After exchanging a few achievements for money, Cheng Yu began recalling the description of the Three-Self Theory in his mind.
The Three-Self Theory.
Namely, the true self, the ego, and the superego.
The true self consisted of subconscious thoughts, representing the mind's primal programming. It was the most primitive part, driven by desires that satisfied instinctive impulses, such as hunger, anger, and the urge to reproduce. The true self was innate and formed the foundation of the personality structure, following only one principle-the pleasure principle.
The ego generally referred to the conscious part of an individual and was the psychological component of the personality. Here, the reality principle temporarily suspended the pleasure principle. Through this, individuals learned to distinguish thoughts within their minds from those concerning the external world around them. The ego regulated the relationship between itself and its environment.
The superego was the regulator within the personality structure. Governed by the perfection principle, it formed the moral component of the personality. The superego tended to oppose the primal desires of the "true self" and take an aggressive stance toward the "ego." It operated in the form of a conscience, maintaining an individual's sense of morality and avoiding taboos.
In short, the true self represented desires suppressed by consciousness, the ego handled matters in the real world, and the superego was the conscience, or internal moral judgment.
The relationship among the three selves could be called simple, but it could also be called complex.
All human psychological activity could be reasonably explained through their interconnections. The ego was always present, while the superego and true self were almost perpetually opposed. To reconcile the conflict between the true self and superego, the ego had to regulate them. If the pressure an individual faced from the true self, superego, and outside