# What does this Freud cartoon mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 13, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866 "2013-03-13T22:25:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/1 "2013-03-13T22:25:50Z")
[Pic](http://intelligentleaders.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/psychodynamics.jpg) I don’t understand what the mess of dotted lines is supposed to represent. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/2 "2013-03-13T22:29:48Z")
I would take it to indicate that there are complex interrelationships between the three Freudian personality aspects, id, ego, and superego. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/3 "2013-03-13T22:42:57Z")
And there is not a direct/clear connection between the personality aspects and behavior. For example, you can’t draw a straight line from id to bad (devil horns). ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/4 "2013-03-13T22:51:48Z")
A proper Freudian can only say, “What does it mean to you?” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/5 "2013-03-13T22:55:38Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > And there is not a direct/clear connection between the personality aspects and behavior. For example, you can’t draw a straight line from id to bad (devil horns). Agree, of course, dealing with Freud’s notional tripartite division. I would not use the term “personality aspects” however to describe them. Nor would “devilish” and “angelic” be limited to behavior. The Id as “bad” and superego as “good” is in fact a common mis-generalization, which dynamic analysis, the title of the image, is an attempt to neutralize. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/6 "2013-03-13T23:06:47Z")
Illustration: Eating because you’re hungry would be a manifestation of the Id. Killing a bunch of innocent civilians because your commanding officer ordered you to would be a manifestation of the Superego. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/7 "2013-03-13T23:37:55Z")
> [@cainxinth](#): > > [Pic](http://intelligentleaders.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/psychodynamics.jpg) > > I don’t understand what the mess of dotted lines is supposed to represent. There’s a question mark in there. Hope that helps! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/8 "2013-03-14T00:14:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Illustration: Eating because you’re hungry would be a manifestation of the Id. Killing a bunch of innocent civilians because your commanding officer ordered you to would be a manifestation of the Superego. IANAShrink, but I’m afraid that none of what you’ve written here is true, or particularly helpful, unless you’re making a joke about the extreme silliness of such suggestions. Maybe you and I can do some joint sessions. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/9 "2013-03-14T00:30:43Z")
Why do you say that? Hunger is a very common example of an impulse driven by the id. The feeling of pride and accomplishment from obeying an authority figure is a common example of behavior driven by the superego. What part do you disagree with? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/10 "2013-03-14T00:41:10Z")
I think it’s a satire on Freud’s theory, showing the id, ego, and superego linked by ridiculously convoluted (but actually arbitrary and meaningless) pathways that can mean whatever you want. Or, rather, can mean whatever your therapist thinks. Compare with these cartoons depicting the infamous butterfly ballot: [http://www.infoimagination.org/ps/election\_2000/images\_2000/ballot\_official.gif](http://www.infoimagination.org/ps/election_2000/images_2000/ballot_official.gif) [http://home.pacifier.com/~ppenn/butterflybush.gif](http://home.pacifier.com/~ppenn/butterflybush.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/11 "2013-03-14T00:44:51Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > There’s a question mark in there. Hope that helps! Also, the dotted line coming from EGO hooks right back to EGO (egocentric). And there’s one dotted line that goes in a circle, not connecting to anything. So he’s adding little meta-jokes about dotted line placement in illustrations. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/12 "2013-03-14T00:45:18Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > IANAShrink, but I’m afraid that none of what you’ve written here is true, or particularly helpful, unless you’re making a joke about the extreme silliness of such suggestions. > > Maybe you and I can do some joint sessions. Well, of course none of it is true, but that’s because Freudian psychology isn’t true. He did in fact describe how those parts of the mind were supposed to work. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/13 "2013-03-14T00:55:41Z")
Um… You’ve gone a bit beyond factual answers and into the realm of opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/14 "2013-03-14T01:08:59Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Um… You’ve gone a bit beyond factual answers and into the realm of opinion. It just means a cigar, nothing more! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/15 "2013-03-14T01:47:23Z")
“I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/16 "2013-03-14T02:14:03Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > I would not use the term “personality aspects” however to describe them. Why not? That’s how they are frequently described. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/17 "2013-03-14T02:49:48Z")
The id takes the shortest past to the Devil one. The Ego goes in a question mark. The SuperEgo actually forms the rest of that, if you look at the end parts (arrow heads) the only two lines really out there outside of the question mark are from the id and the SuperEgo, and the majority of the complicatedness is from the Superego. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-freud-cartoon-mean/652866/18 "2013-03-14T12:58:51Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > It just means a cigar, nothing more! 😃 Sometimes a cartoon is just a cartoon…