Unexamined

Jung realised that the collective unconscious contains certain pre-existent forms, the ‘psychological archetypes’. These are complex but universal types of personality that are inherited in the same way as simple instinctive patterns of behaviour – fight or flight and so on. Eight major types of complex are categorised in Myers-Briggs.

Jung observed that these archetypes can be energised in the service of mass politics. Powerful symbols such as patriotism and personal rights can be used to energise the collective unconscious to produce powerful emotional responses to a simple message. This means that just as computers can be hijacked when the operating system is hacked, we can be manipulated en masse outside our conscious awareness. Only by questioning ourselves about our motivations, our automatic thoughts and feelings, do we acquire understanding. Only then can we take control of our lives. The unexamined life is a trap.