THE AGE OF HYPER EGO
Ego, complex, super ego are words which have become integral part of our
network culture. Whether we are aware of its meaning or use, they are widely used in
chats, text messages and ordinary conversations. Our age, accommodates these words
as fashion with a sense of authenticity.
The Oxford Dictionary meaning of the word „Ego‟ has three parts. The first part
says “the part of the mind that reacts to reality and has a sense of individuality”
secondly “a sense of self esteem” and finally “a conscious thinking subject” To describe
the human thinking process in our age, this article introduces the word or concept of
„hyper ego’. Hyper in the Oxford version means „over, beyond, above or - in relevance
to this context – „excessively above normal‟. This term has been used in media studies
as “Hyper-ego - the typology of the individual, that‟s using me-media for his own
sake. Either by using the information other individuals has put on the web, or by
expressing himself with social media on the web, or by doing both” Here, in this
article, hyper ego is used as - the hyped image building process or narcissi
tendencies shown by people in our culture. In this sense, may be this article claims
to be using it for the first time.
How to distinguish between normal and hyper? Again the Oxford Dictionary
says that normal means „conforming to a standard, regular, usual or typical‟. Our
age reflects a „reversal of taste‟. To substantiate this approach here is a live
example. A maniac-depressive patient consulted a psychiatrist and elaborated his
hyped state of mind to the doctor. After serious consultation for hours the doctor who
was a young lady commented “how I wish I could be in your state of mind”!! When
mental disorders were recognized in the early 20th century, any mental state which
moved away from the reality either maniac or depressive was considered to be
abnormal. But in our age this abnormal has become the order of the day and anyone
who is a so-called normal could be in a mental asylum! This preposition may be
exaggerated, but carries some insights and meanings of the age of hyper ego in
which we live in.
How we perceive an image of ourselves in an image culture characterized by
hyper ego? What determines these images? Images are the way we visualize our self
esteem or personality. There is our self, who is groomed by our childhood, education,
family or broadly culture along with the hypernated images which we form on us based
on our dreams, longings, hopes, pleasures, which guide the formation of the ego, which
again is largely shaped by media and its allies. It is also shaped by the social and
cultural interactions with peers, friends and colleagues in our cultural interaction.
The age of hyper ego is characterized by our hedonism and narcissistic
tendencies. Narcissism is a psychological condition characterized by selfpreoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem. It is also the
attribute of the human psyche charactized by admiration of oneself but within normal
limits. This is expressed by Alvin Toffler as “Prosumers” or producers who produce and
consume for themselves. Applying „Prosumer‟ in our context means - Individuals who
create thought and consumes their own thoughts. This narcissistic tendency is key in
the formation of the hyper ego.
One of the important observations of hyper ego is that “people think they know
everything which itself is a maniac state as there is no one ever in history who knew
everything! It is a false notion people carry. As media promotes all types of channels
including sports, news, history, cinema, art, etc the viewer gets a notion that they knew
it all but never realize that it is only one version of truth propagated by the media. This is
one aspect of hyper ego.
Secondly conspicuous consumption has developed in individuals a sense of
identity which is related to goods and products and the use value of these products
which is subsumed by an identity value which consumers identify with. i.e. “I am what I
buy” which is contrary to the Renaissance thought of René Descartes that “I am what I
think” A classic example is the Evian mineral water advertisement which says “I am
what I drink”. Capitalism advanced and developed using the ideals of individual
freedom, liberty and fraternity hired from French Revolution along with J.S.Mill‟s
individual „choice‟ from economics. In Hyper ego, the individual can choose from the
variety of products in the super market or Mall which consumes the choice for solitude,
creativity and productive innovations. „Choice consumes choice‟?
The idea is that the age of hyper ego is an aberration of the age of capitalist
advancement itself in the past two centuries. This is not to forget the new reflections of
the growth of the concept of “global village” (M.Mcluhan) and its tremendous
advancement in the 21st century, reflected in the hyper modern cross cultural studies
and a sense of oneness which the world experiences through new media and cable
television. But the „Sense and Sensibility‟ is giving way to ‟Pride and Prejudice‟. This is
reflected in our sense of belief systems and the growth of terrorism all over the world.
This article only introduces the concept of hyper ego and some of its elements.
Certainly the expectation of this article is to give the reader some meanings into working
towards using the hyper modern situation to their advantage without being narcissi. The
growth of capitalist technology should be for human physical and mental food and for
human development. This is possible only through introspection into oneself to analyze
our thoughts, convert loneliness into solitude, develop the habit of simple living and
cherish the values of high thinking from our humanist tradition. As mentioned earlier,
one of the definitions of ego says „A conscious thinking subject‟. Without thinking, we
are only animals which eats, drinks, mates, and sleeps. As humans, the question is how
we can reinvent our thinking and make our leisure time more aesthetic by inculcating
the habit of reflective thinking – the joy of which our forefathers enjoyed and nurtured for
centuries to perpetuate humanity. Hyper ego is only another version of thought but how
to make it fantastical, humane, and develop images which make our children live and
enjoy the benefits of technology and develop a new sense of reality is the key question
here.
Ganesh Bala (2010)