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Space, nowadays, has taken on new importance. Thanks to research and recent discoveries, our world as spatial extension has been seen in its totality. Space not yet livable and distinct from known and experienced space has now been entered. Although this extension is not directly the psychoanalyst's province, some aspects of it do have strong bearing on the inner dynamics of our lives on earth.
A question that has become rather urgent is, Where do we stand? In a marvelous feat of scientific progress, astronauts blasted off from a pad on Cape Canaveral to the Sea of Tranquility on the moon. In a less dramatic parallel of our psychosocial movement, we have been catapulted from Victorian tracks of silenced solitude to a thunderous exhibition of activities. The astronauts did not get lost in the stars. Do we on earth have to be sunk in the mire?
The astronauts landed on the moon. Have we found our proper place under the sun? Things in space can be rearranged and assigned their proper location. Why can't people, meandering aimlessly, change their course? In Greek mythology Daedalus gave his son Icarus the advice of moderation: Mediam tene viam—Keep a middle course; move neither too far away from the earth nor too close to the sun. We might well heed this today. Though any excursion into new realms may entail a temporary departure from familiar ground, the basic frame of reference does have to be retained.
But, again, the question is, Where do we stand? Where do we go from here? Our senses, the mediators between the inner aud outer world, are being subjected to new impressions and influences. Sensory perceptions have undergone crucial changes. Speed, space and the vehemence of stimuli have been grossly increased. New ways of experiencing have prompted analysts to speak of the politics of experience. The topography of experiencing has undergone definite shifts. Much more is happening between an individual and others, between an individual and his world, than was the case hith