Hello Dan,
Thank you for your heartfelt and eloquent defence of the indefensible. After
the last few exchanges on this forum it is clear to me that the toothpaste is
out of the tube, and it is futile to try to push it back. I am certainly not
here to defend big pharma or drug pushing psychiatry. I do feel the centuries
old persecutions, grievances, and traumas in your words. Actually I am not here
to argue the points or in fact to argue at all. On the one hand physical
reality, “matter” is already beyond magical on closer inspection, so to request
additional magic just does not make much sense. On the other hand I fully
appreciate that the human condition may at times warrant and indeed necessitate
journeys into “supernatural” dimensions. So I am not asking anyone to change
their point of view. Not at all. My invitation all along has been about
self-inquiry. To look deeply within and identify the PERSONAL events and forces
that leads us to conclusions we have. It must be informative to contemplate
that the result of this initial invitation has been passionate, defensive
arguments.
May we have the wisdom and the kindness to take the path within.
Monika
--------------------------------------
-----Original Message-----
From: constellationtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<constellationtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Dan Cohen
Sent: Saturday, 30 October 2021 4:33 PM
To: constellationtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hello Monika –
I have been responding to your critique of pseudoscience for 45 years. In 1975,
I studied at Northwestern University with Dr. Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs, an Isaac
Newton scholar. She was only the second scholar to be given access to Newton’s
secret alchemical papers, the first being the great Cambridge economist John
Maynard Keynes. Her course revealed that there two pillars of modern science,
one observational and the other metaphysical. The metaphysical foundation is
materialist and reductionist-empiricist. This results in the belief that
consciousness is nothing but a consequence of complex arrangement of matter,
i.e., brain activity. This belief is neither proven, nor warranted.
What devolved into pseudoscience were the remnants of alchemy and women’s plant
medicine. Having been persecuted, hung and burned for 4 centuries the
descendants of Europe’s witch hunts – which slew upwards of 200,000 indigenous
woman – struggle to maintain a coherent and sustainable metaphysics based on
the lost wisdom.
While many speculative methods flourish, an increasing number of open-minded
scientists are reaching empirically grounded conclusions that challenge the
mainstream majority view. They argue that we need a model of consciousness that
is nonreductive and recognizes that consciousness can have its own direct
access to reality through inner perception or radical introspection. These
offer valid access routes to deeper structures of reality.
In Constellations, we work with three phenomena which challenge scientism.
1. Representative perception
2. Systemic entanglement
3. Orders of Love
There are many Constellation trainers and facilitators who adhere to acceptable
scientific understanding without mystifying. Others, like me, are channeling
ancestors, receiving and transmitting non-local consciousness, and taking
support from plant, animal, earth, ocean and celestial resources. Our
metaphysics are admittingly at odds. I am convinced the evidence supports mine
and is vacant in regard to mainstream science.
I looked up Pseudoscience on Wikipedia, the authoritative custodians of the
academic/corporate worldview. Their list was made in the context of “educating
the public about questionable or potentially fraudulent or dangerous claims and
practices.” In one way or another all the topics impinge on scientific domains
or practices. Here’s a very small excerpt of what is meant by pseudoscience.
* Astrology
* Feng Shui
* Acupuncture
* Alternative medicine
* Anthroposophy
* Applied kinesiology
* Aroma therapy
* Ayurveda
* Chiropractic
* Chronic Lyme disease
* Craniosacral therapy
* Energy medicine
* Energy therapy or healing
* Spiritual medicine or healing
* Functional medicine
* Homeopathy
* Osteopathy
* Traditional Chinese Medicine
* EMDR
* Hypnosis and hypnotherapy
I wonder why psychiatric medications for the treatment of chemical imbalances
in the brain did not make their list? Is it because of the wealth of scientific
evidence in favor of Zyprexa to treat depression? Or is the divide between
science and pseudoscience capricious and biased? I agree with you there must
be deeper and larger forces (not least financial) compelling manufacturers and
practitioners to propose unsupported explanations.
For 45 years, I have devoted myself as an activist and clinician by pursuing
ideas marginalized by culture, erased by history, and obscured by willful
ignorance. Maria Popova writes, It is “in the margins of life as commonly
conceived by our culture’s inherited parameters of permission and possibility,
that I have worked out and continue working out who I am and who I wish to be —
a private inquiry irradiated by the ultimate question, the great quickening of
thought, feeling, and wonder that binds us all: What is all this?”
Whatever our metaphysical quibble, Monika, I do not doubt you are pursuing the
same pathways to look inside and harmonize our inner and external worlds.
Warmly
Dan
--------------------------------------
Hello Julie,
You are making an interesting point. "Biological origin" can of course be a
convenient way to sidestep difficult social problems. On the other hand there
are all kinds of biological predispositions. To be fair WebMD a fully
mainstream and established scientific forum does not claim that mental illness
is exclusively biological. "Although the exact cause of most mental illnesses
is not known, it is becoming clear through research that many of these
conditions are caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and
environmental factors."
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-illness-children
To me the telling definition or question; is the approach open to be shown as
erroneous. Religion and pseudo science share closed, belief based conclusions.
Pseudo science in particular likes to borrow terms with clear meaning and use
them to gain credibility. Science may come to mistaken conclusions but it must
be open to rational argument. And of course there is such a thing as
scientific fraud.
In terms of this forum however the critical question: are we open to
investigate our emotional reactions and attachments. Are we prepared to look
within.
Monika
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Julie Ulbricht <julie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: constellationtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <constellationtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Dear
Monika
I'm not sure that I've read every post on this thread: It is hard to track
sometimes and I haven't understood everything that's been said either; but what
I return to is this word: "Pseudoscience", It seems to encapture in itself a
world view which I react against instinctively.
It seems you used this word with specific intent and somehow innocently of the
baggage many of us attach to the word, which is around the legitimising of
certain methods of enquiry over others.
I am currently immersed deeply in the work of the psychiatrist Jerry Marzinsky
who is asking questions outside of the accepted paradigm of "Science" which was
and is predicated on the belief that mental illness has a biological origin. As
far as I can ascertain there is nothing whatsoever that is scientific about
this belief.
So this is the ants nest that you stepped into Monika
warmly
Julie
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
Krishnamurti
Simple Ayurveda
Julie Ulbricht BSc Ayurveda, PG Dip Ayurvedic Medicine
07529 549589
julie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
simpleayurveda.co.uk<http://www.simpleayurveda.co.uk>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: constellationtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<constellationtalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Joshua Alexander
<egomagickian@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: 21 October 2021 03:44:54
To: constellationtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [constellationtalk] Re: Pseudoscience
Hello Dan and All,
First I would like to say that for some strange reason email replies at times
are truncated on this forum. Maybe freelist.org maybe yahoo, maybe gremlins,
maybe even me - I don't know.
In any case I would like to say Dan that I too re-read your comment, and I
didn't see you saying anywhere that slavery was imposed by Christianity. This
is also relevant to your below comment as far as people do seem to have blind
spots and amazing misunderstandings. So by virtue of this forum my comments
were addressed at the many constellation facilitators who seem to have a
predilection to make very questionable assertions as to why constellation
works. Magical, dream like fantasy trips are absolutely part of the
Constellation / Psychodrama process and the healing journey. I am not disputing
that for a minute, on the contrary. But to mix all kinds of Multi Dimensional,
Quantum Genetic DNA pseudoscience into a rational argument undermines
acceptance and respect for the whole modality.
Now I had my two cents worth, and I do not expect any change. There must be
deeper and larger forces (not least financial) compelling practitioners to
propose unsupported explanations. My original invitation was to simply explore
this religious attraction to pseudoscience. I also feel Tanja's soothing words
did have a stronger impact, without which people may not be willing to look.
Monika
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