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Glossary of Blog Articles

Glossary of Blog Articles

by | Jan 8, 2025 | , ,

Our blog is designed as a resource for those seeking to deepen their understanding of the human psyche and its expression through culture, therapy, and history. Below, you'll find an overview of the diverse topics we cover and an invitation to explore the categories that resonate most with your interests. Jungian Innovators Dive into the foundational ideas of depth psychology with articles that celebrate the works of Jungian visionaries such as Carl Jung, James Hillman, Marie-Louise von Franz, and more. These...

Biosemiotics: Bridging Biology, Consciousness, and the Anthropology of Self

Biosemiotics: Bridging Biology, Consciousness, and the Anthropology of Self

by | Jan 15, 2025 |

What is Biosemiotics? Biosemiotics is an emerging interdisciplinary field that explores how living systems create, interpret, and communicate meaning. It offers a unique lens through which to understand the intricate relationships between biology, consciousness, and the way we construct our sense of self. By bridging these domains, biosemiotics provides valuable insights into therapy, trauma, and the anthropology of self. At its core, biosemiotics posits that life is inherently semiotic - that is, all living...

Why Consciousness Won’t Emerge from Large Language Models:

Why Consciousness Won’t Emerge from Large Language Models:

by | Jan 15, 2025 | ,

 The Competing Elements of Human Consciousness Introduction The quest to create artificial consciousness has long captured the human imagination. From the golems of Jewish folklore to the robots of modern science fiction, we have dreamed of breathing mental life into inanimate matter. In recent years, the rapid advancement of large language models (LLMs) like GPT-3 and PaLM has reignited hopes that machine consciousness may be within reach. These AI systems, trained on vast corpora of human knowledge, can engage...

Consciousness and Depth Psychology: Insights from Michael Gazzaniga

Consciousness and Depth Psychology: Insights from Michael Gazzaniga

by | Jan 14, 2025 | ,

What are the Origins of Conciousness? The nature of consciousness has long been one of the most profound and perplexing questions in psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy. How does subjective experience arise from the objective, physical processes of the brain? What is the relationship between mind and matter, between the inner world of thoughts and feelings and the outer world of neurons and synapses? In his groundbreaking book The Consciousness Instinct, neuroscientist Michael Gazzaniga offers a compelling...

Consciousness, Emotion and the Self

Consciousness, Emotion and the Self

by | Jan 13, 2025 |

Where Does Conciousness Come From? Where did conciousness come from?The nature of human consciousness has long been one of the great mysteries of science and philosophy. What is this subjective inner experience that seems to define our existence? Where does our sense of self come from? And what happens when the psyche is shattered by trauma? In recent decades, groundbreaking work by neuroscientists like Michael Gazzaniga and Antonio Damasio has shed new light on these profound questions. While approaching the...

What is The Golden Shadow In Jungian Psychology?

What is The Golden Shadow In Jungian Psychology?

by | Dec 18, 2024 | ,

Reclaiming the Golden Shadow: Integrating Our Disowned Potential In my work as a therapist, I often see this dynamic play out with my clients. They may come into therapy feeling fundamentally flawed, unworthy, or incapable in some way. Yet as they talk about the people they admire, a pattern begins to emerge. A client may gush about their favorite musician's incredible creativity and self-expression, or their partner's unwavering confidence and ease in social situations. They may become enthralled listening to a...

Theodore M. Porter and the Critique of Quantification:

Theodore M. Porter and the Critique of Quantification:

by | Nov 29, 2024 | ,

Implications Theodore Porter's Thinking in Psychotherapy and Mental Health Who is Theodore Porter? In his seminal work "Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life," historian of science Theodore Porter offers a compelling analysis of the rise and cultural authority of quantitative methods in modern society. Porter challenges the prevailing assumption that the power and prestige of numbers derive solely from their success in the natural sciences. Instead, he argues that to fully...

Gods of the Ancient World: Literal Beings, Metaphorical Constructs, or Something In Between?

Gods of the Ancient World: Literal Beings, Metaphorical Constructs, or Something In Between?

by | Nov 24, 2024 | ,

How Literally Did Ancient People Take Their Mythology? The nature of gods and deities in ancient civilizations has long been a subject of fascination and debate. Did the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Norse, and followers of Vedic religions literally believe their gods to be anthropomorphic beings directly intervening in the mortal realm? Or were these mythological figures viewed more symbolically, as personified representations of natural forces, human virtues and vices, and the ineffable mysteries of the cosmos? As...

What is Emotion?

What is Emotion?

by | Nov 23, 2024 | , ,

Emotion: A Conjunction of Inner and Outer Spheres James Hillman's book Emotion: A Comprehensive Phenomenology of Theories and Models presents a philosophical and psychological exploration of emotions, investigating them not as mere physiological responses but as integral aspects of human experience and soul life (Hillman, 1960). Hillman critiques the way traditional psychology and psychiatry have often treated emotions in mechanistic, reductive ways, urging instead a deeper understanding of emotions as vital...

Cults, Propaganda and Lies: Exploring Inner and Outer Manipulation

Cults, Propaganda and Lies: Exploring Inner and Outer Manipulation

by | Nov 22, 2024 | , ,

Why do People Join Cults and Believe Propaganda? The Internet and the Illusion of Truth When the internet first emerged, many believed it would solve our political problems by providing universal access to truth. I remember these days myself and there was a techno-libertarian-utopianism that pervaded the early internet.  The idea was that, with the ability to bypass traditional gatekeepers like the government and the news media, people would be able to find and spread accurate information, leading to a more...