Modern Man in Search of Soul is a series of lectures by Carl Jung which have been transcribed, reviewed and published as a book. They read very well, each lecture with a specific topic which it will cover but not dwell on, it being quite possible to read each lecture in one sitting, which I appreciate. It is also quite accessible to one without a psychoanalytical background, which is my case.

It is the only book by Jung which I've read, though I did get the desire to read more, and I finished it some years ago. I bring it up only to discuss a single point in it, which is one of the ones that stayed with me. It is similar to what I did with the Science and Sanity review, which is why I titled it "not a review". Perhaps I should come up with a name for this thing, of reflecting on books I stopped reading a long time ago. Perhaps an acronym, how does Robisralta sound like? I'll do a little Robisralta of Jung's Modern Man in Search of a Soul.

I'd like to stress this is not a representation of the book in question, only of my opinion to what I remember from the book. I'm purposefully not going back to the book and getting exact quotes or representing the arguments accurately. I'm interested in what has occupied my mind in relation to having read the book, not on whether the argument I remember the book making is accurately represented by my memory of it.

The part in question relates to this idea that people who have non-modern views of the world (I hope he doesn't call him "savages" but he might well do, it's the term of the time, but if he does, it's clear he doesn't mean it disparagingly) might decide that if they trip just after leaving their house in the morning on a day they were to sign a contract, they might go back indoors and decide not to sign that contract altogether.

This is an example of the type of action, and thought, that modern man would balk at. Modern man would say there is no relation between the two things and tripping as you leave the house is not a reason to decide to sign or not sign a contract.

In our society, most people will either align with this modern view and dismiss this sequence of thoughts as unreasonable; or they will take the newage-ey view that it is a perfectly reasonable way of thinking and acting, with the act of tripping being interpreted perhaps as a message from a benevolent spirit cautioning him against making a mistake.

But what I found remarkable is the argument Jung makes (or that I remember him making, see above). Jung makes a good argument for how the action is wise without in any way relinquishing his modern world-view. He claims that one who trips has trusted a configuration of the world around him that was proved to be wrong (the position of a step, a rock, his own body weight,whatever made him trip). He thought he knew enough know about the world around him, gambled on his incomplete knowledge (for one cannot know fully, and the mere fact that he tripped is proof that his knowledge was lacking) by taking a step forward and lost that gamble.

To put simply, he is distracted. What else might he be missing? Is it not perfectly reasonable to say he is not in a fit state to sign a contract today, as he is very likely to miss something important? If you can't even succesfully navigate the outside of your house, which you do all the time, how can you be trusted to enter into a novel agreement with someone else, which maps a landscape magnitutes more complicated and worse known, the Future?

I find that argument compelling, and try to be aware of when I'm myself distracted. I was reminded of this because I was on my way to a job interview and, while at an intersection, didn't, at first, notice an oncoming car. While I didn't return home to hide under my bed, I made sure to pay close attention to everything that was happening during the interview, being especially cautious with what I was saying.

So, is this why one can read the future in the tea leaves, in the flights of the birds or in the cards of the Tarot? I haven't quite made that argument, but if I was, I would say that is a possible end-point of the type of attention that is provoked by understanding we navigate the world by gambles of simplification and hence need to be on the lookout for signs that we are not our best selves, and act accordingly. I do think it a good idea to cultivate that kind of awareness and, if you can tell the future by reading tea leaves, then do let me know!