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Freud and the power of the unconscious · Gabriel Ellis, PhD | The Curious Mind Podcast

0:01
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Curious Mind
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Podcast. My name is Gabriel Ellis, I'm a
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psychologist and a psychotherapist.
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My deep interest is in consciousness and the
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development of the mind and so I thought I could give you a
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summary. Of.
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The teachings of one of the main developers of modern psychology,
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which is of course Sigmund Floyd and his concepts around
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psychoanalysis. Floyd was one of the fathers,
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maybe not solely responsible, but he for a good part.
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He started the development of a more or less scientific and
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therapeutically oriented process in which without taking
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medications or using the body in an excessive way, so to speak,
0:59
purely with the mind and through conversations, that therapeutic
1:02
gain, a healing could take place.
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Floyd did that. He was Austrian, lived in Vienna
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most of his life until he emigrated towards the end of his
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life and in the past. In the last year or so of his
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life, he wrote a last summary of his teachings in German.
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It was translated into English, of course.
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It's called an outline of psychoanalysis, and he wrote it
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in 1938. And it's more or less one of the
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last things that he wrote. And I thought it would be
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interesting to convey to you how he summarized how he looked back
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on his teachings and tried to convey what he has found out,
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what he has developed to a broader audience.
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I can really recommend to you to read to read the outline of
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psychoanalysis. It is quite dense.
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It might not be for the absolute beginner, but it is nicely
2:07
written in style and it it's very coherent.
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You can see that someone is writing here who has developed
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and has experience so much in thinking through and developing
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this material that it just makes sense as a full package.
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Whether or not I disagree with some points that I can discuss
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in the second episode, where we'll wrap up the summary.
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This time I want to focus on the so-called topological model that
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he developed towards the end of his life in the 1920s.
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Before that, he basically distinguished between conscious
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and unconscious. And in 1920 and 1923, he started
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to develop another perspective on the mind and started to
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distinguish between three areas. These areas have this fields.
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This regions of the mind in German have very conventional
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names, and I would like to use those conventional names.
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For some reason, when it was translated into English, instead
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of choosing the English terms, the translators and maybe Floyd
3:28
himself, I have to look that up. They chose the Latin terms.
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And of course, what I'm talking here about is what is in German.
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The simple translation translation in English is the I
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in English and turns into ego which is a differently loaded
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word. Right now.
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The German is is simply the third neutral personal pronoun,
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which is it in English it turned into ID which is the Latin word
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for it. And the German Uber ish, which
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literally means above or over I. So which is above the I or over
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the I translated in English with the Latin term into the Super
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ego. And using those Latin terms, I
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find that this is not beneficial for the understanding because it
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gives it some kind of a technical or exotic flavor, and
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it creates an artificial distance, as if those concepts
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were very artificial and far away from our daily experience.
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And by using the literal translations into English, I
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would like to bring them a little bit closer so that you as
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the audience have the feeling that this is actually something
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that is in your mind as well. Of course, that's kind of be
4:59
fully done just by the use of terms, but still, I will stick
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with I it and with a admittedly weird above eye, the above eye,
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what is called a super ego. But again, to emphasize, it is
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something that Floyd conceived as something as an as a
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register, as a part of the mind that is above the eye.
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So like I said. The Outline of Psychoanalysis
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was written in 1938. Floyd did not complete it.
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It was a difficult time for him. Also, he was suffering from jaw
5:39
cancer that was very painful and yet so many problems with.
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He was about 82 years old, 8283 years old when he wrote this.
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So again, you can imagine how far he looked back to an
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accomplished life in both the practice of psych analysis and
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also the conceptualization as a as a psychological philosophy,
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so to speak, on this work. I will leave out the
6:08
psychosexual development, meaning how in the view of
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Floyd, what kind of phases they're going through, how the
6:19
libidinous energy is focused on certain parts of the body.
6:24
One, I think this is pretty much outdated as a view.
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I will in the next episode, I will go into a little bit of the
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criticism on that. And also empirical evidence has
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shown that some of his ideas are not really accurate.
6:44
It just seems that he stubbornly got stuck, stuck at those ideas
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and didn't want to let him go. Let them go.
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At the same time, I don't want to give you the impression that
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this whole model of psychoanalysis and the for Floyd
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at Floyd's time, I'm not talking about later developments of
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psychoanalysis, that at Floyd's time, these stages of
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psychosexual development would be dispensable.
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They're not. For him, they were integral.
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And for example, the development of the Oedipus complex, the
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notorious one for him, was one of the greatest achievements of
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his findings. So while I'm leaving that out,
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keep in mind that by him this was an essential part.
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But again, to go into it would be more out of historical
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interest. Whereas to describe the IT, the
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eye and the above eye, I find even as a reader today, someone
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who works in the clinical field is still inspiring because it's
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so insightful and consistent in how he describes it.
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Before psychoanalysis. And here Floyd simplifies when
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he puts that points that out, there were two main ways to
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understand the mind. One was indirectly through
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science of the brain and the neurological functions.
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But here, of course, we have only indirect measures.
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We can hook up an EEG to the brain and see the brain
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functions, but what does it really tell us?
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An extension of that are the different methods that we have
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today to display what is going on in the mind.
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But even though there are so many hopes and so many
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expectations to this advanced field of computational
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neurology, for me this is basically an extension of the
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EEG. And if at all, though, I think
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still a lot of time will have to pass until we can use this data
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or not to develop drugs, but to directly understand what is
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going on in the perceptual, in the conscious aspects of the
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mind. So this is the indirect approach
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through nervous system, brain and body.
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This is one of the main possibilities to approach what
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is going on in the mind. The advantage is that it has no
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gaps, it has no brakes. I can hook somebody up on an EEG
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and basically have a 24 hour recording of the brain waves.
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Something that is useful again when we approach the mind
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through the body, through the brain and then next to it,
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traditionally we have the immediate understanding of what
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is going on in the mind. Which is the immediate
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understanding of perceptions and feelings, thoughts, decisions
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that we take. The problem here is that
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consciousness isn't perfect at all as an immediate tool.
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Why? Because it has many gaps, it is
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fragmented and it is unclear what means what.
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To put it in other terms, consciousness is not self
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transparent. We can't have a feeling but what
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this feeling is and what where it comes from, this is usually
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hidden to us. Sometimes we understand we have
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a pretty good theory, but it is usually an interpretation that
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we have, and the break between interpretation and truth is a
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gap. Also, awareness is pretty much
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all the time very selective, so. While you're watching this, for
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example, even though there are stimuli and data in your
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consciousness that are easily accessible, for example, the
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feeling of your back or your legs while you're sitting, or
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some sounds that are going on around you.
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If you're paying attention to what I'm saying, then the focus
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of your awareness, the focus of your consciousness will be on
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listening and on watching. So there are gaps there between
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the potentially accessible data in your mind and that what you
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are actually paying attention to and what might be transferred
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into memory. This is the selective awareness,
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the selective consciousness that we have.
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Our memories can be faulty. This is wide known.
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This is trivial to say by now. You will find example of this in
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pretty much every court case when they asked witnesses.
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You can see this when you have arguments with friends, family,
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partners and so on and you argue about what happened when and so
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on. Memories are just factually
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faulty. Not all the time, but also we
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cannot just naively trust that what we remember is an accurate
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description of the truth as it happened.
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Our motivations, they're very often inaccessible to us, the
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roots of them. Why do I want ice cream right
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now, even though I want to lose weight?
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Why did I make the decision to say this particular thing and
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the situation and the board meeting or at home or in the
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discussion, and then I regret what I said.
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This is inaccessible. To me I.
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See myself acting. I'm a witness of what is
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happening in my mind, but the reasons for it is something that
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again, I have to contemplate about or discuss with others in
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order to find that out. So again, this is an example of
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the gaps in awareness and consciousness.
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Dreams are another example for something that is inacpensible.
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Sudden ideas that come into our mind slip UPS in our speech and
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for example, phenomena and hypnosis.
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When we as an audience, we perceive how somebody was
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instructed to behave as if it rains, even though it doesn't
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rain. And then seemingly they are
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released from the hypnotic state, but they still have the
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hypnotic instructions inside of them.
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Then they behave as if it's raining.
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And when we ask this person then why are you crouching?
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Why are you covering your head with something?
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Quite often people will just make up an explanation without
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being aware that this was a hypnotic suggestion.
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So again, in their mind, they have a gap where they see
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themselves acting, but they cannot really explain why
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they're acting. And this is an example that
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Floyd also gives at the beginning of his writing.
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What it leads to is that in order to make sense.
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Of the mind as a whole without gaps, we either have to rely on
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the physiological, on the neurological data, but again it
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is not very helpful in understanding our direct
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experience, or we need to consider that parts of the mind
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are unconscious and are not available to us.
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And these gaps in understanding the mind off of Freud, the main
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legitimatation for basing his whole depth psychology or
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psychoanalytical approach on the study off of the unconscious.
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One part of the gap is can be pretty trivial to resolve to
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understand. And this comes from the fact
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that in the present moment there is only a fraction of
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consciousness really present in the sense that we don't occupy
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all the knowledge, all the understanding, all the memories
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that are available to us in the present.
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Moment our consciousness is very selective, yet if you ask me, I
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can easily remember my name. I might even remember my phone
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number. There's so many information that
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I can access readily. So in the present moment, in a
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trivial sense, this is not conscious or unconscious, but it
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is accessible. It's easy to make these
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information conscious. So in order to distinguish a
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hard unconscious, which is very difficult or even impossible to
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become aware of, and those easily accessible information,
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Floyd uses different terms. Things that I'm conscious of in
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the moment is obviously consciousness.
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And then there is the data that is easily accessible to me,
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which I can easily recall. And this is what he calls the
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preconscious preconscious because I just have to lift it
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into consciousness and then it's actualized.
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And from that he distinguishes the actual unconscious that is
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very difficult to retrieve. And is just not available to us.
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All these three together, for Floyd, they sum up as the mind
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as a whole. And then he says we basically
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have an unbroken chain of mental phenomena.
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If we're able to consider all those three regions of the mind,
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the unconscious, the pre conscious and the conscious,
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then we have a complete set and we don't have to take recourse.
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To exercising scientific methods on the mind to use neurological
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again Eegs or whatever methods in order to have an unbroken
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chain of what is going on, the level, the stage, the region.
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And Floyd actually calls it a region because he has a
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topological model. He has a model that is, that he
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locates in space that he calls the the IT.
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The source of all mental phenomena is for Floyd, the IT.
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According to Floyd, our mental life comes from a system that is
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made-up of different parts and areas that I said the IT for.
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Void is the oldest part and it is made-up of inherited content
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and it energizes our mental life with the goal of satisfying our
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basic bodily drives. This is the IT inherited
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material and drives to satisfy basically bodily needs.
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This is for void the IT Floyd calls what is happening in the
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IT because it is fundamental. This is the root of all mental
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phenomena. This is why he calls it primary
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processes. So if you come across
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psychoanalytic or Floyd's literature and it mentions
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primary processes, then he refers to the IT to the source
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of the mind. And essentially these drives
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that are bodily drives for Floyd, they cause all of our
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activities and all the appetite for bread, the interest in a
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good job, the meaning, searching for meaning of life.
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All of this is rooted in it material and processes that are
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rooted. In the IT.
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Now Floyd agrees, or he admits, that there is a wide, wide
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variety of drive material that is processed or processing in
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the IT. And yet, for the sake of
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understanding and simplification, he categorizes
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these drives into two main types.
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One is the OR he calls it. One he calls the Edos, which we
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can translate as the life drive. It also includes the libido,
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which is the sexual energy, but it's not limited to that.
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And the other main drive is the destruction or death drive,
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which Floyd by the way developed quite late in his life and it's
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he published it in a publication in 1920, whereas he started
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publishing material that is more or less going in to the
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direction of psychoanalysis from the early 1880s on.
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So from what 18851886 he started already?
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Developing a psychoanalytical method and the death drive he
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only introduced in 1920. So you can see how late of a
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layer that is now Eros for Freud wants to create, to maintain, to
20:08
construct, to survive and to seek pleasure and harmony.
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So essentially it's a constructive building force, a
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drive, the destruction of death drive.
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It wants to break down things. To separate and it aims at a
20:27
more fun for for it for to a more fundamental piece.
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And what is that fundamental piece?
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It's the fundamental piece that essentially goes back to the
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time when life has not developed itself yet.
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It's the the drive to go back to the inorganic state before life
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existed. So this is what constitutes
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basically the motivation for Floyd, for the death drive.
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Most of our drives, Floyd says, are a mix of both both errors
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and destruction. Drive, for example, eating, he
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writes. It involves destroying the food
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through chewing and digestion, but in order to nourish,
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maintain and build up the body. Sex, which is for fundamental in
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his concepts and theories, often has elements of aggression and
21:25
taking. And at the same time it is also
21:28
aimed at connecting with my partner, a loving union with my
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partner. So these are just two examples
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of how those fundamental drives are often mixed and make up the
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flavour of our daily needs and drive structures. the IT now.
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And here we develop and broaden our understanding of what it is.
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the IT has sensory organs on the brain's cortex and these organs.
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And for example here we can take the the eye, the retina is
22:07
actually an extension of brain neurons.
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So this is quite literally true how Floyd describes it here.
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These organs, they receive stimuli, obviously sense organs,
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but they also protect us from being overwhelmed.
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So here already on the level of the organs, we have a sense of
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letting information in and keeping information out.
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And it will be clear soon why this is so important.
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So the eyes are obviously very important sense organs, the ears
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as well. And very important for Floyd,
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which he then develops in his psychosexual stages, is the skin
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and wear on the skin, wear on the surface of the body.
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It feels good to be touched or stimulated.
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Now between the sensory organs and the brain's cortex, a part
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of the IT develops under the influence of the outside world.
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Depending of what information is put through by the sense organs,
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there is a part of the IT that develops and is affected by this
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outside world information. And this part Floyd calls the
23:32
eye and it acts as a mediator between the outside world and
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the IT. And this is indeed its main
23:40
function. The job of the eye is as the
23:46
further it develops is to keep us safe and ensure our self
23:51
preservation. We can call it also it's it's
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supposed to maintain the life force inside of us.
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We are supposed to survive with the aid, with the help of the
24:06
eye. The eye learns about the world
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through the sense organs. It remembers experiences through
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the memory function. It avoids harmful stimuli,
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stimuli which is an extension of what the sense organs already
24:20
do. But the eye takes more
24:22
resources, is much more interested in preserving itself
24:27
and keeping itself from harm, and it adopts, adapts to
24:31
moderate sense sense stimuli, sense information.
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Which is it? It is able to change itself and
24:41
is not overwhelmed when it is not overwhelmed by the influence
24:46
of the outside world. And the eye also shapes the
24:51
outside world according through its willpower, through actions
24:56
and decisions. So our volitional forces, the
25:01
ability to move my limbs, to move muscles as I want, this is
25:05
a faculty, this is a force that is in the under the property of
25:13
the eye. So it is extremely important
25:17
that this faculty of movement of will willed movement is under.
25:28
The control of the eye because it is again the function, the
25:32
main goal or the function of the eye to take care of self
25:37
preservation and to reach its goals.
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And this is basically what the eye is.
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The eye is made for. This is why it's created, so to
25:50
speak, by the IT. One of the eye's main tasks is
25:56
to go after the drive demands of the IT.
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But the I, in order to do that to satisfy the drive demands of
26:09
the IT also has to manage the demands of the IT. the IT wants
26:17
instant gratification. It doesn't care about time.
26:20
It doesn't care about circumstances.
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I mean, just imagine a child on a tantrum.
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This would be a good symbolization of the
26:29
ruthlessness with which the IT demands instant satisfaction,
26:36
instant gratification, or babies just screaming and not being
26:41
able to be pacified unless they get what they want.
26:45
The IT what wants instant gratification in that it seeks
26:50
specific, pleasant or pleasurable sensations that meet
26:56
its drives, and so it is in the greatest interest of the IT to
27:02
manipulate the eye to get what it wants.
27:09
So it wants to. Force the eye to to change the
27:13
outside world, to use objects, to use people in order to get
27:18
satisfaction. But the eye, the older it gets
27:22
in the development of the child, the eye quickly learns that
27:26
constantly and ruthlessly seeking immediate satisfaction
27:31
leads to conflicts with reality. Or more concretely, with
27:36
parents, with people outside. Or we are limited by the
27:41
availability of objects, of food, of toys and so on.
27:45
So to just demand instant red gratification as mere extension
27:50
of the IT is not only futile because it will not happen, but
27:57
also at the some point it will become dangerous because parents
28:01
will complain, might punish other kids, surely will be less
28:04
inhibited to complain and punish so.
28:08
The eye faces grave consequences for being ruthlessly pursuing
28:14
the drive satisfaction of the IT.
28:18
So the eye with the memory function by learning it
28:24
anticipates potential displeasure in certain
28:27
situations. I just imagine parents saying no
28:31
in a certain way or even punishing.
28:35
The child, then the child learns that under certain circumstances
28:38
it cannot pursue a Dr. satisfaction.
28:42
And so when it anticipates this pleasure, the eye senses the
28:47
danger, it anticipates the danger, and it generates
28:50
feelings of fear, the fear of punishment.
28:56
And this fear of punishment, of course, is not in the interest
29:00
of the IT. So here the eye with its
29:03
anticipation of danger creating those feelings of fear is in
29:08
opposition to what the IT wants and for a good reason.
29:13
Because in the end, the eye once inhibits itself in order to
29:21
postpone or in order to park its Dr. demands to wait for
29:27
circumstances and to wait for a time when satisfaction can be
29:30
achieved, right? So it's in the beginning of
29:34
lunch, the body wants the satisfaction of sweetness of the
29:39
dessert, but the eye decides after a certain learning
29:43
experience to wait and to postpone the demand for ice
29:48
cream for the dessert, for after the broccoli.
29:52
The broccoli is not something that the IT wants.
29:55
Broccoli is something that I have to get through as a kid in
30:00
order then to make a more legitimate, more appropriate
30:04
demand for the ice cream afterwards.
30:08
So because of the eye developed out of the IT under the
30:12
influence of the outside world, the processes with within the
30:17
eye, Floyd calls the secondary processes in contrast to the
30:24
primary processes of the IT. So like I said, the eye must
30:30
sometimes delay or even completely suppress certain Dr.
30:33
demands. The complete suppression of Dr.
30:36
Demands are important for Floyd because here he locates many of
30:41
the for the outside world inappropriate sexual drives that
30:45
the child has to learn to completely suppress while it is
30:50
able to navigate and allow certain satisfactions that are
30:55
compatible with the circumstance, with the outside
30:58
world, with the parents, with the people around it.
31:02
In order to be successful and it's balancing act, the eye
31:05
focuses on learning patterns, memorizing them, and
31:11
development, developing skills. Skills of expression, bodily
31:15
skills. All of these things are
31:17
necessary as tools for the eye to appropriately interact with
31:23
the outside world and increase the chances for satisfying the
31:28
its needs. And also, like I mentioned
31:34
already, the kind of the naive unhinged it It wants no
31:40
regulation. It wants no postponement of
31:44
satisfaction. It cannot endure it in fact, but
31:48
in order to fulfill the It's demands, the eye has to go in
31:54
opposition to this constant immediate need for satisfaction
31:59
and to establish itself as the power and thus to take over some
32:05
of the regions of the IT and to occupy them.
32:08
So if you remember the beginning, everything is It and
32:12
the slowly developing eye with the adjustments and the influx
32:19
of information from the external world, this eye, it takes over
32:23
certain regions of the IT. the IT doesn't want that.
32:29
So here we already have a conservation where it and I are
32:33
in constant tension with each other, both trying to increase
32:37
their influence to increase their territory within the mind.
32:44
But the eye finds also alternative ways to satisfy the
32:48
It's demands because the IT it's kind of stupid.
32:51
You have to remember it is completely unconscious,
32:54
inherited material and no access to the outside world.
32:59
The eye is the part of the mental mental apparatus that has
33:04
access to the outside world. The IT only wants satisfaction,
33:09
but it doesn't so much care about how the the need, how the
33:13
drive is satisfied. And this is a possibility and
33:17
opportunity for the eye. The eye can replace drive goals
33:23
and for that it uses delays, it uses thoughts, it uses
33:29
activities to regulate itself and it uses all these tools in
33:33
order to assess how to best satisfy the drives in different
33:37
scenarios according to the situation.
33:40
An example is that actually happens quite a lot in therapy.
33:45
People you can imagine are depressed sometimes if they have
33:54
strong needs in their life that they just don't manage to
33:58
satisfy now. If.
34:01
They are stuck on a very specific path to satisfaction.
34:06
Then the need that they have appears in a specific form.
34:12
I want to drive my motorcycle, and if I cannot drive a
34:16
motorcycle because I'm such a passionate cyclist, because of
34:23
that, if I cannot do it, I'm first unhappy that I'm sad, and
34:29
then I lose interest in other aspects of my life and then I
34:32
get depressed. Of course, I'm exaggerating
34:33
here, it's just an example, but I, the client right now who
34:39
suffers from the sadness, suffers from the depressive
34:42
thoughts. I am very stuck on this idea.
34:45
I need to drive my by my motorcycle.
34:50
Now, in the process of conversations, in the process of
34:54
the therapeutic conversations, in the process, the question
34:59
comes up, OK, what does this need to drive my motorcycle?
35:04
What does it stand for? What does it stand for?
35:08
To ride this motorcycle at night and, you know, the roads on the
35:14
countryside and whatever my passion is.
35:16
And then, you know, I let the client associate a little bit,
35:21
think a little bit about it, and then they might say something.
35:24
Oh, it's just this complete freedom, the possibility to let
35:28
go. This is what riding the
35:30
motorcycle represents. And then there's an interesting
35:34
part there because we get a little bit closer staying in the
35:38
Freudian kind of concept, we get a little bit closer to what the
35:43
IT actually wants. Because this is understandable
35:47
to me. I, I don't ride a motorcycle.
35:50
So I can imagine that this is fun and this is interesting, but
35:55
I don't have a direct access to this experience.
35:58
And thus if there is no deeper level there, I have difficulties
36:01
to connect with my client at this point.
36:03
But as soon as we figure out, as soon as the client kind of
36:07
describes a little bit more of what the need to ride the
36:11
bicycle represents and comes up with the understanding, the
36:14
authentic understanding that represents freedom.
36:18
It represents maybe autonomy, maybe letting go.
36:21
Then I can relate because then there is a level that also I
36:25
have and frankly, probably each human being has meaning.
36:33
This is something that is inherited.
36:35
It comes along this these the set of needs, the set of drives
36:42
with being human. So now I can relate.
36:46
Now the client understands that there is a deeper layer between
36:50
this manifested need to ride the bicycle.
36:53
And then we can ask the question, OK, so if you actually
36:56
want freedom, autonomy, letting go, maybe adventure, maybe some
37:02
danger, all of these things, depending on the individual
37:06
client, what other activity can you choose to fulfil this needs?
37:13
Now we will not find an activity that 100% matches.
37:17
Somehow this riding the bike motorcycle is kind of has
37:25
developed as a thing within the client's mind.
37:29
And yet we can approximate it to 3-4 several different
37:33
activities. We can find one that represents
37:36
more the adventure and the danger part.
37:39
We can find one that represents the autonomy.
37:43
We kind of find one that represents mostly the freedom
37:46
part. And so by restructuring the
37:50
everyday life of the client, they have a chance to satisfy
37:53
those needs and thus to satisfy the drive demands of the IT and
37:59
to, again, Simply put, to get out of the depression by this
38:04
replacement process. The preconscious that I spoke
38:13
before of the preconscious is all the material that is easily
38:17
accessible to the eye. So it's not in the hard sense.
38:22
It's not in the hard sense unconscious.
38:24
The preconscious eye content, IT can also become unconscious
38:30
again, and that is through repression.
38:35
There are defense mechanisms like rationalization or
38:38
projection that push unpleasant preconscious content back into
38:42
the unconscious. For example, I got a diagnosis
38:48
that I have a difficult disease and then France asked me, so how
38:53
do you feel about it? And then I get just into my
38:56
mind. I get, I get intellectual essay
38:59
and this is rationalization. I say, you know what, I think I
39:02
looked it up. There's statistics.
39:03
There's a pretty good chance for healing it, so I'm not overly
39:07
concerned. And what I do here is that I
39:11
take the initial shock, the initial immense fear that I felt
39:17
when I heard the diagnosis. I push it aside and I kind of
39:23
try to replace it with much more calming, rational neutral
39:28
information. And what I'm doing here that
39:30
with this defense mechanism I have taken pre conscious
39:34
material that was available to me maybe shortly after the
39:37
meeting, in the meeting, you know the that I'm quite afraid
39:42
and shocked and I have made it unconscious.
39:46
And if I do this consistently, it is not available to me
39:50
anymore. People will ask me how I feel
39:52
and then I will come up with this question, with this answer
39:57
that I've developed for myself with little access, with little.
40:02
Conscious, differentiated access to my emotional state.
40:08
So this is rationalization as an example for a defense mechanism.
40:12
Projection is when, for example, I'm aggressive.
40:17
If I have an argument with my girlfriend, I raise my voice and
40:21
then she gets upset about that and then she tells.
40:24
Me. Don't be.
40:25
Aggressive. And I say, no, you are
40:26
aggressive, right? If I'm never minded and I
40:30
projected on others, then they are never minded again.
40:34
There was a short moment in time when this was available to me,
40:37
when even I understood that I'm getting upset right now and this
40:41
choking feeling that comes up through the chest.
40:43
At these moments, it is accessible to me that I get
40:47
aggressive, that I get upset, but then I don't want to see it.
40:50
It's somehow threatening. It's uncomfortable for me to see
40:54
and to perceive that I am that kind of person.
40:57
With this defense mechanism of projection, I push it aside, I
41:01
project what is wrong with me, I project it on the other person,
41:07
and thus I'm rid of it, seemingly.
41:10
Of course, Now to use those defense mechanisms, for example,
41:17
rationalization or projection is quite normal and it's healthy
41:20
even. But if it happens too frequently
41:23
or systematically, it can lead to neurotic disorders like
41:28
anxiety or depression. Because the more I use them, the
41:33
more, the less I know myself, the less I understand myself.
41:37
And if I don't understand myself well, and I have made a few
41:40
videos already more or less about the subject, then I I
41:45
don't have a compass. I don't know where I'm going and
41:48
the I with the function of satisfying the needs.
41:52
If if it has no direction, if I'm cutting myself off from the
41:56
needs, then exactly the IT which gives me energy, which drives me
42:01
to overcome all those obstacles in my life in order to get
42:06
satisfied. It will not know where to go.
42:10
And if I'm spending my time, my day full of activities that that
42:16
don't don't meet my satisfaction, dissatisfaction of
42:20
my needs, then a typical outcome of that is inner emptiness,
42:25
numbness and depression that we are not aware sometimes of the
42:38
IT in its power and the drives and it's in that power is also
42:44
normal and healthy, by the way. And we see this.
42:48
In instances when this distinction, the distinction
42:53
line, the difference between I and it falls away.
42:58
And under these circumstances, the unconscious can become
43:01
conscious spontaneously. We see this on an everyday level
43:06
in dreams. Dreams are weird.
43:07
We would like to live a life where everything is perceived as
43:12
a dream, where we are often very passive when we're afraid.
43:16
If the dreams are uncomfortable, we see this in a much graver way
43:22
in psychosis, especially here Floyd when he mentioned
43:26
psychosis. You have to keep in mind that
43:29
this is pretty much 100 year old understanding of psychosis.
43:33
So psychosis full of hallucinations, for example,
43:36
auditorial hallucinations, visual hallucinations where?
43:40
It material comes to the foreground without enough,
43:44
without the protection of the eye against this intrusion and
43:49
it takes over. And this taking over is for
43:53
people extremely uncomfortable. Third example of when this
43:58
barrier between I and IT becomes kind of permeable, our
44:04
psychedelic experiences and also here people who take those
44:09
psychedelic journeys, they have to make sure that the
44:13
environment is safe. If they are in unsafe or
44:17
uncertain environments, then again, the IT aspects that come
44:22
through that breakthrough into the eye can become quite
44:26
uncomfortable and frightening very quickly.
44:31
All right, obviously the outside world is crucial for the eyes
44:36
development. This is the whole point of the
44:38
eye. It needs to perceive, adjust and
44:40
act upon the outside world. If a child's connection to the
44:45
outside world weakens, as in dreams, or again as I said, in
44:50
psychosis, also for adults, or again with adults when they
44:56
experience a trauma and then have to withdraw at a very
45:00
instinctual level from the outside world's world, then the
45:04
eye is cut off from the one source of information that helps
45:07
it to steer the Organism into a safe future.
45:12
And the eye then struggles to ensure the self preservation.
45:17
Which means that an eye in order to function well, it requires a
45:21
strong connection to reality. So reality checks are often
45:26
necessary when I feel that something is not right.
45:31
Do my colleagues at work, do they like me or not?
45:34
Am I still fit for the job? Do I have impostor syndrome?
45:37
Does my partner love me? All those questions that are
45:41
kind of uncomfortable because concerns from the IT are coming
45:45
up. The eye's job then is to
45:50
exercise reality checks to keep itself in check and to allow
45:57
itself to become accessible and open to the outside world again.
46:02
So I'm understanding, I'm exaggerating, I'm exaggerating.
46:06
My colleagues have not shown any clear signs that they don't like
46:10
me. So why am I even thinking this?
46:13
OK, let me try and check tomorrow and go to work if there
46:17
is, if I can see actual hints. And this, by the way, is also an
46:22
important part in psychotherapy when we deal with anxieties to
46:27
make active reality checks. How would the world look like if
46:32
my concern was true? And then to allow myself for
46:37
this hypothesis. To be rejected.
46:41
If my colleagues wouldn't like me, they would not not look me
46:44
in the eye, they would forget to inform me about important
46:47
things, they would not smile and so on.
46:49
So we can form all of these hypothesis and then if we go to
46:56
work and we see that most of those things don't happen, then
46:59
I have to reject the hypothesis that they don't like me and that
47:03
should help me. And of course this is a little
47:05
bit more complex. It should help me to open up
47:09
again to the experiences of the of the outside world, which
47:13
again is essential for the eye to maintain its function.
47:18
Good. So this was a quick run through
47:22
the eye, it's functions and it's constant tension with the IT.
47:29
Now moving over to the third part of the mental apparatus
47:33
that Floyd described, by the way, first time in 1923, he
47:40
understands that this was common knowledge back then as well
47:44
among scientists, that human children are unique because they
47:48
depend on their parents for a very long time.
47:53
And this is quite exceptional in the animal realm, the time
47:58
during which the offspring is entirely dependent on their
48:03
parents. And the animal realm is usually
48:05
much, much shorter than with humans, but there are some
48:10
exceptions. Also the great apes, also
48:13
whales, and also also dolphins to a certain extent, elephants
48:17
as well. All of these animals that we, by
48:21
the way, know are relatively intelligent.
48:24
They also have extended periods of time where their offspring is
48:29
entirely dependent on their parents and we're talking about.
48:34
Anytime from two to five years with humans, luckily we're not
48:38
experimenting on this, but children have to be a certain
48:42
age at least in order to be able to survive on their own.
48:47
And if you have seen St. children, they look aged very
48:53
quickly because of the harsh conditions that they have to put
48:57
themselves through in order to survive.
49:01
During this period of complete dependence on the parents, the
49:05
weak eye which is still developing, obviously we
49:09
thinking about babies, newborns, toddlers and so on.
49:12
This weak, still weak eye, it constantly faces challenges and
49:19
it is very often hurt and damaged in this process.
49:23
This is just inevitable. Parents try to protect the
49:30
child. Obviously from most cases this
49:33
is true, sometimes, unfortunately not.
49:35
But even when parents want to protect and nurture and care for
49:40
this the child and the weak eye in the child, they cannot avoid
49:46
for this weak eye to be hurt to in order to better protect
49:54
itself, the mind has developed a very specific register within
50:02
the eye that is in contact with the outside world.
50:06
Just to remind you, within the eye a region develops that has
50:13
as its main function its main goal to further protect this
50:19
weak eye. And it does this by establishing
50:23
an inner authority and inner authority which seeks in the
50:30
first instance to, which seeks to ensure the parental
50:34
attention, to ensure the parental love and care and to
50:40
prevent the feared loss of love. Here we go back again to the
50:48
drives of the IT which wants instant gratification.
50:52
The eye in contact with the outside world, in contact with
50:55
the parents. The eye understands slowly that
51:00
by ruthlessly pursuing its drives, its goal goals it is in
51:07
danger to lose or to reduce the parents affection.
51:12
The parents care for the then obnoxious child, but because of
51:19
this, the child's extreme dependence on the parents, the
51:25
rejection by the parents would basically mean a physical or
51:29
psychological death sentence. And this cannot happen, it is
51:34
not allowed to happen. So for one, the eye tries any
51:39
way to kind of keep the harsh demands of the IT in check, but
51:44
additionally it establishes a region inside of itself.
51:49
So forward where it implements, it interjects, it puts from the
51:58
outside into the inside the rules, the judgments, the
52:04
demands, the expectations of the parents.
52:10
So by internalizing what the child thinks the parents want
52:15
from it, it makes itself more resilient.
52:21
It makes itself more safe from the feared loss of love by the
52:27
parents. And this is because it is
52:33
established in the inside of the eye.
52:38
Floyd calls this in German the Uber ish.
52:41
And as I awkwardly translated here, in order to keep this
52:45
original idea, I don't call it the Super ego.
52:48
I call it the above eye. So the above eye is formed when
52:53
the child internalizes the major influence, influences around
52:58
them, which is mostly the parents and the family.
53:01
But through them, because the parents and the family members
53:05
are not just, you know, complete independent individuals, they
53:11
channel society as well. They channel societal norms.
53:15
How do children have to be raised?
53:16
How do you behave in a certain, in certain circumstance and so
53:20
on. So yes, we internalize the rules
53:24
and judgments from the parents, but we also internalize what is
53:28
challenged, channeled through the parents from society, all
53:32
the prohibitions, all the values, etcetera.
53:38
These rules they help to to restrict the IT and it's
53:43
ruthless pursuit of Dr. Satisfaction and especially for
53:50
Floyd in the early years. Those restrictions are related
53:55
to the body and again to sexuality over time.
54:02
The eye, with the help of the above eye, is not longer
54:08
dependent on external regulation, meaning the more I
54:14
internalize from my parents and channel through them the values
54:19
and prohibitions of society, the less I actually need my parents
54:25
to express their their restrictions.
54:32
And as I said, the above eye primarily restricts the
54:34
immediate satisfaction of the its demands.
54:36
But the above eye also can have its own needs, for example a
54:41
desire for self-control. The desire for self-control is
54:45
not something that comes from the IT the IT just wants to
54:48
satisfy its needs. But we as we develop as
54:52
adolescents and as adults, we get satisfaction when in certain
54:58
situations we are able to control ourselves.
55:02
And this satisfaction belongs to the above eye.
55:08
So now we see that the eye has to maintain a delicate balancing
55:15
act. There are three forces that
55:19
encroach on the eye and the eye kind of becomes the manager of
55:25
that. And these three sources are the
55:29
IT. We have to certainly manage
55:32
that. It constantly wants to limit our
55:35
access. It wants to overpower us.
55:39
Then there is the above eye that we have installed ourselves
55:44
without knowing it in order to protect ourselves.
55:49
And there is there are the demands from reality, from the
55:53
outside world. The above eye has a judicial
55:58
function with its rules and prohibitions in the execution.
56:05
Those rules and prohibitions, they can be quite aggressive and
56:09
often they're stricter than the real parents ever were.
56:14
Sometimes with clients, if I ask them how they judge themselves
56:18
and spell it out, to put it into words, what they say is so
56:23
harsh. No real human would ever say
56:25
that. For example, I am completely
56:28
worthless. I'm not worth living.
56:31
I'm not worth of love. All of these internalized
56:36
judgments that are an expression of the above eye.
56:41
They're so harsh now, they might come from childhood, but these
56:46
are not words that the parents uttered.
56:49
This is an expression of a tender of a vulnerable eye that
56:54
has interpreted certain judgments from the parents as if
56:58
they would not love me, as if they would not want me.
57:03
And this has become an internalized voice within me,
57:07
the internal judge that is is going to comprise although his
57:13
voices they comprise the above I.
57:16
So with the establishment of the above I, we have created the
57:21
possibility of auto aggression, of self depreciation, of self
57:27
harm. But not only that we mostly we
57:32
encounter this above eye in this negative judgmental form, but
57:39
the above eye can also provide positive experiences.
57:42
For example, when we overcome obstacles, when we do something
57:46
that was difficult, that is also the the above eye that gives us
57:50
feelings of pride. So in good positive self esteem,
57:54
an important factor is that by containing the mostly sexual Dr.
58:03
satisfaction, the above eye helps the child, the developing
58:08
child in its readiness for culture and society.
58:13
And this goes beyond the kind of the positive impact on the eye.
58:20
The eye wants to steer the Organism towards safety,
58:23
satisfaction and so on. But here we also have a bigger
58:30
basically advantage through the development of the above eye,
58:36
because from the perspective of void, sexual and uninhibited
58:42
sexual and sensual behaviour is so unacceptable.
58:48
By restricting the IT, the over eye helps the Organism, helps
58:53
the body, the child, the adolescent to become a valuable
58:58
member of society. Because then the child and the
59:01
adolescent learns to redirect and Dr. demands into socially
59:07
valuable, socially acceptable substitute satisfactions.
59:13
For example, career, for example, organizational skills
59:18
around the household, in society and church, community and so
59:23
forth. And this fosters the cultural
59:27
and the social development of the individual.
59:31
And so we have come full circle in the sense that the eye not
59:38
only has its tools of control over the IT at its disposal, but
59:46
by learning and by accessing those cultural tools, it can
59:52
become a valuable member of society, which again helps the
59:57
Organism to survive by having a steady job, having a steady
1:00:02
relationship, making money, savings, build a house and so
1:00:07
forth. These are all accomplishments of
1:00:10
the eye that are accessible to it with the support of the above
1:00:15
eye. With that, I want to close the
1:00:18
summary of this so-called. Topological topographical model
1:00:23
of Floyd where he describes regions of the mind.
1:00:28
Again the core, the source of everything is the IT that
1:00:33
consists contains the inherited Tri forces.
1:00:36
The eye develops at the the the outside layers of the IT in
1:00:44
exchange with the outside world and in order to facilitate an
1:00:49
even better, more secure development, the eye
1:00:52
internalizes the demands of the outside world into itself in
1:00:58
this third layer of the above eye.
1:01:02
Let me know if you have questions.
1:01:04
In the next episode I will conclude the summary of WHYD by
1:01:09
going into a little bit the psychoanalytic technique.
1:01:13
I will make also some historical contextualizations so that you
1:01:18
understand how under which circumstances these thoughts and
1:01:23
these concepts of Floyd developed.
1:01:26
And I would be glad if you continue to be interested in
1:01:29
those summaries so that I can also summarize it for myself.
1:01:38
I'm glad to read this material. I'm inspired by it myself and so
1:01:43
I'm happy to convey them to you. See you next time.