The State of the West and Implications for Modern Man
Psychologists know that we can diagnose individual people if they show symptoms of a particular disorder. However, it stands to reason that we may be able to diagnose, and subsequently understand, the condition of a particular culture. Using modern knowledge of history, human behavior, and mythology, I propose that if adequate evidence is presented, we can diagnose a particular culture with a disorder should it meet the criteria. I am obliged to provide a tangible example of how a culture may be diagnosed, however I found that many attempts at this problem have already been attempted. Jordan Peterson has stated in his talk "12 Principles for a 21st Century Conservatism" that there is a fundamental problem at the heart of many universities and political attitudes. One of the main takeaways is that of the archetype of the devouring mother, where the feminine mother archetype manifests herself in such a way that appears sweet and innocent on the surface, but underneath is a witch attempting to devour her children. I am talking about the persona of Marxism, communism, and socialism, where the persona is the idea of helping the poor, leveling the playing field, propping up the less fortunate. In reality, this is the face the monster wears to lure you into its lair, these ideas promote ego dissolving notions. Essentially, marxism, communism, and socialism attempt to devalue the individual in favor of the collective. As far as I can tell they are succeeding, as the public has begun to show symptoms of a neurosis. This neurosis cannot be seen easily, as it dwells in the realm of abstract ideas, which are not as intuitively understandable to those who do not concern themselves with the realm of the abstract. So, instead of writing off this culture's condition why not investigate it within the context of its history, its current predicament, and the implications our course has on the future of this culture, and possibly of humanity.
Why not start with something relatively recent? How about the 20th century, where the Soviet Union decided to try its hand at communism. This attempt did not work, as we know from what history can tell us, it was a horrible experience for all but those at the top, and even then it was a cutthroat competition (Stalin not helped by anyone when he died, Lenin not wanting Stalin to take over when he died but then he did anyways). For those reading still convinced of communism's merits, or who believe that Lenin was the savior while Stalin usurped his throne, I invite you to see that Lenin was the first to introduce the notion of "gulags" or Russian work camps. These camps were not only for prisoners but also for ideologues who opposed the party's vision. This is currently what is happening in our society, but it is accentuated by the power of the internet, where individuals expressing politically incorrect ideas are purged, called out, and are met with various threats. An example of a threat could be the threatening of one's career, the method of attack these keyboard warriors prefer is name calling of all things. Words like bigot, racist, anti-Semite, alt righter, and so on, are labelled on people expressing counter ideas and opinions. Consumer Evolutionary psychologist Gad Saad, a Jewish Lebanese man who immigrated to Canada to escape the genocide of his people in Lebanon, was labelled as a racist and anti-Semite for expressing his opinions on the current state of the universities and education. This shows the inherent flaw of logic in this type of thinking, as without even knowing of this man's history a mob instantly formed and labelled him with names in order to discredit him and his ideas. Thinkers such as Jordan Peterson and Gad Saad have been given the brunt of the attack, and these attacks have proved useless in the long run, as they are still around and influencing people through their work and YouTube platforms to this day. It is no mistake that Jordan Peterson advocates for the adoption of responsibility or the fact that Gad Saad places reason as a virtue in the academic field. An assumption which seems to be greatly beneficial to the west's function and success is the assumption of the individual, that the individual has worth and value as seen through the eyes of the law. This is why free speech exists, to allow individuals to express their concerns, and also this is why we are innocent until proven guilty. This is the assumption of the principium individuationis and is a vital part of our society, as it allows for people to have individual value, to bear responsibility, it is a natural feeling and should be appreciated. Nietzsche actually investigated this side of humanity using Greek culture and art. Ideas associated with responsibility, structure, rationality, the individual, and separation of subject from object are Apollonian, relating to the Greek God Apollo. This is discussed in Nietzsche's first book "The Birth of Tragedy", but there is another side to this story. The other side is the Dionysian, related to the Greek god Dionysus. Dionysus is the God of wine, but more specifically the state of intoxication as the archetype relating to Dionysus holds one of an altered state, such as what is brought on by psychedelic drugs, or, perhaps, a personality type which reflects psychedelic thinking. I am speaking here, of the introverted intuitive type, whereas the Apollonian is more closely related to the extraverted sensation and thinking type. These ideas of communism, of putting up a face of protecting the poor when in reality they are seeking to destroy the structure. This is the Dionysian, the tearing down of the principium individuationis, feeling revelry and despair as one does so. This is related to the ego dissolving properties of psychedelic drugs, and the breaking down of barriers between subject and object. While both of these ideas have a tangible effect on reality, it is likely that we need both in order to function as a normal society. Think about it, we need borders and structure, or else we have no direction, everything is too open. At the same time, we need to loosen borders and barriers to explore and find new things, to learn.
There is another type, which I believe to be the main propagating method of these ideas. It is the introverted sensation type, which operates in the realm of symbol in relation to physical sensations. The introverted sensation type does not realize he in the realm of the symbol, he is guided by his unconscious processes of perceptions. This results in a general attitude of judgement; something is either good or bad. This is how the sensation type thinks about the world, and this is how the postmodernists think. The postmodernists label that which they disagree with as heresy, evidence by the attacks on Jordan Peterson and Gad Saad. Conversely, their ideal is all good, as what could be better than helping those less fortunate by equaling the playing field? Or by playing Robin Hood for that matter. These postmodernists are experiencing the death of God in an unusual way, they are projecting the ideal onto an ideology, which is lost without the other types to regulate these perceptions. We understand that the postmodern ideology is not reconcilable with our current political and economic structure, simply because it cannot work in these systems. Postmodernism is characterized by contextualizing value, in that value does not exist and is instead, power, and this power is controlled with language. However, this is the biggest mistake this offshoot of typology could take, and has resulted in an echo chamber where these ideas are propagated. The postmodern ideology is tied up with the mother archetype, in that the postmodernists believe that they are protecting those less fortunate as a mother would her child. When that child is threatened by a predator that is when the mother experiences distress, as her offspring is in danger, as a result the postmodernist has an incredibly explosive reaction to this, in the form of name calling that which threatens their young. Possibly, this has an evolutionary advantage, as being able to name the thing which threatens your young allows for those capable of protecting the mother and infant to prepare better and organize a suitable solution to the problem this predator has posed, like surrounding the creature, or perhaps scaring it off would suffice if knowledge about the animal's behavior is understood (like making yourself appear larger and making a lot of noise to scare off a mountain lion).
The rabbit hole goes deeper, I'm afraid, in that this ideology has seeped into creative works, and consequently have had an impact on our children. I'm talking about the fringe take on gender, gender identity, and gender expression, where now the individual associates themselves with a group. Their whole identity is placed on their gender, or on another form of group identification, such as being a Marxist or identifying strongly with a particular political theory. These ideologies are nothing more than crippled religions, which hold something true at their core but due to the fact it is not managed by the other types it has veered off in a pathological direction. The introverted sensation type characterized the world in terms of good things and bad things, these are related to images of gods and demons, while their individual cannot perceive these symbols tangibly, they can "feel" them. More accurately, they sense them, and this is related to Karl Marx's theory of the bourgeoisie, the terribly corrupt money-grubbing aristocratic elite, and the proletariat, the poor underprivileged baby which had everything stolen from him by the bourgeoisie. Marx's theory was simply a projection of his internal sensations coming from his introverted sensation type onto the human condition, and it was wrong because the world actually cannot be conceptualized wholly and completely using this line of reasoning (rather this is not reasoning, and simply stating sense perceptions which are present in the dichotomy of good and evil). The extraverted sensation type thinks its tastes to be exceptional, much like mulling over a nice glass of wine, the postmodernists do it with ideas. The postmodernists treat their ideas of equity, relative value, and collectivism as a fine wine, to be savored, as correct. The extroverted sensation type dispenses with the ideas not suited to his or her theory, and this is what modern liberals are doing, they see conservatives as misguided, blind, or incompetent. Conversely, the conservatives see how they are treated by their contemporaries and do not feel valued by them, the wisdom of the past is being forgotten, structure and reason are falling by the wayside in favor of propagating collective ideals of utopia in the form of economic redistribution. A normal extroverted sensation type could be an art curator, a wine taster, food critic, but because the postmodern doctrine has poisoned the minds of our youth instead of food or art the thing being evaluated is modern man, and how modern man acts is perceived by the sensations of the extroverted sensation type and they decide whether these actions are acceptable or not, or whether the behavior is that of Gods or Demons. Due to the postmodern idea being tangled up with the mother archetype the postmodern extroverted sensation types views that which threatens both the child and the mother, where now the identity is not within the individual but the group. An attack on the idea of postmodernism is an attack on their group, which is an attack on their young, which is why the postmodernists label those who challenge their beliefs as bigots, racists, and anti-Semites.
It is not that the postmodernists necessarily know what they are doing, although due to how notions of this kind have spread in universities and in films, such as Frozen by Disney, I cannot say for certain if this general attitude is purely unconscious. It stands to reason that someone is pulling the strings, that university students and children are being indoctrinated into this cult of personality. This is how the Soviet Union was created, by having Russian intellectuals convince unsuccessful, or not as successful as they could be, working class men. This is present in universities already, in the form of identification with the victim, students attending ivy league universities think themselves as being oppressed by the patriarchy. After the Russian intellectuals convinced the working-class men that it was the successful Bourgeoisie who stole their chance at a good life, and then one of the most horrible atrocities ever to scrape this earth occurred. I make this prediction as conservatively as I can, but here goes. I believe that the postmodernists are working, or eventually will work, with criminals to further the dissolution of the individual through incorporating criminals in the underprivileged and oppressed members of society. This happened in the Soviet Union as well, with sociopathic individuals occupying positions in the Soviet military, especially as guards in the Gulags where they would keep those who speak out against the glorious party. Extroverted intuitive types are also at risk, as they tend to adhere to traditional values in hopes of gaining a method to make an impact on the world. If the values of postmodernists creep down into tradition, then the extroverted intuitive will seek to make an impact on the world using this method. The consequences of doing so could be catastrophic, as I have already stated the value we place on the individual is central to how this society functions. If the extroverted intuitive seeks to make an impact on the world using this method then the idea of the individual will only deteriorate faster.
Through analyzing this problem, I believe that I may have found a solution in the form of a process, by which ideas propagate through people, which must be assessed using the other types. I speak of another type, the introverted intuitive type. The introverted intuitive type is a special case, in that it is very difficult to understand, so I will attempt to make it as simple as possible. The introverted part of the introverted intuitive refers to a negative relation between subject and object, where the introvert abstracts the object, this is the realm of numbers and concepts, where the thing in tangible reality is distilled down into an abstract representation of it. The intuitive part is about abstraction, in the intuitive introvert it is perceived as flashes of insight or images. The introverted intuitive type has a difficult time tracing back where this insight came from, it appears to him through intuition. This is how things seem to "pop into your head", if you generally operate using the method of relying on the idea to pop into your head, you may be an introverted intuitive type. It is in this way that the intuitive introvert perceives the world, like the introverted sensation type perceives reality using the dichotomy of good and evil, the introverted intuitive type perceives reality with these flashes of insight. Due to the introverted part of this puzzle, the flashes of insight are perceived as having no relation to the individual producing them, instead they are presented to them. The thing doing the presenting is the collective unconscious, as the introverted intuitive actually perceives using the collective unconscious. It is strange, I know, but fret not I have an example which may help to flesh out this type. Say we have a man named Tom, he is a quiet man whose inner life is full of richness. He spends his time mulling over concepts and various forms of creative works, books, television shows, etc. Tom may have some nerdy hobbies such as playing dungeons and dragons, videogames, or being very interested in a specific subject present in the humanities such as history, archeology, or psychology. Tom says things from time to time which may seem cold and kind of "out there", this is the introverted intuitive type's problem; communication.
Due to the strangeness of the things the introverted intuitive type perceives he has a difficult time expressing his thoughts in a way that others can easily understand. Perhaps the introverted intuitive seeks to express himself in poetry, music, or other forms of artistic expression in an attempt to tangibly understand his thoughts. The intuitive introvert, if able to "translate" his thoughts in a tangible way, provides the richness of culture to the general public. By sharing the inner world, the introverted intuitive perceives the general public grows to understand the problem the intuitive introvert seeks to express. This is where the true way to attain knowledge is found, as the strangeness of how the introverted intuitive type communicates is the key to the problem. In gaining insight through his perceptions, the introverted intuitive type must use a method of expression which acts as a fossilized record of his work for future generations to ponder. The artist paints a picture, then deep and complex feelings arise in the public, and by interpreting this piece of art the public learn something from it. Take Nietzsche's proclamation that God is dead in his book Thus Spoke Zarathustra, nowadays the death of God is considered as a kind of fact, as it is no secret our faith has grown weaker over the years. What I do here, right now, is the exact same thing. I am expressing an internal perception that I have gained through intuitive thinking, I am relaying to you the insight I have gained through my perceptions using the collective unconscious as a method to perceive. It is here that I enter the concept of complementary types, as introverted intuitive perception in combination with the thinking type creates an interest in the moral sphere. Implications of one's creative works are pondered in this state, one feels that it is not good enough, or that the main idea is just a little bit off. Philosophical thinking characterizes the interaction of these types very nicely, as after you have perceived something it is only natural to attempt to answer what it is and what its implications are. Remember extraverted intuitive types? They are kind of like the movers and the shakers, they explore and shake things up in their own way, as a method of interacting tangibly with the world and having an impact on it. The extraverted intuitive types and the introverted intuitive types are each one part of a whole, where the introverted intuitive explores the internal world of the collective unconscious while the extraverted intuitive type explores how that system effects reality. Introverted intuitive types create value whereas extraverted intuitive types try it out, but only in a way that ascribes to traditions, things that have worked in the past. It is in this way that humans essentially plan for the future, not as governments vying for political power, but in creative ideas having an effect on the public. After the extraverted intuitive types try out this new thing, found by the introverted intuitive types, the thinking, sensation, and feeling types have a go at what this new thing is, approaching it from their own way of understanding and interacting with the world.
I believe that this is the method by which wisdom is passed down from generation to generation. This wisdom is in the form of how to live one's life, and this wisdom, due to the source of it coming from the collective unconscious, is abstracted and recited. Take the oral tradition, cultural ideas are passed down from generation to generation, in this way the story is pruned. The oral tradition tends to exaggerate certain parts which appeal to the collective unconscious, becoming archetypal. This is kind of like how the games telephone or Chinese whispers play out, you start with an intelligible sentence or word, and by the end of the game it is completely changed from what it was. The archetype is the same as the sentence in the game, excect for that it is actually understandable by everyone when they first hear it, the only thing that may change is the accentuation of certain parts of the sentence. Perhaps this is a little difficult to understand, I am essentially making the case that introverted intuitive types present images of the collective unconscious to the people, who take from these images and digest it, seeing how it kind of fits into the way the real world works. If it does then the introverted intuitive type's idea is propagated and influences the behavior of the public, if not the idea is tossed out. It is kind of like natural selection but for abstract ideas. If the introverted intuitive type's perceptions are correct, in that they contain wisdom that is useful to understand and know when operating in the real world, they are generally accepted into the eye of the general public. Ideas like the unconscious itself is such an idea, it is only as recent as the past 100 years that the unconscious was actually discovered, and it has already been accepted in the eye of the public. Previously we would speak of possession or something of the sort when talking about something which influences one's behavior without their consent. Like being possessed by rage, identifying with being angry, as in "I am angry" or "I was angry", these are ways of interacting with archetypes that are present in the unconscious that make sense to our ego, our principium individuationis. It seems that ideas are things which propagate themselves in individuals, interpreted by other individuals with a different perspective who investigate the idea, finding it actually there and present in reality (sensation), who interpret the implications of the idea and what that idea actually means (thinking), and how this makes people feel (feeling). Certain types compliment the propagation of ideas, as meaning seeking, impulsive, reckless, and idealistic extraverted intuitive types latch onto ideas and act them out. This is the exploration type, the adventurer, knight in shining armor, and sailor to unknown lands, whereas the introverted intuitive is the prophet, the artist, the philosopher, and the shaman. In childhood the extraverted intuitive enjoys playing and collaborating with others using his intuition to guide the play, they are natural born leaders, confident and self-assured. However, without a method of having tangible impact on the world the extraverted intuitive type is subject to all sorts of temptations, such as gambling, addictions, or participating in illegal activities. These are those abandoned by the introverted intuitive types, as without a source of inspiration for which they seek to make an impact on the world, they can quickly spiral into despair or narcissism, money hungry, and sociopathic individuals involved in crime. It is actually a rather good way of telling if the culture is sick or not, like how there are many people who are addicted to opiates during the current opiate crisis occurring in North America. Consequently, there are people selling those drugs, making those drugs, etc. and, as I'm sure you have guessed, this is a way for the extraverted intuitive to make his impact on the world, by participating in illegal activities to make up for what the system has failed to do. That is, provide the extraverted intuitive type with some god damn meaning and responsibility, left to their own devices they have little in the realm of either of those things central to a healthy existence. The extraverted intuitive grows resentful, hates the world he was thrown into which has no traditions he can find, no legacy to follow, no glory to seek.
The introverted intuitive type is complementary, in that he finds value, he perceives value a la the collective unconscious. This value perception helps to invoke feelings of responsibility, duty, and obligation to act them out, to explore these values. This does not happen in the same individual, it happens through interaction between the introverted intuitive type and the extraverted intuitive type. Later the value image is processed by the other types, but it is these two types which are exploratory and tradition laden which start the process. In this way we do not stray too far from our past, but keep the innovation going so we do not simply stand in one place. You can think of it like an aboriginal drum circle, where the shaman beats on the drum and sings, in accordance with his intuitive collective perceptions, while the performers dance and act in a dramatized fashion, also in accordance with their intuitive perception of value. The rest of the village watches from the outside, participating by clapping and keeping the rhythm. As you might have guessed, this is the process of creative exploration dramatized in such a way that it is understandable to the collective unconscious, again, which everyone possesses. The shaman playing his drum and singing is in the background, but the dramatic act wouldn't be the same without it, the music is an important part of the whole show even though the shaman is not the main center of attention, that privilege is given to those dramatizing, acting, and dancing. These dramatizations are an acting out of the shaman's music, it is rehearsed and memorized, a method used to explore the realm of the collective unconscious in how it relates to tangible reality. Those not acting to portray the collective unconscious, instead react to it, keeping along with the beat to see how it makes them feel or perhaps investigating the characterizations portrayed by those acting. This is the exact opposite of what the postmodernists are trying to do, they are trying to impose an idea onto the public instead of allowing the idea to propagate in a more natural way. The method by which postmodernism arose was not out of the introverted intuitive type, but of the introverted sensation type, and because this type perceives the world as a place of good and evil their idea has some truth to it. It is true that there are lonely and lost children, rejected from society, but the enemy is not the very thing that protects you from threats to your children. The way the ideas of the introverted intuitive types propagate and are explored by the extraverted intuitive types is the very thing which protects the mother from threats to her children. The creative process produces spears to protect and hunt, methods and strategy to deal with the threat, and props up walls to defend. It is this which separate man from other animals, we have the ability to abstract and connect with creative processes, which will now be referred to as archetypes. With our ability to abstractly represent and act out archetypes we are incredibly versatile, but the world may not make complete rational sense all the time as a result. This is because most people consume creative works in some way, shape, or form, in music, art, video, movies, etc. The creative works do not mesh seamlessly with reality in the moment, but peel back the meaning behind the work and it makes sense, it is wisdom passed down and propagated by people. This wisdom is represented in archetypal form, due to the actual meaning of the work being so dense it is shortened, the meaningful parts become more pronounced until it gets at an almost perfect image of what the archetype means.
