Man and His Environment

Hans Carol, a Swiss geographer from Zurich University, sought views on regional planning for the Canton of Zurich from influential persons, among whom was Jung, who gave him a half-hour appointment in February 1 !"# $he sub%ect so engrosse& Jung that he 'ept Carol nearly an hour longer# Carol came across notes of their conversation some years later an& wrote them up for the (eue Zurcher Zeitung)s literary supplement, June, 1 *+, a slightly e-pan&e& account appeare& in the maga.ine /an&scape in 1 *!# $he following is reprinte& from the anthology, Jung Spea'ing#

Carol: I would be grateful if you, as a leading psychologist, would comment on the subject of man and his environment. Although we planners try not to look at the human being as a mere product of his physical environment, we believe nonetheless that the environment is a crucial factor in human existence. Just as men are influenced by education, they are surely also influenced by the environment society designs for them. Jung: I am very pleased that you are devoting your attention to this question. he abstract nature of work in a technological age leaves the worker dissatisfied. !issatisfaction induces people to look for compensation elsewhere. "uggestibility increases geometrically according to the number of persons involved. #ass mental disorder may reach epidemic proportions. !ecentrali$ation, on the other hand, allows for small social units. %very man should have his own plot of land so that the instincts can come to life again. o own land is important psychologically, and there is no substitute for it. &e keep forgetting that we are primates and that we have to make allowances for these primitive layers in our psyche. he farmer is still closer to these layers. In tilling the earth he moves around within a very narrow radius, but he moves on his own land. he industrial worker is a pathetic, rootless being, and his remuneration in money is not tangible but abstract. In earlier times, when crafts flourished, he derived satisfaction from seeing the fruit of his labor. 'e found adequate self(expression in such work. )ut this is no longer the case. *irst of all, he is responsible for only a small part of the finished product. "econdly, the product is sold, it disappears, and he has no further stake in it. )ecause the psychological reward is inadequate, the worker rebels against his employer and against +capitalism, as a whole. &e all need nourishment for our psyche. It is impossible to find such nourishment in urban tenements without a patch of green or a blossoming tree. &e need a relationship with nature. I am just a culture(coolie myself, but I derive a great deal of pleasure from growing of my own potatoes. -eople tend to look for the .ingdom of /od in the outer world rather than in their own souls. his is particularly true of socialism. Individuation is not only an upward but also a downward process. &ithout any body, there is no mind and therefore no individuation. 0ur civili$ing potential has led us down the wrong path. All too often an American worker who owns only one car considers himself a poor devil, because his boss has two or three cars. his is symptomatic of pointless striving for material possessions. 1et, we need to project ourselves into the things around us. #y self is not confined to my body. It extends into all the things I have made and all the things around me. &ithout these things, I would merely be a human ape, a primate. %verything surrounding me is part of me, and that is precisely why a rented apartment is disastrous. It offers so few possibilities for self(expression. In a standardi$ed apartment, in a standardi$ed milieu, it is easy to lose the sense of one2s own personality, of one2s individuality. A community is based on personal relationships. 3o community can evolve where people can easily move household from one place to another. he one(family house, the house owned by its inhabitants, is much better because it necessarily engenders a sense of permanence. If man has a hand in shaping his environment, it will reflect his personality. A "oviet collective farm lacks soul, and the people who live in it are a dull, unhappy lot because they have been deprived of any

opportunity for self expression4 A captive animal cannot return to freedom. )ut our workers can return. &e see them doing it in the allotment gardens in and around our cities5 these gardens are an expression of love for nature and for one2s own plot of land. As our working hours become shorter, the question of leisure time becomes increasingly essential to us, time in which we are free of commands and restrains and in which we can achieve self(reali$ation. I am fully committed to the idea that human existence should be rooted in the earth. 6J". --. 789( :;