Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Empiricism and the Unconscious


Given recent and robust scientific evidence of the existence of the unconscious, it behooves us to become our own observers and/or analysts, in a sense. I don’t mean by that interpreting dreams and such. I mean taking seriously the notion that we can’t understand our deepest motivations—at least not based on our own current tales. At some point we have to look at our behaviors and derive the deeper motivations from the behaviors. This also means looking at one’s behavior with an empirical eye.

If I want to paint but never find the time, doesn’t that prove that I really don’t want to paint, so much? If I want more leisure time but keep taking on new projects doesn’t that suggest that I am somehow afraid of or don’t feel entitled to that leisure? And what about “tough-love” tactics that aren’t so tough after all. In the classroom, for example . . . if I never follow through on my “threats,” who am I kidding?

The existence of the unconscious challenges our illusion of a unified, coherent self . . . but that’s another story, for another time.