Grassroots Psychology.

 

Freud assures us, and a lot of the shrinks that came after him concur, that our subconscious mind is dark, twisted and mostly fit to be tied. A lot of our problems arise from the struggle between these two components of our psyche. I personally believe that there are a lot more than two levels that make up our mental conglomerate, but, for the purpose of this little ditty, these two will suffice.

 

So, here is how I attempted to deal with this particular conundrum:

Just like the rest of you out there, I really have no idea what might be hiding underneath my lovely surface; Therefore, I assume the worst. I try not to lie to myself and pretend that these dirty, despicable thoughts do not exist. So, out of the hidden dungeons of my mind, I take out imaginary things and I paint them with the blackest brush I can conjure.

I examine them, and I apply the light of reason to their analysis. After that, I place them back where I found them in the secure knowledge that if and when they come to stalk me, I will know how to deal with them.

 

I will try to give a small example:

Let us examine incest; Freud’s theories, are totally based on and around our sexual drives and this is the area where he claims that a lot of our problems are rooted. Therefore, I it is logical to assume that I have incestuous thoughts. Incest in general seems to be tied to the fashion of morals (Hey, I like that term!) During biblical times, it was customary for men to marry one or more of their sisters (check out Abraham again and try to read behind the lines.) There are other incidents like Joseph in Egypt that make us understand that particular social practice. It also well known that the pharaohs married their sisters and so on. Modern man, has a better knowledge of genetics and therefore he/she understands that this kind of relationship could result in totally unviable offspring, and uses that as the main argument against incest. Modern man should however also remember the advances made in contraception and the termination of unwanted and/or defective pregnancies. That argument holds no water. It is also funny that Christianity forbids marriage between first cousins while Judaism allows it. It seems that the state doesn’t get involved in this kind of case but it would if the liaison was between a brother and sister.

In light of the above argument, it would seem that logically, there is no physical reason why any kind of incestuous sex should not be allowed; HOWEVER, the social and psychological aspects of such events will be extremely heavy. When you grow up in the same house with someone, you develop a certain loving (hopefully,) rapport that doesn’t have anything to do with sex and at the time that you become interested in that particular happening, you already have all those ties that you will place in jeopardy if you act out your impulses. This becomes even more pronounced when we are contemplating sex between parents and children. According to Freud again, this is a very common desire in humans. According to me, I can understand the motivations and I fully accept the possibility of their existence In my own sub-conscious,  but when considering the social, moral and legal implications, you have to agree that failing to curb these desires makes one a disturbed person that will not be allowed to co-exist peacefully with the rest of the tribe.

 

My conclusion of course, is that you can react logically to your hidden desires and followed a predefined course if they actually become manifest. The same logic should apply to all of your actions, regardless of where the impulse comes from. For instance, if your neighbor’s dog talks to you and tells you to go out and kill someone, remember that you are the one who is responsible, not the dog. The same thing applies if you think the Devil is talking to you. Or maybe God, tells you to go out and kill your only son; Hey, wake up stupid! You are the one who is going to do the deed and you will have to live with it. God apparently had no problem carrying that kind of burden but remember: You are only human!

 

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Copyright © 2008 Ernest Samuel Llime. All Rights Reserved.