My Picture with Freud

If I could stand next to anyone in a photo it would be Sigmund Freud. Freud was born in 1856 and died in 1939. He is the most important thinker in the history of psychology. Maybe you’ve never heard of Freud, but I bet you’ve heard of some of the ideas he invented. Ever heard of “ego”? Freud invented that concept to explain the side of humans that reason and have common sense. Ever heard someone say “he’s in denial”, or “she’s acting out”, or “she is suppressing her true feelings”? All those concepts are from Freud! Freud also wrote a lot about how to figure out the meaning of dreams. 

If I could ask Freud a question after our photo was taken it would be “why is it that some mornings you remember your dreams and other mornings you have absolutely no idea what you dreamed about?” I think he would reply, “the deepest and most meaningful dreams you have are often too difficult to face, so your mind hides them away.”