metonymy4u

Recently I recalled a memory of attending a conference on mental illness led by two prominent members of the local mental health community. One of the speakers asked a question about the classical Greek mythology of Asclepius, the god of medicine. I raised my hand and answered the question based on my memories of reading (when I was 17) Plato’s Phaedo, in which Socrates mentions his debt to Asclepius just before drinking the hemlock. After my comment, the other conference leader responded by observing “Wow, you really have to get out more.” The memory to me is a token emblem of what I think we daily face: an environment that immediately punishes exactly what it previously evoked. Invites followed by un-invites. In group seduction and out group derogation. Baits and switch, teases and feints. Ridicule, the normal reward for the curious. Invalidation upon invalidation upon invalidation, creeping along its persistent pace to some final bastion of double binds and a limit of infinite dismay. Is it any wonder then that we are all completely insane?