Are we living through a tech-driven collapse of the ecology of mind? In his new book, Jung vs. Borg, author, psychologist and Jungian scholar GLEN SLATER Ph.D suggests that industrial disruption of the outer world is now being followed by a post-industrial disruption of the inner world.
Yet, there is hope. Much depends on our capacity to remain conscious of the effect each stage of innovation has on the psyche and on the social and cultural changes that will follow. Becoming conscious of the non-neutral operation of algorithms and big tech’s focus on profit over people is crucial, for example.
We can also look to Jungian psychology for a countercultural turn toward the deeply human and the sacred. We can seek out connection to spirit and place, to counteract life in a world that can feel mostly transactional and exploitative. What’s required is a “guerrilla operation” to redirect the technological juggernaut, by maintaining a symbolic life, working with our dreams and honoring art, history and culture, not just science and technology.
Our Guest
Glen Slater, Ph.D. is the author of Jung vs Borg: Finding the Deeply Human in a Posthuman Age. He was born and grew up on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. After studying psychology and comparative religion at the University of Sydney, he moved to the United States for doctoral studies in clinical psychology. For the past 25 years he has taught in the areas of depth psychology and mythological studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute, near Santa Barbara, California, most recently chairing Pacifica’s Jungian and Archetypal Psychology Program.
Glen is also the editor of the third volume of James Hillman’s Uniform Edition, Senex and Puer (2005), and co-editor of the essay collection, Varieties of Mythic Experience (2007). He has written a number of articles and book chapters for Jungian publications. His research and writing interests concern Jung and film, the psychology of religion, and depth psychology and technology.
The Dream We Analyze
I am lying in the bath tub having a relaxing soak, when suddenly I realise I have left the bathroom door unlocked. No sooner have I had this realisation than a tall, bald, late-middle-aged man enters straight through the door. I am utterly terrified and can’t move, naked in the tub. He silently and deliberately walks around the the other side of the tub and climbs in, fully clothed, tucking his knees up to his chest so we can fit in the tub together. On sheer instinct, I lean forward and strangle him, closing my hands around his scrawny throat. He accepts it and closes his eyes under the water as I tighten my grip and eventually throttle him to death. I wake up, my body screaming with adrenaline.
Resources Discussed in this Episode
- Visit Glen Slater’s website
- A Well-Aligned Mind: How to Be Alive – our episode with Iain McGilchrist.
- Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
- Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
- James Hillman, “… And Huge Is Ugly: Zeus and the Titans”, Mythic Figures 6 (Uniform Edition of the Writings of James Hillman).
- Iain McGilchrist, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World
- Glen Slater, Jung vs Borg: Finding the Deeply Human in a Posthuman Age
Related Episodes
If you’ve already listened to our episode with Glen Slater you might also enjoy these related episodes:
