Introduction to Psychoanalysis

Chapter 7 Psychology of Negligence (6)
Now, we're finally going to talk about clerical errors.Slips of the pen are the same as slips of the tongue, and therefore we need not expect new ideas as far as slips of the pen are concerned, but are content to gain some knowledge of the error from them.Some of the most common small mistakes, such as condensing the following words, especially writing the last word in advance, can tell that the writer is not fond of writing or has no patience; and the more obvious clerical mistakes can tell the nature of the interference and Intention manifests itself.Usually, when there are clerical errors in letters, it can be seen that the heart of the letter writer was not peaceful at that time, but the reasons may not be fully understood.Slips of the pen are the same as slips of the tongue in that they are hardly noticed by the erroneous person.It is interesting to note that some people are in the habit of rereading a letter before sending it.Others, on the other hand, if by accident they reread the letter after writing it, can often spot obvious clerical errors and correct them.How to explain it?It seems that they all understand that they have made a typo, are you sure this is the case?
There's an interesting question about what a clerical error actually means.Do you remember the murderer H?He pretended to be a bacteriologist, stole dangerous germs from the Academy of Sciences, and killed those related to him.Once, he complained to the staff of a certain college: "The potency of the culture bacteria you sent is too low." But he made a typo in the letter, and actually wrote "Mausen und Meerschweinchen" (Mausen und Meerschweinchen used in my experiment) as "Humans for my experiments" (Menschen).Doctors at the academy had noticed the clerical error, but they could not deduce its purpose.What do you think?Assuming the Academy doctor deduced the secret behind the clerical error, wouldn't it be better to detect his intentions and solve them in time?In this case, the lack of understanding of the theory of negligence has actually a very serious consequence.To me, such a clerical error would have raised great suspicion, and would have sparked a backlash if taken as a confession.But the truth is not so simple.Of course, a clerical error can be considered a hint, but not a reason for an investigation.Through the clerical error, it can be seen that this person has the intention of harming others, but it cannot be concluded that it is a definite harming plan, or it is just an unrealistic fantasy.Even the clerical person may give powerful reasons for denying the existence of such illusions and for refuting the absurdity of such a view.It will be easy to understand these various possibilities when we discuss the difference between mental and physical reality below.However, this instance once again proves that negligence is meaningful, beyond doubt.

Compared with slips of the tongue and slips of the pen, the psychological situation of misreading is obviously quite different.In misreading, one of the two conflicting tendencies is subject to sensual stimuli, and thus lacks permanence, perhaps.What a man reads does not come from his mind any more than what he writes.Therefore, most of the examples of misreading are that one character replaces another character, and there may not be any relationship between this character and that character, and the same shape of the characters is enough.Lichtenberg's "Agamemnon" was actually mispronounced as "Angenommen", which can be called a good example of mispronunciation.If you want to find the interference tendency that causes mistakes, you can put aside the full text and use the following two questions as the starting point for research: First, what is the first thought that arises when you associate the wrong results?Second, under what circumstances did the misreading occur?Sometimes, just the knowledge of the second problem is enough to explain the misreading.For example, a person is traveling in a strange city and urgent to urinate, and suddenly sees a sign saying "Closethaus" (Closethaus) hanging on the second floor of a certain house. It turned out to be the name of the store (Corsethaus).As for other instances, where there is little connection between the original text and the misreading, it must be discussed and analyzed in detail, but success requires training and faith in the technique of psychoanalysis.In fact, it is not particularly difficult to explain the misreading.Taking Agamemnon as an example, it is not difficult to guess the tendency of interference by substituting it into the text.For another example, in this war, people often heard the names of towns and generals and military terms, so whenever they saw similar glyphs, they were often mispronounced as the names of a certain town or general or military terms.For things not yet of interest are replaced by things that are thought of, and new perceptions are veiled by the shadow of thought.

Sometimes, the reading material itself has a tendency to interfere, and it can also cause misreading, and the original text is read as the opposite word.Suppose a man is reading a text which he dislikes, and it has been proved by analytical studies that all his errors stem from his distaste for what he reads.

Judging from the common examples of misinterpretation mentioned above, the two elements that constitute the mechanism of negligence do not seem to be obvious.The first of these two elements is disposition and the conflict between them, and the second is the compensation for the disturbance of a disposition and the negligence.Not all contradictions of this type can develop into misreadings, but the entanglement of thoughts related to errors is indeed quite significant, compared with the previous disturbances.These two elements are easiest to observe in the various contexts of errors caused by forgetting.

As regards the forgetting of "plan," it is evident that it has only one meaning, and its interpretation is generally accepted, as we have discussed above.The intention to interfere with the "plan" is often manifested as a rebellious tendency, an emotion of reluctance.There is no need to doubt the existence of this rebellious tendency, and all we have to discuss is why it does not manifest in another, more subtle way.We may also sometimes infer the motives of this tendency which must be kept secret; if he declares it publicly, he is bound to be condemned;Assuming that after making up his mind and before implementing it, his psychological situation has changed significantly, and it is even unnecessary to implement the plan. Although the plan has been forgotten, it no longer belongs to the category of negligence.Since the memory is useless, it is only natural to forget it; thus it is permanently or temporarily canceled, and it is a fault to forget to carry out the plan when it is not cancelled.

Most of the examples of forgetting to implement "plans" are the same, the meaning is obvious, and there is no interest in research.However, a discussion of faults of this kind is informative in two respects.As mentioned earlier, the implementation of the forgetting plan must first have a tendency to confront.This is correct. According to our research, there may be two types of "counter-will": direct and indirect.One or two examples will be cited below to illustrate what is meant by indirect confrontation.For example, the sponsor is unwilling to recommend the sponsored person to a third party, perhaps because he does not like the sponsored person and is unwilling to introduce him.This can naturally be understood as the sponsor does not want to mention the recipient, or the matter is more complicated.The patron may also have other secrets, which may have nothing to do with the recipient, but a dislike for the third party to be entrusted.You can see from this that our explanation cannot be used indiscriminately in practice.Although the grantee explained the mistake, he may still have wronged the sponsor because of his paranoia.Another example is when someone forgets about a date, the most common reason is that he does not want to meet the date.However, according to the analysis, it is known that the tendency to interfere has nothing to do with the date, but the place of the date; because the place reminds him of the painful past, he deliberately avoids it.Another example is forgetting to post a letter. This intention of confrontation may be related to the content of the letter, or it may have nothing to do with the content of the letter itself;Therefore, the letter that was not intrusive, because the previous hateful letter also became the object of disgust.Care must be taken, therefore, in the use of well-founded explanations, for the same event in psychology may have many meanings in practice.

It may surprise you that this is the case.You may think that the indirect "opposite meaning" is enough to conclude that this behavior is pathological.But what I can tell you is that these behaviors can also be encountered within the healthy and normal range.It should be noted that I am by no means admitting that the analysis and explanation are not credible here, and you must not misunderstand.I have said that there may be various meanings for the execution of the project of forgetting, but this is only for unanalyzed instances explained only by ordinary principles.If the persons involved are analyzed, it can be determined whether this space of aversion is direct or otherwise hidden.

Then comes the second point: assuming that in most cases, it has been proved that the forgetting of the "plan" must be caused by the restraint of the "contrary meaning", even if the analysand protests the existence of this "contrary meaning", we still Have the courage to insist on this explanation.Take some of the most common forgettings, such as forgetting to return books and debts.In the case of such persons, I dare say there must be a reluctance to pay back books or debts.Although he denies this, he cannot explain his behavior otherwise.Therefore, we may confess that he has such a thought in his heart, but he is not aware of it; but it is enough for him to expose himself by forgetting.Perhaps, at this moment, he tried to argue that he had simply forgotten.You know, we've been in similar situations before.Many examples have proved our explanation of negligence, and now if we want to make a logical extension, we must assume that people have many intentions in their hearts that they don't know, which can cause serious consequences.Inevitably, we are going to be very different from ordinary psychology, and the views of ordinary people.

The forgetting of proper nouns, foreign names, or foreign languages, etc., also arises from intentions that directly or indirectly conflict with these nouns.With regard to direct aversion, I have already explained by example.Here, however, indirect causes are more common, and must be analyzed in detail to explain them.During this war, for example, we were forbidden to go to many entertainment places, and our memory of some proper nouns was greatly injured by irrelevance.Recently I had forgotten "Bisenz" (Bisenz), analysis shows that I have no immediate dislike for this town, but I have many unpleasant memories of the Bisenz mansion in Orvieto, due to the similar pronunciation of Bisenz Yu Bisenzhi was therefore forgotten.With regard to the motives for forgetting the name of the town, we encounter for the first time the new principle which has since come to play an important role in the genesis of psychosis: in short, that recalling things which are associated with painful emotions causes pain. , memory is thus opposed to the recollection of such things.This tendency to avoid pain leads to the final purpose of forgetting names and other numerous slips, omissions, and mistakes.

But as regards the forgetting of nouns, a psychophysiological explanation seems to fit it best, so that when it occurs it is not necessarily disturbed by a tendency to avoid pain.According to the analysis and research, if a person has a tendency to forget nouns, this kind of forgetting comes from his aversion to nouns, not only because the nouns will cause painful memories, but also because this particular noun is more likely to cause some associations.Fix this noun and forbid associations with other things; occasionally, in order to remember some nouns, some associations are deliberately induced by it, but the associations thus created are self-defeating.You must be surprised at this if you have not forgotten the memory system.Personal names are the most obvious example, and they have different values ​​for different people.For example, Theodore's name has no special meaning to some of you, but it may be the name of someone's father, brother, friend or yourself. According to the results of the analysis, the former among you will not forget the name of the previous The latter seems to think that they can only call their relatives and friends by this name, and they will inevitably be dissatisfied with the guest named by this name.We may now assume that the obstruction by this association corresponds exactly to the application of the "pain" principle and the indirect mechanism; and you will see that the reasons for forgetting nouns are very complicated.However, the causes of this complication can all be unraveled if we analyze the facts thoroughly.

With regard to the forgetting of impressions and experiences, a tendency to avoid unpleasantness is shown more clearly than in the forgetting of nouns.Of course, not all instances of this type of forgetting are negligence. According to the standard of general experience, certain forgettings that are considered unusual and contrary to common sense are listed in the category of negligence, such as forgetting recent or important things. Impressions, or forgetting part of something that is clearly remembered.Exactly how we have acquired the ability to forget in general, and in particular to forget deeply remembered experiences, such as childhood events, is another question.For forgetting itself, although the avoidance of painful associations is one reason, it cannot be used to explain everything.As for the ease with which unpleasant impressions are forgotten, there is no doubt about this fact.Many psychologists had noticed it, and Darwin was well aware of it, so that he recorded every fact that contradicted his theory, lest he forget them.

The principle of counteracting unpleasant recollections by means of forgetting must be protested by those who hear it for the first time, knowing from their own experience that the most painful memories are the most memorable, and that painful remembrances often overwhelm the will, such as those of sorrow and humiliation .Although this fact is true, the protests arising from it are not justified.Note that the mind is the arena of competing impulses, or, in non-dynamic terms, consists of opposing tendencies.The appearance of a particular tendency does not in any way affect the existence of its opposite tendency, and both can exist simultaneously.The important question is: what is the relationship between these opposing tendencies?

Lost and misplaced objects not only have multiple meanings, but also have many tendencies that want to be expressed through faults, so it is interesting for us to discuss them.In these examples, the desire to forget things is common, but the reasons and purposes of this desire are different.Someone loses something, maybe the item is broken, or he wants to exchange it for a better one, maybe he doesn't like the item, maybe he develops a feeling of disgust towards the person who gave it, or maybe he refuses to recall getting the item The context of the item.Lost or damaged items can be used to express the same intention.Socially ostracized illegitimate children are said to be often much thinner than those of normal conceived children.This does not mean that the "surrogate child care provider" has a rough feeding method, but the lack of concern for the child is enough to explain the problem.The preservation of items is like raising children, the reason is the same.

Sometimes an object is thrown away, though it has not lost its value, as if with an intention that other, greater losses could be avoided by sacrificing it.From the results of the analysis, it can be seen that this method of eliminating disasters is still very popular. Therefore, most of the sacrifices are voluntary.Forgotten items are also sometimes used to vent anger or punish oneself.In short, the more remote forms of motives concealed in forgotten objects are innumerable.

Taking the wrong object, or doing the wrong action, like other faults, is often employed in the fulfillment of a wish that should be forbidden; this intention masquerades as accidental luck.For example, a friend of mine was like this. He didn't want to take the train to visit friends in the countryside, so he took the train back to the city at the station where he changed trains.For another example, someone wants to rest at a certain place during the journey, but he has already made an appointment elsewhere and it is difficult to fulfill. Later, he made a mistake or delayed the time, so that he got his wish.Just like a certain patient I treated, I did not allow him to call his lover, but when he wanted to talk to me, he gave the wrong phone number, and he finally got on the phone with his lover.There is a story told by an engineer that is a good example for explaining broken items or misbehavior.

"Once upon a time, several colleagues and I did experiments in a middle school laboratory. Regarding elasticity, we volunteered to do this work, but it took longer than expected. One day, my colleague F and I entered the laboratory together. , he told me he was too busy at home to spend too much time here. I sympathized with him and joked with him about what happened a week ago: 'Hope this machine breaks down again so we have to stop working and go back to work. Home.' When arranging work, F's responsibility is to manage the valve of the press, that is to say, he needs to open the valve very carefully so that the pressure in the reservoir can be slowly pressed into the cylinder of the hydraulic press. Standing beside the hydraulic press is the The leader of the experiment, when the pressure was moderate, he shouted: "Stop!" Hearing this order, F turned the valve to the left with great strength. However, to close the valve, it must be turned to the right without exception. Therefore, the storage The full pressure in the machine immediately invaded the press, causing the connecting pipes to overwhelm, and one of them immediately ruptured-an event that, although completely harmless, caused us to stop work and go home. When we refer to this incident shortly afterwards, It is quite special that my colleague F has forgotten what I said, but I remember it clearly."

This might lead you to wonder whether it is purely accidental that servants have damaged utensils by mistake in the past.It even raises doubts about whether it is accidental that a person hurts himself, or puts himself in danger.If the time is right, you can also analyze the experiment.

There are many issues that need to be studied and discussed about negligence, far more than those mentioned above.However, if after listening to my speech, you can slightly change your previous beliefs and are ready to accept my views, then I will be satisfied.Leave the unresolved issues alone.For it is by no means possible to justify all principles on the basis of a study of negligence alone.The value of faults for our purposes lies in the fact that they are the most common phenomena, easily observed by man himself, and have nothing to do with disease.Before I close this talk, I would like to ask you one more question that has not been answered: "Suppose that, through numerous instances, people become aware of negligence and behave as if they Is there any reason why they generally regard the phenomenon of negligence as accidental and meaningless, while psychoanalytic explanations are strongly opposed to it?"

Yes, it is necessary to explain this issue.But I would prefer that you slowly understand the relation, and not give you an answer at once, and you will come to its explanation naturally, without my help.

(End of this chapter)