Oedipus killed his father and slept with his mother, thus Freud titled his theory of the corresponding subconscious urge the “Oedipus Complex.” But Oedipus was only one man. What if this urge applied to cultures and humanity as a whole, not just to individuals?
God is the father and Earth is the mother. Though I lack the research to cite specifics, this symbolic notion appears in multiple cultures. I propose that western culture has, through humanity’s greatest tool, reason, and its extension, science, fulfilled its Oedipus complex.
Freud theorized a lot about repressing urges. Struggles. Some haven’t killed God, just taken away much of his power. Others are raping Earth. Societies vary in realizing their desire, but it’s there.
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1 comment:
It is an interesting parallel. Your metaphor may only apply to western civilization, for many societies consider the sky, or the sun, or the mountain, or another inanimate object to be God. Plus, Freud is a fraud, an unscientific scientist of speculation. We don't all unconsciously want to kill with our Fathers and rape our Mothers. If Oedipus had known the circumstances would have acted much differenly. That is the tragedy, that his choices were uninformed, and not that the acts themselves are inherently tragic.
Besides, not everything that western civilization has developed is an affliction. 1/3 of the world would be starving without science. We have grown to the point were we must be aware of the effects of our activities. There is little of the natural world left, few places that man's presence has not touched, where Nature rules unfettered. Although I do not expect the natural world to disappear completely, the world, the Earth, will change like our houses, grown from a cave to be the wonders of technology and controlled environments that they are today. Humans famously change their environment to suit themselves. Our reach that has been extended by the size and sophistication of our civilization. And are Humans not creatures of Nature? Our religions teach us that we are special, but nature knows otherwise. Our exponential growth and modification of our habitat are Natural things. Like many natural things, they can now be managed by science and active intervention. So Planet Earth will eventually become Home Earth , and maybe someday we will build a Dyson Sphere, and become Home Solaris.
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