Thursday, June 18, 2009
Pride and Ego
While in the class today on 'Strategic Business Negotiation, a student asked the professor the difference between pride and ego.I have been able to reflect on the issue.Here is the answer.....Pride in oneself is a positive feeling that a person has when he thinks about his achievements. It is necessary for all of us to be proud of ourselves. You could be proud of the fact that you have topped all the courses the you have done till now.Ego on the contrary is a negative feeling. Pride results into ego when the focus shifts from 'skills' to 'self'.If a person starts thinking that he is the best and all others are inferior to him because of the skills that he has, pride has slowly mutated into ego which is a dangerous thing. I have found that the initial step towards self growth lies in controlling one's ego.
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With due appreciation to your thoughts, I dare suggest that ego can be described as negative only when described in the common parlance. Taken in its real meaning, ego is the portrayal of self and can seldom be considered negative. Hindu philosophy describes three types of egos for a person - rajasik, tamasik and satvik. I guess even Freud's definition will make the point clear- The ego is that part of the id which has been modified by the direct influence of the external world ... The ego represents what may be called reason and common sense, in contrast to the id, which contains the passions ... in its relation to the id it is like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse; with this difference, that the rider tries to do so with his own strength, while the ego uses borrowed forces [Freud, The Ego and the Id (1923)]
ReplyDeleteDear Rajesh,
ReplyDeleteThat was an insightful post, reminding us of certain facts which I think need to be fed into our consciousness continually. Let me put forth my reflections on pride and ego - ego in the common parlance - in slightly different terms.
For a person who believes in God and His power, mercy and grace, ego would surface when he forgets God and His existence and is led into thinking that whatever he has and has achieved is by his own greatness/effort. In other words, he overestimates himself and is led into self-conceit. This is ego.
As Paulo Coelho says, even the desire to be better than others is one manifestation of ego.
Coming to pride, I really wonder whether pride is necessary for a person who believes firmly in God and His love. A God-fearing person would just be grateful to God and would want to give glory to Him in whatever he does. Hence pride might just mean gratitude, joy and satisfaction.
Thanks for lending me your ears,
Dheep.