Not conscious of the unconscious?

The appearance of multiple horizons within our collective unconscious.

People express their feelings about society all the time. Philosophers, writers, social theorists, scientists, media experts, singers, artists, spiritual gurus, people on the left, center and right constantly interpret their given society, in thousands of ways, in part or in it’s entirety. Highly visible on social media, the realm of discussion is infinite, partly psychological but also based on our natural instincts. We are constantly navigating and interacting with the conscious and the unconscious, within a sphere (society) as unitary beings. Fair to say that various existing societies together provide a decent synopsis of the current human condition. Some even think that society has a mind of it’s own. Some see tremendous power and potential, while others feel increasing abandon and polarization (distancing).

Coined as the "Psychosphere" of society by Italian philosopher Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi as a space “…where many interesting, crucial and unprecedented events are taking place.” The unconscious apparently has no notion of time, yet it’s presence is now felt ever increasingly in a world where it seems “no one is in control” (Zygmunt Bauman, 2010).

Lets step beyond the regular definition of the ‘unconscious’ which most often is about some ‘dark side’ of a ‘well-ordered mind’. The type of consciousness framed within two ends, of progress and reason, and as often as they break, we presuppose the loss of control and dark unpredictable times. In that context Sigmund Freud’s dialectic of the ‘conscious / unconscious’ is now insufficient. The unconscious strikes back with new meaning in a world where infinite cyberspace and cybertime sustains global human interaction. Where political, ideological, scientific and spiritual battles are fought online. At a time when increasing number of us articulate uncertainty, fear, hope, paranoia, utopia, magic thinking, at the same time we also experience unforeseen ‘hyperreality’ (J.Baudrillard) based on increasingly seductive digital technology. We, processing power and the ‘unconscious 'third’. A laboratory of “creative rhizomatic thought and production” (Deleuze and Guattari).

The "Psychosphere" is an unraveling of the collective unconscious, of a highly advanced techno-industrial civilization grappling with the possibility of planetary collapse. The increasing lack of consistency and logic is giving way to new trouble, new outbreaks, new conflict between opposing ideas as well as unseen forms of viral creativity and commonly shared myths. New ‘shapes’ which we cannot yet define nor fully avoid. No fixed maps within “open ended, viral and temporal futures…” (Franco Berardi - The Third Unconscious 2022). What do we make of the ‘collective unconscious’ at an individual level? And then is higher consciousness overrated?

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest fear is of the unknown…” (H.P. Lovecraft). The rise of undead armies or killer robots wiping us out in the future or sensual neon colored avatars or protectors of past purity and many such stories become global hits partly due to our collective Psychosis. History can be repeated in cycles and so can fantasy, drama, fairy tales, future hopes and fears. Made to capture our conscious imagination as well as subvert our unconscious voice, consequently spitting out no-brain myths and tales across all electronic media. Remember the electronic adrenaline override during the lock down? In hindsight, it makes sense to recall the famous line - “who controls the past, controls the future; who controls the present controls the past” (George Orwell).

The global ‘myth making machines’ of late capitalism (Columbia, Walt Disney, Netflix, HBO, Paramount etc etc) offer us a continuous cycle of ridiculous spectacles in every language possible, for every age group, staged fantasy, drama, history, cartoon, sci-fi plus lots of violence like dopamine. Almost like new anti-psychotic drugs prescribed by doctors, with hopes to control children and teenagers. The surge of mental illness, stress, consumption of drugs, coupled with paranoia, self-distancing, self-serving social media and a general lack of attention, points to a collective Psychosis, of the various maladroit societies of late capitalism.

Perhaps H.P. Lovecraft mused deeply about the “oldest and strongest fear” which now defines high resolution fantasy and entertainment of the current era. Endless chimera of stories, images, videos and sounds which eventually end up as trash, at the visceral ends of our consciously crafted mind and neural networks.

For example, Game of Thrones was based on thematic and stylistic patterns, of occult art, supernatural creatures, magic, moral panic and the eternal battle between good and evil. Osculating forever, between states of “Purity and Danger” (Mary Douglas). As was the case in Star Wars (late 1970s), Dune and Blade Runner (mid-1980s), Independence Day (mid-1990s), X Men (2001), Harry Potter (2010) and on and on. Utopian fantasy along with emerging dystopia, like two ends of a loop. Enacted by cloned actors fulfilling preset roles, while self-replicating forever, into countless movies, series, animation films, advertising, new and documentaries etc. The gradual “dissolution of the conscious and the linear, in favor of timeless hyperstimulation and a constant state of soft anxiety …” (The Third Unconscious). Switch off the medium or better let it wake you up for “greater and immediate concerns”. Careful, for what you do consciously.

While I imagine that the ‘unconscious’ can be awakened, yet for what purpose remains unclear. At present, a fair amount of ‘woke psychosis’ has taken over democratic societies. Everyone has opinions yet things are only getting worse. One cannot deny the new landscape (post pandemic) where we are socially distancing in reality and crossing uncharted realms in virtual terms at the same time. Contagion, late capitalism and carrion cultures. Even if extinction is on horizon, vetted by hard science and those who firmly believe that ‘overshoot and hyper acceleration’ leads to eventual collapse, the collective unconscious is posing tough and urgent questions, spewing out troublesome thoughts and output. Imagine new doors beyond the conscious ways which people relate.

Marshall McLuhan's epic one liner that the "the medium is the message" is still resonating hard, if we seize and utilize the medium, regardless of the message. The language of the Psychosphere relates to McLuhan’s predicament. Wake up for a brief moment even, from “an infinite universal slumber, to witness a world as cruel as it is beautiful, as constructive and as destructive and chaotic…” (Event Horizon, Homo-Prometheus And The Climate Catastrophe - Andrew Y Glikson). While doing so, like all modern men and women I too “lost the option of silence” (William Burroughs)

”For we are the local embodiment of a cosmos, grown to self-awareness… organized assemblages of ten billion billion atoms considering the evolution of atoms; tracing the long journey by which, here at least, consciousness arose.” (Cosmos by Carl Sagan, 1980). As prodigious and poetic the text sounds, so nicely contextualizing our place and evolution in the universe, forty years later our world is far from conscious, instead jeopardized by multiple fragmentation. Of “truth” into lies told enough times and in thousands of ways. Types of “democracy” where regardless of the leader, every dollar has an equal vote. People for whom “defense” equates to the preparation for the next war. Where anything “moral” is defined by “might” (revisiting 1984 by George Orwell). But the conscious violent will of men has gripped the world yet again (19,000 tons of bombs dropped on the civilians of Gaza, in less than 3 weeks).

For eons, before industrial civilization, human beings lived in the realm of perceptions, dreams, myths and legends. Realm of the violent and the natural. The birth of language, art, music and poetry can be seen as evolutionary steps. Like beautiful ruptures, big unpredictable leaps that emerge from the conscious and the unconscious. Something often looked down by a hardwired reductionist mindset as “a denial of realities and critical facts” (Event Horizon, Homo-Prometheus And The Climate Catastrophe - Andrew Y Glikson). On the other hand, one cannot help but think that most “critical facts” manage to create a temporal projection of reality (based on words). Outer reality described in a given language goes only so far, in terms of being conscious (of the present). To perceive this as a dead end, one can make sense of the Corona virus as an infection or a pandemic or a “detonator landscape” (Anna Tsing, Feral Atlas) but also as a slamming punch upon one dimensional thought and erstwhile notions of order and control.

Hard to deny the “Psychosphere" of a globally connected society that detonated during 2020-21, causing new disturbance and dissonance within “the old order of the hyperconscious type” (Paulo Virnò). Since a very high number of people suddenly perished, the unconscious response driven by an existential threat went viral across the world. Consequently a windfall of plans, strategies, interventions, ceremonies, solutions just to survive, more than ever before. “Critical facts” and conscious decisions had taken a back seat, inside this planetary nightmare(2020).

The “Third Unconscious” that Franco Berardi envisions is also a dark place. For it is not just because of the internet or artificial intelligence or infinite information that are breeding and sequencing a range of malignant ideologies. Our unconsciousness itself is feeding into new ideologies, positively and negatively. Like hate or fear of outsiders, minorities, intellectuals, scientists, or the rise of climate anxiety, green scare, crypto-capitalism, misogyny and transphobia. Add “vivid utilization of violence and fear, real or dramatized in mass culture and mainstream media.” (Paolo Virnò). Add cult worship of billionaires and even bigger plans of unsustainable power, technology and energy. Let alone being conscious of such problems, the unconscious is also perceived as a highly avoidable unavailable space, by most people.

“The people have no voice since they have no information” (Gore Vidal). In a world saturated with information, the point of having a voice is nowhere to be found. For us as a species, language as we know it, was an evolutionary jump which no other animal seems to have undergone, and perhaps they are blessed not having to face the endless chain of contradictions, complexity, misunderstandings and conflicts that thought and language entail. Does our unconscious part still remain outside that condition?

To not be conscious, is close to stop thinking every waking moment. Impossible or so hard not to think? That elusive ‘organism’ inside us all, yet uncapped by science or philosophy, call it an ‘operating system’ makes us think, formulate and produce every waking hour. The idle and the unconscious were banished from modern life, in favor of “higher” and “better” consciousness a while ago. Yes there are many gurus and visions to choose from. Yes we all want “total intensification of nervous stimulation” (Paolo Virnò, 2018).

What is the unconscious saying, if anything at all? At a personal level, two things to be clear. First, is to resist mechanisms and messages that force me to believe, obey and respond to “greater and immediate concerns”. Second, to go with mechanisms (be they real or virtual) which create social proximity, foster new world making, allow individual potentiality and even deal with disagreement, dissolution, and chaos.

There is no particular benefit in wanting a predefined reality, especially one which does not exist, mainly because the world does not operate like a script (it’s not a play). Leave that to your own unconscious part, for a bit to begin with. The world does not disappear, if and when we stop thinking and wanting… 🦉🌜🌀