Pathological Society
The history of psychology is one that depicts a mainstream school of thought that dominates over a period of time over other schools and usually imposes harsh criticisms on previous generations of thought while fashioning the current thought as completely original, futuristic and certainly more progressive than the previous. I do not believe that psychology progressed in a linear fashion from the onset of thinking about psychology which is now deemed “wrong” to empiricism and behaviorism in which experiments were run mostly on rats and pigeons to be deemed as more scientific method to cognitive/behavioral psychology which is now the gold standard of understanding and treating people. All those ideas have elements of value and at certain times over the last 120 years there were several explosions of thinkers and breakthroughs that moved the needle and helped us understand the state of human being in various regards.
Overall, I believe that the field is at a flat line state from the beginning of the exploration of psychology to the systematic science it is today. Freud may have been wrong on many topics, however, it was the fashion in which he thought about phenomena that was genius and is very difficult to replicate by another human being, many of the theories that he formed based on personal observation and case studies, have a strong basis. Individuals as Freud or Hillman are rare in nature because they must possess keen observation skills, objective thinking, psychic understanding, intuition, charm to relay their message, conviction, and display of bravery in the immediate face of criticism. The hypothesis and thoughts that rare individuals such as Freud, Jung, Rogers and Hillman suggest cannot be empirically measured and studied in one lifetime and under the supervision of these particular academics The psychological community therefore shuns those ideas with lables as pseudo scientific as they are not systematically studied and barriers these individuals with harsh criticism. The more systematic the study of psychology becomes as well as it’s relationships with neuroscience and the pharmaceutical industry, the less opportunity great psychological thinkers will have in spreading their ideas. The spread of great ideas will be relegated to life coaches, shamans, and spiritual leaders who may have great insight for people, but no psychological training or knowledge of disorders of the personality or mood or chemistry and the great insight that empirical findings do teach us.
Upon reading Hillman, James. (1975). Re-visioning psychology, I am left with a similar feeling when I read any of Hillman’s writings, while brilliant and original, Hillman seems idealistic and out of touch with reality. There is a lot to ponder about in Hillman’s assessment of pathologizing fantasy that is based on unpredictable society and the background of those fantasies as normal ways of thinking while dealing with the world which is essentially made up. I generally think that one of the reasons depression and anxiety is on the up rise is partially due to modern society being highly psychological. In everyday conversations lay people label one another as narcissistic, anxious or very obviously depressed. It has become the new norm, and even a fashion in a sense to suffer from a psychological problem and to openly share it with the world.
Society seems to like the vulnerability of people who share their inner demons. From an individual perspective, however, thinking about the various types of pathologies and relating them to oneself can make an individual feel like they are borderline “crazy”. This in itself is a scary thought that can cause anxiety. Hillman calls for a more inclusive and accepting society that takes fantasy for what it is — fantasy, thoughts for what they are — thoughts, and to treat real pathologies in people that are distant from any form of reality within themselves with other fantasies rather than trying to use the “logic” and ways of being of the material world as standards that those individuals can achieve.
If only society can be this forgiving. Here is where I see, the out of touch with reality piece of the equation — economics, we cannot afford a society in which individuals are free to float and ponder in their fantasies. We need people to produce and in order for them to do so, they must be grounded in a reality that is the current state of society, despite of how pathological that reality is.
The reality is of course pathological, all material realities were built by pathological people who decided to bring their personal fantasies of power, morality, or ideals to life. The creators of any given society had to have strong convictions in order to implement their ideals of the world and had to carry personality traits that allowed them to do that. The kind of personality traits that can establish a monotheistic way of thinking while brutally punishing anyone who does not conform to their ideals is a pathology in nature from the various symptoms that we can observe such as splitting, fragmentation, the dark triad and the list goes on. Realistically, as hard as it is, to live in a pathological world, we must in us find a locus of control that can serve as a foundation to feeling grounded in a sense of “me” because that is what will carry on an individual to continue to produce. The inability to do so will throw the individual out of the web of pathology into mental institutions held by some societies, and streets by others.
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