Sigmund Freud was sitting in his study in Vienna around 1912, probably surrounded by a haze of cigar smoke, trying to figure out why humans act so weird. He wasn’t just looking at his patients on the couch anymore. He was looking at history. He was looking at "primitive" societies. He was looking at us. The result was the totem and taboo book, formally titled Totem and Taboo: Resemblances Between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics. It’s a mouthful. It’s also one of the most controversial, bizarre, and strangely persistent pieces of psychological literature ever written.
People hate it. Anthropologists spent most of the 20th century trying to debunk it. Yet, we can't stop talking about it.
The book is basically Freud’s attempt to use psychoanalysis to explain the origins of religion, morality, and social hierarchy. He wasn't satisfied with just explaining why you're mad at your dad; he wanted to explain why the entire human race is collective-guilt-ridden. It’s a wild ride. If you’ve ever wondered why certain things feel "off" or why every culture seems to have things they just don't do, Freud thinks he has the answer.
The Weird Connection Between "Savages" and Neurotics
Freud starts with a premise that would get him canceled in about five seconds today. He compared the belief systems of indigenous cultures—specifically those in Australia—to the thought patterns of "neurotic" Westerners, particularly those with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
He noticed a pattern.
In many societies, there’s a totem. This is usually an animal or a plant that serves as the emblem of a clan. You don't kill the totem. You don't eat it. It’s sacred. Then, there are taboos. These are the "don'ts." The two biggest taboos Freud focused on were killing the totem animal and having sex with members of your own totem clan (incest).
Here’s where it gets Freud-ian.
He argued that these taboos weren't just random social rules. They were externalized versions of the internal conflicts he saw in his patients. A person with a hand-washing compulsion isn't just worried about germs; they are reacting to an internal "taboo" or a repressed wish. Freud looked at ancient societies and said, "Hey, this is just OCD on a cultural scale."
It sounds reductive because it is. But Freud's point was that the "primitive" mind and the "modern" mind aren't as different as we like to think. We both operate on a system of repressed desires and the guilt that follows them.
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The Primal Horde: The Story That Broke Anthropology
If you want to know why the totem and taboo book is so famous, you have to look at the "Primal Horde" theory. This is Freud’s "origin story" for humanity. It reads more like a dark fantasy novel than a scientific paper.
Freud took an idea from Charles Darwin—the "primitive horde" led by a single, dominant male—and added a psychological twist.
The Father, The Sons, and The Feast
In this hypothetical pre-history, a "violent, jealous father" keeps all the women for himself and drives away his sons as they grow up. One day, the brothers get fed up. They team up, kill the father, and—this is the peak Freud part—they eat him.
Why eat him? To acquire his strength. To literally incorporate him.
But then, the "after-party" hits. They loved their father as much as they hated him. Once he's gone, the guilt sets in. To deal with this massive collective trauma, they do two things:
- They create a totem to represent the father (the animal they can't kill).
- They forbid themselves from the women they originally killed him for (the incest taboo).
Basically, Freud argues that all of human civilization, religion, and law is just a giant "I’m sorry" to the father we murdered at the dawn of time.
Is there any archaeological evidence for this? None. Zero. Anthropologists like Franz Boas and Margaret Mead ripped this to shreds. They pointed out that there’s no such thing as a "universal" totemism and that Freud was cherry-picking his data from a very limited pool of ethnographic research. He was building a massive skyscraper of a theory on a foundation of sand.
Why Taboos Still Control Your Life
Even if the "Primal Horde" story is a total myth, the totem and taboo book gets something right about the human psyche: the nature of ambivalence.
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Taboos are weird because they aren't just things we don't do. They are things we are tempted to do but are terrified of. Think about it. You don't need a law against sticking your hand in a blender because nobody wants to do that. You need laws and taboos for things that people actually feel a pull toward.
Freud suggests that a taboo is a "sacred prohibition." It’s a mix of "don’t touch that" and "that thing is holy."
- The Power of Touch: Freud talks a lot about "contagion." If you touch something taboo, you become taboo. You have to be purified.
- Modern Taboos: We see this today in "cancel culture" or how we treat certain social boundaries. When someone breaks a major social rule, we treat them as "toxic." That’s a literal translation of the old taboo concept. We fear the "infection" of their wrongdoing.
It's about the dual nature of our feelings. We love what we hate. We want what we shouldn't have. This tension is what creates the "neurotic" behavior Freud was so obsessed with.
The Legacy of Totem and Taboo
It’s easy to dismiss Freud. He was wrong about a lot. His views on women were... let's say "of their time" (and even then, they were pretty bad). His historical accuracy was non-existent.
But the totem and taboo book changed how we think about the "collective mind." It paved the way for thinkers like Carl Jung and his "collective unconscious," and later, for Claude Lévi-Strauss and structuralism. It forced us to ask: Is religion just a psychological coping mechanism? Is society just a way to manage our darkest impulses?
What Critics Actually Say
Most modern scholars view the book as a work of "psychological fiction." It’s a myth. But myths have power.
Thomas Mann, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist, called it an "epoch-making" work because it tried to bridge the gap between biology and culture. Even if the bridge was shaky, someone had to try to build it.
The biggest limitation of the book is Freud’s "Eurocentric" lens. He saw "primitive" people as "children" in the developmental stage of humanity. This is a patronizing, colonialist view that modern anthropology has thankfully moved past. We now know that indigenous cultures are just as complex and "evolved" as Western ones, just in different ways.
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How to Read Totem and Taboo Without Getting Mad
If you're going to pick up a copy of the totem and taboo book, don't read it as a history book. Read it as a map of the internal world.
Look for the themes of ambivalence. Notice how Freud describes the way we project our feelings onto objects. When you see a person who is obsessively following a set of "rules" (maybe they’re a hardcore minimalist, or they have a very specific diet, or they’re hyper-focused on productivity), ask yourself: Is this a modern-day taboo? Are they trying to ward off some internal guilt by following these external rules?
That’s where the value is. It’s not in the story of the brothers eating the father. It’s in the realization that we are all governed by invisible rules we didn't consciously choose.
Actionable Insights: Decoding Your Own Taboos
You don't have to be a psychoanalyst to use these ideas. We all have "totems" and "taboos" in our personal and professional lives. Recognizing them can actually make you more productive and less stressed.
Identify your "Sacred Cows" (Totems)
What are the things in your life you refuse to criticize? Maybe it’s a specific mentor, a way of working, or a brand you’re loyal to. Freud would say these are your totems. Ask yourself if your loyalty is based on actual value or if you’re just afraid of the "guilt" of letting them go.
Spot the "Prohibitions" (Taboos)
What are the things you "just can't" do? Not because they're illegal, but because they feel "wrong" or "uncomfortable."
- Are you afraid to ask for a raise?
- Are you afraid to speak up in a meeting?
- Are you avoiding a specific type of creative work?
Often, these aren't logic-based fears. They are personal taboos. Writing them down helps strip away their "sacred" power.
Audit Your Guilt
Freud believed guilt was the engine of civilization. But "unearned" guilt—guilt for things you haven't actually done—is a major source of anxiety. If you feel guilty for taking a day off, recognize that this is a "neurotic" taboo. You haven't killed the primal father; you’re just tired.
Look for the Ambivalence
Whenever you feel a strong "push-pull" dynamic with a person or a project, you're in Freud territory. You love the project, but you hate starting it. You admire your boss, but you also kind of want them to fail. Acknowledging that it’s okay to feel both things at once can stop the internal "totem" conflict from paralyzing you.
The totem and taboo book isn't a guide to history. It's a mirror. It shows us the messy, irrational, and deeply strange parts of being human. We aren't just logical machines; we are the descendants of a thousand generations of people trying to make sense of their own shadows. Whether or not you believe Freud's "Primal Horde" story, you can't deny that the shadows are still there.