A century ago Sigmund Freud turned the world of human behavior on its figurative head. For millennia much had been said about how the human mind worked and some of it was interesting, even if fanciful. With his development of the concept of the unconscious and the components of conscious behavior Freud changed everything.
The id, the ego, and the superego quickly became the tripartite congregation of our personalities. In the hundred years since his seminal work, much has changed and the field of psychiatry has left behind many of the ideas that made Freud a figure of monumental proportion whose name is still recognized as one of the great thinkers of the last century.
The id, the seeker of pleasurable sensation and the superego, that nagging inner voice that blows the whistle on too much pleasure are less talked about today than their middle sibling, the ego.
The ego, not necessarily in Freudian terms, now is the engine of success. It is what drives so many of us to achieve the goals that we seek. In itself, that’s a good thing. Without it probably not much would be accomplished. Like many human attributes it can have a deleterious effect. Who hasn’t known of people who are so totally egocentric that the needs of others are completely overrun? Such self-centeredness will drive everyone into retreat which, unfortunately, is sometimes seen as success by the perpetrator.
In the 1950s the idea of what the ego can do to a perfectly nice person was well-depicted in the Broadway play Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? The answer is “Yes, it will!” Even with the message of the play and the subsequent movie the role of the ego in achieving success has not been diminished.
In recent years there have been a number of books that not only point out the shallowness of the ego-driven life, but the sequelae of pursuing such a path beyond its usefulness. Without question, a strong ego is a requisite for success but what happens to a person when, as in the case of the redoubtable Rock Hunter, the bloom is off the rose and a life of meaning is no longer defined by success?
To continue to use the ego drive that was so successful becomes a serious handicap when the prestige of professionalism has receded. In our culture we do not venerate the elderly, particularly when they attempt to deny the reality of their lost importance. One of the saddest sights is the star performer who doesn’t recognize that his/her place has been taken by younger set of ego-stars.
In John Kennedy’s inaugural address we all remember the line, “Let the word go forth from this time and place that the torch has been passed to a new generation.” What about the old generation?
Well, out to pasture they go and while some forge a new identity and have a new purpose to life, many do not. An example of each type comes to mind: Few would argue that Jimmy Carter, a problematic President, has been our most successful ex-president. On the other hand, General Douglas MacArthur, without doubt a great military leader, is remembered more for his pessimistic address at West Point, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.”
So treat your ego with respect but also with discipline as a reminder that there will be a life after the ego loses its power. It’s up to each of us to make sure we learn how to make that transformation.
Hayden Hollingsworth
