sociatry

[Adam Blatner]

Comment on Moreno quote:
         "Reducing man's responsibility to the psychological, social or biological 
department of living makes him an outcast. Either he is co-responsible for the whole 
universe or his responsibility means nothing. The life and future of the universe is 
important, indeed the only thing which matters..."---JLM,  p. 201 "Origins and Foundations 
of Interpersonal Theory, Sociometry and Microsociology" (1949) in Sociometry, Experimental 
Method and the Science of Society by J.  L. Moreno, Beacon, NY, Beacon House, 1951.

       I appreciate Moreno's scope of vision, but this quote is the kind of thing that 
embarrasses me when I have to interact with folks beyond the circle of those who seek the 
deeper meanings. On the surface, the hyperbole is absurd. How am I responsible for the 
collision of galaxies, for the destruction of life on a planet as a nearby supernova 
irradiates it and then blasts it? How am I responsible even for an earthquake as the 
deeper mother-earth (the geological planet) shifts Her mantle and generates earthquakes 
and volcanoes?  This kind of hyperbole, of excessive over-generalization, may express the 
perhaps over-generous spirit of Moreno, but it also gives our field a bit of a tarnish. I 
mention this because it is tempting to consciously or unconsciously imitate him in a 
spirit of what edges into pathological spontaneity, a willingness to edge into excess to 
make a point. I think such behaviors may be one of the reasons why our field has suffered 
a decline in its status relative to other types of psychotherapy in the eyes of other 
professionals.

       The value of his point is fair, of course: Let us open our minds to how else we 
might be able to consider our responsibility, and the exploration of those domains are 
worthwhile. (They can also be facilitated through sociodrama and axiodrama.)
          Ah, wording. Warmly, Adam