Archetypes of Cyberspace
Short Description
Cyberspace, the realm of information exchange, invites psychological exploration because it is a realm of meaning, inter...
Description
10 o-e artificial intelligence specialists li+e )ouglas 4. ,ofstader and erry 5inograd bla-e the inability of co-puters to achie/e the austian goal of artificial intelligence on the fact that an i-portant part of our definition of intelligence has been o/erloo+ed in -o/ing fro- oral culture to literacy and fro- literacy to co-puter$literacy K the part that allows for a-biguity. ,er-es cannot be found in a setting where a-biguity is a EbugE rather than :ust added infor-ation... ,e therefore supports the notion that8 if we're going to ha/e EintelligentE co-puters8 it won't be by trying to -a+e the- -ore precisely denotati/e8 -ore (pollonian8 but by exploring the other side of intelligence K that is8 a ,er-es$type intelligence8 as we would say in our -ythological /ocabulary. his EMercurial Co-puterE in a sense has already happened. he Mercurial happens not through the de/elop-ent of fuy$logic or technology8 it is not (pollonian. @ehind the co-puter screens there are people. ,u-an participation adds spontaneity to the churning of the -achine. ,u-ans +eep choosing8 steering through infor-ation8 Cyberspace results. he EintelligenceE is ,er-etic8 as the ebb and flow of taste is go/erned by the -ercurial nature of hu-ans. hus ,er-es re-ains suitable cyber$archetype8 but only as one not related to the -eticulous progra--ing wor+8 which is in the real- of his -ore ele/ated brother (pollo. ,er-es has so-e interest in the tools of co--unication. dyssey8 he is also called angelos 6E-essengerE78 the -essenger of the "ods. Modern co--unication experiences ha/e -axi-ised and filled out these trends8 as if there was always a god pulling and pushing us in a definite direction with a definite outco-e in -ind8 an outco-e that we are speeding towards but whose actuality is still un+nown.
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,hadows JerOnyi -entions Efloating between life and deathE. ,er-es of course is the guide of souls to ,edes. ( -ediator of the real-s of life and death. Cyberspace is a group of the li/ing and the dead. 5e can co--unicate with the li/ing online8 but their words li/e on after they die. here are stories of e-ail groups where people reply uite consciously and deliberately to the posts fro- so-eone who is dead. hrough such ser/ices as pro:ect "uttenberg the dead poets and no/elists ha/e co-e bac+ with their text -ore ali/e than e/er as we search8 and cut and paste their words into newer li/ing docu-ents. he last boo+ of the >dyssey begins with an epiphany of ,er-es8 which -ay poetically bring to life so-ething of the experience of being in a -ind rather than a body space9 Meanwhile the suitors' ghosts were called away by ,er-es of Jyllene8 bearing the golden wand with which he char-s the eyes of -en or wa+ens who- he wills.
,e wa/ed the- on8 all suea+ing as bats will in a ca/ern's underworld8 all flitting8 flitting criss$cross in the dar+ if one falls and the roc+$hung chain is bro+en. o with faint cries the shades trailed after ,er-es8 pure )eli/erer.
,e led the- down dan+ ways8 o/er gray >cean tides8 the nowy 4oc+ past shores of )rea- and narrows of the sunset8 in swift flight to where the )ead inhabit wastes of asphodel at the world's end. ro- the section Ehe ,er-es of the >dysseyE in ,er-es "uide of ouls by Jarl JerOnyi 61!27
5e can see how ,er-es connects with the disdain for cyberspace we ha/e discussed. he real- can be a ,ades8 and in our dise-bodi-ent we beco-e ghosts. he idea of 'archi/e' is often used for storing old records. >n the net e/erything at the -o-ent of its birth is archi/ed and thus the latest pop song is as easily accessed as the ideas of people long dead re$published on the #et.
Mind ,pace he -o-ent a new real- or space is delineated it will ha/e tension at the borders. here are -any political exa-ples8 but we can also see this pheno-ena in the sphere of infor-ation. 4ecall the contro/ersies about the tele/ision set into our li/ing space. @ut it is not only with electronic -edia that we see di/isions. 5e see this in the fa-ily when the di/ision occurs when 6usually father7 -o/es into a -ind space behind the newspaper8 or a child disappears for days into the fantasy land of boo+s. Mind spaces are powerful and transcend physical place8 geography.
21 Marshall McFuhan had the idea that the Anited tates could be bal+anied by electronic -edia. Cliff @ostoc+ L1G refers to McFuhan9 McFuhan's analysis of the i-pact of -edia on culture pro/ed to be prescient in -any structural respects. he 5orld 5ide 5eb and the Internet ha/e certainly pro/en to be global /illages of sort and these8 as he predicted8 are subdi/ided into special$interest co--unities 6such as Internet news groups7. he extent to which this directly influences life outside the cyber topography can't be seen yet8 although McFuhan was daring enough to suggest that the Anited tates would literally be E@al+aniedE by electronic -edia 6McFuhan8 p. 20H7. he reference is to the *ssential $cuhan L10 edited by his son ;ric McFuhan.
Murray tein's excellent essay8 E,er-es and the Creation of paceE L2*** describes fully the role of ,er-es in the creation of a -ind space. ,is role as guide is a lin+ with the cyber prefix8 steering. ,ow does the notion of space correspond with the ,er-es sy-bolis-? It is worth uoting tein at so-e length9 he following passage is a good su--ation of ,er-es' story and it a-plifies his way of creating the Eother planesE we see recurring under his influence. he na-e ,er-es is connected with the na-e for the stone heap that was a boundary$-ar+er8 a her-a. his is the physical fact fro- which the experience of ,er-es springs8 in which it is grounded. (round this concrete pheno-enon of the boundary$-ar+er there grew up the -any associated features and ualities that go into -a+ing this god what he is. o-ething about the experience of her-a and boundaries and cross$roads sti-ulated the "ree+ i-agination into elaborating the figure of ,er-es. #ilsson continues his i-aginati/e presentation by saying that this stone heap at the crossroads -ight ha/e -ar+ed a gra/e8 and perhaps there was a body buried under it. his would -ar+ a space that was a crossroad in a double sense8 with one axis horiontal8 another /ertical9 ( three$di-ensional cross$roads. ,er-es is a god of tra/elers li/ing and dead8 his -onu-ent of stones a boundary -ar+er for the world on this plane and between it and the underworld. JerOnyi8 in his -asterful study8 ,er-es8 "uide of ouls8 e-phasies the god's role in tra/ersing the boundary between life and death8 between this world and the underworld of shades8 ,ades. @ecause of his association with boundaries and with the real- of shades8 ,er-es ta+es on the features of a li-inal god8 or of what I ha/e called a god of li-inality in -y boo+ In MidFife8 that is8 one who inhabits interstices8 a denien of betwixt$and$between 6cf. urner7. ,e stands at the edge not only geographically and interpersonally but also -etaphysically. ,e is esse ntially in and of the world of li-inality. he ele-ent of uncanniness8 which 5alter >tto so forcefully stresses in his chapter on ,er-es in he ,o-eric "ods8 would attach to ,er-es because of this close association with the spirits of the dead and the underworld. he >xford Classical )ictionary states flatly that while ,er-es appears as a youth8 he E...is probably one of the oldest Lof the gods and -ost nearly pri-iti/e in origin....and signifies the dae-on who haunts or occupies a heap of stones8 or perhaps a stone8 set up by the roadside for so-e -agical purposeE 6pp.0*2$37. (gain8 we co-e upon the notion of -agic in connection with ,er-es.
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,er-es roadside -ar+er
E,er-es creates boundaries.E 5e are always in a place. It is not possible to be outside a EplaceE. >ne is at ho-e or at wor+8 but it is not until there is so-e attention drawn to that $ a na-ing $ that the sense of contain-ent and stepping fro- one sphere to another is -ade conscious. ,eaps of roc+s were early ways of bringing consciousness to the transition fro- one place to another. hey also pro/ide a choice point8 when we co-e to a pile of stones we can often ta+e one of se/eral directions. his choice factor $ perhaps is related to the duality we ha/e been exploring8 the attraction R disdain axis. It see-s fitting that the statues of ,er-es had two faces $ loo+ing in opposite directions. 5hen there is a choice there is freedo-8 this is sy-bolised with the wings we see on the -essenger's feet and hel-et. here is a phrase often used on the #et that co-es to -ind9 EInfor-ation wants to be freeE. &erhaps a spontaneous sense of how strong the built in forces of cyberspace are. he therapy space and cyberspace belong to the sa-e order of reality. >n the Internet the signposts are /ery explicit. here is no -o/e-ent &ithout the presence of a sign$post8 so-e sort of icon to clic+8 each with its own na-e. Cyberspace is -ade out of na-es. >nline the ancient her- beco-es a lin+ we can clic+8 forcing at least a -o-ent of consciousness. In therapy we see the epito-e of such consciousness and the essay by tein is -ostly about the space of psychotherapy. ,e uses the ,er-es archetype to describe a Ethird spaceE of psychotherapy $ a ter- not unli+e =inge's Eother planeE. ,e puts it this way9 &sychotherapy itself and acti/e i-agination are two instances of the creation of new space in the -odern world. @ut we can certainly find ,er-es at wor+ in -any other locations as well. 5here/er he is constellated8 a new space opens up. ,e both creates and -ar+s the space8 sets it apart8 and gi/es it an aura of nu-inosity and fascination. ... in co--unications8 a new space called /irtual reality suddenly pops up on the screen and draws awe and fascination8 e/en addiction to itself... Murray tein highlights the i-portance of the new irreal di-ensions in this state-ent9 E>ne -ight call this the (ge of ,er-es.E
!ric#ster It is certainly co-pelling to say with )olores @rien and perhaps Murray tein that in ,er-es we ha/e the "od of Cyberspace. hat by seeing ,er-es as acti/e in this way in the world we are seeing soulfully and that we ha/e -ade cyberspace a place of -ore /alue. here is another ta+e on this. a-es ,ill-an8 as Cliff @ostoc+ has noted8 is dis-issi/e of the whole cyber real-8 but he has also curtly dis-issed it as being the do-ain of ,er-es8 or at least of it being a real- that has a psychological di-ension. ,ere is a passage by ,ill-an fro- a response to an essay8 Ehe Char- >f ,er-esE by
23 @ernard #e/ille. L12 (t its beginning8 depth psychology -ust surely ha/e pleased the gods. It incited the repressed return. @ut the repressed returned within an utterly secular and scientific cos-ology. hus8 ,er-es8 depri/ed of his depth and his di/inity8 beca-e secularied8 -erely slippery8 decei/ing8 seducti/e8 co--ercial8 a thief and a liar8 as #e/ille writes8 and his in/enti/eness and in/isibility beca-e scientied as electronic technology. o8 I i-agine hi- to be urging us to find -ore /alid i-ages to hold the in/isiblesD he is as+ing to be freed of the glass and plastic alter of your &C -onitor and be gi/en a -ore welco-ingly beautiful place on earth. L,ill-an8 1 p. 1! ,ill-an's /oice has its attractions8 this rings so true9 Ethe repressed returned within an utterly secular and scientific cos-ology.E 5e are in an era that has lost its soul... but is ,ill-an right that ,er-es is so-ehow tied to the glass and plastic? ,er-es is the -aster of unbinding hi-self8 he is already free in his /ery own cyber real-. ,e is tric+y8 and has tric+ed ,ill-an here with his ability to be able to cross in/isibly fro- one real- to another. ,er-es was gi/en the gift of in/isibility by ,ades so he could guide souls gently fro- life to death. or all the /isibility in the sense of hype about the Internet there is an in/isibility to the archetypal di-ension of cyberspace. I hear the wounded lo/er who cr ies out9 you want -e only for -y body8 but what about the real me Can ,er-es8 as ,ill-an suggests8 be gi/en a beautiful place on earth? >f course Ea place on earthE is full of soul. ;arthiness and the particularity of place8 epito-ise al-ost as -uch as (frican rhyth- the idea of soul. Can anything so opposite as a /irtual space be soulful? ;arthiness and being in a place called ho-e are the soulfulness of ,estia or ,era. @ut these goddesses do not ha/e wings. hey are welco-ing8 but for the- to ha/e their life they need to welco-e so-ebody who tra/els. ,er-es is the tra/eller par excellence8 he is at ho-e on the :ourney8 as JerOnyi has shown. ,ill-an si-ply -isses that uality when he urges us to tie ,er-es to earth8 bac+ to the body. #o8 cyberspace is not a place on earth.
Caduceus ,er-es carries the Caduceus $ a staff with two sna+es. his is not the staff of (esculapius sy-bol of healing and -edicine a staff with one sna+e8 e/en though it is so-eti-es -isrepresented. wo sna+es facing each other and as they do so8 li+e the ancient her-s they also face in opposite directions. he -isrepresentation8 well explained by )arren #ichols 61G78 ca-e about because -edical boo+s in the 1Gth century used the Cadeuceus as the printers e-ble-8 which -a+es sense in ter-s of the correspondences we ha/e been exploring.
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Conclusion I would li+e to conclude with i-plications for psychotherapy. #o doubt others ha/e and will see different archetypes in cyberspace. It has occurred to -e that for all the strong associations with ,er-es8 we are loo+ing at one of the -ost transfor-ati/e forces central to the de/elop-ent of hu-anity and that cyberspace is an archetype8 the (rchetype of Cyberspace. @y de/eloping a sense of the ancient correspondences between ele-ents such as Mercury8 the planet Mercury8 the younger brother of (pollo and the dragon's teeth we are euipped to see psychologically into the stories of clients8 not only about their surfing habits or the grief o/er lost e-ail8 but the -ind space go/erned by ,er-es as it appears in stories drea-s. (s we hear drea-s and stories that ha/e an ele-ent of exchange8 co--erce8 theft8 speed8 :ourney8 signposts8 and so on we can see these as doorways to pursue to add depth. he i-portant conclusion that follows this exploration not about indi/idual wor+. It is about the psychotherapeutic fra-e we wor+ in. >nce we ha/e grasped the archetypal ualities of cyberspace then we can see that psychotherapy itself is a subset of the larger infor-ation real-. &sychotherapy is a sort of cyberspace. 5or+ing to create co--unication and to delineate the li-its of the space that occurs in is the :ob of the psychotherapist. &sychotherapy is not the only place where we enter into an i-aginal space. he gods of cyberspace are sure to also go/ern the wor+ of the psychotherapist.
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1ootnotes 1. a-es ,ill-an uote fro-9 http9RRho-e.earthlin+.netRScradloRgodreal-RhowTgr2.ht-l 2. ro- '(head of (ll &arting9 he elected &oetry and &rose of 4ainer Maria 4il+e' ;dited and ranslated by tephen Mitchell http9RRho-epages.pathfinder.grRgeorgiosTiiRpoetryRril+eRril+efirst.ht-l 3. he A;#; archi/e at google is a gold$-ine for ety-ology. or exa-ple8 a bit of research see-s to show that the ter- Enet$surfingE originated with @rendan Jehoe8 also +nown as the author of EBen and the art of the Internet8E an early Internet boo+. In this thread fro- 11 he uses the ter- to refer to so-ebody browsing telnet sites 6there was no web at the ti-e7. wo -essages later8 4on #ew-an tal+s about how he li+es the ter- and wants to spread it ,owe/er8 others clai- independent coinage8 including possibly Mar+ McCahil the "opher de/eloper 6they used the -etaphor a lot7 and others bac+ to the %*s who tal+ed about Infor-ation urfing. &aul affo used the terEinfor-ation surfingE in a 1%% -againe colu-n and reports it was co--only used and Edefinitely already in the eitgeistE before he wrote it. ;/en Marshall McFuhan used the -etaphor of surfing data li+e ur$surfer )u+e Jahano-o+u. In addition8 the ter- Echannel surfingE shows first use in anuary 18 and see-s to ha/e originated at the sa-e ti-e. e/eral of the early users of for-s of the ter- clai- they did so due t o a lo/e of real water surfing8 so this appears to be a -etaphor of -any parents.
fro-9 http9RRwww.te-pletons.co-RbradRspa-ter-.ht-l !. hat soul has been lost through the -aterialis- of the enlighten-ent and the inability of theology sustain a /iable space for soul is at the heart of ung's wor+. ypically ung reflects in this way9 ,ow totally different did the world appear to -edie/al -an or hi- the earth was eternally fixed and at rest in the centre of the uni/erse encircled by the course of a sun that solicitously bestowed its war-th. Men were all children of "od under the lo/ing care of the Most ,igh8 who prepared the- for eternal blessednessD and all +new exactly what they should do and how they should conduct the-sel/es in order to rise fro- a corruptible world to an incorruptible and :oyous existence. uch a life no longer see-s real to us8 e/en in our drea-s. #atural science has long ago torn this lo/ely /eil to shreds. hat age lies as far behind as childhood8 when one's own father was unuestionably the handso-est and strongest -an on earth. he -ode- -an has lost all the -etaphysical certainties of his -edie/al brother8 and set up in their place the ideals of -aterial security8 general welfare and hu-aneness. @ut it ta+es -ore than an ordinary dose of opti-isto -a+e it appear that these ideals are still unsha+en. Material security8 e/en8 has gone by the board8 for the -odern -an begins to see that e/ery step in -aterial EprogressE adds :ust so -uch force to the threat of a -ore stupendous catastrophe. Lung 133 p.2*!
,ere is another passage noting the loss not of the Christian "od but of the of the way alche-y had once been able to hold the sacred. #ote ung proposes that the denied8 lost or shadow aspects are pro:ected onto the world8 leading to real conflict and wars. his passage contains an i-portant though perhaps flawed idea8 that co-es up later in the present essay9 that the repressed or lost soul can returns as Ealar-ing sy-pto-sE such as Ethe unleashing of pri-e/al blood$thirstiness and lust for -urder on a collecti/e scaleE.
2G he decline of alche-y during the ;nlighten-ent -eant for -any ;uropeans a descent of all dog-atic I-ages $which till then had been directly present in the ostensible secrets of che-ical -atter$ to the underworld. ust as the decay of the conscious do-inant is followed by an irruption of chaos in the indi/idual8 so also in the case of the -asses 6&easant 5ars8 (nabaptists8 rench 4e/olution8 etc.78 and the furious conflict of ele-ents in the indi/idual psyche is reflected in the unleashing of pri-e/al blood$thirstiness and lust for -urder on a coll ecti/e scale. his is the sic+ness so /i/idly described in the Cantilena. he loss of the eternal i-ages is in truth no light -atter for the -an of discern-ent. @ut since there are infinitely -any -ore -en of no discern-ent8 nobody8 apparently8 notices that the truth expressed by the dog-a has /anished in a cloud of fog8 and nobody see-s to -iss anything. he discerning person +nows and feels that his psyche is disuieted by the loss of so-ething that was the life$blood of his ancestors. he undiscerning -iss nothing8 and only disco/er afterwards in the papers 6-uch too late7 the alar-ing sy-pto-s that ha/e now beco-e ErealE in th e outside world because they were not percei/ed before inside8 in oneself8 :ust as the presence of the eternal i-ages was not noticed. If they had been8 a threnody for the lost god would ha/e arisen8 as once before in antiuity at the death of "reat &an. Instead8 all weft$-eaning people assure us that one has only to belie/e he is still there $which -erely adds stupidity to unconsciousness. >nce the sy-pto-s are really outside in so-e for- of sociopolitical insanity8 it is i-possible to con/ince anybody that the conflict is in the psyche of e/ery indi/idual8 since he is now uite sure where his ene-y is. Lung 10! pp.!%$0137
0. ,ere is a snippet fro- an enlightening post on )olores @rien's weblog on the idea of disenchant-ent. http9RRwww.bee.netRdebrienRblogger.ht-l #ature8 -ythos8 the ancient "ods are really dead. (nd8 as ,Ulderlin +new8 it is not only forbidden but i-possible to awa+en the dead. 5e belie/e we are still li/ing on earth whereas in truth our anima circles around the earth in our satellites in cold e-pty space. Instead of loo+ing up fro- the earth to the s+y8 we loo+ at our earth fro- below. 4obert (/ens
5e li/e8 we are told8 in a world that is EdisenchantedE and that has been e/er since the scientific re/olution of the 1Gth century. he natural world of the ancient peoples8 its trees8 roc+s8 waters8 the s+y and earth8 was ali/e and inhabited by spirits and gods. ,u-ans were a part of this world too8 at ho-e in it. hey did not percei/e the-sel/es as separate fro- nature. hey belonged to the cos-os8 :ust as did e/erything else in the natural world8 both organic and inorganic. heir consciousness was8 what Marshall @er-an has called8 a E participating consciousness.E V V he ter- Eparticipating consciousnessE actually originates with the philosopher8 poe t >wen @arfield8 who- @er-an cites. or -ore9 ee Marshall @er-an8 he 4eenchant-ent of the 5orld 6Cornell Ani/ersity &ress8 1%17D 4ele/ant articles by 5olfgang "iegerich can be found on he C. ". ung &age ee also Jatharine ,ayles8 /o& e 1ecame +ost2/uman, 6Ani/ersity of Chicago &ress8 17D 4ay Jurweil8 The Age of piritual $achines 8 6&enguin @oo+s8 17.aturday8 March *18 2**3 $$ he )isenchant-ent of the 5orld
G. @achelard 6 1! p.xx7 in a footnote uotes9
2H Charles #odier8 )ictionnaire raisonne des onomatopees francaises, +ar is 3454, p6 786 9The different names for the soul, among nearly all peoples, are ust so many breath variations, and onomatopaoeic e#pressions of breathing69
his is a beautiful insight8 and fits with EsoulE which is li+e a breath8 not unli+e EsighE8 which in turn is identical /ocally with EpsyE. ;xploring the psyche can not be done once the breath is gone.
H. I a- using the word psychologist here in the spirit of its ety-ological roots. psychology $ 1G038 fro- "+. psykhe2 Ebreath8 spirit8 soulE 6see psyche7 W logia Estudy of.E >riginally Estudy of the soul8E -eaning Estudy of the -indE first recorded 1H!% .http9RRwww.geocities.co-Rety-onlineRp11ety-.ht-
he loss of soul in the world has reached into psychology and psychotherapy in a funda-ental way so that the word no longer -eans for -any how I use it here8 it has beco-e to -ean -easure-ent of beha/iour. %. he /erification of psychological ideas -ay see- i-possible as they are totally sub:ecti/e8 but they are not. hey are not /erified either by logic or e-piricis-8 and thus fall outside a fa-iliar8 western positi/is-. he following idea fro- @achelard's +oetics of pace a-plifies what I say here8 firstly because of his use of the ter- Etranssub:ecti/eE8 which na-es accurately the idea that while we can na-e things any way we li+e for the- to ha/e psychological /eracity na-ing goes beyond that. econdly his idea a-plifies the idea of psychological wor+ in that doing this wor+ is ne/er done8 it is a process8 so-ething always done anew8 again8 a practice9 It see-ed to -e8 then8 that this transsub:ecti/ity of the i-age could not be understood8 in its essence8 through the habits of sub:ecti/e reference alone. >nly pheno-enology $that is to say8 consideration of the onset of the i-age in an indi/idual consciousness$ can help us to restore the sub:ecti/ity of i-ages and to -easure their fullness8 their strength and their transsub:ecti/ity. hese sub:ecti/ities and transsub:ecti/ities cannot be deter-ined once and for all8 for the poetic i-age is essentially /ariational8 and not8 as in the case of the concept8 constituti/e. 6p.xix @achelard 1!7
4eality is not separate fro- the story about it. he line fro- ohn Fennon co-es to -ind9 E4eality lea/es a lot to the i-agination.E he relationship between the two is su--ed up in the word EdialecticalE8 a -utual8 in the -o-ent influencing of one by the other. . 5illia- "ibson first used the word in Neuromancer L1%!. o- 5. @ell8 here http9RRwww.to-wbell.co-RwritingsRCyber$.ht-l sees only negati/e connotations with the cyber prefix. 5illia- "ibson8 the pre-ier cyberpun+ writer8 apparently coined the ter- Ecyberspace.E "ibson -ay -erit praise as a fine writer8 but he hardly presents an appealing picture of technology's future. or a great -any people8 sadly8 Ecyber$E will bring to -ind "ibson's gritty8 dystopian world /iew.
@ell does not li+e the prefix at all but li+e the psychologists who would want to re-o/e psyche$ fro psychology and call it beha/ioural since he'd re-o/e cyber and replace it with digital and Internet re-o/ing altogether the idea that such a real- -ight -a+e sense beyond the technology it runs on. ,e is exhibiting a typical response to cyberspace which is explored psychologically later in this essay. ,ere is "ibson's first use of the word9
2% ECyberspace. ( consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legiti-ate operators8 in e/ery nation8 by children being taught -athe-atical concepts...( graphical representation of data abstracted fro- the ban+s of e/ery co-puter in the hu-an syste-. Anthin+able co-plexity. Fines of light ranged in the non$space of the -ind8 clusters and constellations of data. Fi+e city lights8 receding...E $5illia- "ibson8 E#euro-ancerE
1*. ,ere is the whole list of descriptions fro- Cyberspace: First teps9 Cyberspace9 ( new uni/erse8 a parallel uni/erse created and sustained by the world's co-puters and co--unication lines. ( world in which the global traffic of +nowledge8 secrets8 -easure-ents8 indicators8 entertain-ents8 and alter$hu-an agency ta+es on for-9 sights8 sounds8 presences ne/er seen on the surface of the earth blosso-ing in a /ast electronic night. cyberspace9 (ccessed through any co-puter lin+ed into the syste-D a place8 one place8 li-itlessD entered eually fro- a base-ent in =ancou/er8 a boat in &ort$au$&rince8 a cab in #ew rigins suggest8 'texts' in literature 'put' ideas 'in hand8' as it were8 to fra-e +nowledge within the dra-atic fabric of experience8 e/en as the technology of boo+s and boo+ production literally brings ideas 'to hand'E 6"reenberg and chachterle8 1G7.
More on this fro- ,eidegger9 introductory notes for the class9 techne Ehe word ste-s fro- the "ree+. echni+on -eans that which belongs to techne. 5e -ust obser/e two things with respect to the -eaning of this word. >ne is that techne is the na-e not only for the acti/ities and s+ills of the crafts-an8 but also for the arts of the -ind and t he fine arts. techne belongs to bringing$forth8 to poesisD it is so-ething created.
@rian Fa+e discusses the origins of the ter- thoroughly in )efining Technology8 thesis a/ailable here. 12. herry ur+le's ife on the creen Lxxxx8 ;ri+ )a/is's Techgnosis L xxxx8 $;s he pearly "ates of Cyberspace Lxxxx to -ention a few of the classics. ohn uer's co-prehensi/e online boo+ +sychology of Cyberspace. 5hile all of these boo+s ha/e so-e psychological insight they do not go extensi/ely into the area of depth or archetypal psychology. 13. ro- tanley 4ichard's *ros is a $aster of +erversity ne of the new series E(lbae =igiliae8E Ebecause I felt co-pelled to publish it for reasons related to -y situation after brea+ing 'official' connections with ,ungary.E hen began the difficult existence of the free8 pri/ate scholar8 although interwo/en and protected by ,er-es. JerOnyi died on (pril 1! 8 1H38 exactly on the day when thirty years of exile were co-pleted. ,is gra/e in (scona bears the inscription -entioned on one of the last pages of this /olu-e$which had been used on the isle of I-bros for those Einitiated into the Mysteries of ,er-esE9 teteles-enoi ,er-ei. It was not possible for Jarl JerOnyi to place his fa/orite di/inity into the series of archetypal -onographs on the "ods8 but one is grateful to those who ha/e helped the figure of Ethe speech$gifted -ediator and psycho$gogueE to beco-e8 in the fresh /est-ents of the ;nglish language8 Efor all to who- life is an ad/enture$whether an ad/enture of lo/e or of spirit$. . . the co--on guide.E
1G. ,ere is a uote fro- the web page9 alk Among 0ods, The ymbols of $edicine by )arren #ichols. )espite the apparent clarity around the distinct origins and -eaning of the cadeuceus and the staff of (esculapius8 they are both used co--only8 and often interchangeably8 e/ery day. ust where this practice of ignorance and confusion began can be traced to two -ain sources. he first of these ca-e in the 10** s when printers began to use the cadeuceus as their insignia because they felt it sy-bolied their role as -essengers and business-en. hat in itself was not a proble- until se/eral publishers of -edical texts began pro-inently displaying the cadeuceus on the boo+s gi/en to students and doctors. uddenly the distinction between a staff with a single sna+e and one with an extra serpent and wings was blurred.
2eferences @achelard8 "aston8 61!7 he &oetics of pace irst published in rench under the title Fa &oitiue de =espace8 610% by &resses Ani/ersitaires de ranceD >riginally published9 #ew rion &ress8 1G!. ranslated fro- the rench by Maria olas8 with a new foreword by ohn 4$ tilgoe. I@# *$%*H*$G!H3$!
@enedi+t8 Michael 61!78 editor , Cyberspace: First teps The $'T +ress Cambridge, $assachusetts, first published 3==3 @ostoc+8 Cliff8 61G7 Cyberspace9 hadow of the Cultural I-agination? http9RRwww.soulwor+s.netRwritingsRessaysRsiteT*1H.ht-l
@ostoc+8 Cliff8 Cyber&ork, The archetypal imagination in ne& realms of ensoulment 8 &ublished on the C.". ung &age9 http9RRwww.cg:ungpage.orgRpsychtechRbostoc+1.ht-l
31 @ostoc+8 Cliff8 62***?7 )eiknymena: *rotic revelations in cyberspace6 http:??&&&6soul&orks6net?&ritings?essays?site@B=6html @rien8 )olores ;.8 61H7 Archetypes of the 'nternet, &ublished on the C.". ung http9RRwww.cg:ungpage.orgRpsychtechRtechdeb.ht-l @rien8 )olores ;.8 eblog: Techne +syche http9RRwww.bee.netRdebrienRblogger.ht-l ;ri+ )a/is's Techgnosis ;dginger8 ;dward 61*7 0oethe;s Faust: Notes for a -ungian Commentary. oronto9 Inner City @oo+s. ;no8 @rian8 6107 Inter/iewed by Je/in Jelly8 0ossip is +hilosophy8 5ired 3.*0 http9RRwww.wired.co-RwiredRarchi/eR3.*0RenoTpr.ht-l ,ill-an8 a-es8 A Note on /ermes 'nflation8 pring G08 ( :ournal of (rchetype and Culture8 pring and u--er8 18 pring ournal8 5oodstoc+8 Connecticut *G2%18 &ages H$1! "elernter8 )a/id ,illel 6117 Mirror 5orlds9 >r the )ay oftware &uts the Ani/erse in a hoebox9 ,ow It 5ill ,appen and 5hat It 5ill Mean by
ung8 Carl ". 61337 $odern $an in earch of a oul 8 ranslated by 5. . )ell and Cary . @aynes8 ( ,ar/estR,@ @oo+8 ,arcourt @race o/ano/ich8 &ublishers8 an )iego #ew f ,er-es9 ung8 ,ill-an8 (nd he &ost-odern ConditionE 6his is the title on the script +indly sent to -e by @ernard #e/ille and -ay be different fro- the published /ersion.7 ournal of (nalytical &sychology8 3H8 128 33H$303. #ichols8 )arryn alk Among the 0ods website9 http9RR-e-bers.oe-ail.co-.auRSdxwRMainRCaduceusRcaduceus.ht-l &layboy Inter/iew 61G7 http9RRwww.nephridiu-.orgRfeaturesRindy-ediaR-cluhanTinter/iew.ht-l
3 ( surfer once said that the ulti-ate ride on a wa/e was to si-ply not be be there8 to disappear. he Ben li+e uality is present in the phrase surfing phrase surfing the net 8 which indeed -ay ha/e originated 63 6 37 with a writer with so-e Ben ideas. hat the real- is distinct fro- the physical8 presents an i--ediate association with the psyche. @ody and soul8 whate/er we -ay understand about their unity will always each ha/e their own ualities. oul8 has a sense of infinity8 of being beyond ti-e8 of being shared collecti/ely8 of deeper le/els of +nowing. >ur sense of cyberspace -ay ha/e a lot in co--on with our sense of soul. Cyberspace is so-ething beyond the co-pass of our will8 autono-ous in the way the psyche is as understood by ungians. Is there a relationship relat ionship between psyche and cyberspace8 are they related8 or e/en the sa-e thing?
Methodology Methodolo gy — what is psychologi psychological cal exploration? (pplying a psychological psychological perspecti/e to the world is a dying art8 or perhaps a dead one. ;xperiencing the world as ani-ated and ali/e is central to the experience of alche-y8 -yth and astrology. In the natural world we see huge forces at wor+D /olcanic eruptions8 e/er$present gra/ity8 e/olution of species8 weather cycles8 -oon$dri/en tides. ust as dra-atic but -ore difficult to see are forces in the dyna-ics of hu-an lifeD the rise and fall of e-pires8 nations stri/ing for power8 co-panies dri/en by profit8 lo/e and hate in the tide of people's li/es. >nce these forces8 natural and social8 were seen as pulsing with the life of -etaphysical entities. he world had soul. Can we still see the world li+e that? 5ould there be a point? cience when in/estigating8 classifying and -anipulating the tur-oil of e/ents8 sees a world of EthingsE and -echanis-s. his Fego world /iew wor+s. he usefulness of science satisfies in so -any ways that it blinds us to soul in the world. 6! 6!7 >ur default -odern western perspecti/e is -echanistic8 disenchanted 6078 the world is dead. f course8 in the /ery shunning8 the shadow is re/ealed8 it is the shadow. In/isibility itself is the -agical grist of -any stories. he soul of cyberspace is elusi/e and in/isible to so-e. @ostoc+'s first essay8 for all its negati/ity8 spea+s of soul in that cyberspace is a sy-pto- of cultural -alaise. ,is two essays together present a li/ing dyna-ic of psychologically acti/e tension between shadow and light. In his second essay @ostoc+ affir-s the arresting8 archetypal depth of cyberspace. ,e as+s the uestion9 E)o the gods occupy cyberspace? Can soul be constructed in /irtual reality?E hat is the central the-e of this essay9 exploring the archetypes of cyberspace8 to which we now return8 all the -ore co-fortably because of Cliff @ostoc+'s positioning the cyber real- as rich for psychological exploration. 5ho are the gods of cyberspace?
Archetypes ta#e a new breath Ehe -ediu- has enor-ous shadow.E 6@ostoc+ 1G78 this is a co--ent on an archetypal uality of cyberspace. here is a fear of the new and the young in the disdain and shunning cyberspace. he fear is unconsciousD cyber$phobia8 to add to the o/er$supply of cyber$words. @ostoc+'s archetypal Fuddites would relish this shadow pheno-ena if they were not blind in its dar+ness. ;ros drenches Ee/ery corner of cyberspaceE is how Cliff @ostoc+ puts it. here is no doubt that in -any ways cyberspace is erotic. ;ros is about attraction8 and :ust as cyberspace is shunned it also has a powerful lure. he lure is in part what in/ites the resistance8 cyberspace is seducti/e8 addicti/e. 6137 Cliff @ostoc+ in a third cyberspace essay )eiknymena: *rotic revelations in cyberspace 62***?7 co-pares the attractions and repulsions to the -ystery cults. 5hile placing the ;rotic in a central place in his essay8 he -entions other archetypal di-ensions9 ... what is the funda-ental uality of the -ediu- $ or8 as the "ree+s -ight put it8 what is the god in the -ediu-? &erhaps ... it is the collecti/e psyche or ani-a -undi $ the E-egasynthesisE of -atter and thought into a self$reflecti/e collecti/e en/isioned by eilhard de Chardin 6107. @ostoc+ in his 1 essay8 has yet another tantalising archetypal proposition in his final paragraph8 one that alerts us again to the inability to position soul exclusi/ely in the indi/idual or in the world9 I offer alche-y and "oethe's own i-age of what -ay be occurring in cyberspace9 the e-ergence of the ho-unculus8 a personified -anifestation of the philosopher's stone8 a union of the organic and the inorganic. Is this so different fro- the cyborg of conte-porary i-agining in /irtual reality? >f that s-all creature8 constellated in the -o-ent of aust's brief coniunctio8 ;dinger writes9 Ethe ho-unculus signifies the birth of the conscious realiation of the autono-ous psyche. In drea-s it -ay appear as a doll or statue which co-es to life8 representing the ego's dawning awareness of a second psychic center8 the elfE 6p. G27. 5e are alerted by Cliff @ostoc+ to the /itality of archetypal di-ensions in cyberspace9 *ros+ ,hadow+ ,elf and anima mundi the soul of the world . he power of these presences is enough to explain the both the attraction and the reluctance to enter the real-. hat which affords cyberspace8 its soul8 is the /ery thing that inspires the repulsion. o the list of archetypal forces ascribed so far we can add -ore and -ore8 but there is one -ore that see-s to enco-pass and absorb all the others9 -ermes.
13
-ermes I was alerted to ,er-es as a +ey archetypal figure of cyberspace by )olores @rien8 editor for the ungian :ournal The Round Table Revie&8 and the editor of the ungian website www.cg:ungpage.org's excellent echnology and Cyberculture sections. he wrote a re/iew 61!7 of Mar+ tefi+'s 'nternet )reams: Archetypes, $yths and $etaphors. L1G @rien writes a crisp su--ary of tefi+'s exploration of the archetypes of the Internet. he descriptions of the archetypes in tefi+'s boo+ are apt9 he Jeeper of Jnowledge8 he Co--unicator8 he rader8 and he (d/enturer. tefi+'s collection of articles is inspiring in -any ways8 one was that it led @rien in her re/iew to this concluding paragraph8 which carries an sy-bolic potency that tefi+'s descriptions lac+9 >ne last word$if the Internet ac+nowledges a god8 that god has to be ,er-es9 -ediator8 co--unicator8 -essenger8 tric+ster8 patron of -erchants8 always on the -o/e. ,is attributes see- as inexhaustible as does the Internet8 of which he see-s to be the soul. ;ach of these attributes resonates with ualities of cyberspace8 they could be words about cyberspaceD co--unication8 co--erce8 -ediating8 -essaging8 tric+ing and to top it off8 being inexhaustible. ,er-es is a natural icon 61*7 for cyberspace. or those acuainted with the astrological sy-bolis- of Mercury 6the 4o-an na-e for ,er-es78 the fast orbiting8 often in/isible planet8 this association will co-e as no surprise. It is worth loo+ing at astrological writing to see the traditional sy-bolis- in the light of its rele/ance to Cyberspace.
ee for exa-ple this website8 65eboteric7 on Mercury 9 (strologically Mercury is seen as ,; MI#)8 the gi/er of wisdo- and our progression frothe purely instincti/e real- of the ani-al +ingdo- by the use of the I#;FF;C. It is ideas8 -ethods8 infor-ation8 progressing through experi-entation and in/ention. he trans-itter of the spiritual to the -aterial. Mercury associates with children before puberty and through this connects with tric+s and :o+es8 youthfulness and light$heartedness. It rules all for-s of co--unication8 for exa-ple telephone calls8 letters8 speech. his planet is -obile and intellectualD it rules the sciences8 curiosity8 -anner of thought and tra/el. It is also associated with -erchants8 co--erce and -ental pursuits. 5heeling and dealing would fall under Mercury's rule as would lying and cheating.
It represents the power of co--unication 6e/en the Internet78 interpretation and self$ expression8 intelligence and reason. Its action is to uic+en and enli/en whilst adding -obility and fluidity. he sy-bol illustrates recepti/ity resulting fro- the exaltation of spirit o/er -atter.
1!
Fi+e e/ery rogue8 ,er-es li/es outside the boundaries established by custo- and by law. In -y ,er-es &sychopo-p I belie/ed I could define his do-ain as a Eno$-an's$landE8 that is8 as a her-etic inter-ediary real-8 surrounded by established li-its where the words Eto findE and Eto stealE still ha/e a distinct -eaning. I subseuently added9 E>n the other hand8 the absence of scruples alone does not constitute ,er-etic actionD the art and spirit of -a+ing one's way in life -ust also be included.E Carl ". ung and Carl JerOnyi8 Fe )i/in ripon $ Luoted p.G! &aris 1* It is this spirit of -a+ing one's way in life that connects to the Ecyber$E prefix with its connotation of steering. @rien's words9 EIt has to be ,er-es.E are /indicated with another of ,er-es attributes8 4obert "ra/es -entions ,er-es Eassisted the hree ates in the co-position of the (lphabet.E 5e see ,er-es presence right there at the birth of the sy-bols that for- the heart of co--unication and cyberspace8 he was there right fro- the start. his -ythic connection with the alphabet is not directly in contrast with the Cadeus story already -entioned. It see-s one in/ol/es the consonants and the other the /owels. o allow ,er-es to a-plify our perception of cyberspace we return to the distinction between cyberspace and the Internet and co-puters. "inette &aris in her chapter on ,er-es L&aris8 1*8 p. GG presents a wealth of -aterial that would lead us to see ,er-es written all o/er cyberspace and she does allude to his place in that real-8 yet she casts a doubt on ,er-es as a suitable archetype for co-puter technology.
10 o-e artificial intelligence specialists li+e )ouglas 4. ,ofstader and erry 5inograd bla-e the inability of co-puters to achie/e the austian goal of artificial intelligence on the fact that an i-portant part of our definition of intelligence has been o/erloo+ed in -o/ing fro- oral culture to literacy and fro- literacy to co-puter$literacy K the part that allows for a-biguity. ,er-es cannot be found in a setting where a-biguity is a EbugE rather than :ust added infor-ation... ,e therefore supports the notion that8 if we're going to ha/e EintelligentE co-puters8 it won't be by trying to -a+e the- -ore precisely denotati/e8 -ore (pollonian8 but by exploring the other side of intelligence K that is8 a ,er-es$type intelligence8 as we would say in our -ythological /ocabulary. his EMercurial Co-puterE in a sense has already happened. he Mercurial happens not through the de/elop-ent of fuy$logic or technology8 it is not (pollonian. @ehind the co-puter screens there are people. ,u-an participation adds spontaneity to the churning of the -achine. ,u-ans +eep choosing8 steering through infor-ation8 Cyberspace results. he EintelligenceE is ,er-etic8 as the ebb and flow of taste is go/erned by the -ercurial nature of hu-ans. hus ,er-es re-ains suitable cyber$archetype8 but only as one not related to the -eticulous progra--ing wor+8 which is in the real- of his -ore ele/ated brother (pollo. ,er-es has so-e interest in the tools of co--unication.
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