We are also “haunted” by the collective (unconscious) heritage of our ancestors and culture. Regrets are passed on from generation to generation. It can be quite a dangerous condition when the train is drawing in the peremptory ideation of many people. We find that there are many societies in which there is a history of collective regret (slavery, war, ostracism, etc.). These collective, unconsciously held regrets produce what is now called the “societal unconscious” (Hopper and Weinberg, 2019).
A common set of troubling images are held by members of this traumatized society. Citizens often report similar regret-filled dreams, as well as similar stressful bouts of regret-associated feelings that are easily triggered by events that in many other societies produce only mild stress. With this powerful alignment of internal and external material, we become victims of both personal and collective peremptory ideation. Attention is demanded by this new coalition: we are obsessed, closed-minded, passionate and regretful. Sometimes, we are driven to action.
Anxious Passengers: collective engaged of peremptory ideation might be escalated by collective regret. Everyone on the train is uneasy about what is now happening in their society or that has occurred in the past. Racism looms big and often unacknowledged in an American society—or in a society such as found in South Africa or Indonesia. The anxiety associated with this Regret, in turn, can be produced by a potential loss of confidence in a chosen leader, or by mild public protests regarding some social ordinance. It might very well be that the “social unconscious” material shows up in our internal peremptory ideation. This being the case, then one can imagine that the alignment with external images being carried by an ideation train is likely to be quite common. Regret is likely to be a particularly powerful emotion—it is one that Behavioral Economists often consider to be more salient than either the fear of loss or prospect of gain.
Both the internal psyche and external ideological train will be holding the same social unconscious material. A “perfect” storm of prejudice, intolerance, fear of the “other” and (eventually) violence is created. New reasons are generated for members of a society to feel regret. One final point, it is more likely that this ideational train will be fully operational and pulling on external images when we are tired and overwhelmed. Such a state is not uncommon when living in the world of VUCA-Plus.
We step on board the train in an anxious and fatigued condition. We soon find that the train is filled with passengers who match our anxiety and fatigue. They also hold an often-unacknowledged feeling of regret regarding their personal life as well as their collective life. Together we create and maintain even more bizarre fictional accounts of the menacing world of VUCA-Plus in which we live and work. Bubbles of Beliefs become even more distorted.
Our train of regret might also contain less-menacing elements. Music (and other art forms) might be particularly welcomed by the train—even if these are “blues of regret” They can be personal blues: “I did her wrong.” “What did I have that I don’t have now?” “Will you ever forgive me?” They can also be expressions of collective regret and critical social commentary. Some members of our society are crushed down: “That Lucky Old Sun.” “Old Man River.”
Other members of our society do bad things. The song “Strange Fruit” by Billy Holiday comes to mind. Many of Bob Dylan’s songs (such as “A Pawn in the Game”) and those of U-2 (“Sunday, Bloody Sunday”) provide powerful musical critiques. There are even whole musical productions that offer thinly veiled social criticisms—such as Wizard of Oz. Artistic expressions can enhance the content of the peremptory train as well as invigorate the energy which propels the train. They can also offer “acceptable” alarms in which passengers on the train might listen.
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