It’s a sunny spring day and the birds are busy. Some are flying about, perhaps foraging. I notice one staring at me from beneath a bush. What does it want? Suddenly, the bird returns with a little stick in its beak, flies away, and disappears into a tree. Ah—it’s probably building a nest. I have […]
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Freud upside down (2)
Psychoanalysis posits that a child’s unconscious desire towards the opposite-sex parent and rivalry towards the same-sex parent give rise to neurosis and mental illness in adulthood, if not sufficiently overcome. Yet, a closer examination reveals a logical and empirical flaw in how these dynamics are understood. To see it clearly, let’s delve into Jamie’s story. […]
The dark side of birthdays
Birthdays have not always been the light-hearted affairs we know today. Tracing back to ancient civilizations, such as the Greeks and Egyptians, significant days like these were often marked by rituals of appeasement towards gods or evil spirits. These practices, viewed through a psychoanalytic lens, reveal a societal struggle with themes of power, innocence, and […]
Freud upside down
In ‘Civilization and Its Discontents,’ Sigmund Freud presents a common view of human nature: ‘Homo homini lupus’ (man is a wolf to man). Civilization, according to Freud, works tirelessly to curb our aggressive instincts through love, sexual repression, and moral ideals, albeit with limited success. The issue arises when considering the agents of civilisation – […]
On the behaviour of language (5)
Human–dog interactions are a great way to demonstrate what I call the behaviour of language: that is, a fundamental difference between human and nonhuman communication and, consequently, between human and nonhuman cognition. Imagine a situation in which your dog is barking and whining at you (signalling) because it wants an item of food that only […]
The Acquisition of Kinship
Originally published in Babel – The Language Magazine Shortly after our first daughter was born in 2005, I wrote in my diary: Everything feels like it has changed. I am a mother now. In less than a year there will be a little voice calling me mummy. Actually already it has started: one of the […]