Multi Mind model

[krystos]

Hello all,

One of my favorite science fiction authors is David Brin. He is an astrophysicist who has moved into science fiction, but tends to write very philisohically loaded novels. One of my favorite of his novels is entitled simply Earth. In this novel, one of his characters spends a lot of time thinking about competition and cooperation in the natural world, comparing and contrasting modern viewpoints with classical Darwinism. She begins to take this seemingly paradoxical relationship in the world around her and apply it to her understanding of conciousness and the evolution of the human brain. She came to realize that "each of us" is really an amalgamated compromise of many competing and cooperating individuals operating just below a thin surface of created "self." Perusing this section brought this book sharply back to me and reinforced my need to discover more about this paradox.

Thanks for refreshing me!

Chris Goodwin PT, OCS, FAAOMPT

[bernard]

Hello Chris,

I'm not sure to understand the point of view between sciences interested with consciouness and a SF writer?
http://www.davidbrin.com/

Do you mean that we are all "schizophrenic" people? :confused:

[Barrett Dorko]

Bernard,

This sounds more like archetypal psychology to me. This was literally invented by James Hillman, a Jungian psychologist and writer I admire a great deal.

Hillman would not emphasize competition between the various "selves" or archetypes within each of us but rather the rising of each to its "fullness" while keeping in mind the possibility that each has a "shadow" side that needs our vigilance and respect lest it express itself unexpectedly and at the worst possible time.

I think that if the moderators here have something in common it is that we all have within us a powerful "magician" characterized by an ability to see patterns and attributes to situations that escape the notice of others. A magician in his/her fullness gives this information away, a shadow magician only sells it.

Think there might be a few shadow magicians in therapy?

[krystos]

Barrett,
I'll have to check out Hillman, as it seems this will be a good jumping off point for my studies. I understand from your post that Hillman does not see that competition is a strong component of consciousness. It seems to me that too much effort is exerted by scientists either defending or detracting classical compeitive theories in the natural world or cooperative models of the more "civilized" homo sapiens. There are components of both in all aspects of nature to my mind.

I believe that Bernard is actually on to something with his question about schizophrenia. I look at most physical as well as psychological states as points on a continuum rather than discrete and separate conditions. In this regard, I believe that we are all functioning MPD sufferers and that diagnosed schizophrenics, or more correctly multiple-personality disorder sufferers have had a breakdown in their ability to integrate discordant shards of "self" into an amalgamation that they present to the world. The same could be said of bipolar disorder or other organic behavioral disorders. This is merely a nascent pet theory of mine, but one that I find fascinating!