reply to post by Astyanax
There's no way with my uder ID i could miss responding.
In a Freudian nutshell:
You're born and the consciousness that is you, isnt particularly self aware. You have no sense of identity and function at a purely instinctive
level. The id ( not eye-dee but the word id) is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants,
and needs.(IWANT CAKE,GIVE ME CAKE, NOW NOW NOW NOW)
As you become self aware you start to see youself as a seperate individual, you quite literaly get a sense of me, mine, I and thus the Ego starts to
form. The Ego attempts to satisfy the needs of the Id but tkes into account the reality of any given situation ( I want cake, but there is no cake
shop, I will wait for a cake shop, and then I will have cake)
The final part of "you" to develop is the Super Ego. The Super Ego is the part of "you" that maintains your internal standards of morality, right and
wrong. (I'd like some cake, but that will spoil my dinner)
The reason Freud discussed them as seperate entities was not necassarily because he believed they actualy were, but because he believed that many
mental problems were results of conflict between Id, Ego, and Super Ego, and although much of Freuds work is not taken too seriously these days, I
think in this case he was pretty much spot on. The battle between What you need, what you want, and what you know is right can cause a certain level
of mental instability if the balance of these desires is not kept in check.
To recap:
Id = Instinctive
Ego = Selfish
Super Ego = Moral Guardian
EDIT - I answered the question from the OP before reading the "debate" that ensued after so not realy sure this is what you were after. i'll leave
the obvious ramblings I've already typed and just add..
It's you, you are your ego and your ego is you...
nuff said !!
edit on 12-12-2011 by idmonster because: (no reason given)