Seeing is Not Always Believing

Seeing is not always believing- Martin Luther King Jr.

Can we believe what we can't see? Sigmund Freud, an early psychologist largely disregarded by today's scientifically driven psychologists, sure did. Most of Freud's findings had no scientific evidence, yet his concepts were and still are widely accepted. One might not think to challenge the existence of the Id, Ego and Superego, but they can't really be proven to exist either. Besides his focus on the sexual energy of children in the psychosexual stages (many psychologists believe Freud was wrong about children being driven by sexual energy as well), I haven't come across many of Freud's ideas that strike me as completely illogical. This is why I was surprised about how uncomfortable psychoanalytic literary criticism makes me. 

A few days ago in English, we discussed the psychoanalytic lens pertaining to Hamlet. We discovered that the Psychoanalytic theory is based off of a few of Freud's ideas: 

The Unconscious Mind

Id, Ego, Superego

Psychosexual Stages

Repression

and The Oedipus Complex

According to the Psychoanalytic theory, the Oedipus Complex can be seen in Hamlet. The Oedipus complex is a fixation (a result of unresolved conflict in a particular stage) that can occur in the phallic stage of psychosexual development. Basically it results in a feeling of wanting to kill dad and be with mom. When Hamlet was young, his father was killed, and therefore part of his Oedipus complex was fulfilled. The problem was that his uncle Claudius married his mom, carrying out the rest of this "fantasy" for him. When Hamlet needs to kill his uncle and avenge his father, he delays because he feels somehow connected to his uncle for carrying out his unconscious desire to marry his mother. 

Now there are two things to take into consideration. The first is that Freud came after Shakespeare's time. He claims that this complex is found in most human men, but did their culture create this complex, or is it a biological function? Could it even have existed in Shakespeare's time? Many seem to think the time period is irrelevant, but I still believe it must be considered. The second problem I see with this evaluation of Hamlet is that none of this can be proved. The repressed feelings and motivation for killing his uncle are being extrapolated by the reader. Shakespeare never says Hamlet's journey is a result of the Oedipus complex. Can we believe what we cannot see? 

Since the idea of an unconscious mind does not bother me, and that cannot be seen or proven, I was surprised to find that an interpretation of Hamlet that is based off of an idea that cannot be proven from the text itself did bother me. I can't say I would completely disregard the Psychoanalytic literary theory, but I don't see myself using this very often in the future.

The Moment a Little Boy is Concerned With Which is a Jay and Which is a Sparrow, He Can No Longer See the Birds or Hear Them Sing

“The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing.” -Eric Berne

Discrimination is an unfortunate reality in today's world, and it truly blinds each and every one of us. Some may think that we treat each other equally, but others are painfully aware that the opposite is true.  I recently took a test though Harvard University's Project Implicit. This webiste provides Implicit Association Tests , free for anybody to take. The test proved to me that no matter how many times I say I don't discriminate, and no matter how much I believe in equal rights, I still have automatic associations. 

I chose to take the Weight Implicit Associations Test to see what would happen. I was instructed to do a number of tasks, as quickly as possible.

At the end of the test, I saw that it was harder for me to associate good with fat than good with thin... and I wasn't the only one. 70% of people naturally associated good with thin, 19% had no preference and only 12% associated good with fat. 






There are many more Implicit Association tests covering topics such as....

Gender-Career
Gender-Science
Age
Weapons
Race 
Sexuality
Skin Tone
Disability
and More


The point of these tests is not to shame the person, but rather to make that person self-aware of his or her natural or automatic associations. The more self-aware someone is, the more likely they are to change their behavior. This is the beginning to ending discrimination. Discrimination of all types exist all around the world. America is known as the land of the free, but are we free? Free to express ourselves and our beliefs without being judged? Not always. A common example of oppression in the United States is gay marriage. Homosexual men and women are often shamed and excluded from society because of their sexual orientation. In many states, they are not even allowed to get married. Another example of discrimination is the unwarranted fear instilled in American people of Middle Eastern men and/or women. Americans commonly associate Middle Easterners with terrorists. It has been a major problem that skyrocketed after 9/11 and one that America continues to struggle with today. I am by no means saying that every American is homophobic or prejudiced against Middle Easterners. I am however pointing out that as humans, we tend to lean towards either one group or another. Rarely do we show no preference to any group of people. There will always be associations that we have, but it is our duty to continue fighting for equality, because many will attest that we have not reached it yet.