💚 Patreon: patreon.com/thelivingphilosophy 💬 Discord: discord.gg/cA6fS5tJ ⌛ Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction 0:50 Ego's Origins 3:55 The Heroic Freudian Ego 5:40 The Jungian Ego Container 9:20 The Evil New Age Ego 12:04 The Inflated Mainstream Ego Part 1: Nietzschean Decadence 15:59 The Inflated Mainstream Ego Part 2: Icarus and Daedalus

You are doing a great job for humanity making these videos. I especially appreciate your deliberate choice of words in which I think you can gather the influence Jung has had in your thoughts, and I'm always a fangirl for Jung. Also is beautiful that you always manage to anchor everything in what feels like a marriage between everyday affairs and the psychology and metaphysics of spirituality

Ego is like the shadow, it is needed, you just have to learn to control it. I also think that is the true enlightenment.

What an incredible video! So rich in detail and wide reaching. Great work. Makes me think of Peterson’s highlighting of the common misapprehension of the Christian term “meek”. Meek does not mean weak, kind and placid. Instead, he contends, it should be thought of someone who knows how to wield their sword, but keeps it sheathed. That one should work on their strength, power, boundaries, capability. But crucially also their level-headedness. Their critical thinking and empathy. I think this is summed up in the word temperance. But maybe also forgiveness. Following the perfect flight path, as Icarus’ father does, may not be possible at all times. But is a goal to strive towards maximising our flight time at the correct altitude. A truly beautiful video. A lot to chew on. Thank you! ❤

I love how you slip in the phrase “The ghost in the machine”. It makes me want to continue researching and question its difference with “The body without organs”.

Omg "I is the Enemy" with Ali G @ 3:40 Priceless 🤣🤣

What an essential topic to do a bit of house cleaning in! Well spotted. I've found it really valuable to get sharp definitions and perspectives on the ego. I really think the kernel of our problems lies somewhere in the intersection between the western (Christian) worldview and the Buddhistic world view of the east. So thank you for the video, it was wonderful - loved the artworks!

I like how you challenge cliched thinking. Thinking that many of us have adopted without realising it.

I've always favoured Zaphod Beeblebrox's philosophy: "If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now"

Fitting video to what im reading currently. Edinger in his "The Christian Archetype" quotes Jung as follow: "Exposure of the ego to such unconscious forces always generates some degree of possession or identification, even if only partial and temporary. Also the transformation drama cannot unfold without the ego's succumbing to 'necessary error' (felix culpa)." *with the follow footnote* 4. "Egocentricity is a necessary attribute of consciousness and is also its specific sin." (Jung, Mysterium Coniunctionis, CW 14, par. 364)

What would you say about Ego Death? How does one deal with the death of their Ego through things like divorce, death of a loved one, etc? How do you rebuild your Ego without becoming bitter and jaded?

I'm only halfway through but honestly, thank you for this video! I had kind of a crisis going on about the egoistic aspect of self improvement and you've given me wonderful new input.

Yes, the word ego is used very loses in today's world. People who don't understand that the ego is themselves will never look at themselves to find answers to why they are the way they are. Great job and excellent explanations. 🖤🌹

Thanks for helping and advocating for Ego’s redemption

Oh man…this video is a fantastic dive into a piece of the history of psychotherapy… Ego being mixed in with the Buddhist idea of the self…genius insight, my friend. This is exactly what happened. A side effect of globalization and dubious translations. My mind is blown. You just added an important piece to a puzzle I didn’t know I was working on.

Reminds me a lot of the book Ego and Archetype by Edward F. Edinger. He emphasises the importance of the Ego-Self Axis, so to speak to put the Ego in its proper function. He also mentions the Ikarus/Deadalus Story as a form of ego inflation and many more (Myth of Phaeton and Ixion). I personally find a reconciliation of the buddhist non-self teaching and the perspective of the proper Ego-Self Axis difficult, since the buddhists are absolutists in that regard. The closest I come to a perspective I feel ok with, is the perspective of the divine play. To engage with life, to take it serious enough to play a role in it, but also to see that it is ultimately a game and getting too serious about it is a symptom of forgetting that we are playing.

Great video, what i have been understanding so far about New Age is what you said in the final chapter of the video, they say that ego or the rational mind, can be used for healthy and positive things, is it ok to have a sense of who you are, to love your family, but at the same time if you are too identified with it, can lead to all sorts of harm to your self and the people that surrounds you. "When we think about our love for our family and friends as part of this ego structure then it is harder to see it as unequivocally evil" that's because ego itself it's not evil, i think the core fundation of ego is to survive since our ancestors had been living in years of violence and war, that's why fear or rejection to others is associated with ego, ego does not like what it's not familiar, and that's ok, it's a tool that keep us alive till this very day, i think the idea is to know how to use it properly and not being dominated by it

Only 5 minutes in and Im glad you made this vid. I get "annoyed" (for the lack of a better of word) of people blaming ego for everything. Its often what I would consider the opposite that most people seem to lack - the ability to set/maintain boundaries and garner respect from people that causes people to act up and then blame their ego for acting out. Or in other words they mix up thinking going with the flow is being egoless but really thats probably just being non confrontational which Im claiming to cause them to bottle it up and explode which then they blame the ego and want to limit it further. In trying to limit their ego, they actually attach themselves to trying to be identified as one with an egoless ego - which is one of the most egotistical things to do - noble? -> probably... but egotisical in the terms of iron gripping to an identity to define themselves by rather then more of the wu wei form of egolessness which in my head means letting ones ego be what it is or in other words an ever-changing and maybe more undefined ego or one that adapts to the situation. Basically having a more worry free ego (which still is one, because you cant really be ego free without temporary mind altering practices or brain damage or death I would think.) Okay Im going to continue watching now, just wanted to get my thoughts out so I can concentrate on the vid more.

without the ego there would be no struggle/desire to understand reality

Great prose as always! Your comment on the fact that we know the model of Daedalus, the healthy wisely-carried power, but not his mechanism made me think. I wonder if the condition for someone to emerge a Daedalus in our life is that they were once an Icarus. After all, couldn’t one only manage one’s ego wisely if they have known both sweet and sour of its power and reflected on them? If an Icarus is a precondition for a future Daedalus, the often-demonized ego inflation is not bad inherently. (And it sounds like your future video will cover that!) You might just need another Daedalus that would keep you, the young Icarus, from actually dying and let you live on.

This has been on my mind for weeks. Well done, brother.

I love this! I remember watching I think it was an episode in Season 5 of Peaky Blinders; Thomas Shelby in response to a character mentioning one’s vanity he says, “I believe the word is called ‘ego’ now”. I always loved that line, it served as a reminder of the evolution of language, and novelty of such concepts as ego.

You rule, man i wanted so badly a redemption of that word :) Cheers on the channel! Back on the subject, it so beautifully how Spinoza describes why one should first think of himself or herself (or whatever the self may be :)). Actually Not that we "should" first think of ourselves but that this is somehow the only way our nature works. As we all can guess, Spinoza is way too adequate on expressing and providing this than me :) So if you allow me a tiny recommendation here: In my opinion Spinoza's Ethics (the adapted version) is one of the best rational explanations of what "god" may really mean to a human being. Keep the good stuff happening and may everyone reading this have a great life! :) Cheers for the channel ones more :)

To deny the Ego is to deny Life. The Ego is what lets us orient ourself in the world. The trick is to master the Ego of the Self, and not become a slave to the collective Ego of the Herd. One last observation: Daedalus was a bad dad. If he had built trust wth his son by engaging playfully with Ikaros over many years then Ikaros would have listened and heeded his father's warning. Instead, Daedalus was an absent dad by "escaping" into his work- constructing the labyrinth. I see this parenting style everywhere in modernity. The true message of the story of Ikaros is commenting on the results of neglectful parenting- children who can't self-regulate. NOT flying too high to the sun (aspiration), as, to rise like a phoenix from the ashes and metamorphosis into a higher-type, one must first be horribly burnt by the Herd and through self-overcoming. Therein resides the worthiness in suffering.

An important work, my friend. We use many terms carelessly, socially, without consideration and depth.

The understanding of Bhudism you express here, is limited to fundamentalist schools of Bhudism, " concrete operational". The Wisdom and Compassion schools point to the non duality of Being and Transcendance. I appreciate your good work and its accessability. Thank You.

I have lost a part of my ego again. I am trying to awaken it once again

The ego is nothing other then the radar on a ship - Alan Watts

Man you're explaining these complex topics in a very amazing way, it'll be great if you make videos about analytic philosophy and existentialism. Wish you all the best

I've been looking for this video for decades. I may watch it several times :)

I have been trying to explain this concept for a while now. Thanks for justifying my belief. You are a good philosopher.

There's another dynamic at play in the Icarus myth. Daedalus is the elder generation who crafted the mechanism that allowed Icarus, the younger generation, to fly. Daedalus knew the weaknesses of the wings, because he made them and as such, internalised the dangers of his power of flight well. Icarus, the younger gen., has not worked for his ability and as such, is ignorant of the dangers - he hasn't internalized them.

Dude, your videos are so rich; both intellectually and visually. I often have to rewind to hear what you said because I was too involved with the imagery lol. Well done.

Have you ever thought about doing a video on Gilbert Simondon’s “Individuation in Light of Notions of Form and Information” ? I am reading it now with my retired professor and I find the notions of the pre-individual, the individual and the trans-individual very helpful and could add to this thoughtful video. Thanks again!

This deserves all the views fr fr good work and an important distinction on the different egos according to different interpretations

as the words evolved, 'ego' and 'I' are not synonyms, but 'ego' is a particular corrupted version or manifestation of 'I.'

Excellent commentary!!

Another banger discussion and synthesis of complex topics. Thanks for putting it together!

Thanks for another great video, Living Philosophy! My view (a Jungian-influenced perspective): the ego is a strange and powerful force. One must not allow it to take total control of one's desires and consciousness, as the ego is very domineering, and if a person becomes too enthralled in their own power and self love they will be consumed by the evil that comes with greed and the thirst for power. This is a tale as old as time. However, as Jung argued, simultaneously one should not attempt to suppress the ego, as a person without ego who rejects ego and all aspects of the self is equally capable of great wrongs, as if a person rejects all precepts of humanity and the sanctity of human life, they are capable of inflicting all kinds of misery and/or destroying all that they could be. The key is to find the middle ground between full ego and no ego, or the Id and the Superego, and to find the balance between the self and the universe, and the balance between self-actualisation and recognition of the self as part of the whole. In this way, people can be empathetic and love and help their fellow humans, and see this appreciation for life as more important than purely furthering the self, but without become totally nihilistic or losing all belief in themselves as people, which I think is the best way that people can be. This is largely in line with the Jungian philosophy that one should embrace their shadow without allowing it to consume them.

What a great study of the ego… I especially loved the Icarus (and Daedalus!) part at the end!

Fantastic analysis, my brother.

Very instructive, objective, great analytical skills and synthesis. thanks!

looking forward to that follow up video ego inflation, prometheus and the serpent in eden

very deep analysis..well done

Congratulations on 80k Subscribers! Keep it up!

Really great video. I like the practicalness of it, especially on how one's life should be organized in the first half compared to the latter half.

Commendable endeavor, my man

Man you are one of the best original thinkers on the net. Power to you!

Wow! So much to think about in this video.

As a teenager going through life, I found your vids very helpful. I grew up without really having any parental authority due to the demanding work my parents have, which lead me to make myself understand things that are out of my field. One of your vids that really helped me is "the psychology of the wounded healer," which talks about finding the meaning in suffering and you will find the meaning in life. I hope that you never stop making this type of vids since they're very helpful to someone who's still trying to understand themselves and the world.

Fantastically insightful video as always!

Awesome. This made me realise just what a deep and strong, almost dogmatic belief I have about power being corruptive. Even now I struggle to think otherwise, but to realise this belief is a good start to thinking about it. Thank you!

I watched your KZfaq video about the constrained vs the unconstrained before this one and I think Plato’s idea about “The Ring of Gyges” could be applied to both of these videos. Thanks!

Your analysis is superb in this video! I am encouraged to find another individual who is willing to take this stance against the cultural mores of a pagan society that treats the ego as if it is literally Christ and needs to be crucified at every turn when it appears, while society also imputes the essence of the ego to its dark brother the id in a soul crushing avalanche of animalistic despotism in a primordial and Dionysian impetus with a self-righteous shallow pharisaical flair. This coupled with the remaining scientism of the 20th century which is trying to re-assert itself in the midst of an uprising of unconscious contents via the means of pop culture and media via the internet leads to a profound scenario where anyone who does seek to individuate is immediately ostracized and projected on with all of the unconscious angst of the rest of society as if they are doomed to repeat the fate of Icarus himself. I think with such in mind it is definitely of interest to study the cultural mores that would attend a healthy society in a Platonic or Aristotelian sense so as to rightly divine the proper path forward for those who wish to attain to the fullness of the self, and how such relegates ones duty towards others who have not demonstrated an interest in that. This is why Nietzsche's overman is of such vital interest - as such an individual would be capable of ascertaining the path forward for any and all individuals who do wish to individuate without sacrificing his own self-interest, and would be capable of navigating the collective unconscious and the paths of wisdom which would enable the principle of individuation to flourish while also avidly ascertaining the most apropos way for society at large to flourish.

Amazing video. Your channel has grown so much, I´m so happy for you. Please keep up sharing such quality content, love, love, love.❤

Just another beautiful video James! Such a great commentary on our current times. I think we all feel that as a society, we are full of excess and ego inflation. We don't need a revolution to fix this problem, we need a reform. In simple terms, we've gone a bit ham over a holiday and we need to get our asses back into the gym. ;-) Cheers James.

good work, thank you

I just discovered your marvellous channel. Brilliant work, thank you for what you are doing, I have many hours of great viewing and learning ahead of me. ☀

Ego is the most abused word in today's society. It makes me cringe when I hear it thrown around bc it has no clear meaning, just a bad connotation. Like you hear "you have a big ego", then "love yourself", then "he's full of himself" [negative], then "he's filled with a sense of self" [positive], then "be selfless", then "you lack confidence"

You have to be somebody before you can be nobody.

I could define Ego (that's the word I can use, which would mean the way we've learned as human beings to navigate and associate concepts on reality, the unconscious persona we created in order to create sence of our world in relation to the experiences we have with the external world) as the exoskeleton of the spirit (or mind, god, dasein, whatever you'd want to call that fundamental essence of being). It's not an enemy, the same way words aren't an enemy. The problem is when the silence is discomfortable, we need meaningless words to fill it. The words, like the Ego, are things that come to existence through our interaction with the world, and can be used to navigate or to anchor indefinitely. Ultimately, it's the silence that is closer to what is trully real, because words are only symbols to mean abstractions, and can never convey the true unity of our desire to communicate - but without them, we'd have to live in an obscure way and acommodate ourselves within a radical way of being. In the same way, what's trully us isn't the thoughts, actions or even the values, but that thing which is immanent on us - we are the same body since we were born and till we die. Ego, however, helps us move around on the world, while not being as necessary as words, in my opinion. You can feel love without ever uttering a string of sounds which abstractly means "love", and that love which you feel will be purer than any conceptual box you can put it in. I think that we are like a cat playing with a thread. We are the cat (pure being) playing with a ball of thread (our thoughts and conceptualizations). Ego is the unconscious idea that you're both the cat and the ball of thread.

Well done post.

It’s important to mention Buddhism doesn’t actually see ego as evil, it’s the western interpretation of Buddhism that causes them to see ego as evil. Ego is just ignorance, or assumption. That’s not exactly the same as evil. Also what are your thoughts on Elon musk? He seems to represent both good and bad aspects of ego as a large

Thank you!

Thank you for sharing this informative video, I had learned a lot and needed to hear this. Watching this video also served as a reminder to me that World Ego Awareness Day is coming up this year on May 11th.😊

By far this is the best video uve ever made... at least very helpful to me... one question though... I always understood the ego meant the 'I' so in that sense i thought the budhaa never meant it's wrong to be aware of the ego but its wrong to attach any meaning to it such as desire or any other thing but just to let it be as it is and if it changes or doesn't its all the same n the individual should nt b affected by this... please clarify if this line of sight correct or offer an alternative view if u hav one

In order to govern a flock of ever consuming, all obeying human - sheep one needs to accuse Ego for everything that is evil, in the world. In my opinion, this is what isolation from the ways of the crowd is good for : making a safe space between your psyche and the crowd where you can contemplate on your experiences and develop your self. Ego is not evil. At least not as much as the manipulation of it is.

Ego was really popularized under Nietzsche even tho it was used by Stirner before that.

Love it

the buddhist "anatta" (no self) is most likely the best place to start. is there an "I" at all? or just the brain responding to sensory/mental stimulus .

That hair adds to your explanation.

Thank you for the great video! The problem of ego was bothering me for some time now, especially the whole blurriness between freudian, buddhist and newage ideas. I disagree a bit with the presentation of the buddhist view though. In my understanding of it, the ego should be abolished not because it is unmoral but simply because it is an illusion and in vain so to speak, like a fight in quicksand. The monks may be able to get rid of it but that requires a lot of practical discipline which may replace the emotional structure that a strong "I" is providing. Most people on the other hand can just try to understand some of the ideas and stop trying so hard. The newage movement makes a moral problem out of it. So for me it is not that the ego is evil but that it is a social construct that is not to be taken for granted. Therefore it is a bit dangerous to compare these western dualistic concepts and distinctions (like the Superego against the Id) to eastern ideas that tend to think more in terms of 'oneness' and dialectic in the first place. When Freud structured the psyche in three parts, didn't he maybe reinforce the separation and confliction that was already there to be found? On the other hand the jungian idea that you need a healthy ego first, in order to transform it later on is quite interesting and exiting to me and i somewhat agree. Still for me it also suffers from cultural blindness. Maybe in a less individualistic society you would not need such a well-fortified ego first? Shouldn't you also try to not lose your true self in the first place instead of betraying it for worldly reasons and than trying to get it back after you accumulated enough money and power to be 'safe'? That seems to be somewhat counterproductive towards collective social transformation as well. In the end, Jung is more of a spiritual/psyc. mystic to me, rather than a philosopher and has quite some connection to the new age scene himself in the end... Speaking of such, I also had to think of another interesting movement that thinks of the Ego in a positive way and that is Satanism ;D The idea here is that there is also a "left hand path" of individuation to follow, that goes beyond social morality and that is embracing the personal ego and power. All in all it is a very interesting topic and you helped me think with this vid-essay, thanks! It would also be interesting to go deeper into the problem whether there is a true self beyond the Ego (which is also bothering me a lot). I generally don't have a lot of love for universal truths and such, but to totally abolish the idea of the true self also makes me feel quite uncomfortable haha :P Cheers!

Thanks!

I have always thought that the story of Icarus is more related to the attachment of the ego, or convergence, with the superego, which is what causes inflation, but of course it can also be the other way around: too much convergence with the id, which is known to happen more often in our time, can also cause the flight of Icarus.

one of my fav videos of you! :) Can someone tell me the name of the picture in 9:09 Min?

I like to draw your attention to Iain McGilchrist. I wonder what what you will make out of his cognitions. As he lives in the Isle of Skye, you have already the northern Atlantic in common.

Great title and topic, had to click as soon as I could when I saw it in my subscriptions. However I must admit it seemed a bit more rancorous than well argued. Not to worry, I think it's probably just that it could have been a mini series of 4 videos rather than a single video. There was also something in the appeal to the authority of Freud and Jung that seemed a bit uncritical and unconnected to current work to improve on their early attempts to birth their discipline. Anyhow, totally agree that ego is useful, especially when compared to the extremes of superego and id. But honestly there are very few humans that live like Spock from Star Trek or Animal from the Muppets, so in a way "the I" is kind of just the norm for those of us who wake up one day and realize we're a primate in the species homo sapiens.

The ego is a little bit of a liar. Like if I ask the question has anyone ever seen the world outside of the five senses?

Before renouncing your Ego grow one!) Excellent video, I’m tired of this nonsense pseudo spirituality of weak irresponsible cowards; there is a grace and beauty when you reject your worldly status for something higher, there is none if there is nothing to reject.

Ave Ego

The Virtuous Noble Lie of the Ego and the Trap of the Ocult Agreement of Consent In the Fragmented Consciousness of Compartmentalized Ego It Decides not to Heal the Ego but to Eliminate It And this is Suicide The Ego is the Pilot of the Soul in this Living Dimension A Being without an Ego is like an Abandoned House Opened to All Kind of Invasions of Bandits and Criminals

Thanks

Let go of my ego, lh!

Lord MacDonald spread cynicism when he said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Are none of us mature enough to manage power?

Are we each an individual universal time traveler moving through the space we call planet hmm plan what though

A buffet of word salad !

i would say ego is syndrome you develop when you want to be a unknown.

Ego é ilusão é falsidade se altera as definições é fácil qualquer narrativa .

Save the Ego from modern science of Neuropsychology and mythic identification with "The Fallen One" and focus more on Max Stirner and his excellent Redemption of "The Ego and His Own: The Case of the Individual Against Authority". I began at the wrong end of this evaluation in an Western Society saturated by The (FAKE) Christian Church. Let us wake -up. Ego has a place beyond spiritually. I found distinction in Eastern Philosophy deeply satisfying.

Wonderful video. Humidity is s False virtue. Think about it... humility is something invented so somebody's success wouldn't offend the less successful. There's a difference between self pride (appropriate) and (inappropriate) arrogance which is making others feel inferior. Humility is allowing other people to shape you... to make you seem spiritual by making your self image inferior to what it should be.That's the inverse of arrogance and still harmful. Love your ego and love other people's no two are alike. F+++ humility, if you have a healthy self image, you don't need it, and if your friends think you do, you don't need them ether. 🧠+🫀=💪