Cavil

–verb (used without object)
1. to raise irritating and trivial objections; find fault with unnecessarily (usually fol. by at or about): He finds something to cavil at in everything I say.
–verb (used with object)
2. to oppose by inconsequential, frivolous, or sham objections: to cavil each item of a proposed agenda.
–noun
3. a trivial and annoying objection.
4. the raising of such objections.

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2.

Procreation propels a species, not an individual (as a necessity—though plenty can be said about the benefits of having children). Our conscious definition of sex is muddled, though, very quickly bleeding into erstwhile seas: emotional security, affection, attrition, lust and, of course, childbearing itself.

While the first two (hunger, safety) are tended to with deliberation—satiated quickly, and only occasionally crossing into other experience—the third, for a sapient individual, is a mountain of implication.

In the above paragraphs I have noted, but left, one of what I believe to be Freud’s mistakes, and I’ll elaborate on it later.

I think Freud, having found this nucleus of human experience, sought to discover how prolific the sexual branch was in behavior. It took brilliance to hash out things that are now common sense—defining emotions differently from how their bearers understand them, finding root causes hidden even from the self—he discovered a place derived from our animalistic selves, a place not only in limited communication with the conscious mind, but further still serving as its Atlas. His ideas were occasionally fantastical (the stages of sexual development, the distinct trinity of the mind), but his discovery of the subconscious, and the lightning rod of sexual inclination (a rod which later psychologists replaced with other natural inclinations) were vital discoveries.