I happen to live in one of the areas of the US where folks are arguing about whether or not to teach Intelligent Design in the public schools. It's sad and frightening to me when people are unable to distinguish between beliefs that are supportable by evidence and those that are not. Intelligent Design is religious faith; nothing to do with science, and nothing that should be in our public schools.
I'm not kidding when I say I'm frightened. I've been reading Sam Harris' book,
The End of Faith, and he makes a very strong case for the possiblity that we humans may literally destroy ourselves and each other because of our religious beliefs, which are completely irrational and unsupported by evidence. As much as I am personally glad that I have opened up my feeling life through my primal work, I think in this moment in history, it's more important to get people to think rationally than it is to get them to feel. Of course both, in balance, is best.
Oh, and Harris has a really good chapter on the nature of belief. His website:
http://www.samharris.org
Anyway, I see that we are all having trouble sticking with my initial topic -- what evidence is there to support the theory underlying primal, and more specifically, what evidence is there to support the idea that repressed material in our unconscious acts upon us to cause neurosis and can by cleared (and neurosis cured) by processing this material through primal therapy. I was never looking to discuss false memory syndrome, although it certainly is a topic that we could take up on this board sometime.
Dennis, more to the point of what I wanted to discuss, the historical perspective of John Kihlstrom:
http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~kihls ... kuba05.htm
To answer your questions:
how would you explain cases where babies or small children got cured by primal therapy?
First, please give me evidence (not anecdotal) that this has occurred. And details please about what was cured and how it is known that that primal therapy was the cause of the cure.
My own therapy included not only primal work but also touch and holding. I haven't a clue what caused what changes in me while I was in therapy, or even whether any of the therapy caused any of the changes. I can speculate, but ultimately this falls into the category of the unknowable.
And how would you explain the cases of spontaneous 'primal' connections with people who were unaware of Primal Therapy?
Again, please, evidence that this has occurred and details.
It's not that I haven't heard the stories. The just don't prove anything.
Do you really believe true wisdom is knowing nothing?
No, what I believe is more like wisdom is knowing what I don't know, what I can't know, and what it's rational to say that I know based upon available evidence.
Or is it a hidden feeling of not being able to deal with the truth?
I'm not aware of any feelings that are preventing me from dealing with any truths or from thinking clearly on this subject. That said, I can only be where I am, as is true for all of us. I continue to lie down with my feelings on a regular basis.
And why should 'true wisdom' be a goal in life?
I'm not much for goals. I'm simply living my life. But I do care about truth for a couple of reasons that I can think of in this moment.
First of all, as Harris points out in his book about faith, beliefs are the basis of action, and actions based on irrational beliefs can have disasterous consequences. The number of people slaughtered as a result of irrational beliefs boggles my mind.
Secondly, on a feeling level, I've discovered that irrationality, falsity, and dishonesty lead to feelings of pain and hurt. I feel better if I am as rational, open and honest as I can be, and if those around me are as well. (Not to imply that my goal is to "feel better" or that I seek to avoid pain and hurt when they are the natural consequence of living.)
Shelley