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3.19 AVERAGE
3.19 AVERAGE
I won’t say It’s a bad book, but it gets to a point where he repeats and repeats the same thing over and over. It’s a great tool to understand a little about his theories on psychoanalysis. After 80% of the reading, I wanted it to end so bad. Although, If you’re studying Psychology or like reading about it, this is a must.
informative
slow-paced
informative
slow-paced
If you are someone from East reading Freud or Jung for the first time, one of the things you will notice is how much culturally defined their assumptions are.
Freud also never stops to think that most of the dreams he is studying are from patients of neurosis. Freud's approach seems to be also limited by strong self-confirmatory bias in several other ways. Moreover, they are fail-proof because everything that might disprove them is super-ego suppressing it. All dreams are wish-fulfillment and if you had a dream about a wish you don't recognize, it is a wish you are suppressing. You just can't disprove such a theory.
Moreover, it is easy to see sexual symbolism in almost anything. Flowers, locks, keys, horses, etc. He never stops to think that some people's subconscious may not as pervert as that of his (or mine). A lot of things are either circular or straight, Freud will conclude seeing any such things in dreams is an allusion to some suppressed instinct because of similarity of tools involved.
Still, it is an interesting read - particularly when it is making simple observations rather than giving theories to explain those observations. And you can always imagine how amusing his therapy sessions must have been. A teenager comes to him all depressed and tells a dream about how he was swimming and he could go like, "so it seems to me you are jerking off a lot, right? right?"
There is a certain kind of courage needed to speak your truth when you know speaking it will only get you universal criticism. Freud definitely had that courage.
Freud also never stops to think that most of the dreams he is studying are from patients of neurosis. Freud's approach seems to be also limited by strong self-confirmatory bias in several other ways. Moreover, they are fail-proof because everything that might disprove them is super-ego suppressing it. All dreams are wish-fulfillment and if you had a dream about a wish you don't recognize, it is a wish you are suppressing. You just can't disprove such a theory.
Moreover, it is easy to see sexual symbolism in almost anything. Flowers, locks, keys, horses, etc. He never stops to think that some people's subconscious may not as pervert as that of his (or mine). A lot of things are either circular or straight, Freud will conclude seeing any such things in dreams is an allusion to some suppressed instinct because of similarity of tools involved.
Still, it is an interesting read - particularly when it is making simple observations rather than giving theories to explain those observations. And you can always imagine how amusing his therapy sessions must have been. A teenager comes to him all depressed and tells a dream about how he was swimming and he could go like, "so it seems to me you are jerking off a lot, right? right?"
There is a certain kind of courage needed to speak your truth when you know speaking it will only get you universal criticism. Freud definitely had that courage.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
A tough but interesting read.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Thought this was brilliant & more so than I'd hoped. Also fascinating as an act of autobiography. Perhaps the most unexpected outcome is - and I've got to hand it to the translator Joyce Crick who does a marvellous job - but Freud is exceptionally funny when he wants to be and at times unintentionally.
It does deserve its place as touchstone and centrepiece of his work. I should get around to Civ&Discontents at some point but think I'm going in stranger directions first.
Anyway a lovely time
It does deserve its place as touchstone and centrepiece of his work. I should get around to Civ&Discontents at some point but think I'm going in stranger directions first.
Anyway a lovely time
I am really conflicted about this book. Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams is truly unique in how it approaches understanding the human mind. Freud's dedication (this book is as much a compilation of case studies as it is a breakthrough in psychoanalytic theory) is truly astounding and the fruits of his labor - particularly acknowledgment of the importance of the subconscious - are infinitely useful. Unfortunately the vast majority of Freud's work is wrong. Nabakov once said that Freud was a kind of modern witch doctor, and given how far fetched a lot of his opinions are, I find myself agreeing with this. There is no doubt that this milestone of a work is important in understanding the field of Psychology, but on a practical level I strongly feel that most people are best off skimming this titan of a book.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Boring and narrow minded. I firmly believe that dreams have meaning and can teach us a lot about our subconscious, but this was not the book to turn to for such wisdom.