Freud Or Fraud
Are the id and the ego both at an unconscious level?
If only the id is at an unconscious level and the ego is at a conscious level then how is it possible for one to consciously fight against something that is unconscious? Suppose it were so, then it means that there must be a clear connection between the unconscious and the conscious level that one can tap into at anytime. Yet no one knows what is happening at our unconscious level. If they are both at an unconscious level then it means that we do not ever make our own choices. Every choice would be governed by the id and the ego at an unconscious level. But if we do not make our own choices then who does? Is it the id and the ego? If that is the case then what governs them? There must be some other forces at the unconscious level governing the id and the ego. If Freud has assigned the id and the ego at an unconscious level then it is just as appropriate to assign another force (aside from the superego) governing the id and the ego. And it is just as appropriate to assign a thrid force governing the previous force. How do we know that there are not infinite forces at an unconscious level governing the id and the ego? Why stop at the id, the ego, and the superego?
Voices In Your Head
Have you ever been in a situation that might have produced some sort of anxiety in you because you had a choice to make? Or better yet, have you ever heard voices inside of your head where one says ‘do this’ and another saying ‘no do that’? I certainly have and I am confident others have as well including yourself. Assuming you have as well, then are these voices the id and the ego? If they are not the id and the ego then what are they? If it is the id and the ego then it is at a conscious level because we can hear these voices and we are aware of them. Regardless of whatever these voices are, two things can be safely concluded. First, that they are at a conscious level and second that they serve the same purpose of the id and the ego meaning that there is no need for the id and the ego at an unconscious level at the first place. Therefore, it can be concluded that the id and the ego or whatever you want to call them are both at a conscious level.
What does it mean?
So, what does this all mean? Before we get into that, another question must be asked. Do you believe in God, a supreme Being? I believe in One God, Allah. If you believe in God then another question must be asked. If you do not believe in God it should be remembered that this is not about proving the existence of God. Now, assuming you believe in God, the second question is that what is the purpose of your life? I believe that the purpose of my life is to get closer to my creator, God. To submit to God, to pray to God, to find God, God is our master and we are His servants. Now, if one believes in God then they most definitely believe in Heaven and Hell. So, how does God distinguish between who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell i.e. how does God distinguish between the righteous and the unrighteous servants of His? Not only do we have the Holy Books (Bible, Quran, Torah, etc.) and prophets of God (His messengers), but I believe that God has placed the id and the ego (the voices inside our head or in your heart) at a conscious level in every human (after a certain age of maturity but of course there are certain exceptions that may be due to brain illness etc.) so that when we are confronted with any situation, we are given two very clear-cut and distinct paths/choices to choose from. The id telling us to choose the bad path (leaning towards Satan) and the ego leaning towards the good (God). The choice we make is up to us and the path we choose is up to us. Hence, I believe that every man and woman will be accounted for on the Day of Judgment for their own deeds and no one can be a substitute or a scapegoat for another. In short, I believe that the id and the ego are a mechanism placed at everyone’s conscious level by God in order to distinguish the righteous from the unrighteous i.e. who goes to Hell and who goes to Heaven. Coincidentally, we have the id and the ego and we have Hell and Heaven. This much about the id and the ego should suffice for now.
Purpose of Dreams
Freud also talks about dreams. According to him, when we are asleep, the id seemingly overpowers the ego or gains dominance and in response to this the mind initiates what Freud calls Dream Mechanisms (I think it may be Dream something else). This is what Freud believes to be the purpose of dreams. Allow me to explain what I believe is the main purpose of dreams. It should be remembered that God does not have a mouth meaning that he can not speak directly to His servants. So, how does God communicate with His people? Again it has already been mentioned that one may say we have the Holy Books that contain God’s decree (what He wants us to do and what He does not want us to do). However, how did these books come to be? The answer is through his righteous messengers, prophets of God. How was the information revealed to the prophets? Through visions or dreams. Hence the main purpose of dreams. God communicates to us through dreams. This can be proved by the numerous fulfillment of prophecies by the prophets and in the Holy Books (more about fulfillment of prophecies can be discussed later if you like to). Whereas, Freud’s theory can not be proved. How can one confidently say that the id at an unconscious level dominates the ego resulting in Dream Mechanisms and what not? How do you prove this? You don’t because you can’t. It is a totally absurd idea. Which brings me to my next and final point. I will now attempt to explain where Freud went wrong with his ideas and why people may have believed such absurd ideas of Freud.
Where did Freud go Wrong?
Freud was correct to say that there are two forces that are contradictory to on another (he called it the id and the ego). I believe that people accepted this idea because they had themselves experienced it at a conscious level (the voices in their heads). Since they experienced it they began to accept this idea (even though Freud believed this at an unconscious level). So, people accepted Freud because they experienced the id and the ego at a conscious level but Freud talked about it at an unconscious level and perhaps people did not pay much attention to this (or maybe they did but it does not matter anyways). I believe that the id and the ego (the voices or what not) are a natural phenomenon (a mechanism placed by God to distinguish between the good and bad) and Freud simply coined the term ‘id’ and ‘ego’ for this natural phenomenon. Freud, after realizing that people are accepting his idea, appears to have gotten carried away with it. He made his own little world of id and ego and tried to explain other natural occurring phenomenon by the id and the ego since people accepted that idea so well. He began to explain dreams using id and ego (which has already been discussed). If dreams were the id gaining dominance over the ego then he surely must have had something to explain for the ego gaining dominance over the id and what if the battle was a dead draw? What happens then? As mentioned before, I believe he went into his own little world of id and ego. For example, bloopers in our everyday life such as saying one thing where you meant another thing he would call a Freudian slip (again most likely relating it back to the id and the ego). Is it not more reasonable to say that one said something else while meaning to say something different simply because they were multi tasking (thinking about one thing writing about another and focusing on something else), again a natural phenomenon. But Freud insisted on using the id and the ego to explain not only this natural phenomenon but others as well. This is where he went wrong. In short, people accepted Freud’s idea of the id and the ego because they experienced it since it was something normal to them, a natural phenomenon. But as soon as Freud started to apply the idea of the id and the ego to other natural phenomenon that were indeed not associated with the id and ego at all, people deviated from Freud’s beliefs. For example, more people will believe in the id and the ego rather than believing that it was a Freudian slip that caused them to say something while another thing was intended. Most people would just say that they were thinking about something else while they were talking or that they were not paying attention as to what they were saying and something else slipped out.
For further information please visit http://hubpages.com/hub/Freud-or-Fraud