Fragment 24

I want to continue the discussion of the two types of thinking. I thinking that a very brief historical perspective may help to make illustrate the difference between the two types of thinking. Magical thinking is humans' natural way to thinking. It is the thinking of the unconscious. The unconscious does not use Logical thinking. If there is any doubt, about this, all one has to do is observe their dreams. Humans became conscious by using Magical thinking. The ancient myths are proof of this. For early humans there were no voices in the head, instead the voices had an external source. There was no inside-outside (no subject-object) distinction. The Egregores were all identified with external sources. The voices of the Gods and Goddess were humans first conscious experience. The emotions , and feelings were given a voice. Literacy of course, accelerated the change to modern consciousness. The idea of Logical thinking first appeared with the figure of Ankenaten (c. 1335 B.C.), along with his dream of unifying everything into an all encompassing One. The Law on Non-contradiction first broke into consciousness. Although it had a long way to go. It was not until Parmenides that the Law of Non-contradiction achieved the form we know today. It should come as no surprise, that this is when polytheism started to decline, (remember Aten is a jealous God) and atheism was born. We know that both Plato and Aristotle argued for the use of reason. Which of course would not have been necessary if everyone was already using reason, This is also the time Occult or Hermetic philosophy began to appear. This was the very beginning of the split between exoteric and esoteric philosophy. The Stoics and were working on grammar, and logic; the exoteric philosophers. Hermetic philosophy was being developed in the mystery cults and schools. Christianity tried to heal this split, between mystics and Scholastics, but it seemed to only make things worse. I do not want to spend much time here on the ancient or medieval world. Maybe I shall tackle it in upcoming "Fragments". Human thinking is always a combination of both, but one side predominates when it comes to truth.The battle was on between Mgocal and Logical thinking. So now let us moI believe these six thinkers were the most important. Descartes, Spinoza, and Locke had already dismissed magical thinking in their philosophies, and only regarded Magical thinking as a source of errors. They regarded Magical thinking as superstition. The victory had already been won when they wrote. Calvin was the great foe of superstition, and thought society should be run by Logical thinking. Note, Logical thinking does not imply tolerance. Calvin is the archetype of the reformer in Western history. Make no mistake, all social reformers, activists, social justice warriors have Calvin as their ideal, whether they know it or not. Calvin's vision was of a Christian republic, composed of autonomous citizens. Yes, Calvin could have written the U.S. Constitution. Calvin realized education was the key to realizing his vision. To impose Logical thinking on young children. so much so, that they would think there is no other type of thinking. But, Calvin could not do everything. This is where Peter Ramus entes our story. Ramus was the great educational reformer. He succeeded so well, that we take his works for granted, and so they are seldom read anymore. When Ramus discovered that he and Calvin had the same vision, he converted from Catholicism to Calvinism. Ramus in his books draws up the blueprint on how to teach Logical thinking. With Ramus Logical thinking became compartmentalized thinking. All subjects are to have strong boundaries, and not be allowed to bleed into other subjects. Everything must be kept separate and distinct. In his writings Ramus is constantly warning about subjects bleeding into each other, This can still be observed in academia, where no one is allowed to interfere in another field of study. Every subject, and idea has to be sharply defined with rigid borders. In simple terms, the world was reduced to discrete bits of data, that are combined or classified by function and origin. All relations and definitions must be universalized, the only true knowledge is objective knowledge. Although like Calvin he does make exceptions for religion. As I said before Ramus's triumph was so great that no one reads his books today. His philosophy of education is taken as a given. Mersenne is a little different than the first two members of the triad. He is a cross between the gossip columnist that everyone reads, and the intellectual clearing house of the early 17rh, century. Mersenne was also a fierce advocate for Logical and compartmentalized thinking. Mersenne was a precursor of The " Royal Society." He corresponded with all the major thinkers, and most of the minor thinkers of his time. So when he launched his attack on Magical thinking everyone listened. Let us now turn to the other side of the dispute. Everyone knows the tragic story of Bruno, as a martyr, but few know that he was no martyr for science. Bruno was not burned at the stade because he held the Copernican theory of the Planetary system. Somehow the rumor got started that Bruno had something to do with astronomy, which he did not. Bruno was burned because of his Hermetic philosophy, not because of anything to do with astronomy. Bruno saw himself as a Hermetic messiah, that was going to unify Europe with a new Hermetic religion. Bruno was burned for heresy. not science. We must move along. Bohme is one of the greatest thinkers in history, and the first psychonaut in modern Western history. He voyaged deep into inner space, trying to put the scorched fragments of his psyche back together. He did not come back unscathed. Bohmw proposed a Magical system that is both a reformation of the Kabbalah and the Hermetic philosophy up to his time. A system of chains of correspondences held together in an emotional-informational nexus of his Source Spirits or natural properties. The first five of his Source Spirits are Egregores: the council in the head. Bohme states unequivocally that the only way to understand reality is through Magical thinking. He was also a fierce critic of Calvin, and Calvinism. He compares Calvin and his followers to logic chopping lawyers for the Devil. And now we come to our final champion of Magical thinking: Robert Fludd. The saga of Fludd is the decisive victory of Logical thinking in Western history. When Mersenne launched his attack on Magical thinking, Fludd was the target. It was Mersenne that landed the decisive blow against Magical thinking. Mersenne did not just argue Magical thinking was wrong, but that it was insane. And the world listened. From then on Magical thinking really did become Occult philosophy. Magical thinking was driven underground, and written out of the official history of ideas. This is not to say Occult philosophy, and practice disappeared, the tradition lives under the radar of the official education and history that is taught in academia. Breaking through during times of crisis; like today.