shadow and archetype

We have come to accept that a lower moral standard is necessary to get things done in the real world of politics and business.
This is the gospel of expediency - the double standard of conduct.
Keshavan Nair

The nobleness Gulliver finds in the horses of Houyhnhnm is probably something he found was lacking in mankind. The brutish character of the Yahoos was something he too well recognized in his fellow people.
Carl Gustav Jung used the term shadow to refer to unrecognized or unwanted drives and desires, the other side of the conscious ego, standing in relation to the ego as a kind of submerged opposite that at the same time strives for completeness with the ego. For Jung, the development of the ego always tended to be two-sided. He thus placed particular emphasis on understanding conscious and unconscious life in terms of an interplay between opposing tendencies. He believed that full development of self-knowledge and human personality, a process which he described as individuation, rested on a person's ability to recognize the rival elements within his or her personality and to deal with their contradictions in a unified manner.

What we do not like in others may very well be suppressed in ourselves.

Neurosis and maladaptation stemmed from an inability to recognize and deal with the repressed shadow, which typically contained both constructive and destructive forces. For instance, when trying out mind mapping you may find that you can visualize much better than you thought you could: till now this was hidden in your shadow. You may also find that you are not as patient as you would like to be. Just pushing this away will not make it disappear. It is much better to use your impatience by choosing a technique fitting to your temperament. Then you are emptying your shadow and creating a vessel.
And besides there is more to be done, but since you're alive it is good to have something going, isn't it? The male person must come to terms with his anima (female aspect) and the female with her animus (male aspect). Animus and anima are to be found in the shadow of male and female, respectively, and we have to search for them in our unconscious (see also trees).
According to Jung all people are either introvert or extravert. The introverted individual is directed towards inner development and the extravert towards the outside. Having come to know which side is strongest developed, we have to make the other side conscious. Thus the individual can create unity in opposites i.e. deal with polarity. This polarity in the Jungian view is more than two opposites. It also includes the difference. For example, if I have 2 sticks and the one is shorter than the other, I call the one short and the other long. The one is long because the other one is shorter, or the short one is so because of the other one. I relate them to each other and base my conclusions on the difference. Thus there is a trinity: long - sort - difference. If one is removed the others also disappear! Creating balance in this triangle means working in the difference.

It is a theme of creating unity in opposites, or dealing with polarity.

In all walks of life we see that patterns are created and recreated in accordance with the structures found in the history of myth and literature. What little research has been done so far shows that even though we may use the latest electronic technology and management techniques to plan and execute our affairs, we do so in ancient ways: nuclear wars are planned similarly to conventional warfare. Few if any can visualize what has never been. For we are all primitives at heart, reproducing archetypal relations to make sense of the basic dilemmas of life. Our brains are superb in patterning and we must be aware of not becoming 'robots' by all following the same patterns. Creative thinking means breaking through the patterns which have served their purpose. The archetypes also change as the collective subconscious changes because cultures change. The collective subconscious is the term Jung used to describe the cultural heritage as it is passed down through fairy-tales and myths.
For instance, as Martin Walker observed in his American diary in the Guardian Weekly : More than 310 million people have visited Disneyworld since it opened nearly 35 years ago. The entire population of the Us is 250 millions. What makes Disneyworld different from other theme parks is the fact that besides the usual attractions other parks offer, it offers these within a context of psychological comfort and familiarity . For three generations, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and Snow White and Bambi have become archetypes of childhood. For many children they have replaced wicked witches and fairies of our grandparents. Disney Inc. is spreading all over the world and so a new collective subconscious is created.

It brings to mind Jung's warning that what would seem a blessing, could turn out a great disaster if man did not prepare himself properly. This is given extra weight if we consider the dominance of the left-brain hemisphere in Western culture. This hemisphere is the seat of rationality and logos: the word. As will be clear from the aforementioned, it is neither left nor right that determines the effective use of the brain: it is the balanced interplay. In order to break away from this 'replay' as it were, creativity is needed.