absolute terror fields
 

Okay, first off, does this term ring a bell to anyone?

According to popular belief, AT fields are a field that is our soul, in a way. These fields are what help us keep our form. And no, this would not be the same thing skin, or even atmospheric pressure keeping us together. It is something more. Please read on.

I heard about the idea of "AT Fields", of course, from the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. The whole idea of having an AT field fascinated me, so I tried to see if there was more to it than just being something they threw together for an anime. Somewhere I read that the idea of an AT field originated from our old pal Siggy (Sigmund Freud). I looked more into this and I kept getting stuff about the "death instinct". The idea of the death instinct apparently originates from something called "Eros and Thanatos". This, in turn, can apparently be found in one of Freud's books entitled "Beyond the Pleasure Principle". Finally, something that I can go to a bookstore and look up. I'm going to the bookstore later today to see if they have it, but I'd like to know if anyone here knows more about thet AT fields than what every Neon Genesis Evangelion website boasts to "known" about these fields.

I think I've figured a much, much deeper meaning to these fields, and these ideas are strongly prevalent throughout the whole series, so... we'll see.

youve been watching too much evangelion

Sounds like one of those things Freud cooked up while high on coke. A lot of the stuff he wrote is complete nonsense. The fact that it was picked up by an anime further proves that point.

The basic reasoning behind "Beyond the Pleasure Principle" (IIRC) is that Freud, who tried to explain all human behavior in terms of sexual energy, could not explain the carnage of World War I. So he decided that we must have a death drive as well as a sexual one. The basic idea is that we all instinctively are driven to kill.

I don't buy it for a minute. Freud had some interesting ideas, but I think this is way oversimplified and overgeneralized.

I would be very surprised if Freud actually used the term "absolute terror field."

I did a brief googling of Evangelion fans discussing Freud and Jung, and there seems to be a lot of confusion and not many people who have read either.

Freud, while revolutionary in his thinking, certainly wasn't always correct. plus, there was plenty that he simply made up.

in any case, be sure to come back and let us know what that book says. maybe describing an "AT Field" detector?

I'd say he "simply made up" everything -- most of his theories were a result of him sitting on his ass and thinking about things. I heard somewhere that he analyzed only a few hundred patients in his entire career.

He is important because he popularized the concept of the unconscious (among other reasons) but I wouldn't recommend that anyone take him too seriously. For me, he's more interesting in a historical sense than a psychological one.

This is so ignorant it is putrid.

Anyways, I haven't been to the bookstore, but I will shortly.

Deep spiritual meaning can often be gleaned from the oddest places if you're looking for it. I think that the concept of AT fields sounds very intriguing and there is probably as much proof of these fields as there is proof that we have souls in the first place.

As far as Freud goes, however, I have to agree with the majority of the posters here that Freud's works should largely be dismissed. That's not to say that you shouldn't study them or learn from them, that is just my opinion.

here you are calling someones post putrid, yet you are the one who started wondering the possibility of an "AT field" thought up by a mentally unstable artist of the evangelion series...

In some ways Stiltzkin is very correct. The automatic dismisal of an idea based solely on its origin is ignorant. Any aspect of life can inspire deep philosophical thought, not just those that are approved by brainiacs across the world. Besides, Evangelion probably has just as much credability as Freud does.