Synopsis: Commander Sisko and Chief O’Brien are stranded on a planet where an Earth colony has banned modern technology.
This episode is an illustration of what happens when the Logos-driven rational conscious ego visits the underworld.
In “Paradise” Deep Space Nine’s Commander Benjamin Sisko and Chief of Operations, Miles O’Brien are mapping an area in space for potential Federation colonies only to find that there is one already established on a planet. There is some sort of duonetic field coming from the planet so they are unable to learn more about it, so they go down to the planet themselves. However, once they arrive, none of their tools for investigation, communication, or transportation back to their ship are operative. They have gone to what might be considered a technical underworld. This place is governed by a woman, Alixus, who bans any use of technology, except that which she uses to maintain her control of its use.
This can be seen as analogous to when the rational ego goes into an underworld state, as in dreams. Or perhaps nightmares. On this planet, and in our dreams, our regular tools to understand our environment don’t work and we have to adapt or be forced out. Sisko and O’Brien are not prepared to adapt. So, just as the rational ego sometimes finds a way to escape, or ignore, messages from the underworld, or the unconscious, Sisko and O’Brien find a way to free themselves from being controlled by Alixus.
However, unlike this paradise, it can be argued, as Carl (C. G.) Jung would have us believe, that we need both the conscious and unconscious, technology as well as the physical strength of the body, to be more whole. That it is in acknowledging both sides of our nature that the rational ego becomes stronger and the psyche more whole.
mydailysoultrek 