Overdetermined

I've just returned from an eight-day silent retreat in Durban. What an experience! I probably won't blog too much about it, but wanted to mention a lovely book I picked up towards the end of the retreat. It's M. Scott Peck's Searching for Stones. As he writes in the opening pages, it's a kind of autobiography in that it's about a three week trip he and his wife take in Great Britain. As the trip unfolds he explores some of his ideas about philosophy, psychology, spirituality and life.

One of the central themes that runs through the book is the idea that everything is overdetermined. In other words, for everything that happens there are many causes or many reasons. When we just give one reason for something happening, we over-simplify which in many cases can be stunting or even dangerous.

For example, if we say the reason there is an upsurge in crime in South Africa is because young black youth are aggressive we're missing the complexity of the situation. There may well be a high level of aggression within certain demographic groups in South Africa, but it more likely that there is an overdetermination of causes, from unemployment, to a break down in family structures, to a natural movement in the beginning phases of a democracy, to a breakdown in traditional values, to an unjust social system, etc etc.

Throughout the book he describes the many possible reasons why certain things may or may not have happened. He often draws on logic, history, current affairs, evidence, experiential knowledge and a range of others things, to bring a depth to any phenomena. The one of greatest interest to him and his wife is why prehistoric people in Great Britain built these magnificent megalithic structures (such as Stonehenge), hence the name of the book, Searching for Stones. But he is also interested in questions such as why he and his wife have stayed together all these years when he was unfaithful to her, and why certain of his clients (in his work as therapist) reacted in certain ways to various treatments.

I found this an excellent read and highly recommend it!