Let’s consider the text-book or dictionary definition of Ego.
Your idea or opinion of yourself, especially your feeling of your own importance and ability ~
CambridgeA person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance ~ Oxford
Someone’s ego is their sense of their own worth ~ Collins
Feeling self-important, holding a high self-esteem, developing an innate sense of self-worth — these are powerful qualities one would like to imbibe, it makes an individual feel needed, recognized and appreciated. These are considered essential qualities to become successful.
On the same vein, it would imply that being highly egoistic is also a good quality. If were to go strictly, by definition, what it means is: High Ego = Better Self-worth. So the more egoistic you are, the more kicked you feel about yourself.
However, we tend to get uncomfortable with people who behave in an egoistic manner. It puts us off. We try to avoid them. Seems like an odd trait to have.
Its OK if I’m egoistic but I don’t like to see that in someone else. He can’t be more important than me.
I think the definition of Ego from a linguistic stand-point serves its purpose but let’s look at it from a different lens.
Every individual develops a frame of reference or I-ness from countless experiences and influences through several stages of life which collectively constitute the I. This I is the opinion you have not only about yourself but even the world around you — self, family, friend, society, country, job, culture, race. Its a complex web. This web of reality that we create within us is the I. I see, I hear, I think, I want, I wish, I listen are all actions and experiences woven around your individual experience. Simply put, the I lives in its own reality.
The ‘I’ lives inside a shell oblivious to the true reality that exists outside
The I is absolutely sure about its existence. It has no doubt about its experience of reality. It is like asking someone ‘Are you sure, it is you eating that cake’. The I also believes it is one with a universal reality. This universal reality is being shaped and molded every fraction of a second, something the I cannot possibly conceive, by infinite factors from innumerable sources, both living and non-living. As a result, the I lives inside a shell oblivious to the true reality that exists outside. This distortion between the I and the universal reality gives birth to the Ego.
The Ego is a mis-understanding or skewed experience of reality. The stronger the Ego, the more convicted is the I that believes it is experiencing reality correctly. This dis-disillusionment can be seen in people who are confident about their thoughts, actions and behavior to be in accordance with the reality outside. If I am right, you must be wrong.
Egoism is harmless when it does not intrude into the realm of another individual’s experience of reality. But that seldom is the case. An egoist often pushes his world-view as the only true mindset that ought to exist. As a result, a vast majority of individuals often surrender to the outlook projected by the egoist and sacrifice their freedom.
Technology today has made it easier to create multiple facets of reality. With the advent of virtual reality, augmented reality, immersible experiences — we are at the helm of falling prey to whatever an Egoistic individual or organization commits to be the true reality. This altered dimension to reality is gradually turning every individual and society towards fear and anxiety.
To live in harmony is to accept and understand that the I experiences only a fraction of reality and it is every living being’s right to live in its own realm of experience.
Thanks for reading
