Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.
– attributed to CG Jung on the internet
This may or may not be an actual quote from Jung. My guess is that it isn’t a quote by him since it doesn’t quite sound like something he would say. It sounds too judgmental!
I would rather say that familiarity is what dissolved judgment. When I understand and am familiar with another person’s history and situation, it’s difficult to judge. For instance, after working with several people with trauma and addictions, judgment doesn’t really come up. It just seems very understandable why they are struggling the way they do. And the same for me, with the ways I struggle. And the same for other people I know. We are all in the same boat here.
At another level, I would say that feeling is difficult, that’s why we judge. When I want to escape an uncomfortable feeling, one of the ways I do that is by judging myself, others, and life. And when I notice, meet, and feel that feeling, and open to it, the need to escape it tends to soften and dissolve, as does the impulse to judge.
Why is it difficult to feel certain feelings? It’s not due to the feeling itself. That’s just a sensation. It’s because of the images and words the mind associated with these feelings, and the mind taking these are scary and real. That’s what makes a sensation or feeling scary, and something we want to avoid at almost any cost. And one of the ways we avoid feeling is by going into thought, and sometimes into judgment of ourselves, others, or the world.
I found it here:
~Carl Jung, CW 10, Flying Saucers a Modern Myth, Page 344, Para 652.
Thank you!
That is so so so stupid and a mind like Jung could not have said that! 😀 Instead, the quote is: “…the relatively unconscious man driven by his natural impulses because, imprisoned in his familiar world, he clings to the commonplace, the obvious, the probable, the collectively valid, using for his motto: ‘Thinking is difficult. Therefore, let the herd pronounce judgement.'” Idiot blogger!
Thank you, Sorin. I assume you didn’t actually read this post. If you had, you would have seen that I wrote “attributed to Jung on the internet” and “This may or may not be an actual quote from Jung. My guess is that it isn’t a quote by him…”. But I appreciate the attempt at clearing up a possible mistake.
As for “idiot blogger” – yes, I make mistakes. I don’t always get things right. I am a flawed human being. And there are others who know more than me about most of what I write about. That’s how it is to be human. And that’s why I say that these are my own explorations, I don’t pretend to talk about anything absolute or final.
When it comes to what Jung may have said or not, I somehow doubt he would have gone on the internet in order to call others “idiot”, especially not before reading what they actually wrote.
P.S. In some ways, you unwittingly illustrated the quote. It seems you made a quick judgment without reading the actual post.
Idiot blogger lives up to his name.
Again and again. In reply after reply. In place after place. Idiot Blogger’s attempts to demonstrate intellectual capacity are limited by his name.
Thank you, John.
Since you seem interested in Jung, you probably know that we see ourselves in others. (It may be both in the other and in ourselves, but it’s certainly in ourselves.) When you describe others, you inadvertently describe yourself.
Also, I find it interesting that you seem to think being an idiot is bad or undesirable. It has a lot of upsides. There is not so much to live up to. We are free to be ordinary. What’s really important in life is independent of being smart or idiot. And so on. It’s not so bad to be an idiot…!