The Oedipus Complex and the Street

I have this bad tendency to sit around and think about what I believe and what I don’t. Over the past month or so one of those things is the Oedipus complex. If I don’t believe in the Oedipus complex, then what does that entail?

Do I believe in any claims that psychoanalysis might put forward? What is the status of philosophy that is partially based on the claims of psychoanalysis?

It is sort of like not being convinced about the soundness of the five proofs of god at the beginning of the Summa Theologica. How much of the rest of the Summa is worth reading and thinking about?

I think of all the people, really bright and successful people, who have a lot invested in the truth of psychoanalysis, god, or whatever. It must be very difficult for them to think about giving up those beliefs because of the sunk cost investment. Finance tells us to not consider the sunk cost, but to consider the future cash flow. Is it possible for people to do that with their belief systems though?

Elaborate belief systems are stable, but they are held together by a few beliefs that cannot be disturbed unless the whole metaphorical structure of the system shreds and falls apart. When one’s belief system falls apart, it is gut wrenching.

I think about these things in the study and not on the street. The street has its own rules and requires of any person holding a belief system that they survive crossing a busy city intersection without being hit by a taxicab. Otherwise, there is no belief system.