Wit and its relation to the unconsciousFreud, Sigmund
Science
Wit and its relation to the unconscious
Freud, Sigmund
Subconsciousness; Wit and humor -- Psychological aspects
loss. Nevertheless it would be equally false to assume that with a very
great expenditure there would be no more room for saving. The manager
inclined to economize would now make an effort to save on particular
things and would feel satisfied if the same establishment, with its
costly upkeep, could reduce its expenses at all, no matter how small the
saving would seem in comparison to the entire expenditure. In quite an
analogous manner the detailed economy in our complicated psychic affairs
remains a source of pleasure, as may be shown by everyday occurrences.
Whoever used to have a gas lamp in his room, but now uses electric
light, will experience for a long time a definite feeling of pleasure
when he presses the electric light button; this pleasure continues as
long as at that moment he remembers the complicated arrangements
necessary to light the gas lamp. Similarly the economy of expenditure in
psychic inhibition brought about by wit—small though it may be in
comparison to the sum total of psychic expenditure—will remain a source
of pleasure for us, because we thereby save a particular expenditure
which we were wont to make and which as before we were ready to make.
That the expenditure is expected and prepared for is a factor which
stands unmistakably in the foreground.
A localized economy, as the one just considered, will not fail to give
us momentary pleasure, but it will not bring about a lasting alleviation
so long as what has been saved here can be utilized in another place.
Only when this disposal into a different path can be avoided, will the
special economy be transformed into a general alleviation of the psychic
expenditures. Thus, with clearer insight into the psychic processes of
wit, we see that the factor of alleviation takes the place of economy.
Obviously the former gives us the greater feeling of pleasure. The
process in the first person of the witticism produces pleasure by
removing inhibitions and by diminishing local expenditure; it does not,
however, seem to come to rest until it succeeds through the intervention
of the third person in attaining general relief through discharge.
C. THEORETICAL PART
VI.
THE RELATION OF WIT TO DREAMS AND TO THE UNCONSCIOUS
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