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Presenter: The patient is a thirty-eight-year-old man who has been in analysis with me for eight years. At the beginning of the session I am describing, he came in smiling as if he felt superior, condescending. Still smiling, he said, “I saw your name in the telephone directory and you are under the heading of General Practitioner.” My impression was that this was something which made me inferior, although I didn't understand why this should be so.
Bion: It doesn't matter if you don't understand because the patient has only just started talking. And the previous eight years don't matter because this is a new session and a new patient talking to you. Unfortunately it is also true that he is an old patient; he was the same old patient when he was born – and maybe before then.
When you are observing the patient, you are really observing a live archaeological specimen; buried in the patient is an ancient civilization. The patient says it is quite modern – it is in the telephone directory. But it isn't only in the telephone directory; it is in the ‘telephone’ which goes back much further. It goes back further than his nervous system – that telephonic system which travels from the cerebellum down to the toes.
As with the archaeologist who uses a spade, at a certain point the spade must be put aside and a brush used to remove the mud. This patient is also carrying out an archaeological investigation of you. He doesn't use a spade; he uses his mind and he uses a very blunt instrument – a sense of social superiority. So he can discover that you are one of these inferior people like GPs – very poor class. That keeps him on top – that's fine. But what have you uncovered? With his blunt instrument he can make it very difficult for you to think. Nevertheless you don't have to be superior to him; you can go on looking at him,
listening to him, excavating his mind to see what sort of personality he is. He is afraid of what you might bring to light and make clear so that he could s