Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Freud, part 1

Now that you have been introduced to some of Sigmund Freud's theory, tell me what part of his structure of the personality makes sense to you. Also if something sounds ridiculous, comment on it, too. Explain why it makes sense or why it does not.

35 comments:

lovejonas91 said...

While I was reading about Freud in the book, I began to wonder why he was so weird. I remember Mr. Yip mentioning in class that Freud thought it was good to have sex with your parents. Everyone knows that this thought is disturbing and that people who think of these kinds of things need to get out more and smell the fresh air! When I heard that, I said, "Ewww... Nasty man!" In the book, it mentioned that Freud thought, "...human behavior was motivated by unconscious conflicts that were almost always sexual or aggressive in nature" (page 7). I have to say that this statement is morally wrong and disgusting. Who thinks of these kinds of things??? He must have had way too much time on his hands; absolutely ridiculous!

Anyways, away from the disturbing stuff, Freud also said something that made sense which was that, "Past experiences, especially childhood experiences, were thought to be critical in the formation of adult personality and behavior" (page 7). Now this is a statement that makes sense. I think that what you “see” or “experience” as a child makes you who you are as an adult. Depending on if the experiences were good or bad also makes a huge impact on the adult personality and behaviors. This has to be the only thing which Freud said so far that actually made some SENSE! As an example, my grandpa always put others before himself. Even though his family (wife and three children) weren’t rich people, my grandpa made sure that his three kids (one of them is my mom, and the other two are my uncles) went to college. Like my grandpa, as a child, my mom picked up his traits of being unselfish and she continues to be unselfish today. She always puts my sister and I before anything which we’re doing and then takes care of herself.

lovejonas91 said...

OOPS... I forgot to say who the comment above was written by... it is by Natalie D.; period 1 :)

lovejonas91 said...

Well, I did not realize that we had to also read pages 453-458 and comment on this blog, so I need to do that too...

I thought that Freud's Structure of Personality was interesting. "According to Freud, each person possesses a certain amount of psychological energy" (page 457). This breaks down into three sublevels of the id, the ego, and the superego. I thought this was interesting because these things are heard of today. Do you ever hear people saying, "Oh he has such a high ego..."? Well, I think that originated from Freud's idea. The other Levels of Awareness and the Structure of Personality were interesting too. These included: ego, conscious, superego, preconscious, id, and unconscious (page 456).

Another thing I found interesting in this reading was that "seemingly accidental or unintentional actions are not accidental at all, but are determined by unconscious motives" (page 457). This makes sense when I think about it. For example, you accidentally forgot to go to a meeting for school. Did you really forget or was your mind wandering somewhere else? Hmm… this is something to think about.

~Natalie D.

Chris said...

After reading about Sigmund Freud's theories. I think it makes sense to me that childhood experience make us the people who we are today. For example, from the time I was able to speak, my parents, would tell me things that were right and wrong. They also gave me other life lessons as I got older. I believe it's these experiences that made me the person that I am today. I think it's the same way with everyone.

However, like Natalie said, I too don't agree with Freid's statement about how sexual or aggressive conflicts are in nature. I think that's wrong, and doeesn't sound normal at all.

-Chris Esper (Period 1)

MLRoxYourSox said...

Well, I think that the pleasure principle makes the most sense out of everything I read today. Really almost everything we do is to make ourselves feel good...eat, drink, sleep. I find it funny how Freud puts such a large emphasis on sexual urges. It seems like everything with him is sexual. Even bullies make fun of people to make themselves feel better. Everything is about feeling good :)

I also agree with natalie about the "Freudian slips". Sometimes my mom will tell me to put the clothes in the dryer after school and i will just happen to forget to do it. Was it because i didnt want to? Nooo. lol I'll tell her it was my unconscious motives, not my fault haha, just kidding. I did find that very interesting though and it does make a lot of sense i suppose.

Michaela Laliberte P.1

lovejonas91 said...

Michaela,
I agree with you.
My mom will tell me to bring my icepack from lunch and water bottle to the kitchen and I forget.... it is partially because I don't really want to get up and bring it, however, why do i ALWAYS forget?
Maybe from now on I should tell her that it's Freud the "Nasty man's" fault and lets see what she says!
HAHAHAH
~Natalie

MLRoxYourSox said...

Ya know Natalie, If you just tell her that Freud believes we think about having sexual relations with them, im sure she will be speechless and unable to yell at you for not bringing in your icepack...lol

Michaela

lovejonas91 said...

Michaela,
I like this blogging thing. And I think if you tell your mom that Freud was a "NASTY MAN" and believes kids should sleep with their parents she would ask you what that has to do with putting the clothes in the dryer.
HAHAAHAHAHA
~Natalie

MLRoxYourSox said...

This is true natalie, but i feel its a very good subject change to get her mind off the fact that i failed to do a simple chore...

Michaela

lovejonas91 said...

Good Subject???
Talk about disturbing and awkward...
HAHAHAHAHA
~Natalie

MLRoxYourSox said...

Natalie, It is a good subject...like really how could she respond to that? I would probably shake my head and walk away...but she would probably ask where i heard that from and I might have to blame it on Mr. Yipp lol :)

MLRoxYourSox said...

Mr. Yip*

mishy91 said...

The whole idea of our deepest most desired instinct is to have sex with our parents is creeeeeeeepy. But with that awkward topic aside, I agree with Freud, as do most of the population, that childhood experiences have a significant effect on our behavior and the way we think. This is shown in Freud himself, who depicted people as being evil and having an instinct to do bad, because of what he had experienced growing up. I mean the guy lived long enough to see WWI and WWII, who could blame him for seeing people in this light. People have the potential to do horrible things, as is shown throughout our entire existance, but we also have the potential for good, which I think is what Freud didn't realized. Natalie made a perfect example with her grandfather, because if people were the way Freud said they were, then her grandfather would of dropped his family a long time ago, but the fact he didn't, displays the good that we are all capable of. WWI and WWII showed the impact and amount of destruction that human evil could do, but if you look at Martin Luther King Jr and everyone that was part of the civil rights movement, the work that they did had an even bigger impact on people because the good that they did is still being felt today. I don't think Freud gave us as a race enough credit. There is ALWAYS a choice for good or evil, it just depends on the person.

- Michelle :)

Anonymous said...

Sigmund seemed to have theorys about how, at any age, everyone has sexual urges. He also says that we should all have sexual relations with our parents. It makes me wonder, if Sigmund was ever abused when he was a child, because he has such strong feelings to beleive that we should have relationships with our parents. And when your a child, you beleive that everything that your parents do, are for the best. If that is how he grew up, then thats what he beleives is the way to live your life.So was he ever abused? I beleive that he possibly could have.

Although, I did agree with what he said about how our dreams are the hidden part of our unconscious. He mentioned of interpretating our dreams. It made me wonder, what do our dreams say about us?

Have you ever been so upset, and I mean balling your eyes out, over something that happend that day, and, all of a suddden, somthing totally different comes out. Something hidden, no one was supposed to know. What does that tell about us? Would it mean that we have no one to talk to? Does it mean that we can't trust anyone to tell that something to, or that we're afraid that people will label us? Or is it just our personality to not trust anyone with that secret? I'm not too sure...

Matt L said...

As I was reading the assigned text, I found Sigmund to be absolutely absurd, as well as very effective at identifying the motivation for human behavior. When Freud states that past experiences create our modern day personality, I feel he created a accurate model of human behavior. As everyone else said, I do see Freud as fairly fanatical when he claims that human behavior is affected by the urge to have sex and everyone feels the urge to have sex with their parents. Due to his radical theories, I am left with mixed feelings about Sigmund Freud and how intelligent he truly is.

-Matt Lasorsa

lovejonas91 said...

Mr Yip,
When Michaela and I were laughing in class and you asked why, it was because you had said that you haven't read our classes blogs yet and we were laughing because Michaela and I had a blog conversation for this topic..... as you can see!
~Natalie

yipf said...

Mr. Yip

Ok, now I understand the laughing between Natalie and Michaela!! But I need to correct some misconceptions now! I cannot wait until class tomorrow.

Freud did not promote incest in any way, shape, or form. He theorized that incest with our parents was a desire that we repressed into our unconscious. Since it is a difficult thought to deal with, we tend to push away into the unconscious. However, it percolates towards the surface and affects our behavior. Do you ever have conflicts with your parents? Do you ever feel that one of your parents understands you better than the other? Do you ever feel betrayed by one of your parents? Freud would suggest these feelings have their roots in those repressed feelings coming to the surface. Furthermore, he would not say to act on the incestuous impulse but instead to face it by admitting it is present and dealing with it appropriately (i.e., you can love your parents without committing incest and they can accept you as you are without committing incest).

These are excellent discussions and comments. Please keep them coming!

lovejonas91 said...

Hello Mr. Yip,
Ohhhhh..... that's much better clarification! I thought this man was telling us it was a good idea to sleep with our parents....and I said to myself, Ewwww.....

To answer your questions, I do have conflicts wth my parents. But the conflicts seem to arise because of stupid things. We fight about things which we shouldn't fight about. And, I do feel that my mom understands me better than my dad; it kind of depends on the situation.

Marissa Mardo said...

After reading about Freud in my textbook, and in addition to what we learned in class, I definitely feel that Freud is a "Nasty man!" His belief that it is normal for people to have sex with their parents is really unsual and totally uneccessary.

But one thing that Freud believes that i agree with is the belief that early childhood experiences do play an important role in who you become later on in life. The difficult situations that you face throughout your life are used to help shape you into a better and stronger person. Without these experiences, people would not know and be able to do what they do today.

Another fact that i found interesting that Freud believed was that "the unconscious can also be revealed in the unintentional actions, such as accidents, mistakes, instances of forgetting, and inadvertent slips of the tongue..." (pg 456) Like Natalie said, this made me question..do i really forget things that i am told to do, or is my mind just busy focusing on something else? Mmmm...

Marissa Mardo

Wynne said...

Freud’s theories on the id, ego, and superego almost fascinate me; mainly because they make sense. You have a little two year old kid. All he does is scream, cry, and whine about wanting this and that. Yet, that’s only for a time, for sooner or later the kid begins to grow. He learns how to maybe get something for himself, or to ask nicely; the basic rules which govern society and the way people act. Around the time when adolescence kicks in and on to perhaps his early twenties, the kid will begin to find his own opinions and morals as he storms off into the adult world. This growth of personality within the unconscious and conscious is so on target with Freud’s theories you can’t help but sit back and think of the truth behind it and your own life; your own id, ego, and super ego.
However, Freud failed to complete this theory, for he left out the reasoning behind the deterioration of the elderly mind. Many old folks tend to falter in later life; their egos – using Freud’s definition of the word – slowly failing to restrict the urges of the id. It could be said that occasionally elderly people fall back into the realm of two-year-old like behavior; wanting what they want when they want it. I would have liked more explanation on that particular occurrence.

Ted Wynne

Anonymous said...

i think Natalie misinterpreted what Mr. Yip said, Freud didn't say it was GOOD to have sex with your parents, but that there is an UNCONSIOUS DESIRE, pretty much an instinct, to sleep with one of our parents.

but on the reading, Freud did make sense, but i was rather fevered while reading the section, i can't really put a finger on whart exactly was right or wrong in his views, but i think he was heading in the right direction, if he was and today, i think he would make sme breakrougg discoveies via the technology and information we ave at our dispsal, hope i don't miss tooo much by being absent today.

-Mike D'Amore

Anonymous said...

oh and having not read, Ted's comment until now, I agree with him compltely

Unknown said...

I initially agreed with Freud's theory that early childhood experiences have a lasting effects on people. I see that a good majority of the students above me felt that his idea of humans being motivated almost always by their sexuality was disturbing and ridiculous. I must disagree, however. I feel like people are constantly acting in ways for self-pleasure and whether they realize it or not, this type of pleasure is sexual. I'm not saying anything weird like eating a certain type of food gets someone off, but just think about it: say you want to have cheesecake for dessert. You like the tase of it. New York style is your favorite because it's thicker and creamier. You're not doing it because your body relies upon it, but because there are some hormones or something in that body of yours telling you that it tastes good. Our bodies act in strange and mysterious ways and I think by satisfying one part of the body, this satisfaction can spill over into other parts. Although Freud was much more radical in his beliefs of sexuality (how children supposedly want to have sex with their parents), I must agree that i believe in what Sigmund was trying to prove. I don't agree fully, but let's say I'd have his back if necessary.

Katherine Gannon

Ben Pickering said...

I would definately agree with ted and what he has to say. When people hit a certain age, there mind and reaction slowly diminshes. Take my grandmother for example, Connie she goes by; a daily occurence for her would be going through a red light and not realizing it. (or not knowing what red means) As you hit a certain age things start to go and she would be the first one to admit it.
Freud and the Reading:
I would definately agree that your early childhood experiences play a big role and in what your future will be like. Experiences help people learn everything in life and is probably the best method to master something. For example, someone who has alot of experience on a subject, such as psychology, would most likely have more knowledge about that subject. (such as Mr. Yip, sometimes) Also what happens when you are young sets the tone for the rest of your life. For example a child growing up with a normal family, should turn out fairly normal. However a kid growing up in gangster nation with a mom thats a cracker mic crackhead and sells drugs, will most likely do the same and end up in some form of trouble.
Onto the whole sex with your parents thing. I think it wacked and just a little too much 4 me too handle and this time at night. I understand that you are not necesarily thinking about it all the time and that its in your subconcious, whatever that may mean. Either way its a little wierd whether it be in the subconcious, the concious, or no concious.
Love Ben Pickering

Anonymous said...

As I was reading the text about Sigmund i am starting to realize what kind of a quack this man realy is. But like Matt said he does explain his theory thorughly, but i dont see why i would even agree with that at all. I belive thought When Freud states that past experiences creates our personality no a days, when get brought up by sertain people like out parents that when learn to stay close to them, but As everyone else bloged, I do see Freud as being completely crazy when he claims that human behavior is affected by the urge to have sex and everyone feels the urge to have sex with their parents. Now that i have studied Sigmund Freud a little more i realize why there are only a few people studying his theory's still and teaching them, like Mr. yip

mishy91 said...

I don't think Freud was crazy, actually I think he was heading in the right direction, even though a lot of us disagree with him. Now that I think about all the theories he created, it had me wondering how far he went into his own unconscious. Who better to do the research on than yourself, because you know yourself better than anyone else on this planet. I'm guessing he had to face some pretty disturbing things while delving into his own brain, maybe one of them being the fact he had a basic desire to sleep with his parents. Who knows what goes on in the deepest parts of our unconscious, and as much as he attributed to psychology, I don't believe he had enough evidence to say that EVERYONE has a basic instinct to have sex with their parents. But then again, who knows.
Just to clarify right now, I'm not saying we do have an instinct to commit incest, because I know some people will get the wrong idea lol. I've just noticed that a lot people have avoided the subject and the fact that it might be true for Freud. Once again, I'm not saying we want to have sex with our parents, just to make it clear.
-Michelle :)

Taozoo4u said...

While i was reading i found that when Freud theorized that childhood experiences make us who we are stuck in the back of my mind, I agree that while childhood experiences make us who we are today, I also believe that environment also plays a strong role in influencing us. I'm not pushing away the fact that someone who grew up in a bad town where there was a lot of gang violence and drugs and things of that nature can't grow up to be a successful and respectable member of society, I'm just saying statistically that is unlikely. I somewhat believe when Freud said: , "...human behavior was motivated by unconscious conflicts that were almost always sexual or aggressive in nature" (page 7), for a lot of people this is true for others they dismiss it and suppress these feelings and call Freud a crazy man. Not all of Freud's ideas are crazy it's just that people suppress these feelings and refuse to believe that at one point most people have had them.

Taozoo4u said...

ohh, umm the one above this is me

-Matt B. Per. 1

Anonymous said...

I thought that Sigmund Freud was a bit out there. His theories are very unconventional. His theories are theories are ones that no one wants to listen too. For example, like the one Mr. Yip said in class about the basic instinct is to have sex with your parents. I believe that is absurd. The only thing I agree with about Freud is that iceberg example. I believe that is a good way to describe consciousness.

-Lauryn Pregoni Period 1

yipf said...

McCall Theriault

Here it is!!

Throughout the reading, I thought that the Psychoanalytic
perspective was something to consider. Things that happen in a
child's live could have server aspects later on in life, no mater
good or bad! As for the humanistic perspective I also think that
it is important to have an optimistic look at life and of your
surrounding peers. I think that too many people judge others
before they even meet them and that is wrong!! The social
cognitive perspective which entails learning and self-values, may
not be important to all but it is good to have self pride and
think highly of ones self. The trait personality is my favorite i
think because, everyone id different and I think that that is
fascinating and that be take for granted the many people they
have to meet by judging right away and not learning something new!!

Sigmund Freud no matter the weird and unusual things he has to
say has a point and
i think that it was made to be expanded upon. Each year new
things are discovered in science and history, why can't we do
this with the human personality.

The ice berg reference is perfect for this topic! It defiantly
describes the personality very well!

lovejonas91 said...

Mr. Yip,
Thanks again for the clarification in class about Freud and sex. I understand it better now!
~Natalie

Leslie said...

Since, we've gone over Sigmund Freud's theories, it's made so much more sense to me on why he made them. The first time I heard that theory that kids wanted to have sex with their parents i was like "WHAT!?". But now I understand where he got that idea from and how he could've gotten the idea that kids wanted to have sex with their parents unconsicously from the Anna O. case. It's makes sense on how he would've made that theory. But then again, I think that it's a bit extreme to go that far, just from that incident. If it were me, I've probably gotten something different from that incident. I'm not saying thatI agree with it though, it's just gross, really gross.
I find Freud's theory of the Three parts of Personality interesting. YOu do find there things happening to you, but unconsciously (does that make sense to you?). The more we talk about it, the more I'm able to reecognize it in myself.
The more that I read into Sigmund Frued's theories and the more that we talk about them in class, the easier it is for me to understand Freud and how he would come up with his theories.

gary31 said...

I agree with Freud saying we do stuff to make ourselves happy because everything we do is to make ourselves happy people get job to make money to buy thing they want and need we eat when hungry, sleep when tired. I also agree with him saying that are childhood has a lot to do with the way we turn out when were grown up

dirkdiggler said...

im goingto agree with chris and say that it is what memoriesyou experience during childhood even as a yound child i remeber watching my father in the day to daythings he would do anddint really care as long as the business got done ie dress and the way he would talk so obvioulsy things havnt changed froom farther to son

Roberto said...

The part of Freud's structure of the personality that makes the most sense to me is the presence of the Id, Ego, and Super Ego. I think that everyone goes through the conflict between the Id and the Super Ego unconsciously and in my opinion the winner depends on the situation. For example, I think that my Super Ego takes complete control of my actions when I'm in public but when I'm alone or with a small group of friends my Id will usually be the dominant function and if I want to do something then I'll do it. However that doesn't mean to say that my Super Ego at this point is non existent because there is a certain line I wouldn't cross. Honestly everyone's Super Ego probably is a little more dominant when the person is exposed to the public.