The Atheist Book Club discussion

Not many people realize it but The Lord of the Flies is an allegory in which each character represents a Freudian concept. The malefic "Jack" was nothing more than our own "id", Freud's concept of suppressed animal energy. Interesting that "Lord of the Flies" translates to Beelzebub, in Arabic.

My Mirror Reversal is the first modern book to do the same, translate a scientific theory into a story. It's based on Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene. Each character allegorizes a gene. What would happen if they suddenly reverse?

Psychoanalysis is not scientific, but it is a powerful explanation of the mind. Richard Dawkins's science is not science as it is unverifiable, at best it is logic.

Quite so about Dawkins. I've had countless discussions about memetics with a neurologist and various scientists. Definitely not a proven science. But it works for me. I love Dan Dennett's anecdote about the lancet fluke. What better way to explain such strange behavior as giving up one's life (memebots) for the sake of some whacky ideology. Like the lancet fluke, the infectious memeplex completely takes over the nervous apparatus of the host.

Gregory wrote: "Psychoanalysis is not scientific, but it is a powerful explanation of the mind. Richard Dawkins's science is not science as it is unverifiable, at best it is logic."

True, much of Freud's ideas are considered facile and simplistic by today's standards. But let's realize his contribution to humanity and science. He brought psychology out of the dark ages. In his time mental illness was considered a religious problem, filled with demons, incubi and succubi. A mental institution was a nightmare and no place to get cured.

Psychoanalysis has never cured anyone, just as Dawkins doesn't do science.

Gregory wrote: "Psychoanalysis has never cured anyone, just as Dawkins doesn't do science."

How about Freudian slips or the interpretation of dreams? Do they have any meaning or investigative value?

Benjamin Franklin didn't believe in his dreams and was sane.

Here's an example of how Freud's concepts have furthered science and human understanding of the mind: In psychoanalytic theory, the "id" (it, to Freud, he had no better name) emanates from the hindbrain and represents a reservoir of suppressed animal emotion, like rage, jealousy, and anger. Religious people call this part of animal nature "the devil."

In modern science the term has been renamed to the "Reptilian Complex" or "R Factor." Once the church convinced humans they are not animals, they could logically proceed with supernatural nonsense, with a whole array of diabolic entities. But the "id" is our natural evolutionary make-up and nothing to be afraid of or ashamed of. We evolved from quadruped carnivores.

This is a theme of Mirror Reversal.

Eternal recurrence assures nothing ever reverses.

deleted user wrote: "Eternal recurrence assures nothing ever reverses."

Nothing ever changes in war or love. Fear is a fierce opponent.