Who is ego?

Ego is an expression used very often in our culture. It is almost always associated with someone acting in their own benefit und not taking other people’s needs into consideration. There are so many terms involving that word – egoistic, egomaniac, egocentric. But what do we really know about that annoying little voice in our heads, telling us to do one or the other thing?

The common rhetoric surrounding ego is to not possess it. Or at least for it to be not “very big” and rather be selfless. It’s what we’ve been taught since we’re kids – share your toys, invite others to play, be nice and polite. This way of living has it’s right to exist as we’re existing in a society among other people. It would be hard to function otherwise – meaning if everyone would just look out after themselves. But what Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, has to say about it, is rather different. He explains, that we, as human beings, have two minds or thinking-systems or voices in our heads. The first one is the reptilian brain. It’s the one that goes by the law of the jungle, it’s the one that obeys the rule “first in first served” or “the strongest one survives”. It's telling us to go after our most basic survival instincts like eat, sleep, run or mate – or practically what we see animals do. And we’ve probably also survived by these impulses for hundreds of thousands of years. The second mind, on the other hand, is the voice of moral. It’s asking us to consider what is the right thing to do, what would be a considerate choice given all the circumstances. It’s telling us to think of the others and ask ourselves what is the ethical decision. It’s basically the reason why our society functions and what religions and politicians have been preaching to us (not saying the world is perfect, but at least this is the ideal that we strive for – you get the point). So where does this leave ego at?

Sigmund Freud claims, that ego is your sense of self. It’s what “you” to consider to be “you”. It’s the realistic part of yourself, everything that you know about yourself and consider to be “yourself”. It’s your character, your thoughts and your way of living. It’s the voice that is making all the decisions and all the calls. So, you have the two previously mentioned systems somewhere in your mind and you have your ego in the middle balancing the two and trying to make the best decision for you as you move through your life. It’s your ego’s task to shut the first voice down and listen to the second voice more and more as you go about your day. The ego – in and of itself – is neither bad or good. It’s just there, it’s neutral and it’s your job to control it. Sometimes the first voice will win, sometimes the second one will and it’s absolutely normal. We are just humans and we are fighting so many more factors within our minds and our bodies, that we aren’t even aware of. Plus, this modern world that we are navigating through isn’t necessarily the easiest one and none of us actually know what we are doing.

So, back to the question in my title – even though you’ve might have thought of “ego” as an object and would have said the right question should have been “what is ego?”, I’m here to tell you (even though nobody asked) that I am not wrong and I am indeed asking the correct question – who is ego? Meaning, I am asking you – who are you? And are you good at being you?

Make sure that every decision you make in this life is in favour of you.

Love,

Faja