[ Golden Gater Online - October 2, 1997 ]
Kurhi, Eric
Well, it finally happened. My last column caused a stir -- I don't know about you readers, but an adviser and some of the Gater staff were hoppin' mad. The short story is they felt my decision to run a reply column was in poor judgment. And they decided the cause of this temporary insanity -- if you haven't already guessed -- was my ego.
Egos garner nothing but disapproval. Peers think egoists are conceited and bosses think they're insubordinate. Egos drive friends away, cause demotions, and occasionally attract black eyes and fat lips.
Society hates a big ego, unless it's thrust out of the self. For example, an ego tempered with a sense of a cause or mission is called charisma, which attracts people faster than a naked movie star. Politicians are inherently egoistic. So are most leaders. Identity politics -- using one's race, gender or sexual orientation as a political platform -- extracts the ego from the self and injects it into a group of people the individual identifies with. This is generally accepted, if not applauded.
But to keep an ego to oneself is considered, well, self-centered. Apparently, an ego is only accepted if it is communal. It must be a shared ugliness. If the whole doesn't have it, one part shouldn't either. It's like a venereal disease -- surrounded by people with the same affliction, it is accepted, but solitary cases are shunned.
Remember aptitude tests? Taken at the end of high school, they suggest potential occupations for students based on their personality and smarts. Lots of brainpower combined with philanthropic ideals may point to a career as a doctor, lawyer or perhaps even a journalist. But trades requiring a big ego are limited -- professional wrestler and rock star are about all that come to mind. And apparently, it's problematic for an opinion page editor.
Why? Because egos are reactionary -- they push buttons and flip switches without giving consideration to the effects of such actions. Left to run loose, they invariably trample ethics and sensibility. An ego is like a bull stampeding through a china shop -- or maybe it's just a jackass kicking around a five-and-dime.
But in Freudian Theory, the ego is equated with honesty. It's the part of the psyche that immediately controls thought and behavior, the part most in touch with reality, the gut reaction. The enemy of the ego is the superego, which censors it with a combination of conscience and role-model imitation. Ever felt like you should have said or done something but didn't because it seemed wrong, and regretted it later? Blame your superego. The id, preferred by rapists and serial killers, drives primitive instincts and the need for immediate satisfaction. Sigmund Freud seems to have simplified the thought process into a three-part system. Of course he's probably way off. Asking anyone to break down human thought into an organized structure is like requesting a two-stepping line-dancer to perform with the New York Ballet.
Still, I like Freud's definition of ego. The idea of raw, personal honesty appeals to me. Columnists who reveal some personality are more interesting than ones who don't -- even if it's an ugly bit of their personality. While my decision to run the column in the first place may have been flawed, I make no apologies for the content.
CLARIFICATION:
It has been called to my attention that last week's column may have implied that a columnist demonstrating a difference with my opinion will receive a scathing response. This is not the case. This page officially encourages different viewpoints, especially those disagreeing with the Gater or the opinion page editor.
[ Golden Gater - October 02, 1997 ]