Me, my morality and my desires
It can help to imagine your mind comprising three elements:
Element
What it’s like
For example…
Me
the voice of your thoughts
“Oh shit, it’s raining” or “I wonder what that girl looks like out of her school uniform”
My Morality
the voice you’d have if you were perfect
“Don’t break the rules” or “You’re a monster”
My Desires
The voice you’d have if there were no consequences – ever.
“Fuck anyone”, “Take anything you want”, “Kill”
It’s quite usual for these elements to be named in Freudian terms: me (ego), my morality (super-ego) and my desires (id). Freud imagined that we are all caught between our morality and desires, the tension from which leads us to behave in odd ways – like being excessively neat and tidy, or feeling ‘addicted’ to child-porn, or suffering from panic attacks.
© Chris Willoughby 2008-
