I've spent a couple of days reading this book:
The Claustrum : An Investigation of Claustrophobic Phenomena
It actually relates to the negative aspects of having parts of one's mental and emotional functions trapped in a regressive mode in terms of the pre-Oedipal condition. Those who act from this place see the world differently than those who do not -- and there are varying degrees of trappedness, with different parts of one's emotions or mind becoming victim to this underworld. The general state is of a paranoid-schizoid mindset, but with a sensation of omniscience and omnipotence, and a feeling of being an initiate into a hidden world. (There is nothing shamanistic about this, since the initiate is, and remains, a victim to hidden forces, which he or she is unable to tame.)
It's very interesting, especially the metaphor of being in the bowels, and having an attitude which views all sorts of human relations cynically, in terms of power, rather than in terms of genuine expressions of emotion. The reality that is experienced when stuck in the bowels of the mother is by no means the only reality there is -- but from the perspective of looking out from the Claustrum, it seems as if it is. That is why there are often arguments -- that take the form of misunderstandings -- about what the real reality is, when talking to those who more or less succumb to the lures of the psychological underworld. It is as if to the degree that they are trapped, the superego collapses into the instincts, so that there is only superego's authoritarian commands and drives, but no mediating ego. That is in the case of those who do not become merely mad, but become "double agents" who can still function quite effectively in the real world, except that their relationships are based on dominance and submission, rather than communication. Life with them is like living in an eternal authoritarian bootcamp-- no reprieve.
It seems some people are stuck in this Claustrum, where they know only how to manipulate rather than to relate to others (They *ACT ON* on rather than *communicate with* with others).
It seems that language of power (by which people are unconsciously manipulated) and the language of communication are two worlds at odds -and that one stuck in the Claustrum might well give the impression to others of charisma, but they're actually functioning without certain aspects of themselves, which they've either killed, repressed, or projected into others.
2 a positive side to the pre-Oedipal?
On the other hand, not everything about the way we function in a dependency structure has to be seen as negative -- unless society itself is perhaps negative, and we should all be alone as isolated individuals, lest we infect others with our "sinfulness".
The way "the Claustrum" can be renewing (as per Jung) is it that is focuses the primeval level of the mind on learning (or in the case of the adult, relearning the emotional values of a culture), as per Bion [ http://www.human-nature.com/free-associations/glover/chap4.html ] This is the relationship of the infant learning the meaning of its identity and the meaning of what it means to be human, from its mother's reactions, who interprets the infant's emotions into an intelligible form through her expressions or words.
So, I will suggest that the Claustrum (in a way that the author does not address in his particular book), could also be in principle, a zone of relearning, and potentially, therefore, a temporary zone of experience that can lead to healthy psychological and social reintegration.
However, for some it becomes the only way to be, or think, or to imagine the world. These people remain permanently locked within the Claustrum, which is like a permanent bootcamp of authoritarian discipline for them, from which they are able to take nothing (since unable to use the energy of ego to re-emerge).
The Claustrum : An Investigation of Claustrophobic Phenomena
It actually relates to the negative aspects of having parts of one's mental and emotional functions trapped in a regressive mode in terms of the pre-Oedipal condition. Those who act from this place see the world differently than those who do not -- and there are varying degrees of trappedness, with different parts of one's emotions or mind becoming victim to this underworld. The general state is of a paranoid-schizoid mindset, but with a sensation of omniscience and omnipotence, and a feeling of being an initiate into a hidden world. (There is nothing shamanistic about this, since the initiate is, and remains, a victim to hidden forces, which he or she is unable to tame.)
It's very interesting, especially the metaphor of being in the bowels, and having an attitude which views all sorts of human relations cynically, in terms of power, rather than in terms of genuine expressions of emotion. The reality that is experienced when stuck in the bowels of the mother is by no means the only reality there is -- but from the perspective of looking out from the Claustrum, it seems as if it is. That is why there are often arguments -- that take the form of misunderstandings -- about what the real reality is, when talking to those who more or less succumb to the lures of the psychological underworld. It is as if to the degree that they are trapped, the superego collapses into the instincts, so that there is only superego's authoritarian commands and drives, but no mediating ego. That is in the case of those who do not become merely mad, but become "double agents" who can still function quite effectively in the real world, except that their relationships are based on dominance and submission, rather than communication. Life with them is like living in an eternal authoritarian bootcamp-- no reprieve.
It seems some people are stuck in this Claustrum, where they know only how to manipulate rather than to relate to others (They *ACT ON* on rather than *communicate with* with others).
It seems that language of power (by which people are unconsciously manipulated) and the language of communication are two worlds at odds -and that one stuck in the Claustrum might well give the impression to others of charisma, but they're actually functioning without certain aspects of themselves, which they've either killed, repressed, or projected into others.
2 a positive side to the pre-Oedipal?
On the other hand, not everything about the way we function in a dependency structure has to be seen as negative -- unless society itself is perhaps negative, and we should all be alone as isolated individuals, lest we infect others with our "sinfulness".
The way "the Claustrum" can be renewing (as per Jung) is it that is focuses the primeval level of the mind on learning (or in the case of the adult, relearning the emotional values of a culture), as per Bion [ http://www.human-nature.com/free-associations/glover/chap4.html ] This is the relationship of the infant learning the meaning of its identity and the meaning of what it means to be human, from its mother's reactions, who interprets the infant's emotions into an intelligible form through her expressions or words.
So, I will suggest that the Claustrum (in a way that the author does not address in his particular book), could also be in principle, a zone of relearning, and potentially, therefore, a temporary zone of experience that can lead to healthy psychological and social reintegration.
However, for some it becomes the only way to be, or think, or to imagine the world. These people remain permanently locked within the Claustrum, which is like a permanent bootcamp of authoritarian discipline for them, from which they are able to take nothing (since unable to use the energy of ego to re-emerge).
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