I'll write my reflection this week on orgone because it stuck out in my mind from our class discussion. I'm not one to put down what other people believe, but I'm just not buying into this whole idea. I think the effects that people feel from orgone are a lot like what people felt from Mesmer's animal magnetism. The dedicated following that orgone clearly has reminds me of religions where people speak in tongues because they feel the power of God over them. There are a lot of people out there searching for SOMETHING to make them feel better and powerful, and I feel that the strong power of suggestion is most effective in such cases. I see it is as the placebo effect taken to a completely different level to where it becomes a lifestyle and dependency. Clever people such as Mesmer and the scientist on the second website listed above have found a way to make money off of the power of suggestion. With that said, I feel the power of suggestion does play a central role in many therapies. However, I become skeptical when therapies introduce some sort of unseen force surrounding us. But if it makes people feel better, I say keep on collecting orgone.
Yes, the site that Jordan calls especially strange clearly identifies orgone with the previous practices using "animal magnetism" and I like the comparison with speaking in tongues which is probably the same thing that the convulsing clients of Anton Mesmer were into doing. Francis X. Barber, who we won't be covering in this class developed a theory about hypnotism that stated that the "trance state" was actually simply a social situation that gives people permission to act in extreme ways under the guise of the suggestion.
I'll write my reflection this week on orgone because it stuck out in my mind from our class discussion. I'm not one to put down what other people believe, but I'm just not buying into this whole idea. I think the effects that people feel from orgone are a lot like what people felt from Mesmer's animal magnetism. The dedicated following that orgone clearly has reminds me of religions where people speak in tongues because they feel the power of God over them. There are a lot of people out there searching for SOMETHING to make them feel better and powerful, and I feel that the strong power of suggestion is most effective in such cases. I see it is as the placebo effect taken to a completely different level to where it becomes a lifestyle and dependency. Clever people such as Mesmer and the scientist on the second website listed above have found a way to make money off of the power of suggestion.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I feel the power of suggestion does play a central role in many therapies. However, I become skeptical when therapies introduce some sort of unseen force surrounding us. But if it makes people feel better, I say keep on collecting orgone.
-Seth
Yes, the site that Jordan calls especially strange clearly identifies orgone with the previous practices using "animal magnetism" and I like the comparison with speaking in tongues which is probably the same thing that the convulsing clients of Anton Mesmer were into doing. Francis X. Barber, who we won't be covering in this class developed a theory about hypnotism that stated that the "trance state" was actually simply a social situation that gives people permission to act in extreme ways under the guise of the suggestion.
ReplyDelete