And what’s the difference between a inspired, alternative minded person, with a sunny outlook on life, and a grumpy, petty paranoid misanthropist, then?

About 30, 40 years 😉

Here’s an example of really bad science. A quote I put in my pocket many years ago. And which I’ve picked up many times since then. Written by (hold on!) an anonymous writer on a blog who referred personal communication with an unnamed researcher. But what does it matter! When the content itself is like gold. In the field where psychology and (new) spirituality overlap.

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“I suspect that what’s going on is that New Age, now entering its third generation, has developed a theodicy. Now, this is a theological term, but it essentially means an explanation of the existence of evil – why bad things happen to good people.

For some of those in the New Age milieu – Foster Gamble, David Icke, Whitley Strieber, Duncan Rhodes and others, all incidentally in middle age and with a long term involvement in the New Age milieu – an explanation is needed as why, if we’ve entered the Age of Aquarius, is the world less peaceful, equal and progressive than ever? Conspiracy theories offer such a theodicy – the New Age hasn’t happened because evil people prevented it from happening.”

Muertos, 2012

A quote on the same subject. Here it is about such psychology that talks about “elevated” states to strive for or to achieve. Paul Vitz, from his book Psychology as Religion, 1977:

“Second, as people aged, they realized that many of the things thought necessary for self-actualization would not be attainable in their lives. Besides interpersonal disasters, there were career failures, serious health problems, and many other disappointments. The discrepancy between the promised ‘high’ of the Maslovian self-actualization or Jungian individuation and the reality of their lives created a vast disappointment and ‘credibility gap.’ The belief that psychology could make you happy, that it was the answer, began to fade.”