Are You Demonizing Your Ego?
February 1, 2024 | Supreeya S
The ego is often seen as the bad guy – our enemy, if you will. It must be defeated. It must be ignored. It must be conquered. That’s not the whole story, just part of it.
What Is Ego?
Dr. David R. Hawkins defines ego as “the persistence of the animal instinct now elaborated through the mind, the intellect, and given authenticity by the mutual agreement of society.”
We should try to understand the ego because it is our biological inheritance from evolution. The ego has been present throughout evolution. It is essential to our survival.
To understand Dr. Hawkin’s definition of ego, we will break it down into its smallest elements. The three components we have to understand are the animal instinct, our intellect, and the social context. Let’s process.
Animal Instinct
Starting at the start, animals had to get energy from the environment to sustain and survive. It had to do so at the expense of others. This is important, because this function became the main core of the ego. It is what we call the animal instinct that we keep referring to. The animal instinct has high self-interest. It views others as competition.
The ego, present in humans, is still concerned with survival.
Similar to early animals, the primitive man had high self-interest and viewed others as the enemy. Humans later discovered the benefit of cooperation and being with the group. Still focused on survival, they went towards the option that provided more safety.
Our Intellect
It’s important to note that intelligence in those days initially served animal-survival motivations. To survive, animals had to remember where to look for food, which fruits were in season, or how to search. They had to know how to learn and adapt.
Through evolution, the instinct for survival became more complex. Humans started making tools to help them hunt or stay safe.
With the expansion of human intellect, we made “survival” more complex. Survival was not just about food or eating. Otherwise, why don’t we just focus on agriculture and eat? Why are there companies, money, fashion? Survival became something else entirely. What that is will be covered in the next section.
We also had more advanced cognitive abilities compared to other species, so we were able to tackle that more complex game. Humans are ultimately solving for “survival,” but survival meant something different.
Our ego became the result of a more sophisticated animal instinct. It was a result of our mind upgrading the animal instinct into a “higher-level” survival game.
Social Context
The ego gets its sense of being real and acceptable from the rules and agreements we make in our communities. As humans form and live in complex societies, the instinct for survival becomes a part of how the group works. The rules, expectations, and values of society shape and validate certain ego-driven behaviors. It influences how individuals perceive themselves and their roles within the community.
Conclusion
We often see people blaming their ego for doing toxic and harmful things to others. There’s three different things at play here. Let’s remove the base animal instinct. If they’re at the wrong place or using their intellect in a harmful way, they have to reflect on how to course correct.
Understanding the nature of the ego, as defined by Dr. David R. Hawkins, will bring us awareness. At its root is the animal instinct. Our intellect has turned animal instinct into a more complex and sophisticated survival game. And society has defined the rules for the game.
The ego must be celebrated for its ability to help us survive. However, we can control how we survive. It is no longer a necessity for us to harm others to feed ourselves. We have to find a way for win-win. Shift from competition to cooperation. Shift from the individual to community.
As for societal norms or expectations, consider how you align with society’s terms for survival or “success” and how it plays into your well-being and others’ well-being.
The goal is not to kill off the ego. It has practical functions. The goal is to approach it with awareness and allow it to play a constructive role in our life.