What would you salvage and what would you toss from Freud's theory of human nature? Is it true that we are sexual beings? How big a role does & should sex play in our lives?
Could Freud's theory ever be proven wrong? How?
What essential element(s) of human nature does Freud miss?
Freud's theory of human nature has greatly influenced humanity’s view of itself. While many may call his ideas ludicrous, there are aspects of it that continue to resonate throughout civilization today. One aspect of Freud’s theory that I find to be of great value is his idea of the unconscious. There are many universal themes in humanity that cannot be explained away by culture – our love of violence and domination to name a few. While we do not know why our fascination with these feelings exists, Freud explains that they come from deep within our primordial roots (the need to dominate to survive and prosper). Because constant acts of violence would topple society as we know it – we are conditioned to channel these desires into socially expectable outlets: sports and art. While I agree with Freud’s idea of the unconscious, I disagree with his ideas regarding Primordial Patricide and the Racial Memory. I do not believe society sprung forth from the guilt of a few sons’ murderous and incestal acts. This common memory does not affect me on a daily basis and I believe that religion, fairy tales and tribal acts are far from based on this.
ReplyDeleteFrued does seem to have an obsession with the sexual. His psychosocial stages, repressed memories, and Oedipus complex reflect this. While Freud believes that sexual desires fuel every action in humanity, I have to argue that sex, while playing a large role in the human life, does not control it. Humans are driven by acts other then gratification – how could Freud explain the selfless acts that have been documented throughout humanity without acknowledging this. A brother or sister will look after a younger sibling not because of an unknown desire but out of love. A person volunteers and helps the poor not for themselves but out of kindness. Freud’s theory misses these complex feelings of human nature. But declaring that all humanity is only looking to meet its own needs (the process of meeting these being tempered by society), Freud is missing the other innate feeling of humanity – love. By forgetting love, Freud’s theory of human nature seems especially bleak and hard to believe.
While I believe Freud’s theory is flawed, it is hard to disprove. Due to his idea of the unconscious, the human being can never know itself completely. If humanity can never truly know itself, it is hard to argue with the professional who seems to have already deciphered it.
I believe that the only thing that I would toss from Freud's theory of Human Nature is the idea of the Primordial Patricide and the Racial Memory. I strongly disagree,along with Michelle on the idea that society came about from the guilt from a group of sons’ who killed their father than had an orgy with "the liberated women". I do believe that we are sexual beings however not all of our actions revolve around desires or sexual thoughts. I believe that sex should not play more of a role than the element of love and compassion in ones life. I feel as if for some individuals sex plays more of a significant role in their life than others. I believe that the essential element that Freud misses in the Human Nature theory is love. And I do not believe that Freud's theory could be disproved because of his idea of the unconscious mind.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that I would toss out of Freud's theory is the idea of Primordial Patricide and Racial Memory. I agree with Ashley, I do not believe that the sons had a "sexual orgy with the "liberated women"". Nor did they admire sexual domination from all females. This theory of his really made me sick. I find it true that all of us are sexual beings, but this is just one part of our lives. Our lives do not revolve around sexual desire. I think sex is an important role in our lives, and how important sex is, is different for each individual. I think that sex should play a role of compassion between two loved ones. I do not think any point of Freud's Theory could be proven wrong.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that only women have responded to this question about Freud. I would like to see what the men have to say, and if they answer truthfully about how big of a role sex plays in our lives. I am often around groups of boys/men, especially on road trips to soccer games, and I am pretty sure that is the boys are not talking about it directly in conversations that jokes about "that’s what he/she said" are thrown in at regular intervals. However, I do not want to place a label on men as only thinking about one thing, they just seem to support the assumption.
ReplyDeleteI think that Freud's idea of self, which is heavily based on determinism, is one of the biggest flaws in Freud's evaluation of human nature. Freud suggest that human nature is based on instinct, and all though some of human nature is based on instinct we have evolved to let experience and logic help us with reason. The fact is that Freud understood that people are irrational, but found irrationality to be wrong. Human nature is irrational. We eat when we are not hungry, we throw ourselves in the way of others to protect them, we do things that are nonproductive, etc. Not all that we do have motives or purpose.
I think that Freud's theory and idea of Primordia Patricide is very primitive, but isn't it based on primitive times and primitive people. Yes, it is offensive to us to think of the "sons" being envious of the sexually powerful father, but isn't it present still today within the animal kingdom? Does Freud doubt our evolution, or is he just theorizing about how our evolution has affected our "self" in the present?
After talking in class today about how big a role sex plays in our lives and whether or not it is essential to life I still do not have a clear cut opinion. I think sex does play a big role in our lives today but I don't know if it is more emphasized today due to the media and other influences or if sex was just as big without those influences. I think that maybe sex plays the same size of role in our lives today as it did in the past, but it is perceived differently. I think that sex today is more casual and less for the purpose of procreation. It is evident that families in the 60s and 70s were big fans of procreation because they had so many kids. My Grandma had 11 children and she says that she loved being pregnant and having babies. I think that there are also many other reasons influencing this including more women working outside the home, cost of living going up, amount of activities children are expected to do, etc.
ReplyDeleteI also would toss out Freud's theory of Primordial Patricide and Racial memory. I think it is a very obscure idea that society came about from a group of sons that killed their father, realized what they had done and then had sex with the liberated women. This theory was just very weird and to me it was completely off the wall. I also think that his theory of the Oedipus complex is weird. I think that this theory may result from some form of personal thoughts that he was trying to rationalize. I agree that someone who admires their parents as good people may certainly want to be with someone that possesses some of those same characteristics, but I don't think that means that you are subconsciously attracted to your parents.
ReplyDeleteI do think that humans are sexual beings though. More then that I think that people are "relationship beings", and have a need to connect with other people in a deeply personal way. I agree with Ashley when she said that Freud forgets to consider love in his theories. Every person wants to feel loved and experience it; feel wanted and needed in some way or another. I think that sex makes people feel this way and so they seek it because it is the only way they know how to achieve that feeling. For example a person that has sex for money may not have any deep personal connections in their lives so having sex is the only thing that makes them feel wanted, no matter for how short a time or how superficial it is. A priest can be satisfied with being celibate because he has formed a relationship with God and feels love to and from him and is fulfilled by that completely. I think that the consequences of a highly technological world was the loss of personal relationships and connections that people feel toward one another, and that has greatly helped to turn people into "sexual beings".
After reading and talking in class about Freud, I realized that I never knew how much of a crazy genius he was. I really like his theory about the unconscious and that it being relateable to our dreams. I think that sometimes our subconscience really does come to play in our dreams because I know that if I am really stressed out about something, it will most likely surface in my dream. Sometimes I wake up with a resolution to the problem while at other times I will have terrible dreams about my irrational fears. The subconscience can truely be a scary place.
ReplyDeleteAs for Freud and his thought that we are sexual beings, I would have to agree. I think as we grow older and mature, sex becomes a basic need that should be met.However, I think that the topic of sex is very convaluted because of how the media presents it. If you think about it, sex sells everything. Cars, Beer, cleaning products, Vodka etc. Then there are shows on TV that we watch that feature people being very loose about sex and who they sleep with.But at other points in our lives, we are being told that all these messages we receive via media are not ok to follow.It can all be very confusing.
Ultimatly, I feel that sex is good, but only in a loving and caring relationship. Sex provides people with the intimacy that we all need to feel, and a shared bond with another person. If sex is used as a casual "pick me up", then there is no emotional connection established, and over time people can become bitter from the lack of learning how to love someone besides themselves.
He seems to have an obsession with sexual behavior. I do believe that it is a basic human need though because without it we wouldn't be here, eventually. If everyone stops reproducing then the human race will cease to exist thus we won't need any of the other basic needs, such as water, food and shelter. In ths sense I would place it at the top because without it we need nothing else. I think that it provides humans with that connection that we need to feel. I think that Emily explained it in class in a good way. I don't remember exactly what she said but I know I agree.
ReplyDeleteI am replying to the post by C Green. From a guys perspective I do in fact believe that sex is part of our human nature. I read a statistic that guys think about sex every 52 seconds, which I think is completely false(maybe several times a day but not once every minute). But yes I do believe guys think about sex a lot, but not always the act of sex, just might make a sexual reference, such as that's what she said or making a dirty joke. I do believe women think about sex a lot too just don't express it just as much (I mean it takes 2 to tango!) I don't think sex is up there with food, water, and shelter because I know that we as guys can go awhile with out having sex, but we need to eat like every 3 hours.
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree with many of Freuds theories of human nature, such as primordial Patricide and the Racial Memory, memory lapses and guilt, and the idea that humans only do things to receive praise and gratitude. I want to go into detail about the gratitude because I know people who donate to charities, do community service, or help out a friend just because they know it is the right thing to do. The other day I helped someone from work move into their house because honestly they had no one else to help, but I didn't do it because I wanted praise or for them to thank me I didn it because I put myself in their shoes and knew it was the right thing to do.
The essential elements that frued missed that I know I need in my life is education, love, and hobbies just to name the ones at the top of my head. I believe education is needed because without it the world would be less interesting and less meaningful. Love is definitely needed because if I didn't have family and friends who loved me then what is the meaning for life. Hobbies need to be present in peoples life to give them something that is stress free and to allow people to have a peace in mind. If I didn't have sports, xbox, books, movies, computer, or friends then I would probably go insane!
Freud's theory of human nature are studied widely throughout the world. His views are not always accepted, but do have an influence on many people's beliefs of human nature. I have to agree with most people above, that his theories of the Primordial Patricide and the Racial Memory. I fell as if the world did not get its structure and laws from a group of sons who felt guilty for killing their father. I also believe culture does not triumph over nature. Nature plays a role in the way someone is developed and grown, just as much as the culture around them.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned is class, I do believe that sex plays a major role in society, but it would not be a basic need. I think of basic needs as food, water, and shelter. Children do not need sex, and it is possible to go a long time without sex, that is why I feel it is not a basic need. Once in a relationship, I feel like sex is needed at some point to reproduce which is why we are all here. In society today, sex seems more recreational than it should be.