Follow
morning metaphors.
the ego as a strange attractor.
The ego is not fundamentally constituted and defined by the acquired contents of consciousness.
It is like a mirror or magnet that holds contents in a focal point of awareness.
"in the field of dynamical systems, an attractor is a set of states toward which a system tends to evolve, for a wide variety of starting conditions of the system.
System values that get close enough to the attractor values remain close even if slightly disturbed."
"The ego contains our capacity to master large amounts of material
It is a powerful associative magnet and an organizational agent.
A strong ego is one that can obtain and move around in a deliberate way large amounts of conscious content.
A weak ego cannot do very much of this kind of work and more easily succumbs to impulses and emotional reactions.
A weak ego is easily distracted, and as a result consciousness lacks focus and consistent motivation."