{"id":10730,"date":"2026-07-18T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=10730"},"modified":"2025-12-15T11:02:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:02:44","slug":"looking-at-peter-burfeinds-book-2014-gnostic-america-part-11-of-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=10730","title":{"rendered":"Looking at Peter Burfeind’s Book (2014) “Gnostic America” (Part 11 of 26)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

0182 I now turn to science and the Gnostic origin myth<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The associations are clear.  The contiguity between superego and ego(idreal<\/sup>)<\/em> is not scientific causality.  Superego [causes] ego2a<\/sub><\/em> is an artifact of the elite version of the Gnostic origin myth<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This content-level actuality is a symptom of the exclusion of the superego by the Sophia-promoted Self<\/em>.  Expertise in state-funded cultural studies and on American television<\/em> expresses the meaning underlying the word \u201creligion\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This expertise is a social construction, labeling itself \u201csocial science\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experts have secret knowledge that they verify through surveys and dramatic examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0183 This raises a question: Where does actual science enter into the picture?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If science has anything to do with this madness, then where would it fit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0184 I begin my discussion of this topic with a comparison of the elements of thirdness among three models<\/em>: (1) the Gnostic origin myth, (2) Suarez\u2019s interscope on mind-dependent being and (3) the current (8816 U0\u2019) biological sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The normal contexts for the biological sciences are not final.  I simply choose topics that seem to correspond to the other two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

0185 What is my first impression?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Gnostic myth, mindless rationality3b<\/sub> characterizes any particular aeon3c<\/sub> and virtually defines the superego3a<\/sub>.  Ironically, mindless rationality3b<\/sub> is not aware that its horizons are limited to its particular age3c<\/sub>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, reflexive reason3b<\/sub> typically does not evoke reflective reason3c<\/sub>.  Reflexive reason3b<\/sub> should solve any situation.  Reflective reason3c<\/sub> may adjust one\u2019s take on \u2018what is happening\u20193a<\/sub><\/em> after reflexive reason3b<\/sub> runs into problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Darwinian selection3b<\/sub> reinforces stasis during an evolutionary period3c<\/sub><\/em>.  The same drama of staying alive3a<\/sub><\/em>is played over and over for millions of years.  When Darwinian selection3b<\/sub> alters, then this stability3c<\/sub> disappears and new tactics for survival3a<\/sub> appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0186 The comparison makes me wonder: What is the pleroma3c<\/sub>?  Is it emanations of male and female pairs representing aeons of mindless reason3b<\/sub>?<\/em>  Or is the pleroma3c<\/sub> the wheel drawing the elite Self3a<\/sub> into the turning of an age?<\/em>  Does the actuality of Sophia2c<\/sub><\/em> denote the one becoming the other?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, does the pleroma come into play when the mindless rationality of the current aeon fails?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It must be, since reflective reason comes into play when reflexive reason becomes confounded.  In the same way, an evolutionary period ends when Darwinian selection significantly changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0187 Is the Gnostic origin myth a fairy tale about something catastrophic<\/em> in the nature of the other two topics?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did some event in our past<\/em> both destroy the reflexive reason characteristic of the Lebenswelt that we evolved in<\/em> and, at the same time, significantly change the reproductive success of humans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0188 On top of that, did this catastrophic alteration in the human Lebenswelt<\/em> produce the division of the person into material and immaterial aspects, the ego and the Self<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whoa. What a nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0189 Consider the person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The superego3a<\/sub> is the normal context in which the ego2a<\/sub> takes responsibility for the Self2a<\/sub>.  When the Self3a<\/sub> becomes the normal context, the person becomes a husk of social conditioning (superego) causing material concerns (ego & idreal<\/sup>)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A distortion of the person along the axis of material and immaterial<\/em> opens the door to both permutations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The superego3a<\/sub> and the Self3a<\/sub> are normal contexts that belong to our current Lebenswelt<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I doubt whether they belong to the Lebenswelt that we (humans) evolved in<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0190 Consider our cosmos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eternal cycles of the pleroma became immanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unfolding of the aeons<\/em> came down to Earth at some point in human prehistory.  It came down as a huge mistake by Sophia.  It describes the cloud where Yaltabaoth resides.  Yaltabaoth begins as a lion and ends as a snake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gnostic origin myth captures a radical separation between reflective and reflexive reason<\/em> as a loss of the Lebenswelt3a<\/sub> that we evolved in<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0191 The Gnostic fairy tale contains two origin myths.  Each addresses a catastrophic division within our world and our person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

0192 The next question that arises is this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can anthropology propose a prehistoric event that accounts for these coordinated fairy tales<\/em>?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

0182 I now turn to science and the Gnostic origin myth. The associations are clear.  The contiguity between superego and ego(idreal) is not scientific causality.  Superego [causes] ego2a is an artifact of the elite version of the Gnostic origin myth. This content-level actuality is a symptom of the exclusion of the superego by the Sophia-promoted Self.  Expertise in state-funded cultural studies and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[417],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review"],"yoast_head":"\nLooking at Peter Burfeind's Book (2014) "Gnostic America" (Part 11 of 26) - An Archaeology of the Fall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=10730\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Looking at Peter Burfeind's Book (2014) "Gnostic America" (Part 11 of 26) - An Archaeology of the Fall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"0182 I now turn to science and the Gnostic origin myth. 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