A conceptual framework linking Bohmian dialogue with individual consciousness and shared consciousness (David Bohm, Carl G. Jung)

This study illuminates the linkages between dialogue as defined by David Bohm and theories related to individual and shared consciousness defined by Carl Jung. It synthesizes key concepts from works related to dialogue, psychological type, shared consciousness, mental models, and archetypes, yielding practical ideas for enhancing communication in groups. The core principles contributed by Bohm include: (1) humans normally view the world in a fragmented way, which produces inaccurate understanding; (2) part of the order of the universe can be seen (“explicate”) and part is unseen (“implicate”); (3) the concept of implicate and explicate order scales from systems of physics to systems of social behaviors without losing meaning; (4) through dialogue people come to understand wholeness; (5) some basic practices exist which can facilitate dialogue. The core principles contributed by Jung include: (1) within humans and societies, various levels of personal and shared consciousness/unconsciousness exist that are related; (2) observed differences in how people take information from the world and react to the world can be categorized and understood using psychological type; (3) what humans share (both consciously and unconsciously) dramatically impacts how each person develops and makes decisions. This dissertation contributes these principles: (1) relationships exist between shared consciousness, individual consciousness and the practice of Bohmian dialogue; (2) key elements of the linkages include: mental models (between shared consciousness and individual consciousness), meditative processes and practices (between individual consciousness and dialogue), a process of “seeking the implicate order”—attempting to bring that which is generative from the subconscious to the conscious (between dialogue and shared consciousness); (3) the intersection of all three result in insights related to (in the words of Francisco Varela) “bringing forth a world”—creating a collective view of reality. Finally, the resultant conceptual framework is used to develop a set of tools for use in dialogic settings.