Freud might say I am using a defense mechanism in my hesitance to actually pick up my “Introductory lectures on Psycho-Analysis” book (generously gifted to me, along with a whole slew of Freud and Lacan’s theoretical works, by Adam’s mom Nancy). It seems I too am genetically built (or more likely, environmentally shaped) to shudder at the thought of such empirically un-supported theories as the Oedipus Complex and inter-agent conflict between id, ego, and superego. I don’t know about others, but as a psychology major my professors seemed to tiptoe around Freud’s theories, emphasizing that his concepts were only important as historical artifacts in the formation of psychology as a field of study. Once they’ve done the bit, they sprint as if on hot coals to some safer, empirically supported theories in modern medicine. I can’t blame them—I find myself facing the same impulse as well.

It shouldn't be all too surprising that a huge uproar was raised here when a North American psychologist posited that dreams were merely displaced memories from the day that reflected nothing of the inner-workings of ones deeper, psychological self. Dream interpretations seem to be relatively common here, common enough that there would be a reference to the Freud's “Interpretation of Dreams” in the window of the national lottery kiosk on any given street. There's even a neighborhood here called “Villa Freud” and I personally know two psychologists and two psychiatrists who live there. On the outside it looks like any other BA neighborhood, but, in Freudian psychoanalysis, one is trained to see behind the outer shell, into the deep recesses of what lies behind those walls. Apparently (my friend Wikipedia helped me out with this one) in the 1960s it was home to many psychologists practicing psychoanalysis in it's earlier days, and the name “Villa Freud,” along with it's psychologist inhabitants, stuck.

I suppose it's time to crack the spine of the ever-famous (or infamous as the case may be) “Introductory lectures on Psycho-Analyses” despite my reticence. More to follow....