Big-Headed

 “If you let your head get too big, it’ll break your neck.” – Elvis Presley

Note: I’m highly indebted to the excellent YouTube channel The Living Philosophy, which was a resource for this post.

One of the popular whipping boys of contemporary spirituality is the ego. According to some, the ego is the source of all evil. If we could just eliminate the ego, they say, all would be right with the world.

They’re wrong.

The problem isn’t the ego but a phenomenon called ‘ego inflation.’

The term ‘ego’ was introduced to the modern world through the work of Sigmund Freud. Freud used the German phrase ‘Das Ich,’ meaning ‘The I.’ When his work was translated into English, ‘The I’ was considered clumsy. So the translator chose ‘ego,’ the Latin word for ‘I.’

According to Freud, the ego is the Self and mediates between the individual and the world. The ego is the seat of judgment, tolerance, memory, and intellect. One major job of the ego is to balance the demands of the individual’s Id and the Superego. The ego allows us to restrain the Id through practices such as delayed gratification and judgment. It also separates the Superego’s toxic influences from the healthy. A healthy ego is, so to speak, the grown-up in the room.

Like anything, the ego can get out of wack. One way is for the ego to become inflated. When someone has an inflated ego, we sometimes say, “That person is ‘big-headed.’” 

Individuals with ego inflation are easy to spot. We see a particular CEO of an electric car company who acquired a social media service not long ago, with obvious ego inflation. Also, a certain former U.S. President who refuses to acknowledge that he lost his bid for reelection definitely has ego inflation. 

Where does this confusion of ego with ego inflation come from? It’s essentially the product of Westerners who misunderstand Freud and Jung as well as misappropriate certain Buddhist concepts. The result of this toxic combination is a misplaced attack on the ego.

Let’s stop beating up the ego because the ego is a necessary and essential part of a healthy personality. Instead, let’s focus our criticism on ego inflation. There’s no need for anyone to get big-headed.