Freud’s Id, Ego, Superego

Lately I’ve been way too obsessed with Freud.
Not in a “read every academic paper” kind of way, but more like I can’t shut up about his ideas in my own head.

So I figured: screw it, let’s put this down somewhere.
Maybe later I’ll stumble on it again and laugh at myself.
Or maybe I’ll actually think I was onto something.

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Part 1: Freud’s Trio, My Words

The part that hooked me was Freud’s model of the mind: id, ego, superego.
Sounds fancy, but it’s basically Freud saying:

• Id → a little caveman
• Ego → a sensible middle manager
• Superego → a perfectionist parent

Let me break it down:

• Id is your inner junkie. It wants dopamine and it wants it now. Sex, sugar, beer, cigarettes, whatever feels good. Doesn’t care about consequences.
  If it were up to the id, you’d tell your boss he’s an idiot, punch him, then go eat cake.

• Ego is the realist. It knows punching your boss = unemployment tomorrow. Its job is to balance the caveman inside you with the world outside you.

• Superego is the voice that says: “be perfect, work harder, don’t just pass, get an A+.”
  It’s that impossible standard that never shuts up.

If the id wins → you wreck yourself with indulgence.
If the superego wins → you drown in stress and self-hate.
The ego’s job = juggle both without losing its mind.

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Part 2: Side Note: Freud in German

Fun fact: Freud wrote this in German.
He didn’t call it id, ego, superego.

• Es = It
• Ich = I
• Über-Ich = Over-I

The English translation made it sound clinical.
The German version feels more personal literally “me,” “it,” and “the boss above me.”

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Part 3: Scaling Up to Cultures

Here’s where my brain spiraled:
What if entire cultures have their own id, ego, and superego?

• Denmark → small id, small superego → ego’s job is easy. Balanced, steady, not too extreme.
• Balkans (my turf) → big id energy. Eating, drinking, smoking, partying. Superego is weak. Ego babysits chaos. Explains why we’re overweight but unbothered.
• East Asia (Taiwan from my experience) → massive superego. Overachieving, never enough, collapse from overwork. Id still sneaks in (smoking, gambling, drinking quietly). Ego here has the hardest job.

Whole cultures leaning id-heavy, superego-heavy, or ego-balanced.

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Part 4: My Own Reflection

Naturally I asked: where the hell do I fit?

• Sometimes I’m Balkan-id heavy → chasing pleasure, smoking, drinking, instinct-driven.
• Sometimes I feel crushed by the Asian superego → ambition, perfectionism, never satisfied.
• And sometimes I envy the Danes → just balanced, no noise in the head.

Truth is, I probably shift depending on the day.
And maybe we all do.

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Final Take

So here’s the big question:

• Where do you see your culture on Freud’s spectrum?
  Big id energy? Giant superego pressure? Balanced ego?

But here’s what really bugs me:
Do people actually fit one of these types, or are we constantly sliding between them?

Some folks seem rock solid, same vibe forever.
Meanwhile I feel like I’m in constant shift:
some days id-heavy, some days crushed by the superego, some days finding balance.

Maybe that’s the point:
identity is fluid and messy, not something you can lock into Freud’s neat boxes, but I really like his idea.