RE: Is Freud contagious?

From: Francesca S. Alcorn (unicorn@greenepa.net)
Date: Mon 01 Mar 2004 - 19:34:17 GMT

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    >Keith said:
    >snip
    >
    >>Which totally ignores my quote of Freud where he uses contagion and
    >>imitation in the same breath. Freud was prescientific for
    >>psychology and prescient for memes, if my quote from _Totem and
    >>Taboo_ amounts to anything.
    >
    >Is there any continuity between what Freud said and later concepts
    >like culturgens? Or was this just a happenstance that never went
    >anywhere?
    >
    >>Though flawed his system was an evolutionary psychology in his day.
    >>And he did have a decent background in neuroanatomy before going
    >>batty in psychoanalytic tangents.
    >
    >He started a cult.
    >

    One trait that I see as being cult-like (besides meeting needs for attention) is the way that "denial" is applied. Often therapists will use it to invalidate their client's perceptions; and use it to undermine or cause-them-to-suspend their own critical judgements.
    "He is just in denial about this." They are then ripe for accepting the therapists own "interpretation". This is very similar to the faith and "submission-to-the-will-of-God" meme which performs a similar function in religion. In both cases it paralyzes the critical part of the brain and undermines one's ability to think for oneself - opens one up to accepting the other's ideas. I call these the mind-f#$@kers. (No offense intended).

    One aspect of memes that has always fascinated me is the way that they can combine and recombine. Any conglomerate which includes a brain paralyzer is harder to sell (at least to critically-minded people) but once you have made a sale it is particularly hard to get past. It is immune to reason. And in both religion and psychoanalysis it is the perceived authority/trustworthiness of the salesperson (God/church/priest or the analyst) which can make or break the deal.

    frankie

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