Karkaboosh1

I had a small paper to write for class and got really into it. came outnot half bad, and thought id share it.

after reading this: Ego vs Depth Interpretations (please read before going on.)

i went on to writing the following.

The male ego has been the cause of many discussions on weather or not it can have a radical effect on other people, especially women. Taking into consideration the research (http://www.bapfelbaumphd.com/Ego_vs_Depth.html) provided by Dr. Bernard Apfelbaum, it can be easily understood that men cannot help doing what they do because they are in somewhat born that way. It is often a misconception that a man has a bigger ego because he is more of an “alpha-male”. This can be explained considering the fact that more of an “alpha-male” a man is the greater his fear of emasculation, repression, and castration would be, since his belief would be that he has reached an apex in life. At this point it should be asked what an “alpha-male” is or a real man? This cannot be answered directly since some men might consider it to be who has the most money, charm, politeness, physical beauty, power or otherwise. But a common point that all men have is what defines them as men and separates them from the other sex, their phallic dominance and ability to spread their seed. All which would comply with Dr. Bernard Apfelbaum explanation of mans ego and how it represses women and other men. Men want dominance and power because of their fear of other men. This can be related to how the world is changing these past few years, transitioning from a belief in monogamy to polygamy. It could be considered that the average worldwide male ego level has decreased since the increase in the belief in polygamy, since there is no longer a need to repress other males and dominate both sexes. Although it would be religiously unethical to fully condole polygamy, people would say it would be ignorant to allow men to have their ego’s dominate all people around them. So would it be blasphemy to un-augment men’s egos by condoling polygamy? Perhaps it can be related to women’s curiosity and wish to become more equal with men (which I fully agree with) in the ability to have multiple partners in some religions, having multiple wives and remaining pseudo monogamous.
Finally it could be concluded that men do suffer from augmented egos, conversely it is difficult to tell weather or not having an ego or not having one at all is good. One thing for sure can be said, many men do suffer from immature egos, and because their immature egos which thrash at any potential competitor, innocent bi-standards must suffer.


sorry for any grammar mistakes if any, and not using so many paragraphs.. if you find this in any way extreemist, then i just blame it on the prof for provoking me and my weird way of thought. she just keeps insisting that men are the bane of womens development and advance in the world... she needs to chill out :P


thanks for taking the time to read.

NotMVH

An ego is not a tangable concrete object. It can both be defined as both The sense of self, the "I" or how I belive you are referring to it, an inflated feeling of pride in your superiority to others (straight from google).

How can you judge someones worth? If someone feels superior to another, they may label them as having an ego but, that is their own opinion of them. It is an abstract idea of a sigular perception and not a trait that others may perceive.

So, if we see the ego perception of personality. Then I can agree that personality has an enormous effect of not only how men and woman interact but hwo we are and how we live. If we agree in a general humad condition, male physiology pre-determines us to be dominant, power seeking and oportunist. Our construction leads us to pre-determined traits due to it's benifits with sexual reproduction.

The current trend in North American society is not towards monogomy but oportunist monogomy. Although when compared to ape social interactions we do not dominate in such a clear hierchy as the alphamale / challenger parallel, subtly man and women continue to dominate others in society. Those who have more resources, the least abstract being money, have power over others who still need to work to provide the fundamental basics for themselves. Hwo has more time to pursue woman, the CEO who checks into the office for an hour a week or the twenty something employed in his mail room just scraping by working 12 hour days. The way wealth is distributed it is a challenge to become wealthy in excess, it is a form of dominance the wealthy have over the middle class.

As far as your finale argument about augmented egos I don't fully understand, ego's can not be augmented. It refers merely to your interpretation, you can express that but it can't be measured or simplified past how you feel about someone. Their is also no such thing as an innocent bi-stander, I don't see how it fits into the equation at all.

Suave

I think an ego can be augmented. Ego is not only a feeling of one being a "self", but a sense of self-worth or self-esteem. When one feels that they are worth a lot, then they have a large ego or are egotistical. Ego can be augmnted by compliments, achievements, et cetera. Also, just to state my view on the subject, ego is a negative aspect of the human personality as a general concept, although a very small amount is necessary for continued survival in the physical world. In general, ego is the reason people can be insulted, causes violence, and many other negative activities within society.

__________________
"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

NotMVH

Someone who has self-worth and self-esteem in abundance is a very postive trait, they are only egotistical in the eyes of others. A very small amount may get you through life but does it get you what you want from life?

The ego can not be augmented. It can grow and change but to say it can be augmented is to imply that everyone has one personality, unchanging unless "augmented" by that which enters their lives. You can't draw comparisons between hwo someone was and hwo someone is now, they are not linear in a sense you can define who they are at one point in time. It is a facet that is always growing and evolving through the existance of a person.

I think all people deserve respect and deserve humane rights but, to say we are all equal is not true in the society we have built. I am empethetic to your veiwpoint on egoism. People are subjected to other veiwpoints, others actions and others opinions on a continues basis. You may not have a choice in listening due to the constructions of modern communication but you have the power of choose your own response. I can be insulted but I can choose to respond or I can choose to dismiss it. We all have perceptual power over our realities.

Zeraph

People are people.

Karkaboosh1

btw, when i say "augmented ego" im just saying that a person has a big ego.. you know.. the power crazed arrogent image of a "macho" guy... that kind of thing. ya? hehe.

Suave

I get pretty much everything I want in life without being egotistical. I just tend to avoid judging myself, avoiding the trap of requiring a high degree of self-esteem to feel good. If one avoids judging oneself or others, the ideas of self-worth or personal worth of others becomes an obsolete concept. Granted, it can be difficult to do, and I certainly have not been able to master it, but it can be done.

Main Entry: 1aug·ment
Pronunciation: og-'ment
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French augmenter, from Late Latin augmentare, from Latin augmentum increase, from augEre to increase -- more at EKE
transitive senses
1 : to make greater, more numerous, larger, or more intense

You're saying that one's ego can not be made greater by outside influences? So in other words, you just said that if someone, for example, is in a romantic relationship, and they are cheated on and find out about it, their ego is not deflated? Or if someone wins an award, there isn't the possibility that their ego will become inflated (ie. augmented)? Augmentation does not deny the fact of dynamic personality. It in fact reinforces it.

__________________
"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions." - Albert Einstein

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

NotMVH

I stated clearly that I think it is dynamic. I don't think it can be augmented because it does not become greater or large. It exists and changes, you can't write a mathmatical principle and assign it to an ego. It is not linear in the sense you can throw it on a line graph and calculate what is happening at each event of your life.

What you posted are interpretations of how you may be affected by cirumstances and more so, how you would expect people to feel and react to situations. The only thing you can be certain of is that for every event their is a reaction, not that it can be postive or negitive.

We are also speaking of the ego as a false sense, an artificial sense of self-worth. You can not study someone and procliam, that man has an Ego. It is not that same as to proclaim that that man has a right arm. I am argueing that labeling someone as having an Ego is not concrete, it is your own personalized interpretation of a person.

I can only speak for myself but self-esteem is a byproduct of how I live. Its not required, its produced. What feels good to me is knowing what I want and working towards it, taking it, getting it, possesing it. In my own eyes I am not egotistical, I am merely here, existing. I have no guilt or remorse making judgements of myself and of others, they are my own decisions and I can formulate and express them when I choose. I simply acknowledge that they are mine and part of my existence.