I believe the most important answer to this question is the element of lack, or what is not there, that Lacan emphasized in his work. The Imaginary register contributes to comparing ourselves with others, to envy and jealousy, and to paranoia. The Symbolic register is the world of language primarily but also culture, laws, religion, and rituals into which we are all born. The Real register is based on lack that was left over from the first 2 registers. Paradoxically, the Real register is all that is “not real” in common parlance.

Source: Washington Post February 16, 2024 14:04 UTC