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Carl Jung's Collective Unconscious

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The three pound ball of neurons floating carefully encased within the confinement of the human skull is surely sheltered from all previous knowledge and understanding of human experience; perhaps not as collective unconscious, a theory proposed by psychologist Carl Jung, argues memories may transcend time—defying traditional thought (Saladin 70). Jung makes a bold claim with his hypothesis in his new found concept, collective unconscious, however it is not without flaw or even remotely impermeable to counter arguments. This theory asserts that there are “archetypes” or fundamentally instincts and memories passed down to all humans (939). Jung's collective unconscious is in gross neglect of following proper scientific method, taking information …show more content…

Jung fails to create a method to test his ideas all together. In fact, Jung epiphany comes as correlation, and formulates the whole concept on “maybes”. It lacks any test with any type of control group to test if his ideas are fallible, which also makes his experiment not repeatable-- a issue among the scientific community (Berkeley). This type of experiment is quintessential as it allows for an idea to be proven false. Any idea should never be presented as a fact, and if it is, is ultimately considered a flawed experiment (scientific method). Here, however, Jung missteps and asserts his concepts as truths however verges on the side of opinion rather than fact; one of the many flaws in human thinking according to Ruggiero in his book Beyond Feelings (Ruggiero 68). This begs another issue that correlation does not always equal …show more content…

A simple assessment of his language used is the first indication that Jung has already made up his mind that his hypothesis is no longer a question of fact, but that of truth. “We are dealing with a reactivated archetype, as I have elsewhere called these primordial images..It is not a question of inherited ideas, but of inherited thought patterns. In view of these facts...” is a sentence that Jung summarizes his whole idea (939). There is no taste of potential error, or any inkling that there may be any other explanation. In this quote Jung asserts his “archetype”, which are completely still in question as already a truth and furthers his claim as substantiating the whole idea as “fact”. It would be no overstatement to say Jung is guilty of focusing on information that supports his opinion, while carefully dancing around observable errors (Ruggiero

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