Saturday, August 22, 2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_ego
I like 'the it', 'the I' and 'the over I' much better than 'id, ego, super-ego'.

The over I is the part of us that tries to be objective. Tries to take a step back and look at our actions and decide if they adhere to whatever moral system we've constructed for ourselves. It's not though the part that makes the moral system in the first place. It's just the part that tries to live by it. The I and the unconscious make the moral system.

The over I though is just as much a part of the unconscious as the conscious. Thus I don't think this three way division actually makes sense.

There is the unconscious and the conscious. And then there is the perfectly selfish/subjective (and perhaps neither word describes it quite right) and the objective/'moral'. Both of which are partially conscious and unconsious.

Through the Over I we get angry at perceived indifference. Through the Over I we feel shame for our failures and guilt. Through the Over I we often purposely choose to not be happy when we otherwise could be.

I don't know though. I suspect it's all just different semantics to look at things from a slightly different perspective that amounts to nothing new actually being done.