Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis

       While reading Sigmund Freud’s accounts and ideas concerning the relationship between doctor and mental patient, I could not help concluding that his radical and borderline foolish ideas must have been a bit absurd even in the age that this text was written.  As he details parapraxes, dreams, the unconscious, and sexuality, he sheds light on ideas and shuns actions that are otherwise habitual in nature for individuals living in the 21^st century, and it took me quite a while to understand why I was being required to read such blasphemous material.  After some careful thought and consideration, I was able to grasp the concept that Freud’s ideas once constituted the entirety of academic and medical research on the topic of psychology and psycho-analysis, and this led me to a deeper thoughts of how all major theories and ideas concerning any area of life had to start somewhere.  This newfound appreciation led me to absorb the rest of the text in a different frame of mind, and although I still do not buy into what Freud is saying in the context of present day society, I can now see the purpose of reading this text was in fact to gain an appreciation for the roots of all principle ideas in life as well as to see how our society has drastically changed since these lectures were penned.  It is impossible to ignore the fact that Freud’s ideas were controversial then and they will continue to be controversial as long as the human mind is studied.  I was regularly drawn to the ideas of other disciplines that starkly contrasted Freud’s views and provided concrete evidence as to why his ideas were and are just plain inaccurate.  I think one of the larger examples of this lies in Freud’s analysis of children and how their minds and sexualities are molded from a very early age.  Present day pathologists contend that childhood events cannot in any way be linked to later age mental deficiencies or even the sexuality of adults.  A child’s mind absorbs information, but according to many professionals, does not form conscious decisions concerning this material until a later and more developed age.  Along with this idea, I was probably most intrigued by Freud’s consistent opinionated judgment of mental conditions and patients and how he automatically condemned some actions and not others with no real basis or evidentiary value for such thoughts.  I feel this use of subjectivity on the part of Freud explains the entirety of my issue with this text in a few words.  How can a person who has never experienced any of these mental conditions or lived the lives of the individuals who are afflicted with them form a proper judgment of the causes for said illnesses? As much as Freud and all doctors try to be objective, the subjectivity of the human identity always presents itself, and I feel as if this book demonstrates that in a much greater capacity than others.  I do believe that Freud’s work in some cases is valid and has some solidarity in principle, but I think it took the study of many individuals who confirmed or debunked his original ideas in these lectures to make this basis of psychological study a sound framework for future research.  Conclusively, although the lectures of Sigmund Freud confused and astounded me at some points, I was able to garner an appreciation for some of his ideas, such as the Freudian slip, that still exist today.  Without his research and trials, however unsound and controversial they may seem, humanity would not have near as complete of an understanding of the human mind and the deficiencies that can plague its function.