Freud, the Big Bang, and the Origin of Life (2016)

©Antti Talvitie, 2016 (revised as noted)
Freud: Wikimedia Commons / Max Halberstad / Public domain

Freud, the Big Bang, and the Origin of Life

Antti Talvitie (aptalvitie(at)gmail.com)

ABSTRACT

In 1924, Freud thought that the “the theory of the instincts is the most important but…the least complete portion of psycho-analysis” (Freud 1905, p 168, fn in 1924).  The paper addresses this matter and starts where Freud broke off his reflections about the origin of life in Beyond the Pleasure Principle: “…that living substance at the time of its coming to life was torn into small particles, which have ever since endeavoured to reunite through the sexual instincts.”

Troika: Trump. Putin, Xi (2023)

©Antti Talvitie, 2023

Troika: Trump. Putin, Xi

Antti Talvitie (aptalvitie(at)gmail.com)

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an application of psychoanalytic theory, focusing on the psyche and traumas of globally significant leaders —Trump, Putin, Xi — collectively known as the Troika. It also delves into the value of psychoanalytic theory in shaping public discourse on matters of public interest.

Freud’s Project for Scientific Psychology and Structural Theory of the psyche serve as the frameworks in the analysis of the Troika’s pathologies. By using observed circumstances, speeches, public information, and the invisible forces in the psyche as data, the paper argues that the life and death instincts and the neuronal ‘machine that runs by itself’, organized by the early experiences of these global leaders, drive the Troika’s destructive actions.  These actions, in turn, profoundly impact the citizens of the world, a fact that cannot be overlooked. 

Freud as a Lamarckian (2021)

©Antti Talvitie, 2021
Freud: Wikimedia Commons / Max Halberstad / Public domain
Lamarck: Wikimedia Commons / Charles Thévenin /  Public domain

Freud as a Lamarckian

Antti Talvitie (aptalvitie(at)gmail.com)

ABSTRACT

 Memories, the writings of Freud, concepts about transgenerational heritance, neurobiology and (epi)genetics, and their therapeutic uses motivated this paper.  These issues go back to Freud’s 1895 groundbreaking paper Project for Scientific Psychology [Project] judiciously annotated by Freud’s translator James Strachey in 1954. 

Trump’s Etiology and His Herd (2021)

©Antti Talvitie, 2021

Trump’s Etiology and His Herd

Antti Talvitie (aptalvitie(at)gmail.com)

ABSTRACT

The first part of the paper is a diagnosis of Mr. Trump’s psyche based on publicly available material and informed by psychoanalytic theory and case studies. It portends that events in Trump’s infancy have caused irreversible mental disorders, among them a fetish, the psycho-physical origin of his lying, and ignorance about the truth; and a “split” psyche resembling psychosis, with ‘repudiation of femininity’, reverence to strong leaders, use of ‘ad hominem’ labels, conspiracy theories, and threats of violence. This, and obfuscation in the courts are the ‘new normal‘.  Rational dialogue with Trump is futile.

Rail factor and realism of the unconscious (2020)

©Antti Talvitie, 2020

Rail Factor and Realism of the Unconscious

Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 6 (2020) 100144

Antti Talvitie (aptalvitie(at)gmail.com)
Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

ABSTRACT

The paper reviews the spoken but unknown behavioral ‘rail factor’ that may bias travel forecasts toward rail, or favor investments in urban rail, foster economic development, or add to satisfaction of travel. The rail factor hypothesis is examined from cognitive and unconscious points of view.  The former is based on the mode specific constants in mode choice models, types of travel time data, values of travel time reductions, and citizen preferences in two urban transport corridors.  The unconscious view is based on Freud’s conception of the unconscious and his and others’ perceptions about rail travel and ‘knowledge illusion’. It is pointed out that the cognitive factors already broach the unconscious and its unobservable dynamics. The realism of the unconscious is related to the cognitive findings via a literature review of the most typical genres on rail factor research. 

Things planners believe in, and things they deny (1997)

©Antti Talvitie, 1997

Things planners believe in, and things they deny

Transportation, No. 24. Vol 1. pp. 1-31. 1997

Antti Talvitie (aptalvitie(at)gmail.com)

World Bank

ABSTRACT

The paper examines the economic theory of consumer behavior from the Modern Psychoanalytic point of view with a metaphor of (transport) planning as a backdrop. It is claimed that the utility maximization principle of economic theory, no matter how broadly interpreted, does not envelop the motivation of human behavior and that the economic explanation of the aims of human behavior, which disregards the "dark side" of man, will result in narrowly conceived plans and policies.