The Meaning of Meaning
Before probing the various aspects of the Need for Meaning, a brief overview of what psychologists now know about some of the functions of meaning would be in order. First I should highlight what the social psychologist Roy Baumeister said about the Meaning of the meaning of life. Baumeister observes that 'The Meaning of Life' is actually a conglomeration - a synthesis, as it were - of various meanings and purposes. That is there is a separate meaning for family, parents, children, occupation, religious or spiritual beliefs, and so on. In his writing about the various and diverse needs of the human being he does emphasize that some needs and diverse are complementary, while other needs and drives are competing. Of course, in 'conglomeration' or synthesizing, this is where mystical concepts and beliefs come into play. How does one balance all the competing needs, drives, and desires. Offhand I would say "propositional statements won't quite do the trick.
To my knowledge neuroscience has not identified the center for the self or identity thought the insula seems to be implicated. However, the famous neuroscientist Antonio Damsio argued hat there is a somato-somatic "map" or perhaps even self that functions to monitor and modulate the physiological functions, as it were.
The psychologists, Gary T. Reker and Paul T. P. Wong, in an article, state that “global meaning functions as an effective buffer of life stress (health protecting) and as a generalized enhancer of psychological well-being, and self-esteem (health promoting). (Quest p.443) Peterson and Park state “Both an orientation to meaning and the presence of meaning were positively associated with life satisfaction and positive affect and negatively associated with depression and negative affect.” (Quest p.289) Reker and Wong go on to say, “individuals develop personal meaning orientations that individually and collectively contribute to positive psychosocial functioning. (p. 444) Meaning could be compared to blood in the physiology of the human body. Meaning, which includes, goal-setting, as well as purpose and guidance is the life blood of human consciousness and human understanding. The meaning of meaning goes beyond just being a philosophical concept. Baumeister notes that meaning can actually reduce or decrease physical pain in certain circumstances.
`The Missing Link: Emotions Direct Attention
There is a consensus among Carl Jung, William James, as well as the contemporary psychologist, Eric Klinger that emotions, though often working in tandem with cognitive processes, are the predominant factor in motivations for people and for "directing" or "guiding" the attention of a person or individual. Each one independently states that emotions "direct" a person's attention! Furthermore there is the Synthesis Consensus of Frankl, Jung, James, and Durkheim that "spirit" [spiritual processes] create a sense of reality and meaning.
Meaning and Symbolism as Energy
In his chapter titled “The Reality of the Unseen,” James emphasizes that the emotional energy and power associated with “abstractions”- or symbols - is critical in shaping and creating a sense of reality in human consciousness. William James argued, "It is not only the ideas of pure Reason as Kant styled them, that have this power of making us vitally feel presences that we are impotent articulately to describe. All sorts of higher abstractions bring with them the same kind of impalpable appeal….As time, space, and the ether soak through all things so [we feel] do abstract and essential goodness, beauty, strength, significance, justice, soak through all things good, strong significant, and just” (p. 48)
William James goes on to say that “This absolute determinability of our mind by abstractions is one of the cardinal facts in our human constitution. Polarizing and magnetizing us as they do, we turn towards them and from them, we seek them, hold them, hate them, bless them, just as if they were so many concrete beings. And beings they are, beings as real in the realm which they inhabit as the changing things of sense are in realm of space. When talking about the abstractions involved in imagination William James observed, that [they] “determine our vital attitude as decisively as the vital attitude of lovers is determined by the habitual sense, by which each is haunted, of the other being in the world."
Carl Jung remarkably mirrored William James emphasis on the vitality of ideas which are energized by emotional motivations and drives. William James emphasis on the "imagination" should be highlighted because the imagination has been a very powerful force since human beings first emerged on the planet. Just look at spiritual and religious mythology which is incredibly creative and imaginative. Human beings could not possibly thrive in a hostile world without a "sense of reality." Jugn put it a little differently. He said regardless of their beliefs, every person, in one sense or another, has their own "myth."
Spiritual Beliefs as Evolutionary Adaptive Traits.
Spiritual Beliefs - at times - can be Evolutionary Adaptive Traits. In early history there was no science, technology, or, at that time, any established forms of rational analysis, and thus no "natural world!" Human Beings require a sense of reality to live and to survive. if you stand back and take a second look at religious mythology, it is actually, when seen form a distance, in many cases a very creative and very "live and vibrant" sense of reality. And imagination was vital in the creation of their sense of reality - something materialists seem oblivious to. Secondly, and more importantly the emotionally charged beliefs in animals spirits engaged the attention of human beings in animal life in a very imaginative and creative way. That is the beliefs in animal spirits because they were emotionally charge were evolutionary adaptive traits which helped human being through their hunter-gatherer stage. I would highlight that though spiritual beliefs have been - and still are for some - beneficial evolutionary adaptive traits, it is also crystal clear that some religious and spiritual beliefs are destructive and dangerous - and it would seem, balance is a prerequisite.
Function or Foolishness
Brian D Josephson, in the article Religion in Genes (Nature, Vol 362, April 15, 1993), observed that “With religion, focusing on the factuality or otherwise of religious belief similarly misses the point: the significant questions in this context relate to the functions and fruitfulness of religious beliefs.” That is, as he points out, “Dawkins criticizes religion on the grounds of apparent conflicts between religious beliefs and scientifically established facts.” A 'Supernatural God' can neither be proved nor disproved. Cal Sagan Said two things that are relevant here. First he stated unequivocally that "An absence of evidence is not evidence of an absence!" Secondly Carl Sagan stated that he had never seen any evidence that God does not exist! Furthermore, Freud stated categorically that the only acceptable scientific approach to spiritual and religious beliefs would be a functional approach. Again, it is not possible to quantify or measure a "Supernatural God!" One of the pitfalls that psychologists seemed to fall into is that religious beliefs since they encompass a community and a 'society' as well as a very complex human being would have a large number of functions it need to fill. Baumeister argued that "The Meaning of Life" is actually a conglomeration or synthesis of various and diverse needs and drives - which sometimes are complementary and sometimes are competing.
An Evolutionary Adaptive Trait
Once one realizes the principle which Carl Jung, William James, and Eric Klinger (as well as Solomon and others) advocated that emotions are pivotal and vital in directing an individual's attention toward an object or person, and also that spiritual beliefs and spiritual and religious symbols and symbolism carry highly charged emotional energy, then it would follow that the spiritual beliefs in animal spirits during the hunter gatherer stage directed the attention of our prehistoric ancestors toward animals. A such, then it would stand to reason in directing human interest to animal life, that would constitute an evolutionary adaptive trait. So, those fools who have the delusional belief that all spirituality is superstitious nonsense - or "religious drivel" are just that - "Fools! and Idiots!"
The Narrow Way
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14. While Christ was most likely primarily referring to morals, and in light of much of today's Christian leaders clearly have fallen away from the narrow way, the physicist Pauli made a remarkably similar observation: “It is only a narrow passage of truth (no matter whether scientific or other truth) that passes between the Scylla of a blue fog of mysticism and the Charybdis of a sterile rationalism. This will always be full of pitfalls and one can fall down on both sides.” Pauli is correct when he states that there is the "blue fog of mysticism [and spirituality]" because it is easy to get lost in the myriad questions about the "Ultimate Reality" - many of which are simply beyond the ability of human consciousness to understand to begin with.
Materialism - I Think Therefore I am Confused -
A Quick Refutation
Many haven't heard of Materialism which is a Doctrine that believes that there is "No Spirituality!" While, not a whole lot of people have heard of materialism, in spite of the fact that many authors, including NIH Director Francis Collins, the maverick scientist Rupert Sheldrake, the French philosopher Rene Guenon, as well as many other psychologists such as Baruss and Mossbridge, have written about it, you know the Materialism Doctrine is a Reality when a 700 plus page 'History of Psychology' written by Morton Hall does not have even one single reference to spirit or spirituality. The Materialism Doctrine seems pervasive throughout Western Civilization and has permeated nearly every nook and cranny of the social sciences, society and government. I run into materialists all the time, I had three 'neuroscientists' tell me "Spirituality is religious drivel" on a neuroscience FB group.
What I personally find infuriating is that even a precursory view of the statement, "There is No Spirituality reveals after a few moments consideration how worthless that statement is. Human Beings have believed in religious and spiritual beliefs for thousands of years. As Emile Durkheim, a founding father of sociology pointed out, especially in early human societies, spiritual and religious beliefs created the norms, the laws, the rituals, the rules, the hierarchy of relationships, and, in the end, morality - and society itself. On that alone materialism is a ludicrous proposition. For a moment, consider that in light of the fat that the spiritual-social ideal of compassion clearly developed early in every major religion, and that every major religion (Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, as well as Islam) has the spiritual-social ideal of compassion as a pivotal doctrine and principle in their religions, it would seem an inescapable conclusion that [largely unconscious] spiritual processes had to be absolutely pivotal in the creation and development of those ideals. The proof is in the pudding, and, in America, there are 77.4 million Americans are compassionate care-giver volunteers.
So, my question is: Considering this civilization has particle accelerators knowledge about quantum entanglement and so on, How can it possibly be that there large numbers of academics and scientists literally believe the statement, "There is no spirituality!" In scientific world such as ours, that statement should to exist because it is so blatantly and flagrantly not true and utterly false. There are tons and tons of spirituality of all sorts of forms and varieties. Materialists must have no hearts - or souls - I mean what about the spirituality of person grieving over a loved one. Yet all the materialists I have met would say the spirituality of that person grieving is "unreal." - just as several have told em documented dreams which with reasonable interpretations are "unreal" - literally - like it is my fault that some of my dreams could be reasonably interpreted as coming true. At the bottom I have notes on two of maybe 6 or 7 documented precognitive dreams and perceptions. One of a dream i had before a military conflict between Pakistan and India. The other was a dream/perception just prior to a Canadian "incel" attack.
The Need for Meaning
“The meaning
of life is to give life a meaning!” - The famous psychoanalyst, Viktor Frankl, reached that brilliant insight over 60 years ago. Later, Frankl added, “Only to the extent to which man fulfills a meaning out
there in the world, does he fulfill himself.” (p. 22 Will) As the brilliant Russian novelist and thinker Lev Tolstoy, so succinctly summarized the core question about the meaning of life, "If Man did not believe that he must live for something, he would not live at all." (p. 106)
T
he prominent social psychologist Baumeister emphasizes, “Each person actively constructs the meaning of his or her life…. Such choices determine the meaning that your life will have.” (p.3 meaning) Baumeister adds, “Meaning itself is acquired socially,
from other people and from the culture at large. Nature equips the human being
with appetites but not meanings.” (p.6 Meanings) Frankl also suggests people frequently find meaning in commitments to others.
What could possibly be more important than meaning? In the real world, as it were, a person can’t even get out of bed or go to the grocery store without invoking processes in the human mind that intimately involve meaning. Many of Psychology’s ‘Great Thinkers’, such as Carl Jung, Viktor Frankl, Clifford Geertz, Roy Baumeister, Paul Wong, as well as, many existential and positive psychologists, advocate the idea that a powerful "Need for Meaning" is both prevalent and absolutely vital for human beings and humanity, as well as vital pivotal in human consciousness and behavior. The central concept of all these icons is the concept of the human being as a "meaning-seeking animal."
Viktor Frankl, who was a Jewish survivor of Nazi concentration camps and a pioneer of psychoanalysis and psychology, based his psychological theory on the principle that human beings possess a very powerful ‘Will to Meaning’: “Man’s search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a ‘secondary rationalization of instinctual drives. This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can be fulfilled by him alone; only then does it achieve a significance which will satisfy his own will to meaning.” (p.99 search) Carl Jung observed, "Man cannot stand a meaningless life." Later in the Zarathustra Seminar (p. 1105) Jung added, "Life that doesn’t overcome itself is really meaningless: it is not life; only in as much as life surpasses itself does it make sense." Similarly, the Nobel Prize winning French biologist, Francois Jacob emphasized that, “What man seeks, to the point of anguish, in his gods, in his art, in his science, is meaning. He cannot bear the void. He pours meaning on events like salt on his food.”
The well-known anthropologist Clifford Geertz made a remarkably similar observation: "The drive to make sense out of experience, to give it form and order, is evidently as real and pressing as the more familiar biological needs ." (p.140 – my italics) Geertz emphasized that art and religions, are, at the core, essentially expressions of a very powerful Need for Meaning which, as he noted, is a drive as imperative as any other "biological need" such as hunger or sex. The prominent social psychologist and author, Roy Baumeister spoke of a very pervasive and powerful "drive to understand" and need for meaning that was essential for human beings to thrive, as well as being indispensable for society and culture. Baumeister emphasizes that human culture and society are all about meaning. When you get down to it, society as well as religion are in substance and function structures formed of meanings. They are meaning systems.
The human "need for meaning" shouldn't really come as a news flash to psychologists, since, roughly two thousand years ago, Aristotle became the first 'scientist' to 'officially' make the observation that man is a "meaning seeking animal" with his remark that “All men by nature desire knowledge.” Paul Wong, a prominent positive/existential psychologist states unequivocally, “The quest for meaning is a biological imperative.” (p. 635 quest). "Meaning has been shown to have even physical effects. Roy Baumeister emphasizes the fact that “meaning seems to mitigate even such simple and basic forms of suffering as bodily pain” (p.247 meaning)Viktor Frankl, with his pivotal concept of man's "Will to Meaning" had a profound and lasting effect on existential and positive psychology. Largely due to Frankl's influence, existential and positive psychologists conducted hundreds of studies and experiments on the role of meaning in peoples’ lives, and in human consciousness . As one psychologist noted, “The growing scientific attention to the construction of meaning within the psychological landscape, and especially within the two significant frameworks of positive and existential psychology, provides a fertile ground for a fruitful dialogue.” (p. 95 positive)
The existential and positive psychologists’ studies have demonstrated that a strong sense of meaning leads to a strong and healthy sense of well-being, as well as mental and physical health. The psychologists Gary T. Reker and Paul T. P. Wong, in an article, state that “global meaning functions as an effective buffer of life stress (health protecting) and as a generalized enhancer of psychological well-being, and self-esteem (health promoting). (Quest p.443) Consistently, “studies have shown that when people do have meaning, they tend to experience life satisfaction, positive affect, subjective well-being, mental health, and sensory health.” (p. 96 Quest) "Conversely, meaning is inversely related to neuroticism, negative emotions, depression, severity of PTSD, anxiety, hostility, anti-social behavior, and substance abuse" (p. 173-174 Quest) An important point made by Roy Baumeister highlights the fact that “meaning” for a person, can actually consist of many meanings - which actually makes, in essence, a conglomeration of meanings which guide and shape human behavior and thought. So, "The meaning of life," then, would be a synthesis of various and separate meanings and a 'system or structure of meaning. That, of course, brings Clifford Geertz's definition of religion as a 'realistic "system of symbols" into play. So, in a sense, one way or another, every man could be said to, perhaps, have his own religion?
The Dichotomy Between Meaning (& Psyche) and Materialist Psychology
Carl Jung, in the 1930's, stated that "The concept of the living body brings fewer difficulties to our task of elucidation (of living being) than does the general concept of life, for the body is a visible and tangible reality...." but then goes on to conclude that "there is lacking to the body by itself something that is necessary to its life, namely the psychic factor." (CW8: 652) Jung believed that physiology and psyche are two different sides of the same coin. "Psyche" was a major concept of Carl Jung, and in many circumstances, psyche was interchangeable with 'spirit' though it was intimately connected with thinking including cognitive processes. Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, as well as William James all argued that spiritual processes create meaning and generate a "sense of reality." Paul Wong, the prominent positive psychologist, observes: “Park (2007) regards religion and spirituality as meaning systems. In contrast, Frankl considers meaning seeking as stemming from one’s spiritual nature.
According to Viktor Frankl, "meaning, compassion and other positive psychological resources belong to the spiritual dimension.” (p.156 Batth anthology).
The famous physicist, Wolfgang
Pauli, who was instrumental in the development of the scientific theory of quantum mechanics was careful to recognize that “although
[particle physics] allows for an acausal form of observation, it actually has
no use for the concept of ‘meaning!’” That is, meaning is not a fundamental
function of reality but an interpretation and a judgment, as it were, superimposed on the materialist reality by human consciousness." A story you might find instructional comes from a discussion of meaning with a biology PhD.
I often ask people, out of curiosity, and interest, "What they personally believe the meaning of life is." A Biology PhD I talked to quite literally responded, "There is no such thing as purpose or meaning in life." In some circles of the academic world, at the moment, meaning is viewed as being beyond the scope of science since the ultimate purpose of humanity cannot be scientifically determined, and so the concepts of purpose and meaning have no validity. Strict materialist science excludes meaning altogether.
I spoke with a psychology major at a local Maryland University who was
in her last semester and she had not heard of a the concept of a "need for meaning" advocated by so many of the "great thinkers."
Meaning and Materialist Psychology
Jung concludes: "Science has never been able to grasp the riddle of life either in organic matter or in the mysterious trains of mental imagery; consequently we are still in search of the "living being."" (CW8 620) In 1933, the iconic psychologist Carl Jung pointed out that “The “modern belief in the primacy of physical explanations” effectively leads to the elimination of all metaphysical and spiritual aspects of human consciousness.” Similarly, the modern positive psychologists, Pargamount and Mahoney, make the observation that "Since the early part of the twentieth century, .....psychologists have tended to treat spirituality as a process that can be reduced to more basic underlying psychological, social, and physiological functions.” "mainstream psychology" which has a distinct "materialist bias" sidelines and marginalizes spirituality and religious beliefs.
The Materialist's Human Brain
The social psychologist Allport, in the 1920's, utterly rejected the maverick social psychologist William McDougall's 'Group MInd' approach - which echoed Carl Jung's Collective Unconscious with archetypes and "predispositions as well as Emile Durkheim's Collective Consciousness of norms, ideals, and values. Allport stated, albeit, in a rather pedagogical manner: “There is no psychology of groups which is not essentially and entirely a psychology of individuals.” (1924, pp. vi, 4) (Soc Psych Handbook) This remarkably reflects the materialist view that human consciousness is restricted entirely to the brain of a separate individual, and that that all of human consciousness is constrained to the firing of neurons and the thoughts of the individual minds.
In their research, the psychologists, Baruss and Moore, found that ideas about the nature of consciousness are “closely tied to beliefs about reality." (Transcendent, p. 27) Academic "Materialist" psychology has a worldview that tends to be the very narrow and limited view of human consciousness as being confined to physiology and the firing of neurons in the human brain. While physics has moved way beyond what might be called “billiard ball” physics, academic mainstream psychology seems stuck, to a large extent, in an equivalent “billiard ball” psychology. In a discussion with a local university professor from Maryland, the professor remarked: "The overwhelming majority of psychology departments in the United States are dominated by cognitive behavioralism - and/or - a model of mind that reduces thinking and consciousness to chemical and physical processes." So, Jung's conclusions that science has failed to grasp the "riddle of life" would seem to still hold true in this day and age
You have to stop and think - if there is a society then there, bare minimum, would necessarily exist in some form or fashion, some type of a social consciousness - and thus some kind of a collective consciousness. The research by existential and positive psychologists into the role and significance of meaning definitely demonstrate that meaning is, in one way or other, "socially" derived - and that, in the end, meaning is gathered and obtained in one fashion or another from or through others. And there are numerous types of meaning besides mere informational meaning - there is meaning gained through approval, status recognition, role playing, and so on. The bottom line is that human beings are intricately and inextricably connected. It would seem that to completely separate an individual from the "social" environment, or others, to which the person is so intricately connected, in any meaningful way would not, on the face of it, appear to be a reasonable or viable scientific proposition. In the end, everything about a person is in "social being" and "others."Einstein emphasized that the idea of separateness from others is an illusion and that people are intricately and inextricably connected with others. William James, the Father of American Psychology, also unequivocally stated: "This overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute is the great mystic achievement. In mystic states we both become one with the Absolute and we become aware of our oneness. This is the everlasting and triumphant mystical tradition, hardly altered by differences of clime or creed." Strict materialist psychology completely excludes not only "meaning" altogether, but spirituality totally, as well. Perhaps it is the anti-spirituality bias of the materialist view which drives materialist orientated psychologists to take the rather extreme - and rather untenable, in my view - position that the human mind is a separate and isolated "mechanism" much reminiscent of the mechanistic-materialist position alluded to by the French philosopher Rene Guenon, who believed materialism began with Descartes. As Higgins and Kruglanski, in their 700 plus page Social Psychology Handbook of Basic Principles, observe, "Psychologists who study groups approach the idea of a group as an entity only very gingerly." I should mention that, besides having no references to any concept of collective consciousness, there are also no references to spirit, spirituality, or religion in Higgins and Kruglanski's reference Handbook. Not many are aware of academic taboos which not only appear to exist but to have some resilience as well.
In fact, that very narrow definition of consciousness eliminates any higher meaning or purpose - which may be a salient factor in why meaning is left out of the Introduction to Psychology textbooks. Of course, it would seem an inescapable conclusion that without meaning, human beings are, well.....meaningless. Furthermore, without any higher meaning or purpose, which many academic scientists academic adamantly refuse to entertain, that, technically, reduces human beings to animals being entirely conglomerations of physiologically driven needs, desires, and drives. And what "we believe we are," most frequently ends up what we become. That is, generally, we are - or become - what we teach! And if we believe we are nothing but animals that will likely shape how we will act. Furthermore if we are told there is no (higher) meaning to life, what hope is there? -which may - in part - explain why the suicide rate, according to the CDC has risen roughly 25% since 1999.
Epilogue: Overview of the Materialist Bias in Mainstream Psychology
You know Meaning and Spirituality are a problem in Psychology, when
you review "The Story of Psychology," which is a 700 plus page complete 'History of Psychology' textbook, which was written by Morton Hall, a well-known and prolific author on the subject of psychology (Anchor Books, 2007), and, while there are a few references to soul (mostly archaic) I did not find a single reference to either meaning, spirit, spirituality, or even religion. It is a comprehensive review of psychology over the course of the history of psychology - from Greek philosophers to modern psychologists. However, it clearly has a materialist bias. From my research, the best analyses of spirituality and religious beliefs were done by William James, Viktor Frankl, and Carl Jung. Morton Hall completely excluded Viktor Frankl, marginalized Carl Jung, and left out William James' work on spirituality and religious beliefs. On top of that, Morton Hall eliminated all of existential and positive psychology - which is a complete waste in light of the fact that existential and positive psychology has done very valuable work and research into meaning and spirituality.
It seems a bit hypocritical, in my view, for a 'History of Psychology to cover fairly well the Greek philosophers such as Alemaeon, Protagoras, Democritus, Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle, as well as Theophratus, the Epicureans, Skeptics, and Stoics, and so on and turn around and completely omit Viktor Frankl. Most everyone who has read his classic work, Man's Search for Meaning, are usually impressed by some of Frankl's brilliant insights into human consciousness and behavior. that he makes. For instance, I personally found Frankl's statement about the limitations of human consciousness very profound: "Ultimate meaning necessarily exceeds and surpasses the finite intellectual capacities of man... What is demanded of man is not, as some existential philosophers teach, to endure the meaninglessness of life, but rather to bear his incapacity to grasp its unconditional meaningfulness in rational terms. Logos is deeper than logic." Also, in light of modern psychologists writing and work on the Need for Meaning, it would seem a bit ironic, that though Aristotle is noted as the origin of the concept of "psyche" as the seat of thinking and thought processes (an idea which Carl Jung adapted), it seems Morton Hall did overlook the fact that when Aristotle stated "Men desire knowledge", Aristotle was, indeed, actually the first 'Great Thinker' to make note of the human being's Need for Meaning!
From any objective perspective, in light of the historical role of spirituality and religious beliefs in human culture and human history, It is pretty mind-boggling, and actually quite shocking to discover that are no references to spirit, spirituality, religion or even meaning in a 700 plus page "comprehensive" 'History of Psychology' - not a single one. Furthermore, It is a bit disturbing to me that from talking to a couple of University of Maryland psychology professors as well as from doing a brief overview of courses offered and psychology professors specialties it was fairly apparent that the University of Maryland, Towson University, Loyola University, and Johns Hopkins curriculum reflected the serious materialist bias that is very salient in Morton Hall's comprehensive 'History of Psychology.'
That being said, the views about spirituality vary widely among psychology professors I have spoken with at Maryland Universities. Several have talked about Paul Wong or Kenneth Pargament, both existential or positive psychologists who advocate spirituality. It just depends on who you talk to. And the medical science of doctors is even more ahead of the curve. Dr. Koenig of Duke University, a prolific author of articles about the medical benefits of spirituality (i.e. as in better blood pressure), states that half the medical universities have courses in spirituality. Unfortunately that is not the cased for Johns Hopkins in Maryland. My "personal" problem is that when I talk to ordinary people or students they generally have never heard of Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, William James, and so on. So what we are dealing with is an institutional "academic taboo" against spirituality.
The Origins of the Materialist Philosophy
The maverick scientist, Rupert Sheldrake, explains the origins of materialist science and psychology:
“The rising influence of mechanistic science accelerated
this process from the seventeenth century onward. God was removed from the
workings of nature, now seen as inanimate, unconscious, and mechanical,
functioning automatically.” (p.155) Carl Jung expressed the influence of materialist thinking another way: "Epistemological criticism was on the one hand an
expression of the modesty of medieval man, and on the other a renunciation of, or abdication from, the spirit of God, and consequently a modern extension and reinforcement of human consciousness within the limits of reason." (CW8 - 359) So, the rise of science and reason brought with it a materialist-mechanistic bias which the French philosopher Rene Guennon argued began with Descartes writing about mathematics, science, and philosophy. The materialist approach included a bias toward physiological based research and explanations, as Carl Jung pointed out on occasion, as well as a tendency to avoid dealing with the metaphysical and intangible characteristics of human consciousness.
Carl Jung emphasized that “The modern belief in the primacy of physical explanations” effectively leads to the elimination of all metaphysical and spiritual aspects of human consciousness. The pervasive influence of philosophy and science was, in part, due to the perception by many thinkers and scientists that the concept of a Transcendent Spirit or Supernatural Being was, on the face of it, irrational and contrary to reason and rational thought. Academia, science, and many of the intelligentsia of society appear to have adopted the materialist view as the accepted and orthodox reality. My sense of it is, however, that the influence of materialist thinking resulted in, for all practical purposes, "All" of religion and "All" of spirituality ended up essentially being 'labelled' "superstitious nonsense." That appears to me to have become the scientific and psychological "norm" - with the end result being the production of a comprehensive 700 plus page review of the 'History of Psychology' devoid of all spirituality - completely.
Preface to Postlogue: Political-Intuition Precognition & Spiritual-Psychic Experiences
While the roughly, perhaps two dozen spiritual-psychic experiences, that I have had in 38 years have occurred rather haphazardly, nearly all could best be described as "perceptions-warnings of threats to the group" - experiences clearly rooted in instinctual process, and perhaps better understood as my personal-human variation of animal alarm calls. Of my spiritual-psychic experiences, I have one very detailed and remarkable "once in a lifetime" transcendental spiritual experience which comparatively speaking was exceptionally detailed: group, fabricating bombs, money, woman, death, identification of the weathermen manifesto, "New York." On top of that, I have had a few detailed precognitive dreams, and perhaps up to a couple dozen what I call "tags" - which I define as 'a fairly well described central action plus one or two details.' Of those precognitive perceptions and dreams, six or seven are documented.
A Couple of Illustrations
A Couple of Documented Dreams that came true. Most of my precognitive dreams and perceptions are not earth shaking, and I would say a couple are a "stretch" in all truth. That being said, there is a distinct and evident consistency in that all my dreams and perceptions center on political events in one way or the other - and if there is one thing that science values, that would be consistency. A second point is that I have never claimed to be "psychic" - mostly because I am not as most people think of the term "psychic!" I do not make predictions or look into a crystal ball. Making predictions to make predictions does not make sense biologically, psychologically, or spiritually. Fro perspective I would observe that If a religious person thinks about ti, it would be immediately apparent that God would not put prophets on earth to solely and entirely to make predictions. Those who tried - Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce (i.e earth change predictions), as well as Jeane Dixon - had extremely high rates of failures. In my experience it appears incredibly clear that in my situation that I am responding to stimuli.
1. Precognitive Dream about 'Pakistan and 'Nuclear War' 1-18-2019:
In a from the night of 1-18-2019 to 1-20-2019 (which I emailed to k.... on 1-22) I had a somewhat vivid dream about Pakistan in which 'nuclear war' was an aspect. Of course, spiritual experiences and especially dreams tend to be by nature symbolic, and ordinarily cannot be taken literally. What made the dream rather strange was a kind of "dualistic" or "split world" characteristic to the dream since, in the dream, I was in the U.S. with my son, yet, seemingly simultaneously in Pakistan at the same time.
About a month later, India, suddenly launched an air strike against Pakistan in retaliation for an attack on Indian civilians in Kashmir by Islamic extremists. On 2-28-2019, an article appeared: "Opinion: India, Pakistan, and the remote but real threat of nuclear war." https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-india-pakistan-and-the-remote-but-real-threat-of-nuclear-war/a-4772175... .
At the beginning of August, India escalated the Hindu-Muslim conflict by annexing the semi-autonomous territory of Kashmir. Modi's nationalism, like many nationalisms, is very aggressive and Modi even further escalated the conflict. An article at the end of August in bdnews.com stated "Along with India’s recent decision to revoke the autonomy of its only Muslim-majority state, Jammu and Kashmir, the Assam citizenship check [which has deprived two million of citizenship in the Indian Assam district], has intensified a sense of despair among India’s minority Muslims, as the Hindu nationalist wave led by Prime Minister Narenda Modi surges ever higher." Like Trump (and Hitler, Putin, and many others), Modi plays to the incredibly powerful instinctual emoptions connected with patriotism and nationalism.
The dream appears clearly to be a "perception of a threat" since Modi's aggressive nationalism would, on the face of it appear to be a threat to world peace.
2. Precognitive "Tag" of the "incel" terrorist in Canada in late April, 2018. In an email to a friend, I briefly spoke about a dream which I awoke from at 2AM which involved Canada and the CIA and Canada. The email (dated April 18, 2018) said "just thinking - 2AM ..... woke from a really strange dream - the Holy Spirit was like split up into different pieces and people were trying to understand that." Earlier woke up from a dream about Canada and the CIA (personally, I connect the CIA with terrorism).”
Roughly a week later on an article stated: “The police have identified Alek Minassian, 25, as the suspect accused of killing 10 people and injured 15 with a rented van on Monday (April 24) in Toronto. Minassian appeared to identify as an "incel," or "involuntary celibate," in a Facebook post published hours before.
While this is just a "tag", it does show some consistency, and it is clearly a "perception of a threat to the group."
Here is a link to Political Intuition-Precognition: Documented Experiences
Written by Charles E Peck Jr., Baltimore (north of), Maryland
Here is a link to my website: https://www.spirittruthandmeaning.com/
Here is a link to my FaceBook page ( spirittruthandmeaning)
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Content Copyrighted Charles E Peck Jr. Copyright ©
References and Footnotes
Profile of Dr. James Doty: https://profiles.stanford.edu/james-doty
The Center for Compassion And Altruism Research And Education: http://ccare.stanford.edu/
American Psychological Association: https://www.apa.org/
Association for Psychological Science: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/about/links.cfm
Albert Einstein comprehensive website: http://alberteinsteinsite.com/
Albert Einstein Biography: https://www.biography.com/people/albert-einstein-9285408
Godel’s Theorem of Incompleteness: https://www.jamesrmeyer.com/ffgit/godels_theorem.html
John Bargh, PhD: http://bargh.socialpsychology.org/
https://www.rogerdooley.com/john-bargh-priming
http://www.psych.nyu.edu/bargh/index.html
Rupert Sheldrake: https://www.sheldrake.org/
Viktor Frankl: http://www.viktor-frankl.com/
Viktor Frankl: http://www.viktorfrankl.org/
Dr. Harold Koenig: https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.php/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Dr. Harold Koenig: https://medicine.duke.edu/faculty/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Roy Baumeister: http://www.roybaumeister.com/
Roy Baumeister: https://psy.fsu.edu/faculty/baumeisterr/baumeister.dp.php
Dr. Paul Wong: http://www.drpaulwong.com/
Dr. Paul Wong: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/paul-wong-biography/
Clifford Geertz: https://www.biography.com/people/clifford-geertz-9308224
Carl Jung: https://www.biography.com/people/carl-jung-9359134
Carl Jung: https://www.psychologistworld.com/cognitive/carl-jung-analytical-psychology
12 common Archetypes: http://www.soulcraft.co/essays/the_12_common_archetypes.html
Emile Durkheim: http://durkheim.uchicago.edu/
Emile Durkheim: http://faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Durkheim/index2.htm
William James: https://www.biography.com/people/william-james-9352726
William James: https://study.com/academy/lesson/william-james-psychology-theories-lesson-quiz.html
Tania Singer references: http://cultureofempathy.com/References/Experts/Tania-Singer.htm
https://charterforcompassion.org/discovering-empathy/dr-tania-singer-and-the-neuroscience-of-empathy
Dr Amit Sood Mindfulness: https://www.mindfulleader.org/amit-sood
Dr. Harold Koenig Director, Center for Spirituality,
Theology and Health: https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.php/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Dr. Koenig on what spirituality can do for you: https://www.beliefnet.com/wellness/health/2006/05/what-religion-can-do-for-your-health.aspx
Keith Karren – Body, Mind, Spirit:
http://pgrpdf.abhappybooks.com/mind-body-health-keith-j-karren-ph-d-pdf-5716009.pdf
E O Wilson Biodiversity: https://eowilsonfoundation.org/
E O Wilson - PBS on Ants: http://www.pbs.org/program/eo-wilson/
Anthropologist Malinowski: http://anthrotheory.wikia.com/wiki/Bronislaw_
MalinowskiSocial Anthropology - Malinowski: http://scihi.org/bronislaw-malinowski-social-anthropology/
St. Augustine (Catholic source): https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=418
St. Augustine: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine
Konrad Lorenz: https://www.age-of-the-sage.org/scientist/konrad_lorenz.html
Konrad Lorenz: http://www.famouspsychologists.org/konrad-lorenz/
St. Gregory of Nyssa (Franciscan): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-gregory-of-nyssa/
St. Gregory of Nyssa (wikiorg): https://orthodoxwiki.org/Gregory_of_Nyssa
Neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene: https://www.edge.org/memberbio/stanislas_dehaene
Imants Barušs, psychologist and parapsychologist: http://www.baruss.ca/
Julia Mossbridge, psychologist and parapsychologist: https://noetic.org/profile/julia-mossbridge
https://sharingthesearch.com/tag/j-mossbridge/
https://www.closertotruth.com/contributor/julia-mossbridge/profile
Friedrich Nietzsche: http://nietzschecircle.com/
Nietzsche biography: https://www.biography.com/people/friedrich-nietzsche-9423452
Abraham Joshua Heschel: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/abraham-joshua-heschel-a-prophets-prophet/
Iroquois:
http://www.ushistory.org/us/1d.asp
Greek Mythology: Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi
https://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Apollo/apollo.html
https://www.thoughtco.com/apollo-greek-god-sun-music-prophecy-111902
http://greek-gods.info/greek-gods/apollo/
https://www.coastal.edu/intranet/ashes2art/delphi2/misc-essays/oracle_of_delphi.html
https://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/7_p1.html
https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/pythia-oracle-delphi-001641
https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/pythia-oracle-delphi-001641