Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Sigmund Freud: The Father of Psychology

Sigmund Freud

After 70 years of his death, there are many who see Freud's theories and thoughts very unique and different, but way beyond human understanding. During his time, people said he was a Jewish pervert, but in today society we see him as a great man, whose mind was above many for his time.

In the film we watched in the class, it talked about Freud's idea about the unconscious mind and drives we have, that we don't realize as humans. There is no way to prove this, but if we look back at WWI and WWII it may make some sense that there are certain things in the human mind that make us drive to certain things in certain ways. Our unconscious mind is what makes us human today.

Freud focus also a lot on dreams and that there were hidden symbols, but this can go back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greek, Rome, and even to the Native Americans in the Americas. Their shamans and priest could interpret dreams and in the bible it talks about Joseph who is known as the King of Dreams for predicting the 7 year of a great harvest, followed by a 7 year of great famine in Egypt. Also in the bible, the Egyptian priest were able to interpret a Pharaoh's dream about the coming of Moses. So the idea that dreams have hidden meanings has been around for many years.

Freud is still matters today because we look at his ideas and use them in today's society such as talking treatment which is mainly used in therapy sessions with patients. His knowledge was so great to many people, that it's really something to look into and try to understand.

Today in 2010, if Freud was alive, I think he would have to change some of his ideas due to gay marriages and single parenting along with adoption. His idea of Oedipus complex would have to change due to children growing up in different households and that maybe people's thoughts today might be different from people's thoughts from the past.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Guys vs Gals

After reading the article on teenage boys and listening to what a boy had to say about growing up, I believe that both genders have it rough, but it also depends on the family.

When a girl starts puberty, that is usually the start of the "bremuda triangle" when the girl's emotions go rapidaly up and down and left to right and its like a tornado. But as a girl myself who went through this, I believe as girl's get older they learn to control it their emotions better. But when it comes down to fights, it seems that girls are the ones to be feared because they try to go through every obsticle to get to the other girl even if it means climbing over a wall. They will also punch, pull hair, scratch, and a lot more.

Boys also go through the rough stage of emotion, but later than girls. They are taught by older men to keep it all in, but again this depends on their family. Boys when they get angry, don't cry as much as girls but instead go towards physical like punching a wall or throwing stuff. They turn to violence. When a boy gets into a fight, he only throws punches and kicks the other guy, but the next day they might make up when a girl can have the same enemy for years.

It also depends where the two are coming from. If a boy who grew up with an only women's household (i.e. aunt, single mom, sister) they may learn to not show so much violence and show more emotions than boys with male role models in the house. Some boys may even believe they are the man in the house, and may grow up feeling they have to protect their love ones and so than they may turn to being "big and strong" for their families.

If a girl grew up in a male only household (i.e. dad, brother, uncle,) they may learn to be more of a boy than a girl. Maybe even dressing like a tomboy and acting tough. The girl may learn to keep it all in like a boy and act tough. In school when girls start to get older, she may still wear the baggy clothing and follow her male role models. Without a woman in the house, the girl may never learn of how to show emotions during a the "bremuda triangle" stage in her life and may instead cry in the cornor of her house so none of the male family members can see her. She learns to keep it all in.

Boys and girls have their challenges once they start puberty. They both have it rough, so I don't believe that one has it worse than the other. They both have to go through the same things and deal with them, equally.