Re: Distinctions LO1273

david swenson (dswenson@css1.css.edu)
Wed, 17 May 95 13:41:02 CST

Replying to LO1091 --

Alex (and others),

I'm not particularly comfortable with the concept of "soul" or "spirit"
and haven't used it as a concept in my training or consulting. It's an
interesting idea though, and I have occasional thoughts of whether the
Meta- system that drives our more conscious and local systems might be
referred to in that manner.

The work I have done using clinical and experimental hypnosis supports an
integrative consciousness/awareness (I'm reluctant to use "higher"
consciousness), but I'm still indecisive about its importance and
centrality in governing behavior.

At the organizational level, I have strong reservations about the concept
of soul--I suppose that's related to my not being able to connect well
with Christian religions. However, many of the experiences I've had with
"Eastern religions" (you know, the ones you find in New Jersey), far too
often take natural phenomena or "tricks" and give them mystical standing.
For example, many of the demonstrations of "chi" and "ki" from t'ai chi
and aikido (and I've spent about 30 years in the martial arts), are nice
demonstrations of self regulation (pain and bleeding control, etc.),
extraordinary physical development, timing, use of suggestion, and some
remarkable hucksterism (e.g., laying on bed of nails, brick breaking, etc.
) that is better explained by physics 101.

So--I have a strong critical bent with a dose of Missouri "show me-ism",
AND and am open to hear some arguments and ideas on the other side.
Perhaps I've missed something. Looking to hear more on this,

Dave

On Sat, 6 May 1995 11:06:42 -0700, Alex N. Pattakos, Ph.D. wrote:

>>Speaking of "distinctions", I would be especially interested in how
>people integrate "soul" or "spirit" into their communication(s) within
>different organizational environments, i.e., business, government,
>nonprofit entities. What kind of distinctions need to be made in order to
>put the "S" word back into business, for example?

--
David X. Swenson Ph.D. (dswenson@css1.css.edu)
Associate Professor of Management
College of St. Scholastica
Duluth, MN 55811
(218)723-6476