Can the Ego ever be a good thing? Can something that place you first, always concerned only with it’s self ever be a good thing?
I have this on going discussion with a friend of mine, I say no and they say yes.
I sat they ego serves only itself and that makes us self absorbed and self-centered, and that is never a good thing. I say the Ego is an evil part of us, I say it is the legacy of Adam and Eve; it is the fallen part of us. The Ego serves only the Ego, it really doesn’t even serve you; the Ego has no master!
If we allow the Ego to run free, to allow it to serve its needs, the Ego will become the master and we become the slaves. We serve the Ego, and the Ego only serves itself.
The Ego is of fallen nature, Adam and Eve took of the fruit of knowledge, so they could be like God, all knowing, all powerful. They did not “feel” good enough as they where, they wanted more, they wanted to be seen as more. That is the Ego, the Ego wants it all, the lime light needs to shine on it, and everyone needs to know that the Ego did this or that.
The Ego is the root of all evil; from it all other evil comes, grows and spreads.
It is the Egos job to convince you that what I say here is false, that the Ego is a good thing that we all need one. The truth is made to look false and the false to look true. The devil uses that trick all the time, convinces us there is no hell, that a true and loving God could never damn anyone to hell. Well in part that is true, God does not damn anyone to hell; we do that our self. But the Ego will not allow us to believe that, the Ego convinces us that hell can not be, that God would send no one to hell, so do as you please, allow me, the Ego, to satisfy my needs, my hungers. The Ego and Devil are one in the same; they both are of fallen nature.
Now my friend would argue this all, they would say something about the need to feel good about self, needing to feel important and such. But I would say they are wrong, self worth comes from God not ones self (see self-worth or God-worth posting in this Blog). Now I know I just spent a lot of words on my argument and made my friends only a few lines, that’s not because I have no respect for there argument, because I do, I just find it hard for me to think in those terms, to write about them I would give it no justice, so I will allow my friend to respond, if they wish, with there own argument.
But I feel strongly about what I have posted, the Ego is of no value, it is our fallen nature, and if we can learn to control it, to defeat it, we will all be one step closer to heaven on earth, on step closer to God, and one step closer to discovering what Adam and Eve lost for us.
Paul
The STATIC Shop
View Point: Paul 
If you agree that insecurity comes from lack of self-worth and self-worth comes from ego, then having some ego is important…good. I agree that too much ego can be a bad thing but much bad happens in this world because some people do horrible things to others because they have no self worth… no ego
I agree with you Paul. I feel as though the ego is running our lives only to get that pat on the back, and if we can overcome or eliminate the ego, self-worth isn’t even in the equation anymore.
Thanks Chris… The Ego (Edging God Out) is a bad thing, but many belive it is a good thing… Sad 😦
I am newly in recovery and have been very interested in this ego aspect…There are many opinions on the subject. Dyer, Cohen and Jung are just a few . Most feel it is not a positive thing and causes nothing but negitives…I have had much trouble with it telling me I deserve better and never get credit for all my accomplishment…lead me right to a 12step program…interesting subject, hope I can come back and discuss it with you more thanks
having an ego isnt necessarily a good or bad thing. its part of who you are. now having too strong of an ego can be a bad thing and cause narcissism. i suggest reading about sigmund freud’s theory about the psychic apparatus. it is only a theory but quite interesting.
I won’t go as far as to say that the ego itself is either good or bad, but only that it leads to suffering.
The ego is dependent of exterior matters: other people, objects, situations. And that results almost always in bad feelings at one point or another.
This dependency seems to be the cause of suffering, because if the ego doesn’t get what it depends on (nobody acknowledges your ‘importance’, you are unable to obtain a specific object, or unable to turn a certain situation into your favor, etc), then there’s suffering.
So if you completely follow the directions your ego takes you in and manage to obtain all that it desires, maybe you won’t suffer all that much. But that would be quite an accomplishment, since there are a lot of things beyond your control (like how people react to you, for instance).
So suffering is practically guaranteed when the ego is your guide.
And obviously, in the end, you’ll have to hand it all over to death anyway, so if ‘having’ or success is the cause for happiness, than you’re bound to be unhappy, even if it’s only just before dying when you realize that you can’t take any possession or accomplishment with you.
WOW… Thanks for the input!
Im a confused individual at the momment. I am a musician at teh beggining of his carrear. I have realized that an EGO is the main root of success in this industry. And its more then likely like that for any industry.
I believe the ego is a bad thing in a perfect world. But a nessecity in todays world.
Im have just started to study the ego. and i am at the cross road in taking on such chracteristics.
Im confused.
success only comes to those with ego in the music world
This what you ‘think’ or see as successful, because society deems it as successful, ur ego is in controllin you. Do want material things from music–cars, money, power? this is why ego is a bad thing, no u feel unworthy in your area because of ego.write,sing, record good music in your opinion n try sell it , if the industry does not like then maybe it is their problem. u will win in the end because your ego will be controlled by you. causing you less suffering.? kinda get what im gettin at
There is selfconfidance and than EGO, being sure of ones self is a good thing, EGO is not…
help me:)
In my humble opinion, ego, while is needed for survival in this material world, has been the MAIN cause of creating conflict, separation, war, and ultimately DEMISE ( as we have seen empires fall/die!). Ego is merely self-serving; and would signal everyone whom we encounter with that he/she comes next; namely, after I (the egomaniac) take care of myself, and am IN CHARGE! Egomaniacs become very lonely, because they can NEVER SERVE anyone; and finally FALL, and would damage their organization as well! Those with big ego lose their friends, customers and even their spouse.
Because, those with low or no ego (nice people) would be destroyed and/or treated as doormats, when dealing with EGOMANIACS, then they must try protecting their skins. Therefore, such “nice people” must try to deal with those of their own value system, in order to survive. Wouldn’t that be the case with our smart prospects, clients, and colleagues? Then I can conclude: self-serving employees (those with high ego) can make irreparable damage to their organization as well!
Steven Tayanipour, PE, SE, F. ASCE, MSCE+, MBA
Lets have some rule and follow them. i request any of you to frame these rules about what to do in different situations.
As it take time to read each and every line.
I believe its depression that let us think about loosing ego when we are down.
nobody think about it in their uptime.
The Ego is what blocks the knowing about the bad Ego, it is a self protection system.. and as you look around the world you can see it works great….
I feel that having rules and following them can be a supportive thing. Recently I have actually changed, I no longer feed my ego by enjoying ‘success’ by achieving something and feeling a boost when others fall flat. I used to do this often. Nowadays I aim to interact with people with love, respect and peace. When I succeed at this I usually experience love, respect and peace. I do feel that I am still at times in conflict with ego and this can be challenging. At the end of the day my quality of life is now improved. What is ‘uptime’? It’s different for individuals is it not?
the soul is what replaces the ego. The soul was made by god. the soul is where u can dance with god. the soul is what gets us to do good for others and our selfs. not in self seeking but to better ourselfs for those we can help in this journey we are on made possible by god. God is a spirit full of all light he is with the sun and many others…………….
I’m sorry but you seem to be stating false accusations. Humans go through ego death when under the influence of drugs such as magic mushrooms, LSD, etc. I have never seen someone under the influence of those drugs want to harm anyone. I can even say from experience that the thought of harming someone never even enters my mind when under a psychedelic drug. It makes me understand who I am and who we are more, with ego I will never be able to understand humanity because I will be too obsessed with myself.
ummm…. I think you must be on drugs as you write this… But whatever…. Your ego is now an ego on drugs….
I think we are confusing self worth with ego. Ego makes you think its all about ME, MY, MINE! whereas it is important to accept you are important like every other creature in this world, not better, but important. Its good to be proud of your accomplishment but not to allow yourself to feel better than others. Everyone is good in something. Ego is any voice inside your head that tell you to not be kind, pure or tells you to be against some good virtues in general. I say follow your good nature, do good, be proud of your music, anything you do and not let it get into your head (Ego) that you are the best. Enjoy life, forgive and forget. Know your self worth that you are part of God and dont allow anyone to treat you like a doormat. Know that you are important just like any other creature in this world. Do unto others as you would do unto yourself.
I am under the impression that the ego is a type of cancer consciousness that we are all plugged into that has hijacked our connection to God. This in turn has created all of the endless misery in the world. I think that we must forgive everyone and stop living in fear to ever escape its imposition of misery and cycle of life and death. Spread Love. No longer identify with illusion. Best wishes thanks for the blog entry. Bearpaw
I’m sorry but I don’t totally agree. It’s just because I feel that it is a necessity not so that one can feel better about themselves but because the need ego so that they can defend their own opinion of the matter. I mean don’t you yourself have ego for writing that statement by itself ?
Just like the fact that you need you fist to deflect a punch, you need a least a bit of ego, enough to support your own thoughts to counter other people’s ego. I mean if you didn’t have ego, what would you think was right or wrong?
Writing a blog has nothing to do with ego. Ego is the bosting and braging that we do, writing a blog, for me, is not about bosting or braging, it is about sharing my thoughts with others. As for your statment about how would I know right from wrong, that is not the ego’s job, that is our moral code, the ego would be the one to tell us that everything we do is right, that all others are wrong. I think you are confusing the ego with self respect and our moral code.
I would like to submit my link on an article I wrote pertaining to the human ego…please read
http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-Having-an-Ego-Good-or-Bad?&id=7101943
sure, but I will post it on my new blog, An American Point of view (www.anamericanpointofview.wordpress.com)
I believe in a healthy ego. I see paul has quite an ego in having to defend himself and to discount the opinion of others. I can see that an unhealthy [large] ego would put a stop to learning and understanding.
frakshak
I never discount others, I respond. But you seem to discount me… Ego and self respect or self worth are different from each other. Self respect and self worth are healthy and good things, the ego is not, the ego is self destructive … And by the way, arguing my statement by putting me down is no argument, telling me you truly have no way to defend your ego. Thanks for posting…