ABSTRACT

If you are reading this, then I am sorry because you are obviously gonna change your mindset about ego and possibly learn some new concepts which might be higher than your scope of reasoning, so I suggest you either stop here if you too rigid and not interested in learning something new.

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If you are sure you still want to learn, and then be my guest as I welcome you to a new dimension of ego.

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INTRODUCTION

One of the things that you need to have in life is to have an identity, everybody has an identity in life, my identity is @antigenx on steemit and probably a majority of other social media. Your identity is what makes you stand out and distinguishes you from others. People who lack identity are said to have an inferiority complex per se because they cannot stand up for what they believe in.

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I notice that when a person stands up for what s/he believes and is ready to go an extra mile for that cause, the society puts an ‘ego’ tag on such people and they may even go to the extent of frowning at the ‘ego’. Having an ego in modern day society could be seen as being arrogant, rude, proud etc. but The truth remains that everybody has an ego, just that some people’s ego is more superior to others.

Sigmund Freud, by Max Halberstadt - Source: Wikipedia - Public Domain

The concept of ego first appeared in literature books in the eighteen century, it was credited to the renowned Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) who made an attempt to explain the concept after perusal of earlier works by Jean Martin Charcot (hypnosis), Theodor Meynert (Neuroanatomy and psychiatry), Ernet Brucke (Physiology and physio-chemistry), Hippolyte Bernheim (hypnosis) who all tried to develop the virgin concept of psycho-analysis in that era.

Sigmund Freud basically divided the mind into an unconscious, pre-conscious and conscious state and tried to associate each division with peculiar mental activities. Don’t worry, I am not gonna bore you with the details so that you enjoy your reading, but I guess the divisions (unconsciousness, pre-conscious, unconscious) are self-explanatory assuming we know the basics of the English language.

Feud further postulated that there is no accidental or purposeless mental activity, but rather all mental activities are elicited by a registered mental stimulus and the mind chooses which part of the division to respond to this stimulus.

Before you can totally understand the concept of these stimuli, it is pertinent to note that there is a Ying and yang kinda balance in life which plays out in our everyday life generating positive and negative vibrations, this stimulus could either tilt us toward happiness or sadness. But as we already know that life is a struggle that we have to face daily, studies over time have shown that humans develop an advance defense mechanisms in other to live a very promising life and also have a smooth sail in life. (sigmund freud called this psychosexual stages of human development.

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According to Sigmund feud model, the development of humans from birth to death is divided into different stages with the main aim of gratification. (You might choose to call this happiness, Joy, pleasure etc)

• ORAL PHASE
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This phase is noted in babies when born to an age of about 1.5years. In this phase of human development, the major site of gratification is the oral region (the mouth) which could be evident when a baby suckles the mother’s breast. Feud proposed an ORAL EROTIC PHASE (SUKING) and (ORAL SADISTIC PHASE (BITING). I’m pretty sure you can relate the gratification (joy) the baby derives when she sucks happily and also when the baby bites the nipple when irritated.

• ANAL PHASE
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By this phase, the baby would have been weaned off the breast, so this phase is noted from 1.5 years to about 3 years of age. In this phase, the major site of gratification is the anal and peri-anal regions because of the development in sphinteric control in the anus. Just like the previous phase, Feud further classified this phase into ANAL EROTIC PHASE (EXCRETION)

If you can take time to picture your face in the toilet when you squeeze to let go a poo then I’m sure a sad face would come to mind hehe.

• OEDIPAL/PHALLIC PHASE
By the age of 3- 5 years, the child would be a little matured and aware of his/her genitals, thus shifting the site of gratification to the genital area. It is common to find genital masturbation at this age. Feud made some further crazy postulations about OEDIPUS COMPLEX and ELECTRA COMPLEX which I would not really bore you with.

• LATENCY PHASE

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This is seen between 5- 12 yrs. , in this phase the sexual drive is channeled into the development of societal goals, interpersonal relationships, school etc. and there is a resolve of the Oedipus and Electra complexes.

• GENITAL PHASE: this phase is from 12 years onwards when puberty sets in and there is the development of adult sexuality traits and the development of true self-identity and urge for gradual release from parental control.
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Pheew…!!! Focus; remember we still talking about Ego here, I only digressed a little to make you understand how Sigmund Freud tried to explain how humans evolve their sense of gratification (happiness) in other to weather the storms of life. These concepts are very important in helping you understand how Freud divided the Ego.
In 1923, Sigmund Freud divided the ego into the Id, The Ego, and the Super-Ego.

Id ego super ego wikicommons image-Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International

• The Id. Freud likened this to the original mental state a baby is born with. It is totally unconscious containing the basic drive and instincts concerned with survival, sexual drive, and aggression. Sigmund Freud chooses to call this the PLEASURE PRINCIPLE, which is that part of our mind that seeks immediate gratification. Remember the different psychosexual models I described earlier ( the oral, anal and oedipal phases)

• The Super Ego- This is an unconscious division of the mental apparatus that develops from the ego. It is concerned with moral standards and beliefs which have been acquired over a period of time from parental upbringing, culture, society, Religion, life philosophies, Education, work experience, relationships with other people etc. all these circumstances leave moral teachings embedded in our minds which is very difficult to let go of. The super-ego is the part of the ego that appeals to the ID and the Ego to pursue a moral course in life rather than seeking pleasure.

• The EGO: This is the decision-making part of the mind, which gathers experience from reality and tries to maintain a balance between the ID and the super-ego on one hand and reality on the other. The ego is the seat of conscious critical thinking, self-preservation and defensive functions of the mental apparatus.

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CONCLUSION

In conclusion, to really understand the concept of the ID, ego and super-ego in real life, you would have to assume that you are alone on a highway in a brand new car with the option of speeding to have that breathtaking moment (feeding the pleasures of the ID) or taking it very slow and steady because of the past experiences you have gotten from plying that route, seeing accidents in real time, and even hearing about accidents from same highway reported on the local news. ( feeding the moralistic super-ego), but you choose to make a balance between the super-ego and ID and delay the immediate gratification after a rational thought of the aftermath. ( This is obviously the ego part of you holding you back!)

Ego is a natural defense mechanism needed for survival and to enjoy the most important things in life, Ego is not arrogance. we all spent a number of years building our ego, living inside them and branding our identity to others. I would find time to talk about the commonly used ego defense mechanism in a later post.

Hope you could pick up one or two things from reading this.

FUTHER READING

• Id, ego, and super-ego

• Psychosexual development

• What is the Ego ?