Comparison between Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin in their approach to psychology
Freud is known in psychology for his psychoanalytic theories. It is theories Freud explains how the human brain is responsible for both conscious and unconscious decisions. The brain, for that matter, depends on the psychology drives in every decision-making process. From his approach, Freud was able to connect the major aspects and the functionality of the brain. The main aspects that compose the personality of human beings are; personal identity, sense of self-importance, and self-standard of behaviour. What is manifested in a real situation is a reaction or the behaviour of a person as controlled by the underneath personalities. In other words, the human brain responds to situations according to a predetermined form of behaviours which are stored within the brains. Unlike the belief among many people, Freud was biased against the belief that there is a supernatural being that exists. For that reason, Freud did not believe that a supernatural force could have a prior determination of how a human being will behave. Freud defined the belief in religion as an illusion which is deeply rooted in the fact that people have desires for natural behaviours. In other words, Freud was trying to prove that it was because of an unpleasant state of mental uneasiness. Under normal circumstances, the human brain always questions ideas in the process of reasoning. That is what differentiates the conscious state of the brain and the unconscious state of the brain. Some things do not add up in the process of reasoning and anxiety is formed out of that. The alternative solution of that case is believing in religion to take refuge in the unconscious state of the brain and believe in religion to provide answers. Freud believed that the brain is responsible for both the conscious and unconscious processes of decision making. It is from that point of view that Freud brought forward that it is the humanity that creates God in their minds! Therefore, Freud did not buy the idea that religion can guide people to conduct themselves morally or not. The psychoanalytic theory explains how people can regain the deep inspection or view of issues by converting the unconscious thoughts to conscious thoughts.
Charles Darwin is better known for his evolutionary theory in psychology. Darwin defined evolution as the gradual change of state. Apart from the physical change that can be seen, the human brain also undergoes through evolutionary change. The evolutionary change is responsible for psychological adjustments that make the brain better. Due to evolutionary changes, the modern human brain is born under environmental backgrounds that differ from their ancestral background. The evolutionary changes of the brain are positive and enable the modern to reason better as compared to the ancestors. Darwin approach to psychology is built on sexual selection and natural selection. In his theory of natural selection, Darwin explained that the evolutionary changes occurred in a way that addressed the problems that were faced by the ancestors. The environment that surrounds the human being is responsible for inducing change both physically and in brain formation. As presented by Darwin, evolutionary change happens to adapt an organism in ways better for survival. Once evolution takes, place, the change can be genetically transferred to future generations. Evolutionary psychology happens to shape and improve how the brain functions and reactions to different scenarios. Darwin was able to present the theory of natural selection and the cognitive mechanism of the human brain in response to the desired changes. Response to the evolution was almost a compulsory requirement in Darwin’s theories of evolution. Nature selectively favours the organisms that are well adapted for survival within a given environment. Due to Darwin’s focus on individual differences, the psychology was focused towards the modern intelligence among different individuals. For example, Binet was able to focus on the laboratory tests for intelligence for different individuals.
Similarities between Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin approach to psychology
Both Freud and Darwin used the brain as the pint of emphasis in the process of developing their theories. Freud presents clearly that the brain is responsible for the reactions and the characteristics presented by different individuals. Freud indicates that what is manifested as observable characteristics and behaviours emanate from the brain aspects. For instance, the ego is different for different individuals. Although the ego defines the balance between pain and pleasure, the brain is able to choose a reaction depending on the issue at hand. One’s reaction is, therefore, a mere physical projection of ego. Superego, on the other hand, is the brain capability to control reactions that connected to morality. As a conscience, the aspect of superego helps the brain to come up with instincts to distinguish the right from the wrong. Darwin’s theory also focuses on the brain. From Darwin’s theory of natural selection, we find that the human brain is responsible for observable behaviour and characteristics. Once an evolutionary change happens, the change is manifested in the following generations. This is because the characteristics are genetically transferred from the parents to the offsprings. Both Freud and Darwin do not believe in creation. Freud describes the belief in God as something created by the human brain to account for the unconscious situation of the brain. Charles Darwin, on the other hand, built his theories on evolution. Evolution is an alternative theory that explains the origin and the direction of life of human beings among other living things.
Differences between Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin approach to psychology
When addressing his theory, Freud splits the personality into three components; the personal identity, sense of self-importance and self-criticizing conscience. From Freud’s theory, the brain uses the three states to approach the situations in life, judge or react towards different scenarios. Freud does not indicate the evolution of the brain due to environmental factors. However, he presents that different individuals have different behaviours and characteristics as influenced by the three states that affect the brain. Darwin, on the other hand, focuses on the evolutionary change of the brain. According to Darwin, it is because of the problems underwent by the ancestral parents that evolutionary changes happen both in the brain and in the physical body. Since the change is permanent, the genotype character traits are genetically transferred to the next generations. The evolutionary change sharpens the brains for better reasoning and intelligence. Freud describes the learning in a psychosexual stage. Brain development and capacity growth is achieved in the stage. From Darwin’s theory, characteristics and intelligence are transferred from the parent to the offsprings.