Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Freud saw the ego as the only part of the conscious personality. It’s what the person is aware of when they think about themselves, and it is what they usually try to project toward others.

The ego develops to mediate between the unrealistic id and the real external world. It is the decision-making component of personality. Ideally, the ego works by reason, whereas the id is chaotic and unreasonable.

The ego operates according to the reality principle, working out realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of society.

The ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette, and rules in deciding how to behave.

Jung saw the ego as the center of the field of consciousness which contains our conscious awareness of existing and a continuing sense of personal identity. It is the organizer of our thoughts and intuitions, feelings, and sensations, and has access to memories which are not repressed. The ego is the bearer of personality and stands at the junction between the inner and outer worlds.

The way in which people relate to inner and outer worlds is determined by their attitude type: an extraverted individual being orientated to the outer world, and an introverted one primarily to the inner world. Jung also noted that people differ in the conscious use they make of four functions which he termed, thinking, feeling, sensation, and intuition. In any individual, one of these functions is superior and is therefore more highly developed than other functions, since greater use is made of it, but each attitude operates in relation to the introversion or extraversion of the person, as well as in conjunction with other less dominant functions, giving a number of different theoretical possibilities.

The ego arises out of the Self during the course of early development. It has an executive function, it perceives meaning and assesses value, so that it not only promotes survival but makes life worth living. It is an expression of the Self, though by no means identical with it, and the Self is much greater than it. Jung compared the nature of consciousness to the eye: only a limited number of things can be held in vision at any one time, and in the same way the activity of consciousness is selective. Selection, he says, demands direction and other things are excluded as irrelevant. This is bound to make conscious orientation one sided. The contents which are excluded sink into the unconscious where they form a counterweight to the conscious orientation. Thus an increasing tension is created and eventually the unconscious will break through in the form of dreams or images. So the unconscious complex is a balancing or supplementing of the conscious orientation.

Many are guilty of buying into the common misconception that ego and confidence are essentially the same thing. They equate both with a brazen attitude that’s seemingly composed under pressure. It’s even been said that taking on such an attitude at work will get you ahead. in your career.

The reality, however, is that these two concepts are quite different. To have confidence is to have faith in your own abilities and believe in yourself, but the ego is something else, entirely. Unlike confidence, the ego operates out of self-interest. It seeks approval, praises, and validation at all costs in order to be seen as “right”. It is resistant to feedback and assigns motive where there isn’t any.

I referenced noted names in the world of psychology to give you a basic understanding of what the ego was initially intended to portray. Unfortunately, in today’s world EGO has gotten to a point where the individual or group is unwilling to accept any point of view that does not support their narrative. We have developed group ego, whether it is white, black, conservative, Christian, democrat or republican people gravitate to their group or perspective and rarely engage with ideas outside their established opinion. Because many refuse to listen to another perspective they automatically brand anything outside of what they choose to hear as a lie and not worth even entertaining as factual.

The United States has a two-party political system for better or worse that is what we have and historically those two perspectives on governing were able to compromise to solve problems. Yes, it is true that in 1860 there was no reconciliation, and the country went to war. It seems that we currently have a party that is intent on division and seemingly thinks that an authoritarian or autocratic form of rule would be superior to the system we currently have. I call that ego gone amuck.

We have a party intent on rigging the electorate too but the balance of power solely on the hand of a few, be damned what the people want. This group refuses to learn lessons from history. Rome fell because the division between the wealthy and the general population was too great, Marie Antoinette was beheaded because she held lavish parties while her people were starving. The wealth gap globally is huge but in what are considered first world counties the U.S. have an ever-growing wealth gap. In the fourth quarter of 2022, 68.2% of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10 percent of earners. In comparison, the lowest 50 percent of earners only owned 3% of the total wealth.

The Ego of the top 10 percent has convinced way too many that only they have the knowledge and ability to make things better and so we should let them have the whole pie. The truth is that they only care about themselves and their own and sharing isn’t in their nature.

So, I am asking everyone to put your ego in check, listen really listen and figure this out before Rome burns again and repeats history.