Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
January, 2011
The Amplifying Unconscious (Part 2)
[Please see Part 1 for an introduction to this: I am suggesting a second type of unconscious process that is far more powerful, less rational, far quicker in processing, far more clever, and that this hypothesis accounts for many previously-inexplicable psychological phenomena.] The Ordinary “Muddled Middle” Unconscious I’m a psychiatrist who was trained in the […]
Posted in Follies, Psychological Literacy, Psychotherapy and Psychiatry, Spirituality and Philosophy | 2 Comments »
The Amplifying Unconscious (Part 1)
In this series of essays on my blog I am proposing the existence of not one but two types of unconscious functions: The first involves the more familiar complexes of disowned childish motivations and their associated reconciling mental maneuvers—what most psychotherapists learn about and treat. The second type of unconscious function amplifies, intensifies, and operates […]
Posted in Essays and Papers, Psychotherapy and Psychiatry, Spirituality and Philosophy | 6 Comments »
Mysterio-solo-mio
(An occasional paper of the Journal of (Very) Speculative Philosophy) by Adam Blatner, Confabulologist Extraordinaire For more fun, see No. 2 of this Journal See other papers on Confabulology. And Yet Another Viewpoint The metaphor of the maze is widely used in various cultures, along with the labyrinth. God-as-essence (aka Godessence) enjoys our participating, co-creating, and indeed, our […]
Posted in Foolin Around | No Comments »
Apoptosis
Featured recently in the Oxford English Dictionary, their “word-of-the-day” feature misses the current relevance of the word. As embryos develop, parts of them dissolve, the cells going through a state of self-pruning, apoptosis. The webs between the embryo’s fingers disappear. The importance of the word is especially relevant in considering the relative changeability—the “plasticity”—of the […]
Posted in Essays and Papers, Psychological Literacy | No Comments »
Metaphors for Divinity
Zordak: You were wondering about how other beings in other parts of this or related universes think about God. You might anticipate that there are innumerable versions. I admit, though, that the notion of God being sort of like an earthly king sitting on a throne issuing commandments as such people did during only a […]
Posted in Foolin Around, Spirituality and Philosophy, Zordak's Journal | No Comments »
About Me (Adam Blatner)
I play many roles. My more official role that is gradually fading, but not completely, is that of physician who specialized in psychiatry. Not that I was ever mainline, but neither was I very maverick—sort of in-between. I was enough mainline to serve on the faculty of a mainstream medical school in their departments of […]
Posted in Autobiographical, My Favorite Things | 2 Comments »
Good versus Evil
Ah, that it were that simple. Of course “we” are the good guys—or at least that’s how most folks think: “Or at least we are defending “our” superior way of life against “them.” They can be hostile aliens bent on world domination and/or just eating us; terrorists or merely subversives; degenerate people in our own […]
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Taking Stock
This phrase is used as an opening to an idea that people should re-evaluate their lives periodically, perhaps as often as they change-up their computer systems. Changing circumstances, growing maturity, refined values, all are appropriately met with a taking of time, respecting oneself enough, to take stock of priorities. Since life is so complex and […]
Posted in Psychological Literacy, Wisdom-ing | No Comments »
Appreciating Complexity (Cultural Trends Part 4)
Another trend is toward a growing appreciation of complexity in the social as well as natural sciences, and indeed in the general mainstream world-view. (For many of these trends, the growing awareness of a given trend may only involve a small fraction of the general population in the next few years—but I think this number […]
Posted in Current Events, Essays and Papers, History, Psychological Literacy | No Comments »
Applied Improv and Drama
There’s a message / blog I posted on a new connection: The Applied Improvisation Network. You can see it halfway down. It turns out there are over a thousand people so far exploring ways improvisation might be applied in a wide range of situations. Hurray! I’m hoping to find out more about this and perhaps […]
Posted in Psychodrama, Psychological Literacy | No Comments »