Early on, our lizard brain struggled mightily to outgrow its survival obsession long enough to recognize its own reflection. As our prefrontal cortex grew, humans developed increasingly impressive ingenuity, cunning, adaptability, and awareness. Regrettably, our budding brain also begat Ego – a maladaptive byproduct of intellectual awakening that remains tied to our reptilian survival edict. Consciousness observes, Ego fears. Consciousness appreciates, Ego demands. Consciousness ponders, Ego worries. Consciousness lives, Ego dominates.
Ego has appointed itself Supreme Defender of Consciousness, protecting its charge with dogged resolve. Its armory is impressive, including fear, worry, regret, resentment, self-aggrandizement, self-doubt, narcissism, depression, anxiety, addiction, compulsion, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Its commitment to survival is reflexive and irrational; it ignores consequences in favor of reactive, immediate solutions.
Ego primarily seeks to eliminate threat. Regrettably, Ego’s threat detector requires an unavailable upgrade. Lack of courtesy poses no threat, yet Ego responds to a missing platitude with distain or discourtesy. A critical remark poses no threat, yet Ego defends with excuses, apologies, and lies. Failure invites no threat, yet, after a botch, Ego preempts an anticipated attack with shame or deflected blame.
Ego can delay a bloom by wanting more, wanting better, or wanting different. Ego is never satisfied. Where Ego reigns, regret, worry, depression, and anxiety reside. There is no room at Ego’s inn for acceptance and appreciation. War, sports, religion, and show biz all owe their persistent popularity to Ego, as do plastic surgeons and quarter slots. Dissect any human frailty and you’ll likely catch a glimpse of Ego dodging your knife.
Ego touts competition as a character builder. Our ancestors competed for sustenance; the victor survived, and the loser perished. Today, we compete for medals and market share and the right to belittle our rivals. We compete for control, which is transitory at best and illusory at its core.
Shall we adopt a Zen tactic and seek to eliminate Ego entirely? Perhaps. But Ego isn’t an evolutionary mistake. No, Ego’s development has simply failed to keep pace with human social evolution. Our need to run from mammoths and maintain vigilance in the dark of night has diminished with the advent of hunting rifles and door locks.
Still without Ego’s enthusiastic promotion of self-aggrandizement, human social development might cease altogether. Some argue that human social development should cease, that humans have infested the Earth like bipedal bacteria and that thinning the herd and returning to a hunter-gatherer paradigm would better serve the planet – an ironically Ego-inspired assessment. A negative perspective (the kind favored by Ego), such as ‘humans destroy,’ provokes negative conclusions and solutions: ‘humans are bad and the world would be better off without them.’ A positive outlook, such as ‘humans create and enrich,’ inspires positive conclusions and solutions: ‘humans represent a worthy manifestation of life and human creativity and curiosity should be encouraged and appreciated.’
Our goal, then, is to tame rather than destroy Ego. Like training a willful, committed mongrel, persistent practice is required. Practice a positive, constructive perspective and a calm, confidence demeanor. Practice a quiet, composed reaction to flashing lights in your rear-view mirror. Practice accepting each moment of your life with contentment and appreciation.
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