Teach
02-04-2008, 09:30 AM
No, Sigmund Freud, "The Father of Psychoanalysis," hasn't been sighted at the racetrack. He's been dead now for nearly 70 years. Yet his theories of personality can strill be evidenced there.
As a teacher of psychology for many years, I’ve always wondered how psychology, particulary Freudian psychology, would play out at the racetrtack.
Let's begin by looking at the Freudian "suspects": The id: carefree, lustful, free-spirited, devil-may-care, throw caution-to-the-wind, risk-it-all. Then there’s superego: strict rigid, parental, moralistic, right or wrong, stifling, inhibiting and demanding, and finally (fanfare) the ego: logical, plausible, rational, realistic, sensible, decision-making, actions based on facts.
How do these three play out at the racetrack? Well, the id is most likely evident or "visible" under two circumstances. First, you’ve just arrived. You're caught up in the emotion of the track. You're itching to make a bet. You want to get off to a good start. You may -- in an id-like manner -- tend to go overbroard. You call out tickets with abandon: doubles, exacts, triples, pick-3s. You’re caught up with the moment. Yet, there's one other time the id is also very evident. It's when you start falling deeper and deeper in the hole. You’re seething. You're angry. "What a terrible ride!" You want to get back; you’re not thinking. You just want to recoup. You start going "tilt." "Get back to even," you say. You go to the windows with two-fisted abandon. Punt away.
Well, at the other extreme, is the superego. Let suppose that you see a good thing; it sticks out atb you like a sore thumb. Yet, you're too timid. It’s your best bet of the day and you’re betting like it was your last dollar. Restraint. Restraint -- and more restraint. Instead of taking advantage of this excellent opportunity, you cautiously approach the windows like it was your first day in kindergarten.
Finally, there's the rational ego. The ego has a plan. A win-limit and a loss- limit. The ego makes reasonable bets that it has planned to make. Yet, the ego is flexible. Conditions do change. Odds become more or less attractive. The ego can adjust. It takes into account the weather, late jockey changes, scratches, etc. The ego is constantly updating it data bank and -- acting accordingly. The ego's not going rush headlong into a foolish wager, nor is it going to sit there like a bump on a log and timidly make insignificant wagers on well-thought-out potential winners.
Freud might have asked: Which one are you?...at the racetrack, that is?
As a teacher of psychology for many years, I’ve always wondered how psychology, particulary Freudian psychology, would play out at the racetrtack.
Let's begin by looking at the Freudian "suspects": The id: carefree, lustful, free-spirited, devil-may-care, throw caution-to-the-wind, risk-it-all. Then there’s superego: strict rigid, parental, moralistic, right or wrong, stifling, inhibiting and demanding, and finally (fanfare) the ego: logical, plausible, rational, realistic, sensible, decision-making, actions based on facts.
How do these three play out at the racetrack? Well, the id is most likely evident or "visible" under two circumstances. First, you’ve just arrived. You're caught up in the emotion of the track. You're itching to make a bet. You want to get off to a good start. You may -- in an id-like manner -- tend to go overbroard. You call out tickets with abandon: doubles, exacts, triples, pick-3s. You’re caught up with the moment. Yet, there's one other time the id is also very evident. It's when you start falling deeper and deeper in the hole. You’re seething. You're angry. "What a terrible ride!" You want to get back; you’re not thinking. You just want to recoup. You start going "tilt." "Get back to even," you say. You go to the windows with two-fisted abandon. Punt away.
Well, at the other extreme, is the superego. Let suppose that you see a good thing; it sticks out atb you like a sore thumb. Yet, you're too timid. It’s your best bet of the day and you’re betting like it was your last dollar. Restraint. Restraint -- and more restraint. Instead of taking advantage of this excellent opportunity, you cautiously approach the windows like it was your first day in kindergarten.
Finally, there's the rational ego. The ego has a plan. A win-limit and a loss- limit. The ego makes reasonable bets that it has planned to make. Yet, the ego is flexible. Conditions do change. Odds become more or less attractive. The ego can adjust. It takes into account the weather, late jockey changes, scratches, etc. The ego is constantly updating it data bank and -- acting accordingly. The ego's not going rush headlong into a foolish wager, nor is it going to sit there like a bump on a log and timidly make insignificant wagers on well-thought-out potential winners.
Freud might have asked: Which one are you?...at the racetrack, that is?