FREUD WAS A BONEHEAD

Certainly you have your opinion but my suggestion of doomed prophecy is not good for the spirit. Things are being changed for the World and it should be. You and I will die and new life takes over and there will be change in that era.
More working moms, more crime from women, men are seeking their way too. This is just change

Freud was a bonehead, eh? Well and good, but what do you mean when you say "bonehead," and what exactly does "bonehead" symbolize? Have a seat, please, while we think about this... starting, of course, with your mom and dad.

I wouldn't go as far as "bonehead." His psychological theories probably tell a lot more about him and Europeans in the 19th century than about humanity at large but what the heck.

He was a smart guy who started speculating and got trapped in his own theories.

I wonder what the incidence of hysterical symptoms--glove paralysis et al.--is today.

Your leap from critic of Freud to almighty knower and advisor on the nature of the universe is amusing.

hummmmmmmmmmm

I'm fairly anti-Freudian, but I credit him for showing operations of the unconscious. And, although I am very skeptical of much of what he wrote about sexuality, there are kernels of insight mixed with a lot of chaff.

Great provoking article.

I respected your wishes and didn't look at any prior comments. I agree with you whole heartedly. Just cause he wanted to sleep with his mother didn't make him a great authority on psychology. Anyway, live for today as we'll be six feet under some day. Myths exist for a reason. I'm a huge fan of Joseph Campbell who's vehemently anti Freud and a brilliant man. I'm sure you've read him but occidental mythology is fascinating. A thought provoking article...I'll shut up now with my non sequitors. sorry, Amanda

I have to say I agree with you on both that Freud was full of poop and that praying for a perfect future-state or living based on some perfect past ideal-state is futile.

I for one am suffering from a terrible case of glove paralysis.

Although your physical manifestation will indeed die, I can assure you that your soul does not.....so none of us ever die. We just alter our form.

Freud called cocaine the greatest antidepressant known to man. I guess he was depressed an awful lot. He believed women were not as smart as men because so much of their brain power was used to facillitate menstrual cycles. And he believed people under his care who attempted suicide for no obvious reason suffered from thantanos, a instictual wish for self destruction. Very ghost in the machine; gee why wouldn't people feel comfortable speaking with a cold, holier than thou, sycophant that tells you you want to kill one parent and sleep with anather.

Dear Diane - You have created a difficult dilemma for me. You left a nice comment on my recent article but I find your comments about Freud on the other side of the moon. You write: "Penis envy. Death wish. Oedipus complex." These apparently are three of Freud's key ideas you offer to attribute the uncomplimentary term 'bonehead" too.

I infer that being a woman you take offense to the idea of penis envy as hostile to your sex. If I am wrong so be it. Assuming that I am accurate you might be interested to know that many men especially as boys have penis envy as well as breast envy. In being a psychoanalyst for the past 37 years in some cases it has been extremely helpful to identify this issue with some women and some men who have been suffering with this all their lives.

As for death wish - with some patients who have longed for meaningful connectedness but who, before treatment, have only experienced meaningless disconnectedness - their consciousness - particularly at the beginning of their analysis - are preoccupied with a wish to die, or start over , or the equivalent of literally being in the womb which is a wish to just be loved. For them life is a bitter struggle with nothing meaningful to look foreward to and nothing solid to hang onto. They come into treatment hoping that the analyst will provide some reason to continue to struggle. But the road to recovery is like trench warfare: twenty trenches ahead, 17 back.

As to the oedipus complex - just listen carefully to the spontaneous talk and play of any child you know about age 3-6 and have the concept of the oedipus concept (for boys) and/ or the electra concept (for girls) in the back of your mind. In many cases - you will hear the multiple themes of incest, matricide, patricide, guilt , lust, raw sexuality emerge unmistakably loud and clear. For example: when one of my daughters was 4 years old the following 'game' would be enacted on a daily basis for at least year. When I would come home from work she would dress up in her pretend wedding gown. She would take my hand - sing the wedding march - and insist that we play getting married in front of my wife - her mother. Right after the ceremony she would hop onto the couch, put a pillow on top of her stomach, and pretend she was pregant and delivering a baby. We did not give her any classes on the birds and the bees. Who knows where she picked it up. But it was a very serious activity for her.

If you have not read Freud I suggest you do so. He is one of the clearest, most informative, wise humans I have ever had the pleasure of reading. You, of course, are free to challenge any of his ideas but please do so on the basis of sound argument not some off hand feeling or secondary source opinion that offers little but uninformed non sense. P.S. what in fact is a bonehead?

Freud was an important step on the way to a serious study of human psychology, even if he was mistaken about many particulars. First, you have to have SOME hypothesis--or else Science cannot even begin. He provided a very early one, and now we can set about criticizing it, refining it, disproving it, etc. Without Freud, we wouldn't even know what we were arguing about!

Wrong science is better than NO science. It starts the process off.

PS.

Your cat looks just like MY cat! (Mine can't balance the empties after she's downed them, however!)

Children have a biological imperative to learn. This means learning must be pleasurable. This is why they learn to walk and talk all on their own. Is this replaced with a preoccupation with sex that turns them stupid?

This is the most brilliant collection of stupid comments I have seen for one article on Gather. I am tempted to say, Freu---no I won't.

Fascinating.

Well since Gibbs wants to toss in credentials to prove his comment I will do the same.

I'm a retired shrink. I think Freud is a bonehead.

Very interesting piece. Goes well with my current mood.

wHAT DID YOU THINK OF HIM OFTEN PISSIN HIS BRAINS OUT due 2 unbaaaaaaallaanced harmony oof braain celll when his neurons released sso many nnneurochems that he could only piss em out rather than recycle for sanity, good mood, lucidity and stuff? He overdddddid it ffor playin editor of programs wwwwwwhen his own was rotten. I aaappreccciate the fact that you think, and hope you aaalways have time and pleasure for it. Peace in heart aand warin mind to you!!! Givee eem whatever helll or heaven righteous inddignation aaand your nlessings dictate.