If you had only an ego and the id, then the id's impulses would always be satisfied. If you had only an ego and superego, then the superego's urgings would always be met. But in fact, most of us have all three. Thus, the ego serves to balance the demands of the id against those of the superego by realistically assessing the limits imposed by the real world. The ego serves an executive function to maximize the benefits to the whole person.

If you had only an ego and the id, then the id's impulses would always be satisfied. If you had only an ego and superego, then the superego's urgings would always be met. But in fact, most of us have all three. Thus, the ego serves to balance the demands of the id against those of the superego by realistically assessing the limits imposed by the real world. The ego serves an executive function to maximize the benefits to the whole person.