Freud and the 3 Stooges....

While I was in MA over Labor Day weekend, one of my cousins gave me a paper I had written in college that she somehow came to be in possession of. I was just reading through it to see how much stuff I've forgotten in ten years when I came across the following analogy.

Many people believe that the Id is the "Moe" of the psychological realm, but this just isn't so. The Id is the "Larry". He doesn't really know why he slaps Moe, he just knows that after Moe disturbs his restful state, slapping Moe makes him happy.

The Id alone is uncontrollable. It has no sense of reality, and will take any action it deems necessary to maximize pleasure and/or minimize pain. The Id is totally unconscious.

The Ego is the "Moe" of the group. the Ego is rooted in both the unconscious and conscious, and the Ego knows what the needs of the Id are and how to gain those needs while avoiding painful consequences. His role is in planning actions to do just that, much like Moe is always looking to make the maximum profit (desired need) for the Stooges while completing the least work (painful consequence). The Ego mediates between the Id, the Superego and reality to maximize pleasure and avoid pain.

By default that makes the Superego the "Curly Joe" of the trio. The Superego strives for perfection. Although rooted in both the conscious and unconscious states, the Superego tries to influence the Ego to behave idealistically rather than realistically.


For the record. The paper was 12 pages long, and that was the extent of my Stooges analogies....although there was this little bit about the Ego and shopping:

The Id behaves very similarly to the way a man shops. For instance, a woman can enter a store, touch every single item on the rack and not make a single purchase. Men are different.

If a man is standing outside when the weather changes and he becomes cold, the man will enter a store and purchase a jacket. When he returns outside wearing the jacket, he is no longer cold. The Id behaves in much the same way in attempting to maximize homeostasis. The Id maintains status quo until interrupted. When this occurrs, the Id takes action to return back the initial status.


Also for the record...I got an A.