Lesson 3 mod 7 mind blank
- 1. Other Characteristics of the Ego – sensitivity to threats • The ego is very sensitive to threats. • A writer who strongly identifies with a book he wrote (the book is part of his identity; it is part of who he is), will have more difficulties dealing with criticism than someone who has no self-identification from the book he has written. • Although the critic actually says: “I don’t like the book that this person has written, the ego experiences it as “I don’t like this person”. • The criticism is seen as an attack on the self (the ego) instead of criticizing the work of that person.
- 2. Other Characteristics of the Ego – Difficulty with Impermanence • The ego has trouble with transience. • This is because it comes from identification with things that are transient. • Thoughts change, your appearance, car, social standing are all subject to transience. Sooner or later they will change or will no longer exist. B • y identifying with these things, you make something that is by definition transient part of yourself. For example, if I identify myself with my appearance, then it is difficult to endure a sense of self- worth as my appearance becomes less beautiful. I will be less beautiful. • The greatest threat to the ego is of course death. Death is the ultimate threat to the created identity. Death will make every form disappear. Death is the confrontational, yet inevitable stamp on our transience. • Research shows that as soon as people are confronted with their own mortality they often show strong reactions such as stress, anxiety and a strong need to make meaning of their life
- 3. Other Characteristics of the Ego – Separation • Since the ego provides the individual with an identity, a sense of who he is, it will also make every effort to maintain this identity. • An identity can only exist by contrasts, by being better or more special than others. • The Ego is therefore often busy comparing itself with others. • The question that is relevant for the Ego is: “How does the other differ from me?”, instead of “What are the similarities between us?”. • In this regard the Ego is focused on separation and on differences between one’s own ego and the ego of the others.
- 4. Other Characteristics of the Ego – Difficulty in giving • When I identify with something like my ideas, money or possessions, it is difficult to share those with others. • After all, if I give these things away, I will lose a piece of myself that is a piece of my identity. • In doing so, I become less and you become more. • If you give something from your ego, there must be a guarantee that the something will come back. • It is a conditional giving.
Editor's Notes
- #2: SENSITIVITY TO THREATS The ego is very sensitive to threats. A writer who strongly identifies with a book he wrote (the book is part of his identity; it is part of who he is), will have more difficulties dealing with criticism than someone who has no self-identification from the book he has written. Although the critic actually says: “I don’t like the book that this person has written, the ego experiences it as “I don’t like this person”. The criticism is seen as an attack on the self (the ego) instead of criticizing the work of that person.
- #3: This often creates a defensive reaction, such as the denial of vulnerability, suppressing thoughts, and the attempt to strengthen self-esteem (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, Solomon, Simon, & Breus, 1994). Interestingly enough, a series of seven experiments by Niemiec and colleagues (2010) showed that people who were more mindful, showed much less of the aforementioned defensive reactions when faced with their own death. People who are mindful therefore have less trouble with this transience.
- #4: Since the ego provides the individual with an identity, a sense of who he is, it will also make every effort to maintain this identity. An identity can only exist by contrasts, by being better or more special than others. The Ego is therefore often busy comparing itself with others. The question that is relevant for the Ego is: “How does the other differ from me?”, instead of “What are the similarities between us?”. In this regard the Ego is focused on separation and on differences between one’s own ego and the ego of the others.