The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense

by Gad Saad

In one of our assignments, we had to identify the scripts that defined our life trajectories (a framework originally developed by psychiatrist Eric Berne, who established the theory and practice of transactional analysis). Berne argued that parents give their children scripts for their lives somewhat in the way that actors receive scripts in order to play their roles. While I concede that parents do wield sizeable influence in shaping their offspring, psychoanalytic theories overestimate such forces while ignoring the unique combination of genes that defines an individual. Some people might indeed be commandeered by life scripts. (“Be a good boy and do us proud. Don’t dishonor the family.”) Others might be driven by a desire to meet certain guiding ideals and/or objectives. (“Make the world a better place.”) It requires deep (and difficult) self-reflection to consider whether and how one’s life has been governed by a recurring life script or by a recurrent assertion of certain ideals.