- the id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends
- the super-ego plays the critical and moralizing role
- the ego is the organized, realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-ego
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We also see this framework in the classic idea of having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other -- the superego and id, respectively, with a person in the middle as the ego to mediate between the two. The ego is what we often associate with our conscious identity: it is the upper-most "layer" in the brain, if we use a computing analogy like the 7-layer model, which holds that the lowest layer of complexity is the physical layer (the transistors and circuit boards in a computer, neurons in our brains), and the highest layer is applications in computers, and consciousness in humans.
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So if the ego is simply the organized, rational part of our consciousness, why does the word "ego" have such a negative connotation? Where did terms such as "egotistical," "egomaniac," or "ego trip" come from? They all stem from becoming too attached to a concept of self. We know that our bodies are transitory - cells constantly divide, or die, and our brains are governed by chemicals that are heavily influenced by our environments. Why, then, do we expect to have a consistent, rational identity, if we are tied so closely to a chaotic physical embodiment?
The concept of "ego death" is used to refer to a realization that the ego is illusory, that there is no continuous "self" from one moment to the next. Wikipedia again says it pretty well [2]:
- Ego death is characterized as the perceived loss of boundaries between self and environment, a sense of the loss of control, personal agents, and cognitive-associations. This re-organization, reidentification, and reinterpretation of boundaries between self and environment experienced through sensations of wholeness or by refutation of the "I".
Ego death experiences are associated with many religious experiences, including meditation and prayer, as well as lucid dreaming, sensory deprivation, and psychedelic drugs. It is often reported that a great sense of peace and happiness comes from realizing that you are "part of something bigger than yourself." Of course, we're all raised to believe (and instinctively, we believe) that our identities are real, and our names refer to a permanent "self" or "soul," and that our identity ends at the barrier of our skin. Ego death experiences are difficult to achieve and even more difficult to maintain. It's all well and good to realize that I am a speck of cosmic dust, totally interconnected with the universe, but I still need to feed myself, get a job, and therefore go to school and care about grades and other trappings of the ego.
Questions I have about this include: has anyone experienced ego death? Is the ego necessary for human progress (ie: is there any reason, if I let go of my identity, to care about grades or personal achievement?)? How is the ego related to our concept of physics and how we interpret the world (ie: the ego perceives time, so time must be a physical reality)? Do you think that humans will ever evolve past ego, or is it a necessary part of being human? Is all of this just something that a bunch of crazy hippies came up with? I welcome any thoughts you have.
I think the idea of ego is crucial to human progress. The only reason people motivate themselves to gain knowledge, success, power or really anything else is either because other people tell them they need to and they care about what those people think, or because they themselves desire it as a part of their identity (including their personality, pride, or intellect). Both of these rationales are entirely dependent on the ego. If you yourself did not care about something you would have no reason to put forth the time and effort it requires. If one has no immediate personal attachment to a particular pursuit but still works toward it, then undoubtedly others have told them that they must do so and they value that person's opinion or insight and within their own ego a subconscious internal desire and drive is created (I HAVE to do my homework or I'll fail and flunk out and no one will hire me, etc.).
ReplyDeleteI absolutely believe that a person can experience an ego death but for the most part these are temporary flashes which we must remove ourselves from in order to be functioning members of a driven society and in many ways stay alive. If I am but atoms in cosmic dust we no defining identity then what is the value in being alive versus dead? We must care about ourselves to put in even the necessary effort to stay alive. If ego death occurred on a grand scale human progress would collapse as no one would have an obligation to even themselves and certainly not anyone else's imaginary ego.
Allie, these are great questions that I also wonder about a lot. I would, hesitantly, say that I have experienced ego death on at least one occasion, during which I did experience that sense of joy and happiness described above, as well as a complete loss of the sense of time. The experience was, of course, transient and not something I can easily remember or explain. Although I cannot re-experience it at will, it did affect me long term. For one, I am much less afraid of death than I used to be. It also helped contribute to my lack of religious beliefs, as I felt that I got a glimpse at what may have sparked many of their beginnings. It doesn't lend itself well to explanation, and much less so to being written down, which is why I feel many religions miss the mark in some important ways. I'd rather experience it for myself than try to interpret someone else's experience. Paradoxically, it gave me a sense of being eternal. Perhaps not in the sense of existing from negative infinity to positive infinity in time, but closer to how there are infinitely many points between zero and one.
ReplyDeleteSara's comments also resonate with me, as the experience gave me a profound feeling of everything being utterly pointless. I think the ego evolved as an incredibly useful survival mechanism. For the most part it convinces us that we are important and should keep going. If we just sat around all the time feeling one with the universe we would probably just lie down and die, letting ourselves drift into oblivion. Of course, the body has some great ways of not allowing this to happen. You would eventually get hungry and become motivated to get some food and loose sight of the Great Happening. In Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell, he posits that one of the main functions of the brain is to eliminate sensory input so that we don't become overwhelmed with reality but instead can focus on getting stuff done, which leads to survival. I don't know if that is quite how it works, or if it's just an interesting metaphor, but it's an interesting way of looking at these experiences of "egolessness".