Michael J. Murphy, Ed.D., DFP
|
Psychological Investigations
Now that we have explored many of the rudiments of the
physical universe humankind now focuses its attention on what has been known as
the "inner life." Nietzsche described psychology as "the God-science" and our
pursuit of psychological "answers" is, for us moderns, nothing less than the
search for the countenance of the All-0ne. Perhaps we want to know that which
cannot be known, or can only be known obliquely, so we create stories, now
known as "narratives" which seek to capture, or at least momentarily observe,
an essential aspect of our experience - the birth of a child, the death of a
loved one, professional failure or success, the struggle to cope with the
mundane and the glorious. We know that we are "in here" and we also know that
we are "out there". The ego or self is both the source, or at least an opening
for, our experience while at the same time, perhaps at the same moment, it is
an object for our experience.
Contemporary post-modern deconstructionist thinking sees
us as awash in a depthless sea of meaning, without hierarchy or structure,
which momentarily for a variety of reasons will suddenly exhibit a domain of
organization, of coherence. We grasp at these opportunities to "make sense" and
for a moment to see, or feel, around ourselves in a way that is congruent with
our understanding. We spend our lives, if we are conscious enough, exploring
this sea of meaning as our forebears explored the oceans and primeval forests.
To see and describe, out of our experience and observation, is the complex task
we present ourselves. Like astronauts completing years of training and then
donning incredibly intricate space suits we prepare ourselves with education,
academic degrees, endless reading and listening. Then we set out, and see what
we can see.
 Psychological
Investigations, in the most basic sense, seeks to be a forum and
conduit for what could be described as intellectual
capital. Like the information in Wikipedia, it comes from somewhere but it
cannot be owned.
The
blog becomes an avenue for putting stuff out there, for making the inside
outside, and then making the outside inside once more.
 That
may involve engaging mysteries, and rendering a coherence that manifests some
of their meaning. Understanding someone, some place, some event, acknowledging
the interrelationships of things, or acknowledging that which cannot be
understood or expressed, is a worthy goal, if goals are to be scored. Serving
the diverse forms of understanding, that's the ticket, in the awareness that
the understanding is a fallen form of knowledge that nonetheless represents the
best we can do. Let the journey, in its modest way, continue.
|
