Opinion, Play, Spiritual, Writing

“Ego” – Don Charisma’s Opinion

What a stupid word, how overused and confusing. I’ve never heard the word used in a positive context – “Oh he’s lovely, you must meet him, he has such a super ego”. I’m not going to even give a dictionary definition – So this is your opinions only. Secretly perhaps I’m longing for some clarification on this farce of a word – I really do hate it actually, a lot.

If someone says “that’s just your ego talking” I will blacklist you … you have been warned …

DonCharisma,org-Confused-Chimp

Egocentric

Egotistical

Freudian-Ego

Thin-Ego

Thick-Ego

Fragile-Ego

Ego-shell

WTF ? What the hell are these people taking about ?

Do animals have an ego, same as humans ? Why do they need it ?

What the hell do I need an ego for ?

If I have one then surely I need it, otherwise why would god give me something I don’t need ?

Over to you guys, perhaps there’s a scholar/Buddha/enlightened being in our midst who’ll clear this utter mess up. Or perhaps others just have largely omitted it from their vocabulary because “ego” is made up bullshit … I’m open to listen to well reasoned comments in either direction … it’s all the same for me until something resonates with me …

You decide today 🙂

Warm regards

Don Charisma

Resources & Sources

Confused Chimp – morgueFile.com

Notes for commenters:

Don Charisma Warning Improvised Writing

Comments are invited. BUT you are reminded that this is a public blog and you are also reminded to think before you press the “post comment” button. 

Good manners are a mark of a charismatic person – so please keep comments civil, non-argumentative, constructive and related, or they will be moderated. If you feel you can’t comply, press the “unfollow” button and/or refrain from commenting.

I read ALL comments but can’t always reply. I will comment if I think there’s something that I can add to what you’ve said. I do delete without notice comments that don’t follow rules above. For persistent offenders I will ignore you permanently and/or report you.

Most decent people already know how to behave respectfully. Thank you for your co-operation on the above.

Warm regards, Don Charisma

 

DonCharisma.org Opinion Graphic

43 thoughts on ““Ego” – Don Charisma’s Opinion”

  1. There is a difference in ego depending on how deep your understanding is on different levels.
    1. If you have good genetics and good energy you will have energy to investigate more about your ego.
    2. If you have control over your focus you will be able to dig very deep and find out more about your ego in meditation breathing deeply.
    3. If you have guts, then what you find will not scare your ego, and you and your ego will have the guts to act on it.
    4. If you find that oneness with others and animals and plants, seeing that we all work together and benefit from each other your ego is going long-term and more altruistic.
    5. If you can communicate what you find inside of yourself well, your ego will not only echo emptyness, but will actually become more interesting.
    6. I your IQ is high (some of us get such an IQ) then you will be able to think in many steps and make logic conclusions. Big ego usually fucks up logic, so being aware of ego when using your IQ is essential. Not having a heart and using IQ for egoism usually leads to disaster.
    7. Good Energy in all these fields can open up a channel that makes you see your ego and the truth (or God if you like) more clearly.
    Good luck! 😉

  2. It’s a complicated question… Many interesting comments have been made. From a buddhist perpective, or at least what I understand of it (I study buddhism, but I’m not buddhist, so… a buddhist might correct me), the problem with ego is that it is not real. It’s a construction, that we make as coherent and solid as possible, but only that. It’s a construction that helps us justify our desires, inpulses, a construction that we believe is our identity. According to buddhism, since everything is impermanent, such is ego. And ego is a problem because it’s making us act selfishly, think in terms of “me vs others”. The less ego you have, the more you will be prone to see others as suffering human beings, looking for the same things as you do, so you’ll act in a more gentle way and more importantly you’ll see everyone on the same level, which leads to liberation (which is the goal in buddhism, let’s not forget it…).
    A beautiful buddhist image is that your mind is like a clear blue sky and emotions are clouds preventing the sun to shine all around. The clouds are created by ego, a fake sense of self.

    It’s probably why “ego” took such a negative connotation nowadays, after interest in oriental philosophy..

    I hope I made myself clear, it’s a tough question to answer in one’s own language, even more as a non-native english speaker…
    Oh, and don’t assimilate ego with some healthy kind of self-confidence (or charisma 😉 ) : reducing ego means seeing things clearly as they are, not letting yourself used as carpet !!!

    1. I’ve studied Buddhism too and that mirrors my understanding … however I’m not a Buddhist so not sure that I agree that the no mind, no ego, ego reduction ethos is the right way for me … however I appreciate that it might be the right way for others … it was an open question, to get people’s opinions, and I often find personally I learn a lot from what other’s experiences and opinions are 🙂

  3. I relationed the Ego with steem. Ego is how other people see us and steem is how we see ourself. Ego is changhing all the life with family, friends… It’s probably that when you’re young your steem depends on the ego. Maybe if you had bad experiences, your ego is bad and your steem too. When you are maturing, steem becomes more important and it don’t depends on ego.

  4. I think of EGO as how you perceive yourself – how you perceive the things you do, say , are . The negativity ,IMO, only comes when yourself or others view being self aware as a bad thing. To have positive or strong ego means you understand who you are and aren’t ashamed to share it. It’s really sad that some are put down for accepting and acknowledging their strengths and achievements.

  6. The difference between the one who claims he/she does not have any ego and the person who is accused of full of ego – generally very few seldom or ever admit that they are egoistic – is, the second one makes things happening and the first one takes the entire credit. 🙂

  8. Super Ego… 🙂
    .. if my teen studies, carried out on psychology’s volumes back in 90’s don’t fail me, I recall that Ego is very important too. I mean EGO is what keeps you alive on a very basic level, natural instincts an preservation .. allow us to preserve human species by means of reproduction..
    On the minus side there are the so called “sociopaths”, those who have an exaggerated “ego”, where egoism thrive undisturbed.
    🙂 tough topic, maaaan
    Bye!

    2. yep, Niko, that sounds right to me 🙂 we need our little old ego to keep us together, without we would be like a newborn all our lives, the key is to become aware of it, remain humble, for fear of ruining others lives (and our own!) or something like that 😉

    3. Yeah, from my understanding, the ego in the Freudian sense is pretty valuable for survival — it facilitates between the id’s unchecked desires and how things work in the real world. In a less technical way it’s become a catch-all for someone’s sense of self and often gets used interchangeable with narcissism.

      In Eastern philosophy the idea of going beyond ego seems more about seeing your connectedness with the bigger universe rather than solely focusing on yourself…which is kind of funny because that’s one of the things the Freudian “ego” is supposed to help with, I just realized while typing this!

      2. 🙂 Hi Jenny! I agree… and thank you so much for the explanation, it’s very interesting 🙂

  9. Ego….. self identity? Am I self confident, overconfident, lack self confidence. I think the ego is seen in the way we portray ourselves based on our selfawareness. How do I identify myself, if I’m overconfident I very well may portray myself as an egomaniac. If I’m self confident, a composed pleasant person. If I lack self confidence, perhaps I’m reserved, or shy. Unfortunately the term ego is used only to, as you say, describe the obnoxiously over abundantly confident types.

  10. behaving in a manner that is selfish in other’s eyes or appearing to be acting in one’s own best interest instead of out of consideration of what’s best for all concerned. thanks for prompting me to think about that.

  11. Ego is your concept of self. Like any other word people develop their own definition of it through cumulative experience and tid-bits of knowledge that they pick up, but ultimately, it is just an evolutionary trait developed for survival and many are finding that it’s purpose is diminishing; as humans, we no longer have to struggle to survive, therefore there is a need to evolve beyond it.
    The idea is to diminish ego, not inflate it. So someone who has a big ego holds who they ‘are’ in the highest regard (especially above all others), whereas someone of a humbler disposition can admit that they are continually learning who they are, and as they continue to learn, they find that the source of self is elusive.
    Many people have their opinions on the subject of creation. The fact of the matter is that the world is a curious place; the human brain is in itself mostly a mystery to us, as is the origin of thought, so when you are stimulated by thoughts of ego, perhaps it is a call to study it more. It just depends on how deep you want to delve. Ego has religious, spiritual, psychological, and scientific significance, and is constant source of mystery, but it’s up to you to decide what it means to you. It’s quite ironic.

    1. For sure … and I’ve done some reading … get the survival connection, and still reckon we need that, personally … I’m all for humility but not the extent that others harm or abuse me … interesting questions and thanks for commenting 🙂

    1. For sure … some of the other commenters have explained the latin origins, and I think probably go back to basics with it helps … ego = I in latin …

  14. ego – Latin word for I. that’s it. We ourselves have taken a word referring to I or self and made something simple – complicated. If you conjugate the word, for example, it goes ego, tu, vos, etc. I, you, others…..So….self esteem is how you feel about….self. instead of saying having a big ego, I think folks need to be more specific and say…you have mighty high opinion of yourself or you are conceited. Too often we like to speak in sound bites – we are geared to text messages of limited space, short commercials, quick quotes from someone being interviewed. IMHO we have gotten lazy with our speaking as we have gotten lazy at other things. I for one prefer to use the camera on my phone rather than hauling out my heavy metal Nikon F2 and doing the loading, setting, etc. So this is just from someone who studied Latin for seven years and am no expert. But simply, ego is Latin for I. And cats have “big egos” – they are conceited. and I love them for it!. 🙂

      1. I am glad. I hope the moderation of comments will help screen out the annoying ones in addition to helping you respond to comments. I am so very sorry that someone was hateful to you. I wish I could reach through the screen with my katana and give him a …. close shave!

  16. Thank you Don for this incredible creative stream of thought 🙂 I actually feel sorry for the word “Ego” born over 3000 years ago in the ancient Greek world to arbitrarily carry the burden of such complex ideas, and now to be slapped around and exploited by psycho – jargon theories that claim to help us know our – selves better, I for one entertain my – self with the modern concepts, especially the ones which cannot be confirmed by any means sufficient today – when I hear the word ego, I understand the personal pronoun “I” ….and love to use it in “I don’t know” 🙂

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