There's a new contest in town, and this time it's organized by the Proof of Brain Community. Proof of Brain? Does that mean having a brain is enough, I don't need to use it? - On the contrary: in this contest there seems to be a very detailed attention to such categories as imagery, formating, even the author's personality is among the criteria! Wow... this really makes me want to participate, just to see how I'll have scored. If you're interested, take a look at the prompt post for the guidelines and what you can win. For now, let me see what use I can make of my brain up there...
Cogito Ergo Sum = I Think, Therefor I Am
I find it interesting how the first Word of the Week contest of Proof of Brain I participate in just happens to be EGO. What is the ego anyway? The literal meaning of it is just I, that is me, but what meaning is hidden behind that word, depends on the context.
In the Freudian psychoanalysis the EGO is the mediator between the selfish ID on one hand, and the morally correct SUPEREGO, kinda like your little angel and devil sitting on your shoulders. In the context of Eastern influenced spiritualism the EGO represents one's selfishness, and is associated with individuality, and all things that keep us from reaching enlightenment. But since I find myself in the Proof of Brain community, I would like to take another approach: Just as Descartes used his thinking to prove his own existence, I'd like to use the EGO, or the concept of my self, to show I have a brain... and even get to use it.
A Healthy Attitude to Selfishness
When I glanced at the mirror this morning, I didn't look much like a lobster. Still, I can't deny being selfish, at least to a certain extent. For everyone who perked up their ears reading this, there was no mistake: I am selfish, and I have no problem admitting to it. So before reacting to this radical statement, let me explain it a little:
By selfishness all I mean is being aware of oneself, realizing the importance one's own needs and desires, and acting upon them. I would go as far as claiming this to be perfectly natural, in spite of what anyone says. What I don't think selfishness is, is being a jerk, who takes advantage of others for his own benefit, or even disregard the needs and desires of others. I believe it to be a misconception that looking out for oneself is automatically something undesirable. In fact, I'd say it's the other way round entirely: treating others badly is NOT in anyone's self interest at all!
At the center of human experience is the individual self. This is our standard perspective, looking at the world through our own eyes. Even if you've been out of your mind on a few occasions, the default viewpoint is always your own. So far there is no difference to the stereotypical bastard who says "It's either me or the rest of the world." But that's where the similarities stop.
The Common Sense of Selfish Altruism
For anyone embracing their honest self interest, it should not come as a surprise that we're all interconnected in this world. The closest ones in our life, of course, have the greatest importance for us: our families, friends, and neighbors. Taking care of them, that is being aware of their needs and wants, and helping them meet these needs, is naturally in our own interest too. After all, by sharing a burden we make it lighter, and sharing the benefits makes them even sweeter. But what about everyone else?
While people outside of our immediate circle may not seem so important, it is actually just as beneficial for one's self to help out where help is needed. The results may be amazing, outweighing any effort or sacrifice. Even if nothing else comes out of it, the satisfying feeling of having made a difference in someone's life may be reward enough. I'm sure most of us have done it at least on a few occasions - and for those who haven't, I really encourage you to try! It may give you a completely new type of joy!
Using Honesty to Maintain Balance
At this point the question that usually follows is: Where do we draw the line? We can't always help everyone, after all. And if word gets out of our selflessness, wouldn't people run our doors down, looking for something to score? And if we refuse to help them all, wouldn't that make us selfish? (How horrible!)
To this I can only say, it's a pity if anyone even thinks like this! Nobody is obligated to help anyone! Even in our close circle it's perfectly fine to refuse to help a friend or family member... depending on the occasion. Ultimately it always comes down to how much one wants to help oneself, and nobody should feel bad if they don't want to. Staying honest (especially to oneself) helps making this decision without falling into self doubt, where others have an easier time manipulating you.
"How is this going to benefit me?" can be a great question to ask yourself, and if anyone admits to you that "right now I'm not going to help," it should be perfectly acceptable, without any hard feelings. And interestingly as this world works, it may be precisely the refusal of a certain requested help, that ultimately helps that person the most. Tough love can be love still, after all.
Coming Back to the Ego
Okay, so after writing this, there can be no doubt that I am selfish. Great, but how does this prove that I have a functional brain? Well, my brain is what makes me self aware. I think, meaning there has to be an I, a self or ego, which is always going to be my own. Once I've noticed this, I've established a proper center of the universe. An important step before the next essential one: realizing that there are many other worlds out there, each with their own centers, that overlap my own. In other words, we keep affecting each other. At this point it would take an ignorant fool (questionable brain function) not to seek the benefit of others, as it tends to benefit them directly.
For this reason, I want to hold the EGO in high regard, and celebrate it honestly for what it is: the actual reason behind human cooperation, love, solidarity, friendship, caring, and all such lofty things.
very nice :)
Thank you! I kinda knew you'd like it, @woelfchen . Thanx for stopping by!
I guess I will believe you, that you have a brain :P
I believe your write up as it's clearly state two points of Ego in terms of selfishness and owns consciousness. We must have a functional brain to make us distinct from others
Aha...! Exactly, and then continuing this train of thought: ...and in our unique distinction from others we will recognize the connection to each other.
On the whole a well reasoned line of argument. However I would offer my perspective which is that I see two sides to the coin of self-interest. On the one hand is the 'me first' perspective that inevitably puts my interests ahead of any others. The other side of the coin is what I call a 'communally focused self-interest'.
The first, to my way of thinking, is the kind of unhindered negative ego that invariably leads to conflict and detrimental consequences for community. This is always ultimately a path of self destruction. The second is not altruistic as you so rightly point out but simply recognizes that 'my interests are best served in the needs of my community'. This approach allows for self acceptance of accomplishment while also promoting humility. Intentional practice of this second way promotes healthy ego without the negatives of excessive pride.
On the whole, I think you make a very good argument for how the meaning of 'ego' is entirely dependent on one's own unique perspective. At the same time you do an excellent job pointing out the importance of understanding self-interest in regards to understanding ego. If I were judging this post for the competition I would score it 8.5/10. Seems to me you do an excellent job of exercising the grey matter.
Blessed be.
Well thank you! I always appreciate getting such an extensive reply.
I'm not sure about the distinction of the two types. I still believe that all interaction should naturally be "me first". But anyone who's not an infant or a fool should see that if your self interest is not in the interest of others, especially the ones closest to you, it is actually not in your interest either!
Otherwise, I am honored about the score you gave me. Don't you want to be on the POB panel of judges? 😉
Didn't realize that being a panel member is an option. I would certainly be honored if asked, however I'm not certain if I can commit sufficient time to the endeavor, major family changes happening this summer and I'm seeking employment but if the time requirement is not high I would gladly consider it.
Honestly, I have no idea how these POB-WotW contests work. I simply assumed there must be at least a few minds (ha, brains!) deciding on who gets what score in which criteria. By the way, this is the most elaborate judging system for a contest I have seen, and I must say I really like it. I can't wait for the evaluation.
Good luck with finding work an the changes in your family!
Ah, your conclusion is awesome. I agree.
Thank you! This is an age old argument I've been repeating since I was a teen, and every time there is this wave of amazement it generates. Maybe I should keep repeating it more.
Now this was so convincing
Yes, you are trying to convince me that being selfish and thinking of yourself is a good thing and should not be frown upon
with all of the basis given, I think I am convinced
But wait, how does helping people outside the circle of friends, family, and neighbors help us?
Oh you already answered that....it will give us an amazing feeling and probably a sense of pride if I am allowed to add something
well, now I know you do have a brain because you have been able to use it properly to instruct us on the issue of ego
well done.
Nice, mission accomplished! 😉 Though I think I should add, that if you look a little bit under the surface, you'll see that we're actually quite connected even with people we don't know. So though they may seem like outside of our immediate circle, they are still part of world, and we are part of theirs.
Yes I agree, we are all connected in the circle of life
Now I remember the lyrics of one of my favorite cartoon, Pocahontas, and it goes this way
I often say that at the end of the day, we are wired to care about ourselves, our looks and everything about us. Uttermostly, our desires and feelings comes first in everything we do and that is because if we don't live for ourselves we cannot live for others and this is majorly the truth. But then we must live in the moderation of our ego.
Right. This kinda reminds me of the instructions on airplanes to put the oxygen mask on yourself FIRST before helping your children with it, in case of an emergency. Because if you pass out, you won't be able to help your kids or yourself.
Yes embrace and celebrate it, that's the conclusion I came to, too, as it is a part of who we are and we are a part of everything. Great response @stortebeker xxxx
Damn! You took my idea, I was also going to post something in favour of ego. One must always look at the brighter side (especially when the dark side is too dark). Good post!
Why, you can still do it before the competition closes. Besides, we can't have enough posts favoring the ego. 😉
Has making this post look at your ego in a different way?
Or have you always thought like that about it?
No, this reasoning is very old. I think it's been a good 25 years (or more) since the first time I phrased it like this.
Cool. I like the way you think!
Ego doesn't always need to be seen as a bad thing. The problem is that this kind of concept is something already tooted in the minds of millions of people.
It all depends on how we decide to feed it. It's all a matter of point of view and action in our favor (because seemingly bad things can be good).
Absolutely! In fact, I would even extend this idea to everything: The qualities good and bad always depend on the context, and whose perspective is taken. For this reason, it's always worth scrutinizing at everything from many different angles, and possibly change our value judgements.
I start with the end:
"For this reason, I want to hold the EGO in high regard, and celebrate it honestly for what it is: the actual reason behind human cooperation, love, solidarity, friendship, caring, and all such lofty things."
Please don't be upset but I can't understand.
I'm upset that I can't understand, probably for many reasons ... the lack of intelligence and philosophical knowledge, the inability to understand the meaning due to my precarious English. Are you saying that the Ego is the generator of those wonderful qualities that you list above?
Because I don't know the intricacies of language, I turned to a dictionary to find out what Ego means in English, and here's what I found:
"a person's sense of self-esteem or self-importance"!
My opinion is that selfishness comes from the ego and because of this the ego cannot be something positive. Because the selfish not only doesn't help anyone ... he doesn't see anyone!
Maybe I didn't understand the problem and selfishness is only a minor part of the ego. I hate selfishness and maybe that makes me not think right. Then I apologize for disagreeing with you on certain issues.
P.S. I read your post today, Friday, and I saw that you are referring to what René Descartes said. Also with this reference, I started my post. Please believe that I was not inspired by your post, because I did not read it before writing mine.
No worries! I love receiving thoughtful comments, even if we don't exactly share our opinions.
To summarize my point, I really think that if someone is truly selfish (that is caring about their own self) they MUST also care about all the other people around them. Being rude, ignorant, disrespectful, abusive, etc. will cause a huge disadvantage, since the person will be hated by others. So sure, commonly we may refer to these people as "selfish", but I think they are actually just stupid.
As far as Descartes, again, no worries! I think due to the nature of the question, it's most probable that a post will mention either him, or Freud, or the dictionary definition of ego. The other thing I thought almost everyone would do, is make jokes on the "selfish - shellfish" pun. That's the reason why I mentioned the lobster. However, so far my post is the only one where I saw that.
Thanks for the answer and understanding. Yes, I understand when you say that they MUST...
I mean those who don't do that, it's enough to think of many leaders, from politics to bosses at work. They are the most visible.
Yes, I saw references to Freud and about the lobster, thanks for the explanation, I didn't understand the allusion either.
In a transparent world other can see our self-centered behavior more clearly. I don't usually think about ego but without our ego we are just a clump of physical desires so hat's off to EGO today.