tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post115392599067872766..comments2024-03-28T12:10:26.197-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: In Search of the Lost EntitlementGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153979562366855332006-07-26T22:52:00.000-07:002006-07-26T22:52:00.000-07:00Godwin, you write well, I averr. Your book looks ...Godwin, you write well, I averr. Your book looks very, very interesting too...yes, yes, I just might buy the book. But first for free I will peruse all of der contents of your blog. Yes, you said some very very interesting things about narcissism and "symmetrical wounding" in dysfunctional relationships. Yes, just about everything you say I seemed to have learned the hard way. This is good shtuff.black holehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07366633817665791528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153958388467138272006-07-26T16:59:00.000-07:002006-07-26T16:59:00.000-07:00As I recall, Hans Selye (I'm a big fan) noted that...As I recall, Hans Selye (I'm a big fan) noted that stress can be the same, irrespective of cause. In fact, the stress levels are the same, even if the causes are polar oppsites ('your son is dead...no wait- he's alive!)<BR/><BR/>In other words, a desired result also be achieved with various kinds of conditioning....certainly, appropriate political responses are predicated on an always moving target (with shifting values).<BR/><BR/>A lot of response has to do with packaging and anticipated responses.SC&Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08896449261475558935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153954894312927432006-07-26T16:01:00.000-07:002006-07-26T16:01:00.000-07:00Bob: Even Hunter Thompson had turned against Lear...Bob: Even Hunter Thompson had turned against Leary by the end of the Sixties. He damned Leary in the pages of FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS for "crashing around America selling 'consciousness expansion,' without any concern for the grim meathook realities lying in wait for anyone [...] who thought they could buy Peace and Understanding for two bucks a hit."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153953704855049402006-07-26T15:41:00.000-07:002006-07-26T15:41:00.000-07:00Come to think of it, I just removed Maslow from th...Come to think of it, I just removed Maslow from the list of offenders altogether. There are literally thouands of better examples of the point I was trying to make, which is simply that a lot of psychological theorists in the 1960's and 1970's not only excused but actively promoted narcissism. Nor do I mean to necessarily imply that these were bad people--certainly Maslow was not by any means. On the other hand, someone like Timothy Leary apppears to have been an outright sociopathic narcissist.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153952150844686802006-07-26T15:15:00.000-07:002006-07-26T15:15:00.000-07:00Will--You are correct. I suppose it's unfair to b...Will--<BR/><BR/>You are correct. I suppose it's unfair to blame the teacher for the disciples. I believe that Maslow started off on the right track, but he was very quickly co-opted by the new age, and in fact, is now considered one of its pioneers. I don't think he would have been happy about it if he could have seen the shamelessly fraudulent "personal growth" industry that now exists. <BR/><BR/>At the time, Maslow's ideas seemed liberating and progressive, a sort of necessary corrective to old-fashioned orthodox or classical psychoanalysis, which had, to a certain extent, lost its way prior to certain developments in the 1970's. I don't believe the "third force" psychology which he founded has really gone anywhere, because it's not rooted in a solid developmental model, and personal growth is going to be stymied unless one somehow deals with the good old unconscious. <BR/><BR/>Of course, it's tempting to chase after peak experiences, but the idea is to transform altered states into altered traits, otherwise it can be somewhat like running away from one's problems. Plus, I like the idea of trying to see the transcendent in the mundane, as opposed to trying to have isolated peak experiences.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153950947004249032006-07-26T14:55:00.000-07:002006-07-26T14:55:00.000-07:00Bobsir, I'm not all that psychology well-read, but...Bobsir, I'm not all that psychology well-read, but I do recall reading snippets of A. Maslow and his "peak experience" and "peak individual" observations. One of his descriptive profiles of the peak individual was so similar (albeit lacking in mystical wording per se) to that of a spiritual adept that I really was stunned by his insight. I was also favorably impressed by Maslow's idea that there should be a psychology that does, in fact, use the peak individual as a a template rather than that of your garden variety neurotic. <BR/><BR/>And that's about as much as I know about Maslow. In what respect does he fall into your "utter nonsense" category? FWIW, I did know how loopy Laing was. And what ever happened to Arthur "primal scream" Janov? Reincarnated as Yoko Ono?<BR/><BR/>really curious in chicagoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153946904448242522006-07-26T13:48:00.000-07:002006-07-26T13:48:00.000-07:00I'm not sure which is uglier, the ideal-worshippin...I'm not sure which is uglier, the ideal-worshipping narcissist who desperately tries to ignore reality or the self-worshipping narcissist who demands that reality conform to his whim.<BR/><BR/>You see both of these trends in the recent outlandish behavior of the blogging Left. The collectivist's superiority complex ("our ideals are better than yours") is meshed quite inextricably with the radical's greed ("WE WANT THE WORLD AND WE WANT IT - NOW" ).<BR/><BR/>To sum their views up in one sentence: "In our noble quest to save the world from the dangers of our ideological enemies, no tactic is too unfair to use."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153945556676761432006-07-26T13:25:00.000-07:002006-07-26T13:25:00.000-07:00Bob, it's been awhile since I read him, but I beli...Bob, it's been awhile since I read him, but I believe that Thomas Szasz's reasons for denying the existence of mental illness were quite different from Laing's, as you describe them. Szasz argued that the so-called "mentally ill" were in fact refusing, on a deep level, to confront reality and take responsibility for their interaction with it. So labeling them as ill and treating them with drugs and hospitalization was actually enabling their avoidance. I believe he would have preferred administering some kind deep psychic kick in the rear, if such a thing were possible--even to the most florid schizophrenic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153941216153886052006-07-26T12:13:00.000-07:002006-07-26T12:13:00.000-07:00Bunnies--That is such a good point. The terrorist...Bunnies--<BR/><BR/>That is such a good point. The terrorists provoke and provoke--I would even say "seduce"--and when we or Israel finally respond, it's "disproportionate."Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153941071472399702006-07-26T12:11:00.000-07:002006-07-26T12:11:00.000-07:00That is so true, Joseph & Bob. I saw this happen ...That is so true, Joseph & Bob. I saw this happen to a friend in college. Her boyfriend was beating her up a little bit and I happen to see one fight. She baited him and wouldn't let him walk away until he got physical with her. I still do blame him for not being in control of himself, but she actually started hitting him first. I knew that if I were in her situation, I would have walked away much sooner and never let it escalate to the point it did. Being a small female, I always knew that most men could beat the crap out of me and I shouldn't deliberately pick a fight with someone bigger and stronger than myself. <BR/><BR/>I think this also can apply to those Islamic terrorist thugs that cry foul when Israel smacks them down ten times as hard after they get uppity! Disproportionate response is what they seem to call it. Complete nonsense!Lisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04969685296436358865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153937687072610742006-07-26T11:14:00.000-07:002006-07-26T11:14:00.000-07:00That, my friend, is a very great, and very politic...That, my friend, is a very great, and very politically incorrect, observation--women that provoke men into abusing them. It makes me wanna slap my mama. So to speak.Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153937244531951322006-07-26T11:07:00.000-07:002006-07-26T11:07:00.000-07:00"I can't tell you how many times I have evaluated ..."I can't tell you how many times I have evaluated a female consumer of mental health services who somehow managed to get involved in five consecutive relationships in which she was mistreated and/or physically abused by some brute. If you asked me how to locate and identify such a beast, I wouldn’t know where to begin, but these women seem to possess an unconscious “preydar” that assures they will repeatedly find their abuser. Am I blaming the victim? Er, yes. So she can actually be empowered in a meaningful sense, instead of just the leftist sense, which is only a defense mechanism that indulges collective grievance teat for tot."<BR/><BR/>I had a woman that worked for me that followed--and follows still, I am told--this same pattern. I theorized then that some of these men were not actually abusers until they were in a relationship with her. In part I base this on a study I read years ago which indicated that about 90% of cases where spouses who are married to an alcholic and then divorce and remarry, the new spouse will then become an alcoholic. Not sure if there is any truth to these notions, but they seem to ring true in my observations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153932088426564042006-07-26T09:41:00.000-07:002006-07-26T09:41:00.000-07:00"For example, I suspect that most little boys who ..."For example, I suspect that most little boys who are on ritalin or other drugs actually suffer from a disease called “being a little boy.” <BR/><BR/>I worked as an MFT intern in the San Francisco middle schools for 2 years. In that utterly PC totally female-dominated world, I came to see that ADHD was often just another form of SWM, "Studying While Male".<BR/>You are right on this one. The pathologization of males and of masculinity in this culture is played out in the literal pathologization of 12 year old boys for being ...12 year old boys.OreamnosAmericanushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15602268350813211243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153929764375936962006-07-26T09:02:00.000-07:002006-07-26T09:02:00.000-07:00Great post. The idea of the "atmosphere" surround...Great post. The idea of the "atmosphere" surrounding a narcissistic parent is very helpful.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1153927388300773672006-07-26T08:23:00.000-07:002006-07-26T08:23:00.000-07:00"Billions of dollars are made in the gap between i..."Billions of dollars are made in the gap between infantile entitlement and parental failure."<BR/><BR/>I like it . . . I like it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com