Upstairs, Downstairs...

[Skater Boy]

I'm just curious to know whether any of y'all have have experienced a situation where your LIBIDO came into direct conflict with your powers of RATIONAL THOUGHT. And if so, how was that conflict resolved?

Any thoughts? All views welcome...

[Bluebiyou]

Libido wins nearly every time for me.

Id vs Ego = Superego go to hell, libido decides!

[Skater Boy]

Libido wins nearly every time for me.

But wouldn't that imply that we are "libido-driven animals"?


Id vs Ego = Superego go to hell, libido decides!

OK, according to Wiki:

"Id: The term id (inner desire) is a Latinised derivation from Groddeck's das Es,[2] and translates into English as strictly "it". It stands in direct opposition to the super-ego. It is dominated by the pleasure principle.

The mind of a newborn child is regarded as being completely "id-ridden", in the sense that it is a mass of instinctive drives and impulses, and demands immediate satisfaction. This view equates a newborn child with an id-ridden individual—often humorously—with this analogy: an alimentary tract with no sense of responsibility at either end.

The id is responsible for our basic drives such as food, sex, and aggressive impulses. It is amoral and egocentric, ruled by the pleasure–pain principle; it is without a sense of time, completely illogical, primarily sexual, infantile in its emotional development, and will not take "no" for an answer. It is regarded as the reservoir of the libido or "love energy".

Freud divided the id's drives and instincts into two categories: life and death instincts - the latter not so usually regarded because Freud thought of it later in his lifetime. Life instincts are those that are crucial to pleasurable survival, such as eating and copulation. Death instincts, as stated by Freud, are our unconscious wish to die, as death puts an end to the everyday struggles for happiness and survival. Freud noticed the death instinct in our desire for peace and attempts to escape reality through fiction, media, and substances such as alcohol and drugs. It also indirectly represents itself through aggression."




And "Ego: In Freud's theory, the ego mediates among the id, the super-ego and the external world. Its task is to find a balance between primitive drives, morals, and reality while satisfying the id and super-ego. Its main concern is with the individual's safety and allows some of the id's desires to be expressed, but only when consequences of these actions are marginal. Ego defense mechanisms are often used by the ego when id behavior conflicts with reality and either society's morals, norms, and taboos or the individual's expectations as a result of the internalization of these morals, norms, and their taboos.

The word ego is taken directly from Latin, where it is the nominative of the first person singular personal pronoun and is translated as "I myself" to express emphasis. The Latin term ego is used in English to translate Freud's German term Das Ich, which literally means "the I".

In modern-day society, ego has many meanings. It could mean one’s self-esteem; an inflated sense of self-worth; or in philosophical terms, one’s self. However, according to Freud, the ego is the part of the mind which contains the consciousness. Originally, Freud had associated the word ego to meaning a sense of self; however, he later revised it to mean a set of psychic functions such as judgment, tolerance, reality-testing, control, planning, defense, synthesis of information, intellectual functioning, and memory.

In a diagram of the Structural and Topographical Models of Mind, the ego is depicted to be half in the consciousness, while a quarter is in the preconscious and the other quarter lies in the unconscious.

The ego is the mediator between the id and the super-ego, trying to ensure that the needs of both the id and the super-ego are met. It is said to operate on a reality principle, meaning it deals with the id and the super-ego; allowing them to express their desires, drives and morals in realistic and socially appropriate ways. It is said that the ego stands for reason and caution, developing with age. Sigmund Freud had used an analogy which likened the ego to a rider and a horse; the ego being the rider while the id being the horse. The horse provides the energy and the means of obtaining the energy and information need, while the rider ultimately controls the direction it wants to go. However, due to unfavorable conditions, sometimes the horse makes its own decisions over the rocky terrain.

When the ego is personified, it is like a slave to three harsh masters: the id, the super-ego and the external world. It has to do its best to suit all three, thus is constantly feeling hemmed by the danger of causing discontent on two other sides. It is said however, that the ego seems to be more loyal to the id, preferring to gloss over the finer details of reality to minimize conflicts while pretending to have a regard for reality. But the super-ego is constantly watching every one of the ego's moves and punishes it with feelings of guilt, anxiety, and inferiority. To overcome this, this ego employs methods of defense mechanism.

Denial, displacement, intellectualization, fantasy, compensation, projection, rationalization, reaction formation, regression, repression and sublimation were the defense mechanisms Freud identified. However, his daughter Anna Freud clarified and identified the concepts of undoing, suppression, dissociation, idealization, identification, introjection, inversion, somatization, splitting and substitution."




And "Super-Ego: Freud's theory implies that the super-ego is a symbolic internalization of the father figure and cultural regulations. The super-ego tends to stand in opposition to the desires of the id because of their conflicting objectives, and its aggressiveness towards the ego. The super-ego acts as the conscience, maintaining our sense of morality and proscription from taboos. Its formation takes place during the dissolution of the Oedipus complex and is formed by an identification with and internalization of the father figure after the little boy cannot successfully hold the mother as a love-object out of fear of castration.

The super-ego retains the character of the father, while the more powerful the Oedipus complex was and the more rapidly it succumbed to repression (under the influence of authority, religious teaching, schooling and reading), the stricter will be the domination of the super-ego over the ego later on — in the form of conscience or perhaps of an unconscious sense of guilt (The Ego and the Id, 1923).

In Sigmund Freud's work Civilization and Its Discontents (1930) he also discusses the concept of a "cultural super-ego". The concept of super-ego and the Oedipus complex is subject to criticism for its sexism. Women, who are considered to be already castrated, do not identify with the father, and therefore form a weak super-ego, leaving them susceptible to immorality and sexual identity complications."

And "Libido: Libido in its common usage means sexual desire; however, more technical definitions, such as those found in the work of Carl Jung, are more general, referring to libido as the free creative—or psychic—energy an individual has to put toward personal development or individuation. It should be noted that the primary usage is in reference to sexual desire."


Right, gonna have to think the above over for a while. But much of it seems to orientate around the Freudian school of thought though, so if anyone wants to offer an alternative perspective in the mean time, please feel free.

[ambi53mm]

Little head Vs Big Head….Yes too many times I’m afraid .. when I had less restraint over my sexual energy the little head always had the upper hand…these days I turn it around seven times in the Big Head…and don’t ignore its take on the probable results. I think now… you almost have to weigh the consequences of your actions a little more cautiously. When I was younger I had no control….I don’t indulge in alcohol to the extent I did when I was younger which for a while, usually gave the Little head a lot more courage and the Big Head a lot less rational thought…and last but not least I didn’t care how my actions would effect other people and could usually manipulate others to my own self-centered agenda…no regrets per se but, a lot of bad karma that needed to be worked off at a later point in life…you live you learn…some of us just learn the hard way…Ouch! :banghead: Great Thread!!

Ambi:cop::stoned::cop:

[BronzeBobby]

I've been torn between urges and practicality many times; sometimes my ethics win, sometimes my urges win. I usually come up with a compromise between the two. For instance, I would love to have unprotected sex with hot strangers, but I know I can't endanger my life, so I make up a compromise... I have safe sex with semi-hot guys that I know a little about.

:three:

[alaskacouple]

I've been torn between urges and practicality many times; sometimes my ethics win, sometimes my urges win. I usually come up with a compromise between the two. For instance, I would love to have unprotected sex with hot strangers, but I know I can't endanger my life, so I make up a compromise... I have safe sex with semi-hot guys that I know a little about.


:three:
That's funny! (too true, but still funny!)

I'm just curious to know whether any of y'all have have experienced a situation where your LIBIDO came into direct conflict with your powers of RATIONAL THOUGHT. And if so, how was that conflict resolved?

Any thoughts? All views welcome...

Great thread! (And thanks for posting the Wiki piece)
In general, I view humans as being comprised of spirit, soul and body.(and, the spirit is the link to the unknown Creator, the soul is the conscious interface between spirit and body, while the body is the 'observer' and 'reporter' of the physical.) This corresponds to the super-ego, ego and id (I think). If one subscribes to the notion that we are more than advanced animals, then it follows that we are more complex than purely physical actions/reactions of the (libido, id, body) .

So, I think we could all say that our "libido" has at times overpowered our "rational thought". But as 'ambi53' touched on, that usually happens at a time in life when the "rational thought" (soul, ego) is not as in touch with nor influenced by the spirit (super-ego).

It has been said that our conscience is the voice of our spirit. If that is true, our conscience then is our deepest inner "knowing" that "communicates" to our soul (mind, ego), and then our soul (mind, ego) controls the body (libido, id). So, to the extent that we are in touch with the "inner" reflects the degree that we can control the "outer". (maybe!)

[diB4u]

I'm just curious to know whether any of y'all have have experienced a situation where your LIBIDO came into direct conflict with your powers of RATIONAL THOUGHT. And if so, how was that conflict resolved?

Any thoughts? All views welcome...


Yes is the answer.

That can happen to me when I'm drunk. :eek: My libido goes wayyy high, and irrational thoughts come into my brain- that every man and hell women too want to have passionate sex with me. My rational brain tells me to shut up and im drunk.

When I'm drunk I subconsely turn into some sex power hungry Madam lol

I even quietly tell myself off that no one is gonna listen to a drunken soul.

Back in the days of being straight, I flirt with women as well or try to.. Once a woman asked me back to hers- which I didnt lol.

Does that answer your question...

How I resolve that situations- I dont drink lol.

[alaskacouple]

Yes is the answer.

That can happen to me when I'm drunk. :eek: My libido goes wayyy high, and irrational thoughts come into my brain- that every man and hell women too want to have passionate sex with me. My rational brain tells me to shut up and im drunk.

When I'm drunk I subconsely turn into some sex power hungry Madam lol

I even quietly tell myself off that no one is gonna listen to a drunken soul.

Back in the days of being straight, I flirt with women as well or try to.. Once a woman asked me back to hers- which I didnt lol.

Does that answer your question...

How I resolve that situations- I dont drink lol.

Dayum! Right up to that last sentence I was thinking about how to find out where you do your drinking.

[The Barefoot Contess]

In general my libido wins, but there has never been a third party involved (aka, I have never cheated on someone). I do not know how I would react in that situation.
From what I have read, and from what certain experiences have shown, my superego is indeed huge, but sometimes the id just does whatever the fuck it wants :rolleyes:

[someotherguy]

My rational thought has the handy ability to rationalize whatever my libido wants. To return the favor, my libidinal impulses are available to cloud my judgment. In the end I am left without the good sense to avail myself of opportunities I fail to see in the first place. I have achieved a kind of poetic balance in sexual futility by meeting someplace in the middle.

[DiamondDog]

Stop over analyzing/over psychoanalyzing things and just enjoy the moment when you have sex with a person/people and the moments leading up to it. :2cents:

I know that some people enjoy seduction a lot more than they do actual sex.

I'm personally not like this and I'm up front and I don't play mind games with people if I like them and want to date/have a relationship.

[BronzeBobby]

Stop over analyzing/over psychoanalyzing things and just enjoy the moment when you have sex with a person/people and the moments leading up to it.

I'm personally not like this and I'm up front and I don't play mind games with people if I like them and want to date/have a relationship.

Diamond Dog -- I couldn't help but laugh about one little thing... Your profile is a 7,000-word dissertation on all the foibles, proclivities, and taboos that a person would have to observe, in order to get into a relationship with you. You don't consider that a little bit like mind games, or analyzing?

[DiamondDog]

Diamond Dog -- I couldn't help but laugh about one little thing... Your profile is a 7,000-word dissertation on all the foibles, proclivities, and taboos that a person would have to observe, in order to get into a relationship with you. You don't consider that a little bit like mind games, or analyzing?

Nope.

It just means that I'm picky that's all. I don't see anything wrong with this since it's my profile/personal ad and I can write whatever I want in it.

I spell things out and say what I do want and what I don't want in a person who I'd consider dating/being in a relationship with.

I have bi/gay male friends who refuse to date/sleep with men who don't look/act a certain way, who aren't at least a certain age, they might not like femme men/twinks at all, people who don't read, militant anti-smokers (for the cig/pipe/cigar smokers), the types/races of men they're not attracted to at all, the body types that they're only into, almost all of them aren't interested people who bareback/use drugs, and the morbidly obese.

I even have gay male friends who'd never even think of having a relationship with someone who had 100's or 1,000's of sexual partners.

By mind games I meant doing things like lying to impress me, or lying because you think that it will get me to have sex with you because you're being the person who you think I want you to be instead of just being yourself.

[DiamondDog]

Another example of someone playing a mind game would be if they say that they want to stay in contact and we exchange info and they don't stay in contact or they lie and give out fake contact info instead of just saying "Sorry, I/we don't want to stay in contact".

[alaskacouple]

Diamond Dog -- I couldn't help but laugh about one little thing... Your profile is a 7,000-word dissertation on all the foibles, proclivities, and taboos that a person would have to observe, in order to get into a relationship with you. You don't consider that a little bit like mind games, or analyzing?

This post prompted me to look at Diamond Dogs profile - I think it's a good profile and is just trying to be honest in what he's looking for in any relationship.

But I don't agree with DD that this topic represents an over-analysis situation. It's really just taking a somewhat humorous look at some of the other things that go into our make-up. And I think by DD's profile it is clear that he is operating at the level of rational thought and not just the libido. But that isn't the same as mind games.

Oh, and DD - if you read this, I have a full beard and a hairy chest and I wear Carharts (but alas, I am old enough to be your father and I'm way up here in Alaska - dayum! close but no cigar!)

[bigregory]

My small head runs the big head but the big head tries to control the small head.
so the answer is yes.
:flag1:

[shameless agitator]

George Carlin summed it up perfectly. A man has a brain and a dick, but only enough blood to supply one at a time. I think we've all noticed which head gets the blood supply.

[Bluebiyou]

*Sniff*
My dogma got run over by Skater Boy's karma...
:(

[Bloodflower]

I've always been so damned repressed that my sexual urges rarely ever won against my resistance to rush into a relationship of any kind. I'm still that way...I do pity my husband. However, when I'm in the mood, look out! Hubby can't get rid of me when I'm raring to go!

:eek:

[Skater Boy]

I've always been so damned repressed that my sexual urges rarely ever won against my resistance to rush into a relationship of any kind. I'm still that way...I do pity my husband. However, when I'm in the mood, look out! Hubby can't get rid of me when I'm raring to go!

:eek:

I think we're alike in that respect.

I have a tendency to over-think, which overrides me from acting upon some of my sexual urges. But underneath it I have a fairly strong sex-drive.

The two often influence eachother, IMO. Someotherguy's post:

"My rational thought has the handy ability to rationalize whatever my libido wants. To return the favor, my libidinal impulses are available to cloud my judgment. In the end I am left without the good sense to avail myself of opportunities I fail to see in the first place. I have achieved a kind of poetic balance in sexual futility by meeting someplace in the middle."


...was a slight exaggeration. But I do also think that my libido often influences my "rational" thought processes and clouds my judgement. Which leaves me wondering if there's any way of "silencing" the libido (temporarily) in order to think with a more "pure" form of logic...

Hmmm.

Anywho, thanks for your contributions, everyone! :)