Me, Myself, I, and Freud: A Game of Monopoly

In response to the Daily Prompt – The Perfect Game:

The game:

Monopoly, standard classic North American edition from the 1930’s.

Setting:

My dining room table.

Players:

1. Me aka Id, using the Top Hat token.
2. Myself aka Superego, using the Purse token.
3. I aka Ego, using the Car token.
4. Sigismund Schlomo Freud aka Sigmund Freud aka Freud, using the Thimble token.

An initial roll of the dice gives Freud the highest value so he will be the banker.

 

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But first, a quick Psych 101 review …

If you’re not a fan of Freud or don’t buy into his tri-component theories on the human psyche, you are more than welcome to try to satisfy your own Id demands and skip over this section.  But be careful, you may start to hear the voices of your Ego and/or Superego in your head as you scroll down to see how the game starts.

ME aka ID:

• The primitive and instinctive component of personality formed through the inherited/biological brain system.
• Operates on the pleasure principle, wanting immediate gratification to all of its desires, regardless of the consequences.
  
• Acts impulsively, emotionally, and unconsciously.
• Not affected by reality, logic, or the everyday world.
• Known to be chaotic and totally unreasonable.

I aka EGO:

• The parts of the Id that have been changed by direct external world influences.
• Operates on the reality principle, trying to mediate between the unrealistic Id and the real world.
• Tries to find ways of satisfying Id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid the negative consequences of society.
• Has no concept of right or wrong; something is good as long as it makes the Id happy without causing harm to the Ego or themself.
• Acts with cold, passionless logic, using secondary process thinking and therefore being rational, realistic, and oriented towards problem-solving.

MYSELF aka SUPEREGO:

• Consists of the conscience and the ideal self, both of which strive for perfection.
• Tries to control the Id’s impulses and persuade the Ego to be morally correct and reach its fullest and best potential.
• Ideal self is an imaginary picture of how behaviour ought to be individually and as a member of society.
• Conscience will punish Ego through causing feelings of guilt, especially if Ego gives in to Id’s demands.
• Ideal self will reward Ego for behaving properly by making them feel proud.

 

And now, back to the game …

While everyone gets settled in their chairs, grabs a cup of coffee, and checks for messages before turning off their phones, Freud sits reading an online article in the other day’s The Telegraph from the UK.  He ponders reading it aloud to the other players, wondering if what is in the article may help or hinder their strategies.  Freud is playing simply for the pure amusement of watching three of his favourite friends play together in a highly competitive and intense game.  He cares not whether he wins or loses, or what his final standing and bank balance will be.  As the banker, Freud will stay in the game through to its end, as long as it may take to play out.  He knows who he wants to win the game, who he is most interested in deciphering the tactics of, and who will likely give him the most laughs.

Freud decides it’s best to not share the article with the rest but rather bookmarks it for future reference later in the game.  He saves the article in his browser as “Interesting, Very Interesting”.

The others join Freud at the table and Id quickly reaches across the table to grab the dice laying next to Freud, anxious to get the game going.  All will take a roll of the dice, and the highest total will be the one to go first in the game.  Id rolls a 3, slams the die on the table, and starts to whine.  The die land closest to Ego so they pick them up and take their turn at a roll and get a 7.  Freud is on the other side of Ego in clockwise direction so rolls next and lands a 5.  Last turn is for Superego, they roll the dice and their total is …

…

…

…

TO BE CONTINUED …

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This could be a long game folks.  If you’ve ever played a round of Monopoly before, you know they can go on for hours and hours and hours, stretching over days, weeks, and even months.  So please consider this your first pit stop on your journeys Along The Side Of The Road.

Interested in Freud and his theories on personality?  Also a big fan of my favourite board game, Monopoly?  Just plain humoured by my setup of the game and interested in seeing how I play it all out?  Then hit the “Follow” button and you’ll be sure to see not only who starts the game, but how the first few moves take place.
 

Featured Image:  Mitt Romneys on flickr.com, CC2.0
Freud Image:  commons.wikipedia.org, public domain