169: Freud on Drugs, Religion, Guilt, Shame and Civilization (Civilization and its Discontents)

2025-05-02

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This week I dive into some of the work Freud wrote later in his life, particularly a book called Civilization and its Discontents published in 1930. Freud believed that the evolutionary process we can use to trace the changes humans have gone through over the centuries can also explain why culture itself has evolved as it has. He basically thinks we are all self-deceiving, chronically unfulfilled and unsatisfied bots programmed to lie to ourselves above all else, and to avoid feeling guilt or...

This week I dive into some of the work Freud wrote later in his life, particularly a book called Civilization and its Discontents published in 1930. Freud believed that the evolutionary process we can use to trace the changes humans have gone through over the centuries can also explain why culture itself has evolved as it has. He basically thinks we are all self-deceiving, chronically unfulfilled and unsatisfied bots programmed to lie to ourselves above all else, and to avoid feeling guilt or shame based on unavoidable urges we all have by lying to ourselves and everyone else about those urges existing. Instead we redirect them. Killing someone in revenge becomes laser tag this weekend. Driving 100mph like an asshole to work everyday becomes gokarts and beers on Friday night. Cheating with the neighbor becomes an Only Fans subscription or a weekend at a swinger's convention.

In this episode I cover morality, guilt, shame, intoxication, sublimation, civilization, and Freud's views on why all of these things exist in the human species.

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