Understand Adler
Alfred Adler (1870-1937), an Austrian psychiatrist, founder of Individual Psychology , , together with Freud and Jung , are known as the three major psychology giants . He has written " Inferiority and Transcendence ", "Research on Human Nature", "The Theory and Practice of Individual Psychology", etc. The other name of " The Annoying Courage " is "The Philosophical Courage of Adler, the "Father of Self-Inspiration", and its author Ichiro Kishi also wrote " Thinking and Living Like Adler ".
Although Adler came from a wealthy family, his life was not going well. When he was a child, his younger brother who was sleeping beside him died and was hit by a car twice, which made him very afraid of death. When he was five years old, he had pneumonia and decided to become a doctor after he recovered. He had mediocre grades and extremely poor math grades when he was studying. With the support and encouragement of his father, he finally became the best student in mathematics in his class.
25, Adler obtained a doctorate in medicine from the University of Vienna. He first became an ophthalmologist. He paid special attention to the inferiority of body organs and believed that it was the real driving force that drove individuals to take action. Later, he turned to psychiatry and followed Freud to discuss the issue of neurosis, but later became the first psychologist within psychoanalytic school to oppose Freud's psychological system.
Individual Psychology
Adler and Freud have many differences in their views on psychology. The biggest thing is that Adler emphasizes that people are conscious individuals, and can choose their own life paths and participate in determining their own destiny. , while Freud believes in fatalism more.
Individual psychology believes that human is born as a social group , and human behavior is determined by social forces. Freud emphasized the biological instinct of human beings. Humanity is the natural development of instinct and its behavior is determined innately.
Secondly, individual psychology regards personality as a unified whole , emphasizing its inseparability, and is a unified whole composed of various motivations, traits, interests and values; Freud divided personality into different parts such as the id, the self, and the superego, and the needle part performs its own duties.
Third, individual psychology believes that consciousness is the center of personality . Adler believed that human beings are a conscious being, and that conscious behavior is the main behavior of human beings. Freud's classic psychoanalysis believes that the unconscious is the center of personality.
Fourth, Adler emphasized the future impact of on people's behavior. He believes that since people are conscious, they can realize the various conditions in the future and make certain plans to guide their behavior. Adler also admitted that past experiences have an impact on people's behavior, but he believes that it is not decisive, which is obviously opposite to Freud.
Fifth, individual psychology believes that sex is only one of the driving factors of human behavior, and what really works for human behavior is the human society’s need for human society.
Pursuing superiority is the core of Adler's individual psychology and the overall goal that dominates individual behavior, but the result of pursuing superiority has duality. It can not only inspire people to pursue greater achievements, make people's psychological growth positively, but also lead to neglecting the needs of society and others, thus creating a "self-esteem complex", making people lack social interest and become arrogant.
Adler believes that humans are social creatures and are born with the potential of social interests in human nature. Whether social interests are the main criteria for measuring whether an individual is healthy. The level of social interests determines the size of a person's life and the degree of contribution to society.
Inferiority and transcendence
Inferiority and transcendence are important parts of Adler's individual psychology and are also the basic driving force for individuals to pursue superiority. Adler insists that inferiority is the source of life. It can not only destroy a person, make people give up on themselves or have mental illness, but also inspire people, make people work hard and cheer up to catch up. The only correct way to transcend inferiority complex is to connect your own value with the value of society.(We will learn in detail later)
enlightenment
first, change yourself by "action" . The self is invisible, and it must be seen if it rebounds. Psychology can only help us change our cognition, but not our destiny. Only after changing our cognition can we change from the original inaction to the action, find our own talent advantages, bring our own changes and create our own destiny.
Second, Change others by "love" . Just like Adler's father helped Adler improve his interest in learning mathematics through love and support. What we want to change others is not to control, but to give each other free love based on other people's needs.
