08.11.2012 11:53 AM

The Festival of Joy: A debate about the Id, the Ego and the Superego

So, it’s the Festival of Joy. What better use of it could there be than debating the Id, the Ego and the Superego on the 401 with Lala? Here is my dilemma: the Id is demanding, selfish, ravenous, irresponsible, and so on. The Ego, theoretically, holds the Id in check. That is, it continually seeks to moderate the impulsive nature of the Id. The Superego, meanwhile, is supposedly the moral centre. In essence, it provides values, ethics, morays, and the like. The Superego is our conscience, and provides a set of rules by which the Ego can moderate the impulses of the Id.

So, the dilemma. Is the Ego simply an automaton? A robotic control mechanism for the Id, which lacks moral structure but for the value-laden Superego? I don’t understand how the Ego is without conscience of its own. Therefore, if it is capable of values-based decision making, who the fuck needs the Superego in the first place?

This is the sort of discussion that we are having as we head East on this sunless Festival of Joy. Don’t take any wooden nickels.

6 Comments

  1. bigcitylib says:

    At this point in the discussion I would maybe throw some AC/DC on the stereo.

    They tell me what to think/but they stink/and I don’t care.

  2. Emily Lang says:

    Reminds we of this john I had when I used to turn tricks. He was a clinical psychologist with a wife & 2 kids.
    I was lucky I didn’t get AIDS when I was a prostitute. Got a couple other STD’s though.

  3. GFMD says:

    Think of it as the id’s counsel: “Within the context of the rules of which I am a qualified expert, my opinion is that you are entitled to this and by advocating on your behalf I can probably get you this much.”

  4. Dan says:

    You do realize those concepts are 100 years old, when psychology was still a nascent science.

    You may as well ask how much blood you would have to drain to cure cancer.

  5. dave says:

    It is like Mexico, land of passion and fun, USA, the ego, always on the the hustle to get it done, and Canada, the conscience of the continent.

Leave a Reply to Dan Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.