The unconscious: what is worth knowing about the most mysterious part of the mind

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The unconscious plays a much more important role in our life than it might seem.

What is the unconscious

The unconscious is the Unconscious. Psychology Today is a huge part of the human mind that is beyond comprehension and includes hidden thoughts, memories, interests and motives.

In everyday life, the word "unconscious" is often understood as mental illness and disorders, inability to control oneself in stressful situations, being in a coma, fainting, and so on. However, unconsciousness is not the same as the unconscious part of the mind. In reality, the unconscious includes a wide range of functions: from actions, practiced to automatism, to preferences in a situation of choice.

The unconscious is often attributed to a mystical status, since for most people its mechanisms are vague and incomprehensible. The Cherry K comparison is usually used to describe it. What Is the Unconscious? verywellmind of mind with an iceberg. Its visible part (consciousness) is a relatively small top, while the bulk of the ice (unconscious) is hidden under the water column.

A clear list of criteria for the unconscious has not yet been formed. However, there are such criteria for its opposite - consciousness: intentionality, controllability, consistency and availability of actions for awareness (that is, they can be described in words). It turns out that the unconscious does not meet some or all of these criteria.

It is generally accepted that it is the unconscious that largely determines the behavior and actions of a person.

Freud's views

The unconscious is the cornerstone in the concept of psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud. However, it should be said that the Austrian psychoanalyst was far from the first to investigate it.

The idea of the existence of an unconscious part of the mind exists in Cherry K. What Is the Unconscious? verywellmind has been around for thousands of years. The term "unconscious" itself was invented by the German philosopher Friedrich Schelling about a century earlier than Freud - at the end of the 18th century.

However, it was thanks to Freud that the study of the unconscious gained such wide popularity and has not subsided to this day.

The founder of psychoanalysis put forward the idea of opposing the unconscious and consciousness. At the same time, he considered the unconscious as one of the most important components of the human personality.

It, as Freud believed, contains Cherry K. What Is the Unconscious? very wellmind feelings, thoughts, motives, desires and memories, which are hidden from consciousness, are forced out of it. Therefore, the unconscious, in his opinion, mainly consists of negative, unpleasant and unacceptable components. It could be heartache, anxiety, or internal conflict. Protective mental mechanisms do not allow such experiences to reach consciousness, because they are too dangerous - unacceptable, irrational - for him.

Freud believed that the unconscious defines Cherry K. What Is the Unconscious? very wellmind the behavior of a person, even if he himself does not understand it, and you can "catch" his impulses by analyzing dreams, slips of the tongue and jokes. Understanding the unconscious foundations of his behavior Freud considered the key to overcoming stress and mental problems.

The Freudian model of the unconscious is one of the most detailed and elaborated. But it is not without its drawbacks, as it is based on working with mentally unhealthy people and subjective perception, and not scientific experiments.

In the works of Freud's students

If Freud investigated the phenomenon of the personal unconscious, then his student Carl Gustav Jung turned Collective unconscious. Britannica to its collective component. Jung believed that the personal and the collective were the two main layers of the unconscious. He also assumed that the collective unconscious is formless, devoid of content, and the individual contains personal experiences that are not perceived by consciousness.

An important element of Jung's concept is archetypes: cultural symbols that were thought to contain Collective unconscious. Britannica including hereditary memories common to all mankind. As an example, we can cite the archetype of the mother as the beginning of all principles and the archetype of the self - personal identity.

Another famous follower of Freud, Jacques Lacan, assigned a special role in psychoanalysis to Ackerman C. E. Psychoanalysis: A Brief History of Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory. PositivePsychology language. He believed that, having mastered the language - an artificial symbolic system, a person loses the ability to objectively assess the surrounding reality. This discrepancy between perception and the real world, according to Lacan, is the root of human stress. He believed that the unconscious in its structure resembles speech, and that is why psychoanalysts try to heal their patients through conversation.

In modern psychology and psychiatry

A number of researchers doubt Cherry K. What Is the Unconscious? verywellmind in the existence of the unconscious. They believe that a large number of cognitive functions are performed outside the conscious understanding of a person, and at the same time no additional "unconscious" is needed for this.

For example, Jean-Paul Sartre in the book of J. P. Sartre. Being and nothing. M. 2000 "Being and nothing" called the concept of Freud erroneous and disputed the existence of the unconscious. Erich Fromm called Fromm E. Beyond the illusions that enslave us. M. 2010 the unconscious as a hoax, arguing that if it can be detected, then it is not so latent. Here one cannot fail to mention the controversial Ackerman C. E. Psychoanalysis: A Brief History of Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory. PositivePsychology is the status of Freud's theories in modern psychology, which is where the concept of the unconscious comes from.

However, today this position is not so strong.

Modern research in the field of cognitive psychology comes to the conclusion that the unconscious means critically a lot in our perception of the world around us.

So, in 2014, an international group of researchers found that even the images that we see, but do not consciously capture, influence our behavior and choices.

Research shows that the same areas of the brain are activated in both conscious and unconscious states. That is, both consciousness and the unconscious can be responsible for the same functions.

According to John Barg, professor of psychology at Yale University, the basic mechanisms of the unconscious come from the past, present and future. From the past, we have inherited evolutionary motives for survival, safety, consumption, reproduction, and social connections. Do not forget about personal experience - experiences from childhood. In the present, our unconscious is influenced by the behavior and emotions of the people around us, including those we do not even know: for example, the smile of a bystander can cheer up. And our plans for the future are capable of influencing the present, and, accordingly, the unconscious.

Another point of view says that in the nature of the unconscious lies perceptual (associated with sensations and senses), evaluative and motivational behavior. According to this theory, our views, aspirations and tactile-sensory experience - this is the unconscious.

As you can see, the modern view of the unconscious has become more complex than in the days of Freud. Science supports the Austrian psychoanalyst's assertion about the importance of the unconscious in our life, but it no longer only perceives it as Unconscious. Psychology Today as a reservoir for repressed memories and unacceptable desires.

How the unconscious manifests itself in our lives

Cherry K is often associated with the unconscious. What Is the Unconscious? verywellmind negative aspects of human behavior: incorrect or out of place words, sudden outbursts of unmotivated aggression, difficulties in communication. You can also include stress, relationship problems, self-destructive tendencies, and judgmental bias on this list.

But this does not mean at all that the unconscious is only a prison for primitive reflexes and perverted human fantasies. It actually does a lot of useful work. Representatives of social psychology believe that the unconscious has a great influence on higher mental processes, such as judgments and decisions.

So, with the help of unconscious imitation of peers and adults, children learn to live in the world around them. Much of the learning and socialization of people happens unconscious. Psychology Today is just that way.

The unconscious plays a significant role in intuition, motivation, and attraction. It is also a repository of automatic skills, accumulated memories and fantasies. A typical example of an unconscious action is driving a car by an experienced driver.

Modern scientists come to the conclusion that the unconscious performs the Unconscious. Psychology Today most of the work of the brain, including the formation of emotions and feelings. Its main strength lies not in the fact that it suppresses unwanted and unacceptable memories, as Freud believed, but in the speed and efficiency of reactions, actions and decision-making by McLeod S. Freud and the Unconscious Mind. SimplyPsychology. This is an evolutionary mechanism, and at the same time it is quite intelligent and adaptive. It is needed for that Unconscious. Psychology Today, so that the brain can process information in the least amount of time, without being distracted by unimportant things.

For example, sometimes a spontaneous “unconscious” decision is better than one made after careful consideration. Psychology professor Ap Diixterius from the Netherlands, based on experimental data, came to the conclusion that an unconscious important choice (car or housing, for example) brings more satisfaction than a conscious one. However, he clarifies that the unconscious only helps to determine how a particular option corresponds to a person's preferences, and for more complex problems (say, mathematical calculations) it is not suitable.

Therefore, most people's behavior is a complex mixture of Unconscious. Psychology Today of conscious and unconscious mental processes. Knowing this, the unconscious must be perceived as an equivalent part of the mind, which is not "stupider" and not "smarter" than consciousness.

How knowledge about the unconscious can help in life

According to Bargh J. A. How to Use Your Unconscious Mind to Achieve Your Goals. Greater Good Magazine Professor John Barg, the unconscious can lead us to disaster without our knowledge, but it can also be used for good. He believes that by working with your unconscious, you can change your life for the better, give up bad habits and have good ones. The advice that Barg offers can be found in many books on self-development or heard in training - and as it turns out, they make sense from the point of view of the unconscious.

First of all, Barg recommends thinking about what you really want. If your desire to go in for sports exists only in words, then the brain will find many excuses and reasons not to go to exercise or workout, the professor said.

In addition, he suggests taking a closer look at your surroundings. The fact is that we tend to unconsciously copy the behavior of others, even people we don't know. Therefore, if, for example, you think that you do not know how to behave in conflict situations, it makes sense to get to know and communicate with those who have the necessary qualities and abilities.

Barg also recommends making detailed plans for the future. The professor believes that if they are "imprinted" in your head, then you will follow them, even if you forget about it.