Greetings All, and welcome to Useless Science!
We are newly born (as of January 31st, 2007) and still developing a personality, so for the time being, I can only tell you a little bit of why and how this board came about and the function (ideally, but not dictatorially) I'd like Useless Science to serve.
The impetus for the creation of this forum came from a group of two women and two men deeply dedicated to dream work. We four all met in the digital realm of another Jungian forum and began sharing, amplifying, and analyzing our dreams there. Over a period of months, we began to realize that there were some things we liked about this forum and some things we thought should be done differently. Eventually, the atmosphere of tension started to disrupt the necessary intimacy and impede the dream work we were engaged in. We needed to find a different solution, a different and stronger vessel for our inner work.
As I had some experience as an administrator of an online forum community, I offered to create a new forum and website where we could convene. This would also allow us space for other discussions. Additionally, it would allow other interested people to join our community.
But my ideological ambitions extend a bit farther. And the basic outline of this forum is, admittedly, a product of what most fascinates and drives me. And as I was given the green light to "run with it" from my fellow dream workers, run I have.
Before I touch upon the governing ideology I'm envisioning here at the genesis of Useless Science, I want to make it completely clear that, as interested as I may be in specific ideas and interpretations of things psychic, I am much more interested in seeing what a diverse community of interested and intelligent members can do together with a vast and labyrinthine topic like the human psyche. And, more specifically, I'd like to see Jungian Psychology pushed, pulled, or driven into the 21st century. Which is to say, in my opinion, it hasn't quite arrived here yet.
If you've run into me on other forums, you know I am neither impoverished nor shy when it comes to expressing my opinions. I have always approached the psyche (both practically and theoretically) with my boilers fully stoked and raging. That is, I want, want desperately, to get at something . . . to know . . . and also to live what I have learned.
It is my desire (but not my insistence) that some of this force will "infect" this forum. It is this fire, this dedicated seeking, this dissatisfaction with what is "known" and allowable that I'd like to see infused in the forum discussions. I am talking about the alchemical, transformative fire.
Opinions are a dime a dozen . . . but this alchemical fire is essential to constructive (and perhaps even creative) thought and inner work.
Of course, this sort of thing is enormously ambitious. It is by no means a requirement for participation here.
But, by expressing this ambition, I would like to convey my wish that Useless Science will differentiate itself from forums that cater primarily to either people seeking a simplified primer in Jungian Psychology or people who want to uphold an unquestionable dogma of Jungian Psychology (or, at least, their interpretation of Jungian Psychology).
I would like to see Useless Science grow into a community where Jungian scholars and analysts can interact with “laypeople” and experienced amateurs in the mutual quest of exploring and understanding the psyche. All too often, these groups are the twain that never meet . . . and this is, I feel, to the great detriment of Jungian Psychology . . . which has evolved (isolated from mainstream academic thinking) on its own little Galapagos.
It is my belief that everything should be investigated, questioned, evaluated, and re-evaluated. It is my personal intention to apply the tenets of the scientific method to the alchemical work of the soul.
And although my own mentality is something of a strange marriage (or, ideally, a coniunctio) between the scientific and the religious, wandering a No Man's Land in the middle of a raging battle of the Opposites, the opinions and participation from either army and from mercenaries on either side or anywhere in the spectrum (or beyond) will be welcomed here.
In fact, I am hoping that there will be some vigorous and healthy debate . . . which I intend to moderate with an extremely light hand (drawing the line at personal abuse).
Although I am highly tolerant of conflict, my deeper desire is to help foster a kind of fierce camaraderie grounded in a mutually acknowledged acceptance of one another's difference. I can be a bit impatient and skeptical when it comes to clubbishness, clans, and creeds. The last thing I want for the members who participate here is a pressure to conform.
I (hopefully joined by other moderators down the road) will do my best to mediate arguments and debates without intellectually stifling any opinions. In fact, I would appreciate any comments, criticisms, suggestions, and feedback on how this forum is managed. My intention is to be a kind of community custodian here, not a judicial body.
All that said, I heartily welcome you to Useless Science and encourage you to jump in anywhere you want to or create a new topic.
Please also introduce yourself. Let us know something meaningful about you and your approach to the topics at hand.
My Best Regards,
Matt
