Synopsis: Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Chief Engineer Scott, and Ensign Chekov are transported to a planet and come across what seems to be a re-enactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral.
In this episode, we find out what happens when warning signs perceived by the conscious ego are ignored and our psyches are spiraled into the depths of the unconscious.
Here, the Enterprise comes across a space buoy that advises them: “Aliens, you have encroached on the space of the Melkot. You will turn back immediately. This is the only warning you will receive.” That this can be interpreted as a voice from the unconscious is evident in that each crew member hears it in their own native tongue. Mr. Spock surmises that this is an act of telepathy that makes it possible. However, under orders from Starfleet Command to make contact with the Melkotians at all costs, the Enterprise continues on its mission, not heeding the warning. Much as each of us, in our busy day to day life – so sure of what we must accomplish – we can sometimes not listen to a warning that something in what we are doing should not be done.
In “Spectre of the Gun” Spock understands that what is occurring is not real, it is as if a dream. He is able to rationally know this for certain, and through a Vulcan mind meld he makes the rest certain of it as well. This is a very Logos interpretation, that if the ego consciousness perceives something it can question enough to believe it is not real, then it cannot hurt us. Unfortunately, in our psyches we do not deal with Logos alone. We also have Eros and an unconscious, and just because it does not appear on a tricorder does not mean it does not exist. I submit the logic fails here.
At the end of the episode, Spock asks Captain James T. Kirk how the human race survived the time of the OK Corral. Kirk responds: “We overcame our instinct for violence.” This is another place in which the rational ego is said to have overcome the irrational unconscious. This is another error, as any glimpse of a news report will show. The best that can be hoped for is that the unconscious violent urges within ourselves are acknowledged, and by seeing them for what they really are, are allowing ourselves to feel them, and in the feeling, lessen their ability to dominate us.
Original post created 13 March 2021
mydailysoultrek 