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BookReview:QuantumPsychoanalysis:EssaysonPhysics,Mind,andAnalysis
Today,byGeraldJ.Gargiulo,NewYork,InternationalPsychoanalyticBooks,
2016,166pp.
Whenwetrytopickoutanythingbyitself,wefindithitchedtoeverythingelsein
theUniverse.
JohnMuir,MyFirstSummerintheSierra
Gerald Gargiulo’s recently published book, Quantum Psychoanalysis: Essays on
Physics,Mind,andAnalysisTodayis, most simply put, a tour de force. How often
does one book interrelate concepts from psychoanalysis, quantum physics,
philosophy, literature, poetry, neurology and theology using a writing style that
itselfcomesclosetopoetryattimes?GargiuloisclearlyaRenaissanceman,fluent
in all these subject areas, and these are the very areas that Freud himself felt are
necessaryto,inGargiulo’swords,“haveaproductivedialoguewiththepsyche”(p.
103).
The book is a collection of essays written by Gargiulo on such topics as the use of
quantumphysicsasametaphorforthepsychoanalyticprocess,thenatureofthe“I,”
therelationshipbetweenpsychoanalysisandspirituality,psychoanalyticethics,and
the state of psychoanalysis today. The book is divided into three sections: 1)
Quantum Psychoanalysis, which I emphasize in this brief review because of its
highly innovative and metaphorical value, 2) Theoretical Essays, and 3)
Psychoanalysis Today. Though each section has a different focus, ideas and
conceptsfromeachofteninterweaveandintersectininterestingways.
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WhatdoesGargiulomeanbyquantumpsychoanalysis?Gargiuloisproposingthat
thewondrousand,frankly,mind-blowingconceptsofquantumphysicscanbeseen
asametaphorthatcanhelpusbetterunderstandthenatureoftheunconsciousas
well as the psychoanalytic process itself. The great quantum physicist, Neils Bohr
famouslystated,“Ifquantummechanicshasn’tprofoundlyshockedyou,youhaven’t
understoodityet.”Inaculturerelativelydeprivedoftheexperienceofmysteryand
wonder, quantum physics is home to some of the strangest and most astonishing
mysteries we can imagine. Gargiulo’s reflections on quantum psychoanalysis will
mostcertainlygenerateanexperienceofaweinitsreaders.
Gargiulo clearly articulates the concepts of quantum mechanics and relates these
concepts to the field of psychoanalysis in a lucid, creative, and thought-provoking
manner.Isometimeshearpsychoanalystsasksomethingtotheeffectof,“Howcan
the concepts of quantum mechanics, which apply to the micro-world of subatomic
particles,possiblyrelatetopsychoanalysistakingplaceinthemacro-worldinwhich
we all live?” Well, Gargiulo provides answers to this question in an evocative and
profoundly meaningful manner, and you do not need to have a background in
physicstoreadthisbookandgraspitsideas.
Quantum physics explores the quantum world, the world of subatomic particles,
also known as the micro-world, in contrast to the macro-world where our lived
experienceoccurs.Thequantumworldisjustplainbizarre!Itistheworldofwave-
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particle duality, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, entanglement, and
superposition.
Heisenberg’sUncertaintyPrincipleassertsthatwecannotsimultaneouslymeasure
both the position and momentum of a subatomic particle, and this is not due to
instrumentation problems with our measuring devices. The more precisely we
measurethepositionofasubatomicparticle,thelessweknowaboutitsmomentum.
Themorepreciselywemeasurethemomentumofasubatomicparticle,thelesswe
knowaboutitsposition.Therefore,theobserveraffectstheobserved.Thereisno
longer any sharp demarcation between observer and observed, as in Newtonian
physics. Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, one of the most important scientific
findings of the twentieth century, influenced Harry Stack Sullivan in the
developmentofhisconceptofparticipantobservation.
Gargiulo takes these concepts even further by addressing what is termed
entanglement. Entanglement demonstrates what is called nonlocality, the lack of
separability between subatomic particles and the absence of an observerindependent reality (Rosenblum and Kuttner, 2011, p. 178). The bottom line,
according to quantum physics, is that there exists an interconnectedness of all
things making up the cosmos. To understand entanglement, which Einstein
famouslytermed“spookyactionatadistance,”pictureapairofsubatomicparticles,
each of which always takes the opposite spin of the other when measurement
occurs.Butitgetsstrangerthanthat.Evenifalargedistanceseparatesthepairof
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particles,whenoneparticle’sspinismeasured,theotherwillsimultaneouslytakeon
theoppositespin.Mindyou,thisoccurssimultaneously;thisexperiment,whichhas
in actuality been performed, illustrates an interconnectedness between subatomic
particles in which information exchange somehow occurs faster than the speed of
light! Gargiulo, with his love of Winnicott, uses the concept of entanglement in a
metaphoricalsensetoexemplifytheideathatthereisnoinfantwithouttheinfantmother pair. From Gargiulo’s perspective, the “I” is always a communal “I.” The
self-contained “I” of Western philosophical tradition is an illusion– we are always
embedded in context, and entanglement brings new meaning to the idea of
interconnectedness.Thisemphasisuponthecommunal“I’isfurtherhighlightedin
oneofthetheoreticalessaysfromSectionTwoofthisbook.
Gargiulo uses the paradox of wave-particle duality to make an analogy between
quantum physics and the creation of the unconscious via psychoanalytic
interpretation. I will first review the concept of wave-particle duality and then
examinemorecloselythemetaphoricalmannerinwhichGargiulousesthis.
Wave-particle duality, or complementarity, refers to the fact that subatomic
particles exhibit properties of both waves and particles. The now famous doubleslit experiment demonstrates that if you shoot subatomic particles, one at a time,
through a piece of metal with two slits, you still see wavelike features in the
interferencepatternsgeneratedonthephotographicplatewheretheparticlesland.
Howisthispossible?Foraninterferencepatterntooccur,eachparticlewouldhave
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topassthroughbothslits.Buthowcananindividualparticlepassthroughbothslits
simultaneously and thereby interfere with itself? This leads to the concept of
superposition,wherebyasubatomicparticlecansimultaneouslybeinmorethanone
state and more than one place at a time due to its wave-like properties. Even
stranger, before a subatomic particle’s position is observed and measured, the
particle is, in actuality, everywhere and nowhere at the same time. This is where
Schrödinger’s wave function enters the picture. The wave function is “the
mathematical representation of the wave” (Rosenblum and Kuttner, 2011), the
mathematicalprobabilityoffindingaparticleinacertainareathroughobservation
andmeasurement.Beforeanobservation/measurementismade,theresimplyisno
particle! There is only the probability wave function. To create an actual particle
requiresobservation.IncontrasttoNewtoniandeterministicpredictability,weare
nowintheworldofquantumprobability,aworldinwhichrealityitselfcomesinto
question.
What Rosenblum and Kuttner (2011) refer to as the “quantum enigma” is the
measurement problem in quantum mechanics. The observer affects the observed.
Consciousness impacts the results of a physical experiment in the material world.
AccordingtotheCopenhageninterpretationofquantummechanics(oneofseveral
interpretations),observationandmeasurementcollapsethewavefunction,leading
totheexistenceofactualsubatomicparticlesaswellasthemacro-worlditself.In
otherwords,observationappearstocreatereality,therealityofthemacro-worldin
whichweresideandinwhichallourphenomenologicalexperiencearises.
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Gargiuloproposesthatthecollapseofthewavefunctionisanalogoustocreatingthe
dynamically repressed unconscious in psychoanalysis through the vehicle of
interpretation. Mind you, interpretation creates the unconscious; it does not
discover an already existing unconscious, as in Freud’s metaphor of archeological
excavationleadingtothebedrockofabsolutetruth.Inphysics,beforethecollapse
of the wave function, a subatomic particle does not exist per se. As John Wheeler
putit,thereisonly“amistofinfinitepossibilities”(p.7).Inananalogousmanner,
before apsychoanalyticinterpretationismade, thereareinfinite possibilities with
regardtothecontentofunconsciousprocesses.Theinterpretationcreatesareality
from this infinite expanse of possibility. Quantum psychoanalysis is a wonderful
metaphor for the co-construction of the unconscious as well as for realizing the
infinitenumberofpossibilitiespriortointerpretation.Andeachanalyticdyadwill
createadifferentreality.
Gargiulowrites,“Wearewalkingonabridgeofanalogy,sotospeak”(p.33).Given
Gargiulo’s concern over the reification of psychoanalytic concepts, emphasized in
histheoreticalessaysinSectionTwo,Iappreciatethathekeepshiscreativethinking
at the level of analogy, as opposed to equating interpretation with the literal
collapse of the wave function. We have to be careful of the possibility of
concretizing the metaphor and using ideas from quantum physics to explain
mysteriesinthemacro-world.AsRosenblumandKuttner(2011)pointout,“Many,
no doubt most, physicists dismiss the creation of reality by observation as having
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little significance beyond the limited domain of the physics of the microscopic
entities”(p.269).
In a theoretical essay on metaphor and meaning from Section Two of this book,
Gargiulo points to the underlying metaphorical structure of knowledge.
Psychoanalyticmodelsareinherentlymetaphorical,but,accordingtoGargiulo,“The
reality is that if we are not constantly recreating psychoanalysis we are, in fact,
killing it…Unless we are constantly refinding the metaphorical aspect of our
knowledge,wecan,alltooeasilyslipintoaliteral,concreteunderstandingofit”(p.
84). If reality is a construct, then, “Understanding the metaphorical basis of
knowledgefreesusoftheHerculeanburdenoffindingthetruth”(p.87).Ascanbe
seen,Gargiulostrugglesagainstthereificationoftheoryandthenotionofabsolute
truth;rather,“Eachnewperspectiveisultimatelyanactofcreating,revealingmore
by placing what we are addressing in a wider context” (p. 87). Freud, of course,
lived in the world of Newtonian physics and, naturally enough, used mechanistic
and hydraulic models and metaphors. Gargiulo is helping to enrich, revitalize and
renew psychoanalysis by using metaphors stemming from the wondrous world of
quantumphysics.
Insummary,aquantumsensibilityismultifacetedandincludes,butisnotlimitedto
thefollowing:
1. An emphasis on probability, randomness and indeterminacy as opposed to
deterministicpredictabilitywithclearcauseandeffect
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2. Theinseparableconnectionbetweenobserverandobserved,betweenthe“I”
andtheworld
3. Anunderstandingoftheinherentinterconnectednessofeverything
4. Anappreciationforthemysteryofthecosmos
In some ways, the most important aspect of this quantum sensibility for
psychoanalystsisthatitleadstoanappreciationofmysteryandtheexperienceof
awe. This can only help the analyst in fostering a deep experience of aliveness in
bothhimorherselfaswellasintheanalysand.Gargiulowrites:
Mystery, not formula, guides our interactions
with the world, with each other and with one’s
patients. By mystery I mean an ever-inviting
horizon to our knowledge that beckons us. One
must walk cautiously, knowing that what one
knows is mostly the unknown; quantum physics
models help in the appreciation of the great
unknown(p.78).
Theconceptsjustdescribedarejustatasteofwhatthereaderwillcomeawaywith.
The ideas thus far described in this brief review are dealt with in much greater
depth in Section One of this book, and other concepts explored in this section
include: information theory, how the present can change the past, Alfred North
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Whitehead’s process philosophy, how Gargiulo views conscious and unconscious
processes as a unity, the impact of quantum mechanics upon epistemology, the
debateoveronemindversusmanyminds,andmindversusbrain.
In Section Two, Gargiulo continues his exploration and appreciation of mystery in
what he terms everyday transcendence, which he defines as, ”an openness to the
mystery of existence, as well as a perception of the dignity that life demands” (p.
99). Intricately connected with the idea of everyday transcendence is Gargiulo’s
concept of psychoanalysis as a spiritual journey, a pilgrimage leading to greater
alivenessaswellasgreatercompassionandthecapacitytocare.Itis“apilgrimage
to touch the center of one’s being, so that a life can be lived with competence, joy
and love” (p. 151). The relationship between psychoanalysis and spirituality is
greatlyemphasizedbothSectionsTwoandThreeofthisbook.
SectionThreecontainsessaysonavarietyofissues,includingtheethicsofahome
office(spoileralert–Gargiulo,unlikeLangsandMaroda,isveryopentousinghome
offices), psychoanalytic ethics, the consequences to our culture if psychoanalysis
were to disappear, and psychoanalysis today. Gargiulo, like Merton Gill, does not
seepsychoanalysisasdefinedbyfactorssuchasthefrequencyofsessionsortheuse
ofthecouch.Hestates,“Themoreformalaspectsofanalysisarealwayssubordinate
to the goals of self-awareness and self-reflection, in the service of deepening our
understandingofwhatitmeanstobehuman”(pp.149-150).
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If I had to point to a negative, it would be that there are minor editing issues
throughoutthebook.Otherthanthis,Ihaveonlytheutmostregardforthisbook.
These essays deserve the highest of accolades. I have enormous admiration and
respectforGargiulo’smagnificentessaysandcannotrecommendthisbookenough
topsychoanalystsofallorientations.Thebookitselfisaspiritualjourney,leading
the reader to an experience of awe and mystery. Gargiulo’s goals for analysis are
always those of greater aliveness and greater subjective sense of realness that
emerge in a context of compassion, caring and interconnectedness. Awe and
mysteryareessentialtoanexperienceofaliveness,andaquantumsensibilityonthe
part of the therapist can only help to foster this sense of awe and mystery.
Therefore, quantum physics’ focus on the lack of anything real in the micro-world
andthelackofanobserver-independentrealityleadstoasenseofaweandmystery,
whichinturnparadoxicallyleadstoagreatersubjectiveexperienceofrealnessand
aliveness.Thisparadoxitselffillsonewithwonderandastonishment.
REFERENCES
Rosenblum, B. & Kuttner, F. (2011). Quantum enigma: Physics encounters
Consciousness.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.
JohnTurtz,Ph.D.
Co-director,ManhattanInstitute
forPsychoanalysis
Director–CouplesTherapy
TrainingProgramofthe
WestchesterCenterfortheStudy
ofPsychoanalysisand
Psychotherapy
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