Beauty? Or Obsession?
It's a "Complex" world
A complex is a core pattern of emotions, memories, perceptions, and wishes in the personal unconscious organized around a common theme, such as power or status. Primarily a psychoanalytic term, it is found extensively in the works of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud.
My best friend has a Height complex. This means that she identifies herself as extremely short. She refuses to date guys who are less than six feet tall, because she doesn't find short guys attractive. She thinks she's too short and loves the look of Victoria's Secret models. I always call her silly because many guys don't care if a girl is short and, in my experience, some even prefer it. I think most complexes are silly, but I find her's particularly silly because she's beautiful and needs not care about how short or tall she is.
A complex is a core pattern of emotions, memories, perceptions, and wishes in the personal unconscious organized around a common theme, such as power or status. Primarily a psychoanalytic term, it is found extensively in the works of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud.
My best friend has a Height complex. This means that she identifies herself as extremely short. She refuses to date guys who are less than six feet tall, because she doesn't find short guys attractive. She thinks she's too short and loves the look of Victoria's Secret models. I always call her silly because many guys don't care if a girl is short and, in my experience, some even prefer it. I think most complexes are silly, but I find her's particularly silly because she's beautiful and needs not care about how short or tall she is.
Forever at odds.
Id: Meeting basic needs. The id is the most basic part of the personality, and wants instant gratification for our wants and needs. If these needs or wants are not met, a person becomes tense or anxious.
Ego: Dealing with reality. The ego deals with reality, trying to met the desires of the id in a way that is socially acceptable in the world. This may mean delaying gratification, and helping to get rid of the tension the id feels if a desire is not met right away. The ego recognizes that other people have needs and wants too, and that being selfish is not always good for us in the long run.
Superego: Adding morals. The superego develops last, and is based on morals and judgements about right and wrong. Even though the superego and the ego may reach the same decision about something, the superegos reason for that decision is more based on moral values, while the egos decision is based on what others will think or what the consequences of an action could be.
My brother is a very good person. He's kind and gentle and conscientious to everyone, but he drives me insane. Sometimes, so insane that I can't control my temper. I feel as if I know what I should say, but then I imagine what his stupid expression would look like, and I lose my mind. He says things that make no sense to me, and I can feel the battle in my brain to be kind and understanding or to simply yell and scream as usual.
He leaves the toilet seat up, washes dishes and leaves them dirty, doesn't bathe, and talks to me as if I know nothing when he still lives at home at 29. Each and every time we get into an argument my Id just wants to tell him these things and yell at him for being a loser, but my superego is battling with it to be kind because he doesn't do these things intentionally. My poor ego is just caught in the middle trying to tell me that yelling will only make everything worse, because he will only get angry and yell back.
I hate the battle of wills, but I understand that it is a system of checks and balances. Each of the three parts has its own desire and there needs to be a counterbalance to this desire. Otherwise, we would either not speak or run wild constantly.
Id: Meeting basic needs. The id is the most basic part of the personality, and wants instant gratification for our wants and needs. If these needs or wants are not met, a person becomes tense or anxious.
Ego: Dealing with reality. The ego deals with reality, trying to met the desires of the id in a way that is socially acceptable in the world. This may mean delaying gratification, and helping to get rid of the tension the id feels if a desire is not met right away. The ego recognizes that other people have needs and wants too, and that being selfish is not always good for us in the long run.
Superego: Adding morals. The superego develops last, and is based on morals and judgements about right and wrong. Even though the superego and the ego may reach the same decision about something, the superegos reason for that decision is more based on moral values, while the egos decision is based on what others will think or what the consequences of an action could be.
My brother is a very good person. He's kind and gentle and conscientious to everyone, but he drives me insane. Sometimes, so insane that I can't control my temper. I feel as if I know what I should say, but then I imagine what his stupid expression would look like, and I lose my mind. He says things that make no sense to me, and I can feel the battle in my brain to be kind and understanding or to simply yell and scream as usual.
He leaves the toilet seat up, washes dishes and leaves them dirty, doesn't bathe, and talks to me as if I know nothing when he still lives at home at 29. Each and every time we get into an argument my Id just wants to tell him these things and yell at him for being a loser, but my superego is battling with it to be kind because he doesn't do these things intentionally. My poor ego is just caught in the middle trying to tell me that yelling will only make everything worse, because he will only get angry and yell back.
I hate the battle of wills, but I understand that it is a system of checks and balances. Each of the three parts has its own desire and there needs to be a counterbalance to this desire. Otherwise, we would either not speak or run wild constantly.
A Lesson Learned.
When I was twelve my parents planned a road trip across country. They asked me if I wanted to go and I said no, I wanted to visit my grandfather in Puerto Rico. I had been there before and it was beautiful. I had heard all the stories my siblings would tell about the adventures they had when they visited and it sounded amazing. They painted beautiful pictures of ripe mangoes and creepy dilapidated aquariums with beastly fish just waiting to scare you. They played me home videos of bike rides and laughter at all the childhood antics. I was so excited I could not contain myself.
I packed my bags for ten days and I got on the plane all by myself. I even got to sit in the front because I was an "unaccompanied minor." As I got off the plane I was excited and nervous because I hadn't seen my grandfather in years. But when I saw him, he looked exactly the same as I remembered. He was old, wrinkly, and short but his uni brow was bushier than ever. His wife Hilda was there too. She was young and very sweet to me.
I remember walking into their house. It smelled like clean air and sunshine. Their couches were covered in that annoying plastic that always sticks to your legs when you get sweaty? I couldn't stand them and it was such a hot place. They gave me the guest room and I was so happy to be there, I unpacked my things and walked back into the hallway. The entire hallway was a collage of all my siblings and cousins at all ages and stages of their lives. But I was nowhere. I remember the sense of sadness. The loss. Even at twelve I felt terrible about myself. No one should ever experience those things. Not from their family who is supposed to love them unconditionally.
My grandfather is a strict catholic and believed that my mother should have stayed with her first husband. He even went as far as to keep her old wedding photo after her divorce and my birth. They could have put pictures up of me if I looked like my brother, who is fairer than some Caucasians, but I didn't look like him. I couldn't be passed off as my mother's first husband's child, so I was ignored, put away and hidden. They didn't have a baby picture, my second grade picture with a tooth missing or any of the pictures my mom had sent them. I didn't exist on his wall of pride and it made me feel like less than nothing.
I will always love my grandfather. He helped create the person I am today. On that day I learned that sometimes people are stupid. That they can be too caught up in the need to look right rather than do right by their own family. Religion and appearance should not go above your love and devotion to your family. How you look to your community should not affect how you treat a child. A child who could not help her circumstances. A child who would not exist without my mother and my father. I cannot help but feel bad for my grandfather because he allowed our relationship to be warped and distorted from fear and bias. From this experience I learned there should be nothing between the love of family. There is nothing more important than the people who should accept and love you, unconditionally.
Who am I to judge you?
In this course I have learned a lot about myself and how I perceive the world around me and how the world has and will continue to perceive me. I've learned how far psychology has come in such a short amount of time and helps us understand how we, as humans, work.
Does psychology matter? Yes, it affects us and influences us every minute of every day and we would be ignorant to disregard its impact. Every day as a court reporting student, I have to physically block things out while I'm writing in order to focus. I cannot let someone's age or skin color or manner of speaking distract me from my task, but the fact that this is so hard is how I know that psychology is constantly a factor.
Does psychology make a difference in communities and nations? As someone who has seen and experienced bias and mental afflictions firsthand, I know that psychology makes a significant difference. I once heard a girl say that "Black and Puerto Rican people don't look right." She, of course, didn't know that I am Black and Puerto Rican. When I told her that I was she told me that I was fine. As if I needed her approval to be who I am already. I don't know what she went through in life to give her such obvious biases but they were clearly present, and from her perspective, justified. These biases are in everyone, but in specific degrees and extents in each of us. In our government, schools, restaurants, and sometimes in our own homes.
Can the field of psychology demonstrate that it's theories, research, professional practice, methodologies, ways of thinking about the mind, brain and behavior make life better in a measurable way? Can psychology's benefits to society be measured? absolutely. Without psychologists we would still think that homosexuality was a disease to be treated with institutionalization and medication. Psychology helps us understand the world and the way we see and perceive our world. Bias, mental illness, learning, dreaming, and development are all fields of study within psychology that are measurable and incomprehensibly significant.
Has what psychology has to show as a discipline been applied in the real world beyond academia and practitioners' offices to improve health, education, welfare, safety, professional & organizational effectiveness, or other? Yes, psychology can be applied to every aspect of our daily lives and routines. Psychology affects us every day, whether in other people or within ourselves. We are constantly learning and changing our opinions, beliefs, biases and affectations. We can improve or worsen our conditions based on our knowledge of psychology and how we perceive and are perceived.
Can the field of psychology demonstrate that it's theories, research, professional practice, methodologies, ways of thinking about the mind, brain and behavior make life better in a measurable way? Can psychology's benefits to society be measured? absolutely. Without psychologists we would still think that homosexuality was a disease to be treated with institutionalization and medication. Psychology helps us understand the world and the way we see and perceive our world. Bias, mental illness, learning, dreaming, and development are all fields of study within psychology that are measurable and incomprehensibly significant.
Has what psychology has to show as a discipline been applied in the real world beyond academia and practitioners' offices to improve health, education, welfare, safety, professional & organizational effectiveness, or other? Yes, psychology can be applied to every aspect of our daily lives and routines. Psychology affects us every day, whether in other people or within ourselves. We are constantly learning and changing our opinions, beliefs, biases and affectations. We can improve or worsen our conditions based on our knowledge of psychology and how we perceive and are perceived.
Throwing Up Signs...
A few weeks ago, I was extremely tired after a full day of classes and decided to take a nap. My mother and brother were in the room watching T.V. while I was napping. When I fell asleep they were watching a show on the science channel about the universe.
After falling asleep, I had a very vivid dream that I was a documentary filmmaker and was doing a piece on gangs. In the dream I followed gang members around and studied their lives and habits. I don't remember much past this point except the part in my dream where I was attacked. I was assaulted by two gang members at night and they stole my camera, this would not have been a very odd experience, except for the fact that both members of the gang were white.
When I awoke from my dream, shortly after the attacking, I found my mother and brother watching a documentary on the Bloods and the Crips in Compton, Los Angeles.
According to the psychoanalytic/ psychodynamic viewpoint there are two sides to my dream, the first being the manifest content. The manifest content in my dream was that I was a documentary filmmaker studying gangs and subsequently attacked by white gang members. The latent content would be that I unconsciously desire to study things and learn subjects more deeply as a filmmaker does by physically being there to study their subjects. I could also possibly live in fear of white or Caucasian people. Our government and police force, the most influential and powerful institutions in America are overwhelmingly populated by caucasians. They have the power and, statistically, as a minority I'm at a disadvantage.
From the cognitive perspective I could possibly fear being attacked while in a vulnerable position. I have always wanted to take a self defense course and martial arts classes but haven't ever done it.
However, I believe that while I was sleeping I was hearing the television and the content manifested itself in my dreams.
Free will vs. Determinism
I find it hard to believe that there is no situation, other than life or death, that one doesn't have a choice. Yet, even a situation that were life or death there is still a choice, that choice literally being "Life" or "Death." In any situation there is always a choice, one might possibly be better than the other but one still exists and there is always a decision to be made.
If someone had a gun to my head and told me to dance naked like a monkey or die, I would obviously dance naked like a monkey. But, what if I were terminally ill and ready to die anyway without degrading myself that way? I would choose death and be perfectly happy with that decision.
For the people who disagree with this line of thinking or simply believe it to be untrue I would suggest you to read about Doctor kevorkian and his work. Many people every day choose death for themselves by either telling or instructing their families to remove medical life support in the event of their becoming comatose.
Death is a choice and always is a choice, so in what context does one have absolutely no option? I began this assignment in the mind frame of being determined to find a situation that one would have absolutely no choice, decisions, options etc. Yet, the more I think about it the more I find that I do not believe there is ever a situation where one cannot exercise their will.
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