Ego

[Kiid]

My thoughts on the ego:

The human ego. It makes many of us think only as 'I' when in reality we (Humans and everything else) are made up of the same stuff. The concept of us is hard for some and in the end we all return to the dirt. The ego makes people arrogant and makes them fell they are right even if they are not. For example; say I'm religous and believe in a flying purple spagetti monster and tell you that I you god is wrong and dose not exsist. Because I do not have all the facts and know this is true it is morraly wrong for me to say. And it is people with big egos thinking only in there arrogant ways that stop people from love.

What I think is that we should just love cos in the end we are the same as eachother and the same as the dirt we walk on. I think that happiness is the only way to go. Remove the ego and income the love.

I'd love to hear other peoples thoughs about this?

[Zet]

The brain is the most important organ, according to the brain. Pretty fascinating how our body and brain works.

[Rawr]

According to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality, personality is composed of three elements. These three elements of personality--known as the id, the ego and the superego--work together to create complex human behaviors.

The Id

The id is the only component of personality that is present from birth. This aspect of personality is entirely unconscious and includes of the instinctive and primitive behaviors. According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality.

The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension. For example, an increase in hunger or thirst should produce an immediate attempt to eat or drink. The id is very important early in life, because it ensures that an infant's needs are met. If the infant is hungry or uncomfortable, he or she will cry until the demands of the id are met.

However, immediately satisfying these needs is not always realistic or even possible. If we were ruled entirely by the pleasure principle, we might find ourselves grabbing things we want out of other people's hands to satisfy our own cravings. This sort of behavior would be both disruptive and socially unacceptable. According to Freud, the id tries to resolve the tension created by the pleasure principle through the primary process, which involves forming a mental image of the desired object as a way of satisfying the need.

The Ego

The ego is the component of personality that is responsible for dealing with reality. According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world. The ego functions in both the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind.

The ego operates based on the reality principle, which strives to satisfy the id's desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways. The reality principle weighs the costs and benefits of an action before deciding to act upon or abandon impulses. In many cases, the id's impulses can be satisfied through a process of delayed gratification--the ego will eventually allow the behavior, but only in the appropriate time and place.

The ego also discharges tension created by unmet impulses through the secondary process, in which the ego tries to find an object in the real world that matches the mental image created by the id's primary process.

The Superego

The last component of personality to develop is the superego. The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society--our sense of right and wrong. The superego provides guidelines for making judgments. According to Freud, the superego begins to emerge at around age five.

There are two parts of the superego:

The ego ideal includes the rules and standards for good behaviors. These behaviors include those which are approved of by parental and other authority figures. Obeying these rules leads to feelings of pride, value and accomplishment.

The conscience includes information about things that are viewed as bad by parents and society. These behaviors are often forbidden and lead to bad consequences, punishments or feelings of guilt and remorse.

The superego acts to perfect and civilize our behavior. It works to suppress all unacceptable urges of the id and struggles to make the ego act upon idealistic standards rather that upon realistic principles. The superego is present in the conscious, preconscious and unconscious.

The Interaction of the Id, Ego and Superego

With so many competing forces, it is easy to see how conflict might arise between the id, ego and superego. Freud used the term ego strength to refer to the ego's ability to function despite these dueling forces. A person with good ego strength is able to effectively manage these pressures, while those with too much or too little ego strength can become too unyielding or too disrupting.

According to Freud, the key to a healthy personality is a balance between the id, the ego, and the superego.

http://psychology.about.com/od/theorieso...tyelem.htm

Read this, it's pretty interesting.

[pellaz]

example?.........

[Kiid]

Freud has some interesrting theories. But ego to me is about 'I' the selfconscious being. The part of our brain that makes us think 'I' am better than you or other anmials

[Rawr]

Like Egocentrism?

Egocentrism is a personality trait which has the characteristic of regarding oneself and one's own opinions or interests as most important or valid. It also generates the inability to fully understand or to cope with other people's opinions and the fact that reality can be different from what they are ready to accept despite any change in their personal belief.

[Kiid]

exactily sir

[Robin]

I would think we humans are indeed all connected.. are not our "I"s made up of he experiences and lessons we get from others... who we are and what we can do is dependent on others it is as if we are just a part of some bigger I...one of the many personalities of Human.

[Drew]

I've been reading Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth, which is a very eye-opening read on the human ego and how we become too attached to it. It's great and I recommend it, if you have an understanding (or an open mind) for spirituality, particularly of the Eastern variety (despite the constant references to the New Testament).

Being present for what is, and not the delusional analysis of the past and future (the ego at work) helps us (or me at least) get closer to the life's truth. I'm slowly but surely surrendering to life as-it-is rather than let my own ego cloud me in my day-to-day being. "Go with the flow" maybe a bit of a cliche, but man, there's a lot of truth in that statement.