Throughout his lifetime in the early 1900's, Sigmund Freud has published and accomplished many theories that investigates the connection between neurophysiology and the human behavior. Some of his famous philosophies are:

The id, ego and superego

This is a personality model which relies on the premise that human behavior is brought about by inner forces over which the individual has little control of. Dreams and slips of the tongue are clues to what the individual is really thinking. These events are not random slip ups but are indications of deeply felt emotions and thoughts that reside in the unconscious, a part of the personality of which a person is not aware of. To understand the conscious and unconscious forces guiding an individual’s behavior, Freud divided the personality into three elements: the id, the ego and the superego. These elements are not physical structures found in the brain, instead they represent a general model of personality that describes the interaction of various behaviors and drives that motivate us.


The id

The id refers to the raw, unorganized, inherited part of the personality. Its main goal is to reduce tension created by our primitive drives which are related to hunger, sex, aggression and irrational impulses. The id operates according to the pleasure principle, in which its goal is immediate gratification and reduction of tension. In most people, reality prevents the id’s instant demands from being fulfilled. We cannot always eat when we are hungry, and we can act on sexual drives only in the right place and time.

The ego

The ego is the buffer between the id and the world’s realities. The ego operates on the reality principle. In this principle, instinctual energy is restrained in order to maintain the safety of the individual and help integrate the person into society. The ego is sometimes called “the executive” of an individual’s personality. The ego makes the decisions, controls actions and allows for a higher capability of problem solving. The id is not capable of such higher level of thinking. The ego is responsible for the higher cognitive functions such as intelligence, thoughtfulness and learning.

The superego

The superego is the final element of Freud’s model of personality. It is similar to the id in that it is somewhat unrealistic. The superego represents the rights and wrongs of the society as handed down to an individual over their lifetime. The superego has two subparts: the conscience and the ego-ideal. The conscience prevents us from committing immoral acts. The ego-ideal motivates us to do what is morally proper. The superego helps to control the id’s impulses, making them less selfish and more morally correct. Both the id and the superego are unrealistic in that they do not consider the actualities of society. The lack of reality within the superego, if left unchecked, would create perfectionists who would be unable to make compromises that life requires.



This clip applies the Freudian concept of the id, ego and superego in modern day society. It's explanation is easily accessible and fun to comprehend.



The musical artist of this clip is Radiohead - Idioteque. I chose this clip because it is able to convey the 'struggle' and internal connection between the id, ego and superego. As the clip demonstrates several images on loops, each represents the the progression of awareness. One of the first few images begins with waves crashing and people swimming, perhaps to symbolize that the id swims out of its primitive drive. It is instinctual to swim, not sink.


Life instinct and death instinct

Freud saw all human behavior as motivated by the drives or instincts, which in turn are the neurological representations of physical needs. At first, he referred to them as the life instincts. These instincts perpetuate (a) the life of the individual, by motivating him or her to seek food and water, and (b) the life of the species, by motivating him or her to have sex. And yet the goal of all this lively desire is to be still, to be satisfied, to be at peace, to have no more needs. The goal of life is death. Freud began to believe that "under" and "beside" the life instincts there was a death instinct. He began to believe that every person has an unconscious wish to die. This concept was rejected by most of his students, but Freud believed it has some basis in life experiences. Life can be a painful and an exhausting process. There is easily, for the great majority of people in the world, more pain than pleasure in life -- which death promises release from the struggle.