ABSTRACT
Wilfred Bion locates the source of our capacity for contact with the ultimate reality of O in the infant's inherent capacity and need for truth. Bion's willingness to question the essence of psychoanalytic work exemplifies his love of fate and his faith in the unknown destiny of embracing truth. The potential for destruction in analysis is a necessary aspect of the work, as the reign of the patient's false self is challenged and usurped. Since O is viewed by Bion as the necessary state in which to practise psychoanalysis, associating O with the domain of the "mystic", or "genius", or "exceptional individual" points to the idea of a need for further mental evolution if we are to fulfil the challenge of psychoanalysis. This revolutionary idea is sure to be unpopular with the group, for it is an undemocratic idea, requiring us to question our work, and implicit in which is the idea that all analysts are not created equal.
