Who was Sigmund Freud?

Have you ever opened the fridge and stared inside, even when you aren't hungry? Or accidentally called your teacher "Mom" in front of the whole class? (Oops!) Why do our brains do weird things like that without us even realizing it? Join Mira and Finn on Philosophy is Not Boring as they explore one of the biggest mysteries of all: your very own mind! Around the year 1900, a famous doctor from Vienna named Sigmund Freud had a massive, world-changing idea. He believed your mind is actually like a giant iceberg! While the tiny tip sticking out of the water is the part you know about—your conscious thoughts—there is a huge, hidden world deep underwater. This hidden part is called the unconscious, and it is packed with secret wishes, feelings, and old memories that quietly steer how you act! Discover how Freud believed our weird, wacky dreams are actually secret messages from this underwater world. Find out why modern scientists disagree with some of his ideas, and why he made his patients lie on a super comfortable couch with fluffy dogs! Get ready to dive deep and discover the secrets of your brain!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Philosophy is not boring by kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. Have you ever done something and immediately thought, wait, why did I just do that?

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Oh, definitely. Like yesterday, I walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, stared at the mustard for ten whole seconds, and then just walked out. I wasn't even hungry. It was like my body was on autopilot.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Exactly! We all do things like that. Or have you ever meant to say one word, but something totally different popped out of your mouth?

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Like when I accidentally called my teacher mum in front of the entire class. Yeah, let's not talk about it. That was the most embarrassing day of the year.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Well, today we are definitely talking about it. Because we are asking a truly huge question. What if most of your own mind is actually hidden from you?

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Hidden? But it's my mind. I live inside it. How can my own mind hide things from me?

SPEAKER_00 1:07

That is exactly what one of the most famous and controversial thinkers in history asked. He believed your mind is holding on to secrets, wishes, and deep memories that you don't even know are there.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Whoa, so you're saying I have a secret agent brain? Like there are locked doors up there?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Kind of. Today we're going to explore what's really happening inside our heads, why dreams are so incredibly weird, and how much of ourselves we actually understand.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

So get ready to dive deep. Okay, so if my mind is hiding things from me, where is it hiding them? Isn't my mind just the voice inside my head? The one that reads my books to me? That's exactly what most people used to think.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

For a long time, people thought the mind was just the thoughts you are aware of right now. Like you thinking, I really want a peanut butter sandwich, or math homework is taking forever.

unknown 2:05

Haha.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Both are very true thoughts that I have every single day.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

But around the year 1900, in the beautiful city of Vienna, a doctor named Sigmund Freud started chewing on a huge, puzzling problem. What kind of problem was he chewing on? He had patients who were dealing with really mysterious fears or physical problems, like their hands freezing up, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with their physical bodies, and they had no idea why they were feeling so awful.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Wait, so they were sick, but not physically sick, like a phantom illness.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Exactly. It was a complete mystery. Freud listened to them talk, sometimes for hours and hours, and he noticed something fascinating. Sometimes, when they talked about a really old, forgotten memory, or a strange dream they had, they would suddenly start to feel better. Just from talking about old memories. That's it. Yes, and this gave Sigmund Freud a massive, world-changing idea. He realized that the voice in your head, the one you can hear, that's just a tiny, tiny piece of what your brain is actually doing. So what's the rest of it doing? Is it throwing a party without me? Freud said the rest of your mind is completely invisible to you. He called it the unconscious. And to explain how it works, people use a really famous picture. They say your mind is actually like an iceberg.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

An iceberg? Like the giant floating ice mountains that penguins hang out on in the ocean.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

Exactly like that. Picture a massive iceberg floating in the freezing dark water. If you look at it from a boat, what do you actually see?

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Well, you just see the top part poking out of the water, the snowy tip of the iceberg against the sky.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Right! In that picture, the visible tip of the iceberg is your conscious mind. It's the small part of your brain that you are aware of right now, like your current thoughts and whatever you're looking at.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Okay, but what about the rest of the ice?

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Well, think about how real icebergs actually work. The biggest part of the iceberg, sometimes 90% of its total size, is hidden deep, deep underwater, where nobody can see it. Oh, and that's the unconscious mind, the secret part. Yes. Just like that deep, dark underwater part, Freud believed your unconscious is huge. And he thought it is completely packed with powerful feelings, memories, secret wishes and fears that you don't even know are there, quietly steering how you act.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Wait, so there are feelings inside me that I don't know about. Quietly steering the boat without my permission. That's actually kind of scary to think about.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

It can definitely feel a little spooky, but Freud didn't think it was bad or evil. He just thought it was how all humans work. He said those hidden feelings are always bubbling down there, trying to send us messages from the deep. But if they're completely underwater, how do we ever see the messages? Freud thought they sneaked out when our conscious mind, the tip of the iceberg, was relaxed and not paying attention. Especially when we go to sleep.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Dreams! Is that why my dreams are always so completely weird and random?

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Yes! Freud famously thought dreams were the royal road to the unconscious. He believed that while you sleep, your hidden mind sends you clues wrapped up in bizarre, strange stories.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Okay, but I don't just sleep all day. Does the underwater part of the iceberg ever sneak out when I'm wide awake?

SPEAKER_00 5:49

It sure does. Freud said the unconscious leaks out in everyday life through things like slips of the tongue. Today, people actually call them Freudian slips. Is that like my embarrassing mom-teacher story? Exactly. Freud would say that wasn't just a random mistake. He'd say your unconscious mind felt safe and cared for by your teacher, just like with your mum. So the hidden feeling leaked out on purpose.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Hold on. That doesn't seem right though. Sometimes I just say the wrong word because my brain is super tired, or I'm distracted. Not because I have a secret underwater feeling.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

And Finn, that is exactly what many modern scientists say today. You are thinking just like a modern psychologist.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Oh phew. So Freud was wrong about the slips.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Well, it's complicated. Scientists today point out that a lot of Freud's very specific ideas can't actually be tested using science. We can't put your dream or your slip of the tongue under a microscope and prove it means exactly one hidden thing.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Yeah, that makes sense. If it's untestable, you can kind of just make up any meaning you want for a dream, and nobody can prove you wrong.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Exactly. But here is the truly amazing part. Even though many scientists disagree with his specific theories, almost everyone agrees Freud was genuinely right about his biggest, most important idea.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Which is the iceberg itself?

SPEAKER_00 7:19

Yes. Modern psychology completely agrees that a massive amount of what your brain does happens below the surface, entirely without you knowing it. Your brain is doing complex math, recognizing faces, and processing emotions in the dark.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

Wow. So he might have been wrong about some of the details, but he completely changed how we see ourselves forever.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

So, what does this actually mean for you today, right now?

SPEAKER_01 7:47

Yeah, how does knowing about the brain iceberg actually help me in real life?

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Well, think about the last time you got really, really upset over something tiny. Like maybe your sibling looked at you funny, or you dropped a pencil, and you just totally exploded with anger.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Or when my shoelace broke last week, and I acted like the entire world was ending and threw my shoe across the room.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Exactly. In that moment, it feels like all your anger is just about the shoelace. But if you remember Freud's iceberg, you might stop, take a breath, and wonder, wait, is there something else going on underwater?

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Oh, like maybe I'm actually just really stressed about a huge math test. Or I didn't sleep well, and the shoelace was just the tiny tip of the iceberg.

SPEAKER_00 8:38

Exactly. Knowing that we don't always understand our own feelings right away gives us permission to be a little more patient with ourselves. And it helps us be patient with other people when they are grumpy too.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

That's actually really helpful. It makes me want to be curious about myself, instead of just getting mad that I'm mad.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Speaking of being curious, it's time for a fun fact. Did you know Freud had a very specific, weird way of getting his patients to talk about their iceberg? Did he make them wear funny hats or sit in a dark closet? Uh no, but he did have them lie down on a super comfortable couch, facing completely away from him. He wanted them to stare at the ceiling and say absolutely anything that popped into their heads, no matter how silly.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Wait, he sat behind them, so they couldn't see his face at all.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Yes. He thought looking at a doctor would make people too nervous to share their secret thoughts. Plus, he sometimes had his pet chow chow dog sit in the room to help people relax.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

I would definitely tell a fluffy dog all my deep, dark secrets.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Alright, Finn, it is quiz time. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_01 9:50

Okay, I've got my conscious mind totally focused. Let's do this.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

First question. In what beautiful European city did Sigmund Freud live and work around the year 1900? Next one. What giant floating object do people use as a picture to explain Freud's ideas about the human mind? Question 3. In that famous picture, which part of the mind is the visible tip that sticks out of the water? Here's number four. What is it called when you accidentally say the wrong word, like calling your teacher mum? Last question. What piece of furniture did Freud's patients lie on to help them relax and talk freely? Great job! Let's see how you did with those. The first answer is Freud lived and worked in the city of Vienna. For question two, people famously compare his idea of the human mind to an iceberg. three, the answer is the tip of the iceberg is your conscious mind. Question four. Accidentally saying a hidden thought out loud is called a Freudian slip. And the final answer is his patients laid on a very comfortable couch. You know, Finn, it's pretty amazing to think we have a whole secret world constantly working inside our own heads.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

It really is. I'm definitely going to think about the iceberg next time I blurt something weird out or get mad over a broken shoelace.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Exactly. It's perfectly okay not to know absolutely everything about yourself right away. Wondering about it and figuring it out is the fun part.

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Hey, if you love wondering about big, brain-bending things with us, could you leave us a five-star review?

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Yes, please. Just scroll down on your podcast app and tap the stars. It really helps other kids find the show so we can all explore our minds together.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Oh, and don't forget to check out our site kidopoly.com. We've got tons of fun learning games and cool activities there to keep your brain busy.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

And if you want a shout out on the show, or just want to tell us about a completely weird dream your unconscious mind sent you, email us at hello at kidopoly.com.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

See you next time on Philosophy is not boring.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Bye everyone.