don't remember the category categories

  • precisely but you can be in the category

  • if you have symptoms two through five

  • and you can be in the category if you

  • have symptoms six through eight they

  • aren't the same symptoms but you're in

  • the same category and you think well how

  • the hell can that be well that's a

  • family resemblance category roughly

  • speaking and lots of the things that we

  • use our family resemblance categories

  • there's a prototype and then if you have

  • enough of the features of that prototype

  • imagine the prototype has ten features

  • and if you have an six of it those pro

  • features you get to be in that category

  • but it means that the categories are

  • actually quite diverse and that's one of

  • the problems that plagues psycho

  • psychiatry as a science in clinical

  • psychology as a science it's a really

  • big problem because if the categories

  • aren't homogeneous then it's very

  • difficult to draw conclusions about the

  • members of the category and the

  • psychologists and the psychiatrist's

  • claim that those are scientific

  • categories but but they're not and they

  • can't be partly because they're aimed at

  • the classification of health or ideal

  • versus non health or non-ideal and

  • partly because they play multiple roles

  • say I mean the category isn't there just

  • to provide neat demarcations for

  • scientific study the categories there to

  • give people a language to talk about

  • certain sets of symptoms to diagnose

  • because you know when you come in and

  • you have a set of symptoms you might

  • want to know what what they are so that

  • you also know what they aren't it's

  • really a relief often to find a

  • diagnosis and then of course the

  • diagnosis has certain implications for

  • treatment and and for billing and for

  • all of that so the category has to play

  • all of those roles so there's multiple

  • types of category and the categories

  • that were talking about in relationship

  • to

  • ecology aren't scientific categories

  • they're categories about the world

  • construed as a place to act so here's a

  • way to think about it you're always

  • looking at the world through a framework

  • of reference and you have to do that

  • because there isn't very much of you you

  • can't see the whole world at once and in

  • fact the amount of the world you

  • actually see is so small you can't

  • believe it the central part of your

  • vision is zipping around producing a

  • pretty high-resolution representation of

  • exactly what you're looking at but

  • outside of that center like if I look at

  • you I can't see her eyes I can see her

  • glasses but barely I can't even tell

  • whether you're male or female the person

  • past that I can't see it all now you

  • don't notice that you know you don't

  • notice that you're that blind because

  • you're your central vision is always

  • popping around illuminating that tiny

  • space but you're so damn blind it's just

  • mind-boggling and I'm sure some of you

  • have seen the invisible gorilla video

  • you know where a gorilla comes into the

  • video and you don't notice which is

  • somewhat shocking because you would

  • think that you would notice a gorilla

  • but what happens is that you actually

  • don't notice something unless it

  • interferes with what you're doing and

  • because what are you gonna do notice

  • everything you can't do that you can

  • hardly notice anything so what you do is

  • you pick something to focus on it's

  • usually something that you value because

  • why else would you focus on it so that

  • means that your value system determines

  • the direction of your perception bloody

  • well think about that for a minute

  • that's a Buddhist idea right people

  • people live in a kind of illusion and

  • sometimes that illusion causes suffering

  • and they can transform the way they look

  • at the world and that can release them

  • from their suffering but the idea that

  • you do live in an illusion well I don't

  • know if it's exactly an illusion but you

  • certainly do live within a framework of

  • perception that's determined by your

  • values now that is so weird you know

  • because we never think of the world as

  • something that reveals itself through

  • our values but of course it of course it

  • because you look at what you want you

  • aim at what you want and once you've

  • aimed the world lays itself out for you

  • and that's exactly how perception works

  • that's why I represented it this way

  • you're always somewhere that's point a

  • that's somewhere in some place and some

  • time and you always have some notion

  • about what you want to have have

  • happened next you know you're gonna go

  • to the next class maybe you've got a

  • plan after this in this class you have a

  • plan you're hoping to learn something I

  • presume and maybe you have a goal with

  • regards to a grade and that's nested

  • inside your desire to get a degree and

  • that's nested inside your desire to be

  • educated and to have a career and and

  • and and have a successful life so

  • attending to me at the moment the reason

  • you're doing that is because all of

  • those values exist within you

  • simultaneously focusing your attention

  • and so you're attending to me and not to

  • something else assuming that all of you

  • with your computers open aren't surfing

  • the web which you might be but assuming

  • that you're focusing whatever you're

  • focusing on is directed by what you

  • value and some of that can be

  • unconscious in fact a lot of it is

  • unconscious because you know it's very

  • difficult for you to get control of what

  • you pay attention to you know what

  • that's like you're trying to study it's

  • kind of a boring paper christ' your

  • attention it's just like everywhere you

  • know maybe you'll vacuum under the bed

  • instead of doing the Pape reading the

  • paper you know you can't get a grip on

  • that thing so your attention has an

  • autonomy and that's another

  • psychoanalytic idea you know because you

  • kind of think well you're in control

  • it's like really

  • you ever try telling yourself what to do

  • does the how does that work for you I'm

  • going to go to the gym three times a

  • week right sure heard you who are ya I'm

  • gonna quit eating sugar for a month it's

  • like how long does that lasts like 15

  • minutes and you're eating like three

  • chocolate bars so you're this is and

  • this is Freud central insight I would

  • say you're an autonomous group of

  • spiritual agents let's say personalities

  • and they don't really get along very

  • well and

  • you the ego will say is by no means

  • necessarily in charge and that's a very

  • strange thing to realize but you can

  • really realize that by noticing how

  • little control you have over your

  • attentional focus okay so you've got

  • your point a you're going to point B

  • you're always doing that you inhabit a

  • structure of value and it changes what

  • the point a is and what the point B is

  • but the structure itself doesn't change

  • when you're looking at the world what

  • you see is not objects you see tools and

  • they make you happy those are things

  • that facilitate your movement forward

  • and you see obstacles and those are

  • things that make you unhappy and when

  • you encounter in an obstacle one of the

  • problems is as well you don't get to

  • where you're going and that's a problem

  • but the other problem is if you

  • encounter an obstacle the frame might be

  • wrong right because you never know it

  • might be just something that you could

  • Ditu around real easily might be a fatal

  • flaw in your whole plan and so obstacles

  • have this dual nature they get in your

  • way but they can also take your plan

  • down and so they can produce anxiety so

  • my point is and this there's a book

  • called visual an ecological approach to

  • visual perceptions great book by Gibson

  • JJ Gibson if I remember correctly and

  • this is although I thought of this a

  • while back I realized eventually that it

  • was a variant of his theory and when he

  • believed was that when people looked at

  • the world they saw a value first and an

  • inferred object second so for example

  • for Gibson if you're standing by a cliff

  • you don't see a cliff and then think

  • about the fact that you might fall and

  • then feel frightened you see a falling

  • off place and part of the seeing of that

  • part of the act of seeing is being

  • afraid of that because your eyes are

  • connected right to your emotional

  • systems and part of what your eyes do is

  • tell you what the object is but your

  • eyes do all sorts of other things like

  • they prepare you for action they prepare

  • you for gripping they prepare you for

  • emotion and and none of that actually

  • requires the the existence necessarily

  • the existence of your perception of the

  • object so there are people who have

  • blind sight and if you show them so they

  • think they can't see but if you flash

  • them in angry face they'll show a skin

  • conductance response and that's because

  • the visual pathways to the amygdala

  • which does face a most facial emotional

  • processing can still be active these are

  • people who've usually had a stroke so

  • their eyes are okay but they've

  • destroyed the visual cortex so so

  • anyways it's perfectly plausible that at

  • least at one level of analysis when you

  • look at something you see it's utility

  • first so you see a chair and you might

  • say a chair is an object but I wouldn't

  • say that beanbags a chair and a stump is

  • a chair and they don't share much in

  • common except that you can sit on them

  • and so you know the chair is just the

  • chair is basically conceptualized by its

  • functional utility and when you look at

  • a chair what you perceive its is its

  • functional utility and the chair tells

  • you what to do

  • it says sit on me and so that and there

  • are people who have prefrontal damage

  • and they engage in something called

  • utilization behavior and if they're

  • walking down the hallway and there's a

  • door opened they have to walk through it

  • they can't not do what the object tells

  • them to do that's called utilization

  • behavior so that's how the world is laid

  • out and I would say inside that domain

  • you're in the predictable world you're

  • in the world that you understand it that

  • you know and that if you hit an obstacle

  • or if you're outside that domain you're

  • in the unknown you're in unknown

  • territory in the mythological world in

  • the world for action you could

  • conceptualize the world as a stage for

  • action and this is a Shakespearean quote

  • that sort of sums it up quite nicely all

  • the world is a stage and all the men and

  • women merely players

  • they have their exits and their

  • entrances and one man in his time plays

  • many parts and you might say well is

  • that really true and the answer to that

  • is well it depends on what you mean by

  • true and and that really is the answer

  • because there are different ways of

  • defining true so and it isn't

  • self-evident that there's only one way

  • of defining true that's appropriate

  • you know the definition of truth might

  • be more like a tool and you know we are

  • tool using creatures and really what

  • we're trying to do with our conceptions

  • of truth is to work through the world

  • successfully so even science is

  • subordinate should be subordinate to our

  • use of the world as a tool because if it

  • isn't useful tool like what are we doing

  • with it you know

  • just generating technology that might

  • destroy the world that seems like a bad

  • idea

  • so so I think that that the world as

  • tool is actually the fundamental sword

  • of truth and I think that that's a

  • Darwinian idea right that that our

  • notions about the world have evolved

  • through a Darwinian process and that

  • it's appropriate for us to regard as

  • what is most real those things that

  • reliably ensure are the continuation of

  • our life and the probability of our

  • propagation and if you're a true

  • Darwinian I don't think there's a way

  • out of that argument and it isn't

  • self-evident by any stretch of the

  • imagination that seeing the world as all

  • as objects is the way that our brain

  • works in fact I don't think it's the way

  • it works at all and I think that that's

  • why we're so wired for stories right

  • it's a mystery

  • you know like you won't line up for two

  • hours to go see a lecture but you'll

  • line up for two hours maybe you'll even

  • camp overnight if you're mythological

  • imagination has been seized for god only

  • knows what reason by Star Wars and you

  • know that's the source of mythology

  • it's the mythology of the modern person

  • and it fills a gap and that's why people

  • do it so that to me speaks of men the

  • manner in which our psyches are

  • constructed and that's a union idea

  • that's the idea of the archetype

  • essentially that to be human is to

  • participate in a certain pattern of

  • being and that that pattern of being is

  • socially it's acted out individually but

  • it's also part of your structure even

  • your perceptual structure as a as a

  • living organism of your particular type

  • and it would be the case at least in

  • part that the hero myth which is go out

  • where no one has gone before

  • face they terrors of the unknown gather

  • something of value and return is the

  • central story of humankind it's not the

  • only central story but it's it's up

  • there in the top three and many of the

  • dramas that you engage yourself in are

  • variations of that story and you watch

  • it over and over and over because you're

  • trying to learn how to do that because

  • that's what you need to do to live okay

  • here's the here's an idea what's common

  • among people

  • well we're self conscious so we know of

  • our own existence and we know of our own

  • limitations and so that means that we

  • have a certain innate terror and

  • fragility our existence is a problem to

  • us and in some sense what we're trying

  • to do when we search for meaning is to

  • search for a solution to that problem

  • and that can be security but it don't

  • can also be mode of being you know and

  • so for example being engaged in

  • something worthwhile seems to be a good

  • medicine for being fragile you know

  • because you think well I'm doing this it

  • seems worthwhile and the fact that

  • there's a price to be paid for it and

  • that things could befall me that aren't

  • good I'm willing to put up with that

  • because what I'm engaged in seems to be

  • of appropriate of sufficient

  • significance to justify all that we all

  • become self-conscious and we're all

  • trying to do something about that figure

  • out how to deal with it so there's a

  • landscape that we inhabit I would say

  • within which that takes place so there's

  • a human being self conscious doomed to

  • tragedy and doomed to be aware of that

  • the human being has two elements and

  • that's the element that seeks the good

  • and there's the other element that seeks

  • I would say revenge and destruction and

  • we have our reasons you know if

  • something tragic happens to you it's

  • tragic and unfair and it really brings

  • you low the probability that you're

  • going to become resentful and want

  • revenge is extraordinarily high at no

  • wonder and you know the archetypal

  • representation of that is evil itself

  • and the archetypal representation of the

  • good that you could do is is the hero

  • and so those things inhabit us they're

  • they're permanent elements of the human

  • psyche and then what else is universal

  • to us well we live in a society you

  • could say and that's deep that's deep

  • it's not just human society like we've

  • lived in a society forever so you know

  • lobsters live in dominance hierarchies

  • and they use their serotonin system at

  • least in part to keep track of their

  • dominance position and so you can use

  • antidepressants on lobsters when they

  • get defeated and they don't feel so bad

  • from being defeated in a fight and so

  • you just think about that because the

  • antidepressants do the same thing to us

  • we're so bloody social that the circuits

  • that evolved 300 million years ago when

  • the lobsters in us had a shared ancestor

  • are still operating at the base of your

  • brain that's why status is so important

  • to people and reputation I mean that

  • serotonin system governs your emotional

  • regulation how people respond to you and

  • what they think of you man that matters

  • that's why you're on Facebook all the

  • time and checking your texts and and

  • obsessing continually about your online

  • presence and assuming that you're doing

  • that and you know contacting people

  • frantically and seeing what the updates

  • are it's like where where how are you

  • held in the esteem of others very very

  • important and that's because it

  • determines your emotional regulation

  • it's really important so we exist in a

  • society always and the society has two

  • elements the tyrannical element of the

  • society that would be the tyrannical

  • king roughly speaking a very common

  • mythological theme you see that in the

  • Lion King - right because that's scar

  • and of course you see it in the real

  • world with almost continually and then

  • the benevolent king who is the source of

  • all the good things about culture you

  • know and and you can see these things

  • play out as mythologies in political

  • terms so I would say for example the

  • continual harping about the oppressive

  • nature of the patriarchy is part of a

  • myth and the myth is that society is

  • oppressive it's like well yeah obviously

  • you know because you have to be quite a

  • bit like you and you have to be quite a

  • bit like you even if you're not so that

  • you can get along right everybody

  • sacrifices a tremendous amount of their

  • individuality to the common to the

  • common mode of being that's there's a

  • tyrannical element to that but you know

  • by the same token it's the basis of

  • cooperation and the stability of society

  • and the the final element is that's

  • often represented met in a masculine

  • manner by the way society and I think

  • that's because our primary dominance

  • structures given the creatures we are

  • like chimpanzees the primary structures

  • of dominance are masculine and then

  • outside of what's known is the unknown

  • and we always have to contend with that

  • and it's wonderful in that it's the

  • source of all new things and it's

  • terrible in that it's the place where

  • all the things that destabilize you come

  • from and so this is a good

  • representation although not the only one

  • so that's the feminine nature that's the

  • masculine order and that's the

  • individual who's destined to suffer in

  • the grasp of those two things and

  • I'll finish this next time what have we

  • got here yep

  • all right good enough we'll see you next

  • time

  • so today to begin with we're going to

  • finish the last lecture and then with

  • any luck we're gonna start the next one

  • there somatically linked anyways well

  • you know what all the lectures for the

  • next well for the whole course hopefully

  • will be thematically late to some degree

  • given that nominally they're about the

  • same topic but some are more tightly

  • linked than others

  • so I started telling you last week about

  • this idea of the voyage to the

  • underworld

  • and I want to tell you a little bit more

  • about that young in particular

  • conceptualized the voyage to the

  • underworld as a journey into the

  • unconscious and the unconscious for the

  • psychoanalyst is a place of fantasy and

  • dream an implicit presupposition and

  • habit and that's all correct you know we

  • there is an unconscious and it's

  • perfectly reasonable to conceptualize it

  • that way that the big difference I think

  • between the psychoanalysts and the later

  • more empirical scientists is that the

  • psychoanalyst sort of envisioned your

  • psyche as a place of living partial

  • personalities instead of cognitive

  • computational systems you know they took

  • into account the fact that you're alive

  • and that the parts of you are alive and

  • you know there's there's a

  • neuroscientist named gives that Gazza

  • Nick I don't know how to say his name

  • Gazza nigga that's wrong is that

  • Gazzaniga yeah I think that's it anyways

  • he did some of the earliest experiments

  • on split brains and so sometimes if you

  • have intractable epilepsy which I

  • wouldn't recommend by the way

  • one of the surgical procedures for

  • mediating its negative effects is

  • something called a you cut the corpus

  • callosum and it's very large number

  • large structure in the brain that

  • connects the two separate hemispheres

  • and you know it's not obvious why we

  • have two separate hemispheres although

  • I'll tell you a little bit about why I

  • think it is but anyways they do

  • communicate and what Gazzaniga

  • demonstrated was that you could tell one

  • hemisphere something without the other

  • one knowing that both hemispheres were

  • conscious and that the consciousness was

  • somewhat independent it really strange

  • it's very interest makes very

  • interesting readings reading you know

  • because it suggests that fragments of

  • ourselves you could think of you have

  • fragments of yourself within you that

  • are like low resolution representations

  • of you you know and that and the

  • psychoanalysts would think of those more

  • as they're kind of like they're kind of

  • like one-eyed Giants that might be a way

  • of thinking about it if you were

  • thinking about it in a fantastical way

  • so there's the angry you and you know

  • you've all come in contact with the

  • angry you it's a rather rigid that's the

  • first thing you might say about it it's

  • impulsive and short-term it doesn't

  • think much about the past unless it's

  • bad things about whoever you're angry at

  • in which case it thinks about them a lot

  • it's not too concerned with long-term

  • future consequences and mostly it wants

  • to be right and you know when angry you

  • disappears and normal you assuming such

  • a thing exists reappears you can be

  • perfectly shocked about how angry you

  • behaved and in fact sometimes if angry

  • you really gets out of hand like it

  • might in a battle like a war it might do

  • things that you just can't imagine that

  • you would do and under those

  • circumstances you can reveal parts of

  • yourself to yourself that are so foreign

  • and so horrifying that it will leave you

  • with post-traumatic stress disorder

  • because it is the case that many but not

  • all people who suffer from

  • post-traumatic stress disorder

  • especially if it's battlefield related

  • get it because of something they did

  • rather than something they saw or

  • something that happened to them and

  • that's really we're thinking about you

  • know I mean there's a lot of weird

  • potential nested inside people and you

  • know you don't see it under normal

  • circumstances because the circumstances

  • are normal and part of the reason that

  • we like the circumstances to be normal

  • is precisely so that we don't see those

  • parts of people we don't want to see and

  • that's really worth knowing it's really

  • worth knowing because that's why people

  • are so identified with their culture and

  • why they need a culture you know the

  • terror management theorist types they

  • kind of think of culture as a mechanism

  • that inhibits anxiety and they think

  • about it psychologically like it's it's

  • something inside your your head let's

  • say and it gives meaning to events and

  • stops you from collapsing into chaos and

  • protects you from death anxiety but that

  • isn't that's not right it's sort of

  • right but that isn't what your culture

  • is your culture is a set of value Laden

  • presuppositions that you orient yourself

  • in the world that match the set of value

  • Laden presuppositions that everyone in

  • your culture has and acts out and so

  • what that means is that when you believe

  • something and you're among your own

  • people you believe something implicitly

  • it's the way you look at the world it's

  • the way you act things out you act about

  • everyone expects you to act about

  • they're happy about it in fact so

  • there's a match between what you're

  • doing what you see and what you're doing

  • and what other people expect and it's

  • that match that regulates your emotions

  • it's not the belief system it's the

  • match and so part of the reason that

  • people are so tied to their cultural

  • identity is because their cultural

  • identity regulates their emotions and in

  • a profound way like this is

  • no joke you know I mean one of the

  • things that stabilizes human nervous

  • systems is imagine that you have a

  • domain of competence there's many

  • domains of competence and of course in

  • some of those domains you're completely

  • incompetent but they met me not matter

  • because you don't go into that domain so

  • you have some area of specialization

  • which you might think of as your

  • sub-tribe you know your university

  • students and so some of you are lower

  • status by the rules of the university

  • game and some of you are higher status

  • by the rules of the university game by

  • the tribe and so the higher status

  • people tend to be the ones who fit into

  • the academic environment you know and

  • and find it conducive to their mode of

  • being and all who also do well and their

  • serotonin levels rise and you know the

  • neuro chemicals that moderate mood

  • particularly are serotonergic its

  • serotonin it's lots of other things it's

  • an oversimplification but that'll do for

  • now as you become dominant in a

  • hierarchy your serotonin levels rise and

  • what that means is that happy things

  • make you happier and sad things make you

  • less sad it Tunes your nervous system so

  • if you're down at the bottom of the

  • hierarchy and you're failing it's like

  • hey hardly anything makes you happy and

  • everything makes you nervous and it's no

  • wonder because it's it's not very good

  • down there so the the societal structure

  • which which is an elaborated dominance

  • hierarchy regulates your emotions

  • because of the match between your

  • expectations and the behaviors of the

  • people within that structure and then

  • your position within the hierarchy

  • regulates the rate ratio let's say and

  • the intensity between positive and

  • negative emotion so you mess with

  • people's status at your peril and you

  • disrupt their culture they don't like

  • that and no wonder because when it's

  • disrupted they fall into chaos and chaos

  • isn't just anxiety the anxiety is bad

  • enough but it's not just anxiety because

  • when you fall into chaos when things

  • fall apart for you

  • of course you're uncertain and anxious

  • because you don't know what the hell is

  • going

  • on and you don't know where you are and

  • you don't know what to do Pat's

  • anxiety-provoking and maybe you can't

  • even understand your past properly

  • anymore that as I said that happens when

  • people get betrayed and so you fall into

  • this state where nothing is certain the

  • way you construe the world isn't certain

  • and even the way the world is is no

  • longer certain because you don't know

  • how to act or your actions aren't

  • working and so the world is presenting

  • itself as something that's chaotic it's

  • not just psychological the chaos is a

  • weird intermingling of the chaotic world

  • and the chaotic self I mean that's what

  • happens when you get unemployed it's

  • like it's devastating right it's

  • devastating to people and it you could

  • say well that's psychological it's like

  • well yeah but they're unemployed that

  • makes the world far more

  • incomprehensible and uncertain it's not

  • just psychological

  • it's psychological and that's bad but

  • it's also real and that's even worse and

  • then those two things can spiral which

  • they often do because you know if you

  • don't set your expectations properly for

  • a job search and assume that you're

  • gonna get 49 rejections for every

  • interview which you really need to know

  • because if you get 49 rejections it's

  • not because you're useless it's because

  • the baseline for rejection is 98% and

  • that's okay because the base rate for

  • rejection for everything is 98% no

  • matter what you do but you need to know

  • that so that you don't feel that it's

  • like something wrong with you and of

  • course you only have to get it right

  • once that then you have a job it's a

  • lottery but you have to set yourself up

  • you have to think okay well I'm gonna

  • look for a job I need to how many

  • resumes can I tolerate sending out a day

  • you know it has to be enough so you

  • don't feel like a useless moron and it

  • can't be so many that you're overwhelmed

  • by the burden so and I help people do

  • this sort of thing all the time so maybe

  • you decide well you're gonna send out

  • ten a day and you're gonna work two

  • hours on it and it's gonna take six

  • months and then you know you've got your

  • parameters set properly and you would

  • know what to expect in the world and and

  • your emotions are regulated and so but

  • the state of being unemployed doesn't

  • just produce psychological consequences

  • so the distinction between the psyche in

  • the world in some sense is quite

  • arbitrary and the psychoanalysts I think

  • it air too much on the side of the

  • subject they tend to think that too much

  • of you is inside of you and too little

  • of you is outside of you and part of the

  • reason I believe that is because of my

  • clinical experience

  • I love the psychoanalyst man they're

  • brilliant they're brilliant they're deep

  • they grapple with real problems like

  • with the problems when people have real

  • problems that I mean profound problems

  • there really won't profound moral

  • problems or problems of good and evil

  • really you know there are things going

  • on in their family that are so terrible

  • that well that there are there are

  • sometimes fatal

  • you know lie upon lie upon lie upon lie

  • for decades and decades and decades it's

  • awful and that's not exactly inside them

  • it's out there in the world and lots of

  • the people that I see very famous critic

  • of psychology I can't remember his name

  • but I probably will criticize the

  • practice of psychology quite effectively

  • in the leave in the early 60s the myth

  • of mental illness by Thomas says Szasz

  • it's a classic you should read it if

  • you're interested in psychology read it

  • like it's it's a classic and he

  • basically said most people have problems

  • in living they don't have psychological

  • problems and so I've experienced despite

  • my love for the psychoanalysts very

  • frequently what I'm doing as a therapist

  • is helping people have a life that would

  • work you know and you can parameterize

  • that it's like what do you need how

  • about some friends that people kind of

  • like that how about an intimate

  • relationship with someone that you can

  • trust that maybe has a future that would

  • be good

  • how about a career that puts you in a

  • dominance hierarchy somewhere so at

  • least you've got some possibility of

  • rising some possibility of stabilizing

  • yourself and our schedule in a routine

  • because no one can live without a

  • routine you just forget that if you guys

  • don't have a routine I would recommend

  • like you get one going because you

  • cannot be mentally healthy without a

  • routine you need to pick a time to get

  • up whatever time you want but pick one

  • and stick to it because otherwise you

  • dis regulate your circadian rhythms and

  • they regulate your mood and eat

  • something in the morning I had lots of

  • clients who've had anxiety disorders I

  • had one client who was literally

  • starving very smart girl sheet there's

  • very little that she liked she kind of

  • tried to subsist on like half a cup of

  • rice a day she came to me and said I

  • have no energy I come home all I want to

  • do is watch the same movie over and over

  • what like is that weird and I thought

  • well it depends on how hard you work you

  • know it's a little weird but whatever

  • it's familiar you're looking for comfort

  • so I did an analysis of her diet it's

  • like three quarters of a cup of rice

  • it's like you're starving eat something

  • you know you'll feel better

  • so she modified her diet and her all her

  • anxiety went away and she had some

  • energy it's like yeah you got to eat so

  • schedule that's a good thing man your

  • brain will thank you for it it will

  • stabilize your nervous system with it's

  • a bit of a plan that's a good thing you

  • need a career you need something

  • productive to do with your time you need

  • to regulate your use of drugs and

  • alcohol most particularly alcohol

  • because that does even a lot of people

  • you need a family like the family you

  • have your parents and all that be nice

  • if you all got along you could work on

  • that that's a good thing to work on and

  • then you know you probably need children

  • at some point that's life that's what

  • life is and if you're missing you know

  • you may have a good reason to not be

  • operating on one of those dimensions

  • it's not mandatory but I can tell you

  • that if you're not operating reasonably

  • well on four I think I mentioned six if

  • you're not operating reasonably well on

  • at least three of them there's no way

  • you're going to be psychologically

  • thriving and that's more pragmatic in

  • some sense than psychological right

  • human beings have a nature there's

  • things we need and if we have them well

  • that's good and if we don't have them

  • well then we feel the lack and so

  • behaviorists behavioral psychologists

  • concentrate a lot more on that sort of

  • thing

  • you know it's practical it's like

  • strategizing make a career plan figure

  • out how to negotiate because that's

  • bloody important figure out how to say

  • what you need figure out how to tell the

  • truth to people figure out how to listen

  • to your partner in particular because if

  • you listen to them they will actually

  • tell you what they want and sometimes

  • you can give it to them and maybe

  • they'll return the favor and if you

  • practice that for like 15 years well

  • then maybe you're constantly giving each

  • other what you want well hooray that

  • would be good and then there's two of

  • you under all circumstances and it's

  • better to have two brains than one

  • because people think differently because

  • of their temperament mostly and so the

  • negotiation is where the wisdom arises

  • and it's part of the transformation the

  • psychological transformation that's

  • attendant on an intimate relationship

  • and one of the fundamental purposes of a

  • long-term intimate relationship anyways

  • when that falls apart chaos ensues and

  • that's why chaos is represented so

  • continually in myths and stories and I'm

  • going to walk you through a bit of that

  • more today I talked about the story of

  • Jonah now here's something to think

  • about the internal representations of

  • language meaning evolved partly from our

  • pre linguistic ancestors knowledge of

  • social relations like modern monkeys and

  • apes our ancestors lived in groups with

  • intricate networks of relationships that

  • were simultaneously competitive

  • operative the demands of social life

  • created selective pressures for just the

  • kind of complex abstract conceptual and

  • computational abilities that are likely

  • to have preceded the earliest forms of

  • linguistic communication although

  • baboons have concepts and acquire

  • propositional information from other

  • animals vocalizations they cannot

  • articulate this information they

  • understand dominance relationships and

  • matrilineal kinship but they have no

  • words for them this suggests that the

  • internal representation of many concept

  • relations and actual action sequences

  • does not require language and that

  • language did not evolve because it was

  • uniquely suited to representing thought

  • well you you know you can think without

  • language well take the case of someone

  • who's deaf and mute they have no

  • language well they can operate in

  • society they learn how to represent

  • other people and they do that with image

  • now with the post modernists who I

  • despise would be a reasonable way of

  • putting it have this proposition that

  • there's no meaning outside language and

  • and it's a powerful argument by the way

  • but it's seriously wrong

  • there is a meaning network outside of

  • language and it's what language is

  • grounded in and that's this pre verbal

  • comprehension of the world it's an

  • embodied comprehension of the world

  • animals have it lobsters have it you

  • know this particular scientist Seyfarth

  • talks about our shared history with you

  • know higher primates that probably goes

  • back 20 million years something like

  • that

  • we split from the common ancestor with

  • chimps about 7 million years ago but you

  • know lobsters have dominance hierarchies

  • they hardly have a nervous system at all

  • which is partly why they're studied

  • quite extensively and so they have a

  • social structure and they understand it

  • like if one lobster thira lobster to be

  • quite a shark to you if it happened and

  • you were fighting with another lobster

  • and you lost you would remember that and

  • the next time you saw that lobster you'd

  • scuttle off somewhere else and you

  • know that and all the lobsters in an

  • area know who's top lobster and who

  • isn't and top lobster gets the best

  • bloody place to be and the best food so

  • this dominance issue this cultural issue

  • you know the fact that we live in a

  • social environment is far deeper than

  • people usually consider and it's also

  • worth considering and that this is what

  • you might think of from an evolutionary

  • perspective you know you think of

  • natural selection as producing evolution

  • right well random mutation with natural

  • selection but here's something to think

  • about and Darwin knew this but Darwin

  • was really smart and the biologists who

  • followed in his footsteps even up to now

  • have only expanded out a fraction of

  • what he had to say you know he was very

  • interested in sexual selection now one

  • of the things about human beings that's

  • unique is that human females are picky

  • majors they're choosy

  • they're also sneaky because you can't

  • tell when they're ovulating and with

  • many other female animals you know so

  • they have hidden ovulation and they're

  • choosy and they tend to choose men who

  • are more successful in the dominant

  • turkey well they're there's a shock I

  • mean if you have a choice why not

  • if you pick someone who's at the bottom

  • of the competence hierarchy well that's

  • probably not going to work out very well

  • for you and since women bear the burden

  • of representation you know when you

  • think of a doorman sorry you might think

  • well it's the powerful guy the

  • aggressive guy say that rises to the top

  • of the doorman it's hurricane that's not

  • true it's not even true among chimps

  • like you can get a chimp tyrunt but then

  • what happens is other chimps gang up on

  • him and tear him to pieces and they

  • don't do it nicely

  • they don't do it nicely and the chimps

  • that tend to maintain their dominance

  • for long periods of time have a pretty

  • wide network of friends roughly speaking

  • with whom they engage in reciprocal

  • interactions like grooming and they

  • actually pay a lot of

  • attention to the female chimps who have

  • their own hierarchy by the way and to

  • the their offspring so they're like baby

  • kissing politicians and so the idea that

  • it's raw power that produces dominance

  • is a it's just wrong it's it's wrong now

  • you know tyrants you know it's pretty

  • damn up unstable business being a tyrant

  • there's lots of people who want to kill

  • you plus you know you tend to rule over

  • something approximating hell so maybe

  • that's bit worse better than being a

  • subject in hell but it's not much better

  • so anyway so this social social now so

  • what this means think about this for a

  • minute so imagine you know imagine what

  • I'm telling you bears some vague

  • resemblance to the truth I think there's

  • quite a lot of evidence for it from from

  • a biological perspective I mean this

  • choosy mating thing occurs with lots of

  • species you know there's this bird

  • called the bower bird you got to look up

  • bowerbirds man those things are you just

  • can't even believe they exist and so the

  • male bowerbird he makes this really

  • complicated nest that's close to the

  • ground he weaves it it's really quite

  • nice you couldn't make one so and then

  • he sweeps this yard in front of the nest

  • and then he runs around the forest or

  • flies cuz he is a bird

  • finding pretty things so maybe he'll

  • find a nice collection of red leaves and

  • so then he'll take the red leaves one by

  • one and fly back to his front yard and

  • make a little square you know he's a

  • bird so it's not a great square but he

  • makes a little patch of red and he takes

  • a look at that and then he goes off and

  • finds something blue and and he

  • decorates it makes a little piece of

  • abstract art in the front of his nest

  • and a lot of male bowerbirds do this all

  • at the same time and so then the females

  • come along they hop on something nearby

  • and they kind of look like this checking

  • it out and if they're happy with it well

  • then things proceed but if they're not

  • they'd fly off to someone else's piece

  • of abstract art and if a male piece of

  • art is rejected by like three females in

  • a row he gets irritated and brushes it

  • all off with his wing and then he makes

  • another one it's like God well they

  • obviously have a sense of where

  • well developed sense of beauty it's so

  • cool you know and I guess the idea is

  • that who knows what the hell the idea is

  • the female birds like artistic males

  • something like that but if you're

  • thinking about it biologically maybe

  • it's an indication of intelligence right

  • it's a marker of intelligence you know

  • and it's certainly the case that female

  • humans prefer creative men so and no

  • wonder of course we wouldn't be creative

  • if that wasn't the case so then imagine

  • that there's two primary forces of

  • evolutionary selection operating on us

  • and they're not really the natural world

  • which is what people always think like

  • the environment you know the animals and

  • the trees and nature but it is nature

  • that selected us it's two other things

  • well partly it's two other things so one

  • is the dominance hierarchy the male

  • dominance hierarchy is one of the

  • primary mechanisms of selection so it's

  • like well women are faced with a hard

  • choice which guy to go after right

  • that's a hard choice well so they do the

  • same thing that people do with the stock

  • market they outsource the cognitive

  • problem the computational problem to the

  • male dominance hierarchy then they just

  • let the male Sirk themselves out however

  • they're going to and then they appeal

  • from the top and so what that means is

  • the dominant male dominance hierarchy

  • itself is a selection mechanism because

  • if you fail at it then you don't leave

  • any offspring and so what that means at

  • least in part is that we have adapted to

  • be better and better at attaining status

  • in dominance hierarchies over god only

  • knows how long a period of time and that

  • doesn't mean just power you know it

  • might mean cognitive flexibility because

  • you could imagine dormant its hierarchy

  • a dominance hierarchy be dormant its

  • hierarchy see okay so if like if you're

  • really successful you climb up dominance

  • hierarchy a right but you'd be and see

  • know if you happen to land it knows you

  • just be a failure so then you could say

  • the ideal human being is someone who can

  • climb to the top of a doorman it's her

  • key no matter what the doorman is

  • hierarchy is right so we've evolved to

  • we've evolved such that success across

  • the set of possible dominance

  • hierarchies is the target and I think

  • that's why we have general intelligence

  • because general intelligence is a

  • general problem-solving mechanism and

  • it's a single factor even like there is

  • intelligence is a single factor it's

  • it's not divisible despite what people

  • like Robert Sternberg and Howard Gardner

  • falsely claimed so and then from the

  • female perspective females are the next

  • gatekeeper and that's why they're often

  • Mother Nature took me a long time to

  • figure this out why the hell is nature

  • feminine in mythological representations

  • it's a very very it's extraordinarily

  • common mother nature you don't think a

  • father nature you think of mother nature

  • it's like why well nature brings forth

  • new forms so that's feminine and nature

  • select in fact that's the definition of

  • nature from a Darwinian perspective

  • nature is that which selects women

  • select their nature and that's partly

  • why far more men than you might think

  • like far more are terrified of women

  • because to be rejected as a romantic

  • partner by a woman is to be classified

  • as vaguely acceptable life form huh no

  • value in propagating it though right so

  • it's a major major rejection and you

  • know I've had dozens of clients and many

  • many people write to me whose primary

  • problem is that they're so terrified of

  • women they can't even approach them very

  • very very common so all right I want to

  • show you this little triangle thing this

  • is kind of cool

  • go yet so no no nonverbal right

  • nonverbal so what happened well there's

  • mother triangle

  • I would guess and mutter triangle has

  • circle as a child and triangle is maybe

  • a friend but not one that's very welcome

  • according to mother and child Circle

  • goes out to try to play with triangle

  • child and mother doesn't like that so

  • she goes out there and pecks the hell

  • out of her out of him

  • chases him away pushes child circle back

  • into the home and goes into the home and

  • then child circle isn't very happy about

  • that

  • it's running around causing trouble and

  • it manages to escape and then bad child

  • triangle shows up and they play together

  • and run around and run around and round

  • around and run around with mother

  • chasing them and then they well maybe

  • they elope who knows and then mother

  • triangle has a fit and blows down the

  • house right it's obvious reasonable

  • would you consider that a reasonable

  • story about what happened perhaps you

  • had other interpretations but I suspect

  • they were vaguely along that line well

  • but the point here in this is the point

  • of this experiment is how much

  • information do you need from which to

  • derive a narrative and the answer is

  • like none it just it's just immediate

  • you you can watch some triangles moving

  • around a box and instantly you

  • personalize it and that's because that's

  • what you're like and the reason you're

  • like that is because your environment

  • isn't nature your environment is culture

  • your environment is other people other

  • people and that was even more true for

  • chimpanzees and so forth and especially

  • animals that had a limited diet like

  • like gorillas they pretty much only eat

  • like leaves you know a chimp spends like

  • 12 hours a day chewing and

  • that's where they have a gut like this

  • it's like you can't eat leaves you know

  • have you tried

  • they have no nutrition so if you're

  • gonna eat leaves you have to eat a lot

  • of them and then it takes like three

  • months to digest them and so what we've

  • done and this is pretty cool because

  • we're so smart is that we've traded gut

  • for brain and that's why we're so svelte

  • and the way we manage that it appears is

  • that we learned how to use fire to cook

  • things and that meant that we had high

  • quality nutrition much higher it's

  • easier to digest cooked things

  • especially meat and so because we

  • invented fire we didn't have to have so

  • much intestine and we could spend a

  • little more time on the brain so human

  • beings really are fire users we invented

  • fire or discovered it or whatever man

  • mastered it at least a couple of million

  • years ago a long time so that's all

  • pretty cool as far as I'm concerned so

  • that's partly how you think and that's

  • naturally how you think you think a

  • certain way and so we'll say that your

  • fundamental architecture is social

  • cognitive you tend to view the world as

  • if it's personified and the reason for

  • that is that the world in which you

  • emerged as a being was primarily social

  • and what you needed to know was who's

  • the big primate who's the little primate

  • and who's related to who and you know

  • among chimps if a big chimp is

  • threatened by a small chimp well you

  • know the big chimp could just tear the

  • small chimp apart but the big chimp will

  • back off if it knows that the little

  • chimp is associated with some really big

  • chimps and so the little chimp can bully

  • the big chimp because it's part of a

  • dominant family and that's because the

  • nervous system of the big chimp doesn't

  • respond to the little chimp like a

  • little chimp it responds to the little

  • chimp like it's a little chimp with four

  • great monsters attached to it because

  • it's true so it's nervous system is

  • actually responding to the network

  • around the chimp and so that's exactly

  • what you well it's not exactly what

  • you're like cuz you're not chimps but

  • you know it's that kind of platform that

  • constant

  • it's the evolutionary underpinnings of

  • your psyche so what does that mean well

  • it means this is like perfectly fine to

  • us right can animate things we can hit

  • rabbits are people no problem will go

  • along with that

  • you remember Roger Rabbit I presume most

  • of you've watched that so this is the

  • detective whose name I don't remember he

  • has to go to toontown because there's

  • cartoons and there's people and you know

  • they share the same world and you can go

  • to toontown although it's kind of

  • annoying because cartoon figures are

  • kind of annoying like there's slapstick

  • types and so he's not very happy to be

  • there and this is what it looks like

  • right everything is animated meaning

  • alive anima means soul by the way so

  • everything has a personality and you

  • know when you're reading books to kids

  • the son has a personality train has a

  • personality jet has a personality

  • doesn't matter what it is it has a

  • personality and that's because the child

  • is learning to understand the world

  • using the architecture of social

  • cognitive architecture and so and the

  • thing that's really interesting about

  • that this just blows me away you know

  • evolution is conservative and so once

  • it's produced something it has to build

  • on it

  • it's like dass the operating system it's

  • like really it's still there if I

  • remember correctly under Windows 10 you

  • can't get rid of the damn thing because

  • it's part it's part of the structure now

  • and it's like the keyboards we use which

  • were actually designed to slow typers

  • down because with mechanical typewriters

  • if you type too fast the keys would jam

  • so they divine devise the keyboard to

  • slow you down and we still use it which

  • is stupid you know you want the high

  • frequency letters close to your middle

  • fingers that isn't what it's like at all

  • but we can't change it because everyone

  • uses it so your body plan that thing is

  • been around a long time man if you look

  • at mammals particularly but even lizards

  • there's so much like us in their in

  • their skeletal structure that it's just

  • mind-boggling you know and we're all

  • variants of this same symmetrical

  • four-legged

  • mouth here structure and so you have to

  • build in what you have and if you have a

  • social cognitive architecture then you

  • have to first understand the world

  • through the social cognitive categories

  • and what's so bloody strange about that

  • is it actually seems to work we actually

  • seem to develop a coherent

  • representation of being I would say of

  • being that's not the same as nature it's

  • not the same as the world because when

  • we think of the world we think of the

  • objective world and I'm not talking

  • about the objective world I'm talking

  • about the world of human experience and

  • we see that through social cognitive

  • filter and it makes perfect sense to us

  • and it works that's so strange

  • so anyways everything's got this

  • animated nature and we don't have a

  • problem with that

  • in fact we actually find it quite fun

  • you know people go visit the Disney

  • toontown and participate in it and and

  • have fun with it and so that shows you

  • as well how how natural it is for us to

  • to view things this way you know cars

  • have faces right designers know that

  • they know that people don't want a car

  • with three headlights because like who

  • wants to be associated with a three eyed

  • monster no one it's like two eyes that's

  • something you could be comfortable with

  • and so cars have faces like a BMWs the

  • new ones they really look cat-like you

  • know and they have sexy curves they do

  • they do there's been a more eye studies

  • of that so if you show men photographs

  • of attractive women looking directly at

  • them there's a little part of their

  • brain called a nucleus accumbens that

  • lights up because to have someone look

  • directly at you especially if they have

  • like a smile is is interpreted as an

  • invitation to approach and women they

  • have the same damn problem because with

  • women because if you go into drugstores

  • say and you look at women's magazines

  • they're all the same they've all evolved

  • to the same endpoint they all have an

  • attractive woman on them all of them and

  • they're looking right out and so when

  • women see that they actually see it as

  • something to it approach it's an ideal

  • and you know when people say that those

  • Beauty ideals are

  • to women and all ideals are oppressive

  • but the empirical research some of it

  • done here suggests that interacting with

  • those images helps that it performs the

  • psychological function of helping the

  • woman equate herself with the ideal and

  • in most cases that actually produces a

  • pop and elevation and mood and you know

  • think about it you're really gonna go to

  • the magazines store when you're just

  • looking for something to do and you're

  • gonna buy something that makes you feel

  • depressed and oppressed it's like no

  • you're not going to do that magazines

  • that do that to you they will die

  • because no one will buy them and there's

  • a reason they all turned out the same

  • way it's like they're just responding to

  • demand so faces oh yes with regards to

  • the sexy curves so a woman who looks a

  • woman's picture looking right at a man

  • will produce this activation in the

  • primary reward system cocaine produces

  • the same response and so does sports

  • cars especially curvy red sports cars

  • and so that's why you often see an

  • attractive woman sitting on a curvy red

  • sports car in an ad because it's you

  • know if there's a an ad for beer on the

  • side it's like hey everything's perfect

  • so and you know those are all primary

  • real reward representations and they

  • produce attraction because part of

  • positive emotion that dopamine

  • dopaminergic Li mediated element of

  • positive emotion is an approach emotion

  • it's not a satiation satisfaction

  • emotion it's oh good there's something

  • good here I can move towards it and that

  • that is what happiness is that's

  • directly what happiness is it's not

  • attaining something because that just

  • puts in a whole new problem you got to

  • figure out what to do next

  • alright so I suggested to you that one

  • of the problems that we have the problem

  • I would say is not what the world is

  • made out of but how we should be in the

  • world because we're alive and how we

  • should be well it's fairly

  • straightforward not so much pain would

  • be good that'd be good not too much

  • anxiety hey we're

  • bored for that little pleasure down then

  • some stability not dying that's a big

  • one that's a big one and then let's say

  • from the Darwinian perspective

  • propagating and so that's what rained

  • out and the reason we're aimed at that

  • is you just think about this it's so

  • amazing so every single one of your of

  • the relatives you have in your ancestry

  • every single one of them successfully

  • produced a child who successively

  • successfully produced a child all the

  • way back to three billion years ago

  • it's bloody unbelievable like the

  • probability that you exist well it's a

  • hundred percent because there you are

  • but the probability of predicting that

  • you would exist you know if you tried to

  • predict it it's like you the chance that

  • the chances that you're here are so

  • infinitesimal that it's just absolutely

  • mind-boggling think about that unbroken

  • sequence of success over literally over

  • billions of years god it's amazing and

  • so you have to obviously you have to

  • think that there's a pretty strong

  • proclivity for that to happen I mean

  • some of obviously was necessity but not

  • only that I mean it's necessary that

  • impregnated females have an infant it

  • isn't necessary that they keep it alive

  • so you can't account for that continuity

  • merely from necessity you have to

  • interject least a small amount of

  • consideration that the care that's

  • associated especially with taking care

  • of infants because there you know there

  • are a lot of work that's there to tennis

  • it's actually I think it's manifested in

  • the personality trade agreeable to us as

  • it looks to be like agreeableness is one

  • of the dimensions where men and women

  • very most substantially agreeableness

  • looks to be like the manifestation of

  • the maternal instinct now men can be

  • agreeable to because of course male

  • human beings take care of children you

  • know if you're a grizzly bear

  • female you just chased the damn male

  • away because he'll kill your Cubs that's

  • not so helpful but they're not maternal

  • at all

  • quite the contrary but you know human

  • men are pretty damn maternal they're not

  • as maternal as women on average although

  • some women are less maternal than some

  • men because you know the curves overlap

  • but but on balance how are we in the

  • world well we're aware of our own

  • vulnerability who are aware of our own

  • shortcomings let's say and that's I

  • think that's partly from being a social

  • being because people are always

  • signaling your shortcomings to you to

  • such a degree that you even signal your

  • shortcomings to yourself because well

  • you might as well fix them before

  • someone else points them out that's

  • guilt and shame you know when Freud

  • called out the super ego the super-ego

  • is kind of like the internalized

  • representation of the judgmental father

  • and culture I think is represented as a

  • father figure God the Father let's say

  • because it's actually oh it's actually

  • quite a bit like there is an all-seeing

  • eye that's always watching you it's a

  • really really intelligent way of

  • conceptualizing it because the group

  • which is more or less eternal is

  • watching you all the time all the time

  • and it's judging you all the time and we

  • know that if you put people in a room

  • and you put a big eye on the wall you

  • know that you give them an opportunity

  • to cheat on some little Chiti thing you

  • know nothing too important if they're in

  • the room with the big eye they're less

  • likely to cheat if they're in the room

  • with no eye at all so you know and what

  • do you do you keep an eye on your kids

  • and the reason you do that is so they

  • don't misbehave and we keep an eye on

  • each other and so we have a

  • representation of that and as far as I

  • can tell we represent it as a

  • transcendent figure of judgment and it's

  • like yeah it's hey that's a pretty good

  • metaphor so one of the

  • this is a major intellectual battle the

  • major intellectual battle and it's

  • raging in universities it's basically a

  • battle between post-modernism and

  • traditional and tradition I think that's

  • the right way of thinking about it for

  • the post modernists human beings have no

  • nature

  • we're blank slates everything that we

  • are is enculturated so we're completely

  • malleable and all elements of our

  • identity are valuable on the other side

  • are the traditionalists who are I would

  • say grounded more in biology on the one

  • hand but also in in historical

  • humanities tradition that suggests that

  • people have a nature I explained some of

  • that nature most people want to have

  • threads it's part of your nature you

  • know most people want to find love

  • part of your nature and you suffer

  • without it so and you know you could say

  • those are all social constructs but you

  • can say you can say anything so you know

  • and don't ever trust someone who has one

  • explanation for everything

  • you know how much intelligence does that

  • take

  • you got one explanation you just trot it

  • out for every phenomena this is an

  • alternative now here's what happened in

  • part Nietzsche

  • back in the late 1800s was very

  • interested in the dissolution of

  • traditional faith in the West we fell

  • out of our myth that's a way of thinking

  • about it we start believing in its

  • fundamental axioms we start believing

  • that there was such a thing as a

  • transcendent deity for example it did it

  • didn't mesh well with the emerging

  • scientific viewpoint and so in the late

  • 1800s Nietzsche announced the death of

  • God which sounds fairly presumptuous but

  • it wasn't something he was celebrating

  • the full quote and I haven't got it

  • exactly right is God's dead we've killed

  • him and we'll never find enough water to

  • wash away the rivers of blood so like

  • that's a lot different than what you see

  • scrawled on bathroom wall

  • you know and echip hypothesized that in

  • the 20th century millions of people

  • would die in the conflicts over what

  • values were going to reign as an

  • alternative to that tradition and he

  • particularly brilliantly pointed to

  • communism he said that's where it's

  • gonna be and Dostoyevsky did the same

  • thing and so and since then there's this

  • being this battle hey and the battle is

  • kind of like this the battle is on the

  • one hand between social construction

  • social constructionist utopians who

  • believe that human nature is infinitely

  • malleable and that with the proper

  • transformations in society you can bring

  • apart about the perfect state and the

  • perfect human being and and

  • traditionalists and young I think is the

  • classic example of this who believe that

  • there is a human nature and it's deeply

  • embedded within us and that the cultures

  • we set up have to manifest themselves in

  • accordance with that nature or they will

  • fail well Jung believed in the existence

  • of a meta-narrative

  • the hero myth roughly speaking and he

  • explained its connections to various

  • religious traditions in a staggeringly

  • brilliant manner Camille Paglia

  • who I would recommend and I think I

  • already told you that you know she she's

  • already concluded after going through a

  • radical feminist period early in her

  • life that the proper way for society

  • orient itself is within a mythological

  • structure and that that's part of what

  • the humanities provides and the

  • alternative is rational arguments over

  • what values are going to dominate and it

  • isn't obvious that rationality can solve

  • that problem I don't think it can

  • that's Humes point David Hume said you

  • can't derive an art from it is right you

  • cannot use science as a guide to

  • behavior so what do you use instinct

  • instinct manifested in imagination and

  • the evolution the evolved structure of

  • your organic cultures

  • something like that do they have a

  • structure that's the question okay so

  • you ask yourself this question what is

  • it that every human being shares

  • regardless of place and time so any

  • universally comprehensive language that

  • would be a meta-narrative a myth a hero

  • myth let's say a myth about what a human

  • being not only is like but should be

  • like has to speak to us about those

  • aspects of experience that we all share

  • because otherwise we wouldn't understand

  • the damn story now we go to how we go to

  • stories that we understand all the time

  • like Star Wars and it really doesn't

  • matter what country you know everybody

  • gets it more or less so obviously

  • there's stories that we can understand

  • and mutually you know we understand love

  • stories we understand stories of

  • conflict we understand stories of

  • betrayal we understand stories of anger

  • and that's because we can feel jealousy

  • we can feel love we can feel anger it's

  • it's part of you it's right there we

  • even know where the circuits are you

  • know and then you're like other animals

  • they feel it too so very similar

  • emotions as far as we can tell so here's

  • here's this is derived in large part

  • from you but not only here's what we

  • share natural world social world and the

  • fact of our existence as an individual

  • and that can be represented different

  • ways it can be represented as you the

  • known the and unknown or it could be you

  • culture and nature all the same

  • representations and the cultural

  • representation tends to be male that's

  • God the Father let's say and the

  • representation the feminine

  • representation tends to be female this

  • is the known the culture Apple Indian

  • control that's associated with the Sun

  • consciousness the king the patriarchy

  • the plow because it pushes up the earth

  • the phallus obviously order and

  • authority and the crushing weight of

  • tradition the wise old man and the

  • tyrant Dogma the day sky the country man

  • the island heights

  • the ancestral spirits the activity of

  • the dead Captain Hook he's a tyrant and

  • that's why Peter Pan doesn't want to

  • grow up to become him and that's why

  • Peter Pan does well because he thinks

  • that adults are all tyrants why is

  • Captain Hook a tyrant because a

  • crocodile ate his hand and the crocodile

  • has a clock in its stomach and the

  • reason for that is that the crocodile is

  • time and times already got a piece of

  • Captain Hook and he's not very happy

  • about it he's bitter and resentful and

  • tyrannical and when Peter Pan looks out

  • adulthood that's what he sees and he

  • thinks why should I sacrifice the

  • potential of childhood for the

  • singularity of tyranny and so he stays

  • immature his entire life and he's king

  • of the Lost Boys Jesus great there's a

  • porn star named Jeremy Christ I can't

  • remember his name it's really an ugly

  • guy he is he is he is an ugly guy he

  • admits it and he said something funny I

  • was watching a documentary about him and

  • he said the funniest thing he said I'm

  • the hero to people who think people like

  • me are heroes I had what a drag a I mean

  • he's just did in this horrible situation

  • he doesn't admire the people that admire

  • him but he gets admired by them all the

  • time well it's sort of like Peter Pan

  • it's like well he's king of the Lost

  • Boys he doesn't get Wendy either right

  • she grows up she has a family he asked

  • to content himself with Tinkerbell and

  • you know what Tinkerbell doesn't exist

  • well that's what happens when you don't

  • grow up that's a representation of

  • culture that's a nasty one eh he'll will

  • kiss us we'll kiss a statue of Stalin

  • who cares that he murdered 30 million

  • people culture well you know in the

  • university you hear a lot about the

  • patriarchy and how impressive it is it's

  • like yeah Yeah right

  • definitely no kidding but you know it's

  • kind of useful as well since it provides

  • light the food and all of that which you

  • know kind of counterbalances it to some

  • degree culture has a pause development

  • and a negative element the individual

  • has a positive

  • the negative element nature has a

  • positive element and a negative element

  • and if people tell you a one-sided story

  • which is the ideological story they

  • leave out that they say all culture is

  • terrible the human being is a Despoiler

  • and nature is perfect it's like no

  • nature kills you culture keeps you alive

  • and there's things about you that are

  • honorable and good as well as things

  • about you that aren't and you need to

  • know both of those and that's what the

  • great stories tell us all right

[Music]

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2017年パーソナリティ02/03:歴史的・神話的文脈 (2017 Personality 02/03: Historical & Mythological Context)

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    林宜悉 に公開 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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