Recently I had a short exchange with a new user about ego and sz. This is something I think about sometimes, but like most things only have a casual understanding of it. The subject of ego entered into my delusional thinking after reading about Objectivism and considered the sz as an archetype for an ego based revolutionary. They wouldn’t be objectivist, which is based on reason, but a kind of irrational type. But the way I was looking at it, the difference in thinking between individual and collective is what mattered, not how rational it was.
Anyway I had concluded that sz had forged my ego due to solipsism, social withdrawal, introversion, and thinking unusual thoughts to name some factors. Sz sometimes allowed me to behave strangely while being completely immune to the thoughts, feelings and actions of others which for most people would cause instant mortification and adjustment of behavior along rational lines. However, I was not completely immune all the time, and the reality of poverty, disorganization, isolation, and low social status had a negative effect on my ego.
While ego death is often considered a psychedelic experience which causes a person to lose sense of self among other sensations, the experience can be had in sz, but not in my experience. However, it seems obvious that ego death occurs in sz when a person loses their independence due to disability, having extreme low self-esteem, and a host of negative symptoms that would negatively impact the ego. Also social identity might affect a person’s ego, although in the way I look at it a strong ego is purely a sense of self and not what others think. So I guess point of this topic was to look at my delusional thinking about the ego related to sz, the way sz possibly affects the ego, and how ego death is experienced by szs.
Letting go of your ego is a scary experience, it would feel as dying. Yes, people that take psychedelics might have this experience, although I’m not sure, it might be BS. Also ego comes back after this experience, as whole I believe.
When a person has a psychotic experience the ego and the self shatters and dissolves. The self comes back but it’s broken. This is far from the experience of ego death. One hears voices, has delusions and severe issues with impulses.
I really don’t like the phrase ego death. It should be called something else.
Also if you want to put your ego aside. Do something else rather than take drugs. Go volunteer at a soup kitchen helping homeless people. Or even better, live as a hobo for a while.
You could also start meditating, peeking what’s on the other side of your ego and letting the I take over.
Ego is very important to have but also compassion and understanding is important. There is a difference between a sick ego (narcissist) and a healthy one.
Before my psychosis I was scared of losing myself. I was sometimes afraid to stop thinking or the thoughts wouldnt come back. I was experiencing the beginning stages of this so called Ego Death probably. Still, when you rest, the thoughts do return in the morning…Im not sure what caused me to think I would be lost forever in darkness. Just like when we sleep, we come back from sleep…its just the fear of not being in control maybe.
When you use the term ego death, the first thing that Springs to mind for me is Shaolin Monks, meditating everyday to transcend the ego. It is outgrowing the selfish self, or Transcendence
We can’t “kill” the ego. Our matter is inherently selfish and egoistic, we can’t make calculations for anything or anybody else but our “self”. This is our matter, if we killed it we wouldn’t exist any longer.
On the other hand we have the capability of acquiring a “second” nature – a selfless, altruistic inclination above our inherent one.
I would like to say that one can consider his self importance not important. I donn’t know if I have an ego or not but I don’t attribute importance to myself. Like I don’t need to talk about my achievements to anyone to receive a ego massage if you will. I don’t consider myself important. I consider lives important not things. But I am not cooperativist or give up my income to others. I do charity for kids in orphanates. But I wouldn’t help adults because they have their beliefs sedmented and the great majority of them is egoist. You don’t have to go through ego death to realise your ego is not important. We often need social approval but thanks to sz I don’t. I don’t need ego massages. I don’t need complements regarding my achievements. Note that the egoistic nature of people make their comments not truthful. Underneath they are judging you and grading you. One note about charity, it is treating symptons of an ego sick society.
John Lennon used a lot of LSD and had an ego death where he lost his song writing ability and confidence in general. It was around 1966 when Revolver was made. Yoko brought his confidence back. He only sang two songs on that album and they weren’t very good.
I lost my ego. A lot of me was erased maybe most of me. I still think people are stupid only I’m right now or in error. It doesn’t mean they amount to less. I don’t relax unless I’ve accomplished something during each day. Maybe that’s my remaining ego.