The Curious Case of Freedom

Growing up in Israel I knew Passover as Hag Hacheirut, or the celebration of liberty, commemorating the freeing of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and their return to Canaan. But how did their enslavement come about? It is easy to look for a bad guy in ancient stories as well as in new ones, but if we look closely at the text that unfolds in the final chapters of the book of Genesis, we may f...

In this episode I explore the origins and development of the human shadow, on an individual as well a collective level, the darker as well as the golden shadow, the dangers that lerk when the shadow is left undiscovered, and how we may begin to integrate it to our conscious awareness. Source reading: The undiscovered self by Carl Jung Owning your own shadow by Robert A. Johnson The little book of...

Returning to the series on schooling vs. learning - this is the fifth episode of the series that started in episode 024. Having explored the seven hidden lessons of school, and delving into some detail regarding the first two: obedience and apathy, today I explore the third lesson: the lesson of apathy, or indifference, look at how these three lessons combined stifle creativity and growth, not onl...

In departure from our usual format, and pausing the discussion on schooling vs. education, in this episode I present a story that I refer to as the fable of Socrates and Monosizea. It is an extract from a much longer essay by the law and ethics professor John Hasnas. The full essay is called The myth of the rule of law . If you would like to contact me directly, please write me an email to  thecur...

This is the fourth instalment in the series on schooling vs. education. This time I focus on conformity. What is conformity? Is it simply in our nature to conform or is it a learnt trait? Do the schools really play a role in teaching us to conform? What are the dangers of conformity? And what could be the antidote? This is not an exhaustive discussion on the topic of conformity, which is vast, but...

This is the third instalment in the series on schooling vs. education. Delving further into the lesson of obedience, considering how families and communities are so much embedded in a culture of submission, that the belief in obedience becomes a presupposition, a world view that is held under the level of awareness, and like any other unchecked and unaware belief, it taints the lens through which...

This episode is the second instalment of the series on Schooling vs. Education. In this episode I begin to explore the unspoken or implicit lessons of school: Obedience, conformity, apathy, class position, intellectual dependency and provisional self esteem, drawing from my personal experience and substantiated by the works of John Taylor Gatoo, I focus mainly on the first lesson - obedience. Sour...

In this episode I explore the implicit beliefs that must be held in order to advocate for compulsory schooling, how those become the field, the ground on which schooling takes place. I further explore the goals of a state compulsory school system and hope to show how real learning is self directed while state compulsory schooling is antithetical to learning and growth. Source reading: Anxiety by F...

Having delved into the philosophy of Gestalt for the past few episodes, in this episode I chose to share something about my own personal story, in particular about my army days. I aim to integrate many of the things that I have discussed in the Gestalt series (episodes 11-22) in this episode and see how they apply in my own personal story. If you would like to contact me directly, please write me...

In this final episode in our Gestalt series we take a close look at one of the central notions of Gestalt philosophy - creative indifference, exploring its relevance to the curious case of freedom. Sources reading: Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline. When the body says no by Gabor Máté Creative process in Gestalt therap...

In this episode continuing our gestalt series, we take a closer look at two contact interruptions, or rather contact moderations: Confluence and deflection. Both have to do with the permeability of our boundaries, both are forms of creative adjustments, and as such are vital to our being-in-the-world, and both, when they become fixed and rigid forms of behaviour stand in our way of living freely i...

In this episode we continue our gestalt series, and delve further into the world of polarities, observing how we fracture ourselves into a mind and a body. The body then takes the role of the disowned self. Since freedom starts with the individual, I believe that healing the fractured self is a vital step that can help us pave the way to a free society. Sources reading: Gestalt therapy, excitement...

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, using the Gestalt lens to look at the development of the individual and society and the relationship between the two. Today we focus on polarities: the yin and yang of our existence. Enjoy Sources reading: Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline. Creative Process in Gestalt Thera...

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, using the Gestalt lens to look at the development of the individual and society and the relationship between the two. Today we focus on polarities: the yin and yang of our existence. Enjoy Sources reading: Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline. Creative Process in Gestalt Thera...

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, using the Gestalt lens to look at the development of the individual and society and the relationship between the two. Today we focus on Retroflection: the psychological mechanism which I use to divert the energy that I wish to direct towards to the environment back onto myself. Sources reading: Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human person...

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, using the Gestalt lens to look at the development of the individual and society and the relationship between the two. Today we continue focusing on Introjection as a contact interruption, how are introjects formed, and how they contribute to the preservation of the status quo. Sources reading: Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human persona...

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, today we focus on Introjection as a contact interruption, how are introjects formed, and how they contribute to the preservation of the status quo. Sources reading: Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline. Grass unter meinen Füssen by Bruno-Paul de Rock. Gestalt and Process, clin...

We continue in our series on Gestalt therapy, viewing the self through the lens of the the philosophy of Gestalt, and exploring how we can extrapolate from that understanding of self as a creative dynamic process to society at large. Sources reading: Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline. Grass unter meinen Füssen by Bruno...

We continue in our series about Gestalt therapy, exploring the origins and formation of neuroses. Sources reading: Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline. Grass unter meinen Füssen by Bruno-Paul de Rock. Gestalt and Process, clinical diagnosis in gestalt therapy, a field guide by Hans Peter Dreitzel. If you would like to co...

In this episode we explore the concept of polarities, in particular health and illness as well as security and exploration with an attempt to reconcile between seemingly opposing human needs.  Sources reading: Gestalt therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Fritz Perls, Paul Goodman and Ralph Hefferline. Grass unter meinen Füssen by Bruno-Paul de Rock. Gestalt and Process,...

This is part one of an introduction to Gestalt therapy, I am not sure yet how many episodes I will devote explicitly to the theory behind gestalt, but as it is an important part of my life, we will surely revisit it many times. As I am training in Gestalt therapy at the moment, this is a great opportunity for me to try and consolidate what I have learnt by presenting it here.  Sources reading...

In this episode we explore the similarities as well as the differences between the family unit and the State, drawing from child development research, and Gestalt therapy Source reading: The Drama of Being a Child by Alice Miller: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drama-Being-Child-Search-True/dp/1860491014 Gestalt Therapy, excitement and growth in the human personality by Frederick Perls, Ralph. F Hefferl...

In this episode we explore what sets the State apart from other institutions in society. Source reading: Anatomy of the State by Murray N. Rothbard: https://mises.org/library/anatomy-state If you would like to contact me directly, please write me an email to thecuriouscaseoffreedom@gmail.com Presentation and production - Orí Harmelin Bumper music - The tallest of Orders by Simon MacHale Check out...

In this episode we explore historical examples as well as currant ones where law and order was and is provided with absence of State intervention. Sources: - Samuel 1, 8: - Property Rights in Celtic Irish Law by Joseph R. Peden: [Property Rights in Celtic Irish Law | Mises Institute](https://mises.org/library/property-rights-celtic-irish-law-0) - Private creation and enforcement of Law by David Fr...

In this episode we take a look at how narratives and story telling shape our view of the world. How seeing people as being either good or bad is dangerously oversimplified, especially when we ignore the mechanisms that allow people to do so much harm even with the best of intentions. This episode touches on a few topics that have been discussed in episode 006, but I believe that they are worth rev...