Daniel

Medvedov

N S
ot for

ale

The Dr. Faustus Syndrome

Madrid

2015


Not to Sell:

Your Soul to the Devil

Your Body to Night Ghosts [Incubi & Succubi]
Your Heart for Money
Your Time for Nothing
Your Place for Petroleum Companies in search of new resources
Your Understanding for Fame
Your Husband for other
Your Wife for other
Your Destiny for Power
Your Will to other

Syndrome of Dr. Faustus

The syndrome of Dr. Faustus seems to be a complex behavior painted with psychopatological symptoms defined as intellectual bulimia , and related to a so called
"thirst of knowing " - the famous
"hunger of knowledge ". Here we have the bitter and childish lamentation of Dr.
Faustus, in the first act of the famous book of Goethe:
" Ay! I have already studied Philosophy, Jurisprudence, Medicine and also,
unfortunately, Theology, all this in extreme depth and with aggravated effort. and I see
myself here, crazy poor man, without knowing more than at the outset. I have the titles of
Lawyer and Doctor and for ten years I have been dragging my disciples from top to
bottom, in straight direction or curve, and I see that we do not know anything. This
consumes my heart .
Of course, that I am wiser than all those foolish doctors, lawyers, notary publics and
friars ; they torment neither the scruples nor the doubts to me, nor I fear to hell nor the
demon.
But I have been myself deprived of all joy ; I do not create to know nothing with sense
nor boast myself to be able to teach something that improves the life of the men and
changes its course. I either have goods neither money, nor honor, nor distinctions before
the world. Not even a dog would want to continue living in these circumstances. For that
reason I have given myself to the magic: in order to see if by the force and the word of
the spirit mysteries are to me certain developing; not to have to say with bitter sweat
which I do not know; in order to be able to recognize what the world contains in its
interior . "
[Faustus, act first]
The subjects suffer of a kind of immoderate and compulsive desire not only to read or to
study, but to penetrate in depth all human wisdom and wit. This is not and can not be
obtained from research or existential allowance of years, but as a consequence of a

sudden illumination. It might be the result of a deep and continued focus, but receiving it
not, the human subject add anguish to a sensation of existential weariness that maintains
him sunk in frustration.
Usually, a man or a woman like this are cultured scholars and own thousand of books or
old manuscripts where day & night they pretend to find what they are in search for.
Soon or later they discover that all is but erratic knowledge and sterile information.
Even if they are conscious of some kind of a superiority compared with others, they are
not feeling well with themselves, are not content with who & what they are, nor with
what they know, nor with what they are doing in life. They are not integral realized
persons.
They are not able to experiment pleasure in everyday life and blame society where they
find not interlocutors to stimulate and praise their so called knowledge acquired in
study, travel, reading or else.
Public recognition and praise of their erudition strange as it may look, causes to them
a sort of an annoyance, because they consider others to be, completely and clearly
inferior. This suppose that they consider themselves superior to others.
They all live in complete confusion and suddenly decide to contact obscure forces and
sell their soul, something that they have no idea of what it is, and of what is the
meaning of their intention.
God save us all of these obstacles.