Mysterious Layers of the Mind: Consciousness, Subconscious, and Unconscious
Like an iceberg, part of which always remains above the sea whereas its larger part remains submerged, the human mind is an amazing organ of invisible hidden and visible parts. Although during our everyday lifestyles, all of us do not comprehend how bulky our minds are, there is indeed a multi-layer mechanism that leads to our behaviors. Conscious, subconscious, and unconscious are three layers of the mind. They have different functions and influence our lives in different ways. In this article, we will investigate these three basic layers of our minds, how they differ from each other, and what impact they have on our lives. Understanding their function for us and learning what separates the subconscious from the unconscious could be one crucial step toward understanding our inner world.
Consciousness: Everything We Are Aware of Right Now
Consciousness is that part of our mind where everything which we are thinking, feeling, and doing at this instant takes place. Everything you are aware of while reading this article is going on on the conscious level. The conscious mind plays a major role in controlling our daytime decisions, our emotional reactions, and our perceptions. Briefly, we could call it the most visible and familiar face of the mind.
For instance, if one drinks a cup of coffee, consciously he would perceive the taste, temperature, and smell of the coffee. Alternatively, if one makes a decision, it would be managed through the entire process until this decision is reached with the use of one's conscious mind.
"Until you turn your subconscious into consciousness, it will direct your life and you will call it destiny." Carl G. Jung
The Subconscious: The Power That Silently Guides Us
The subconscious is the other dimension of the mind and is arguably the most inquisitive part. In fact, herein lie hidden experiences we have already had, habits we have acquired, and beliefs internalized that guide us without our realizing it. Sometimes in daily life, behavior you automatically do or a decision you have made without thinking at all may have been dictated from your subconscious.
Maybe a childhood habit, an experience in the past. they keep on influencing you unconsciously as memories deeply buried in your subconscious, waiting to see the light. In this respect, our subconscious influences our decisions and behaviors in our daily lives unconsciously.
Unconscious: The World Hidden in the Depths of the Mind
The unconscious is the deepest layer in our mind. According to proof from Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, the unconscious is assumed to be the repository of our repressed desires, traumas, and unacceptable thoughts. The contents in the unconscious cannot be consciously noticed since our minds have usually pushed them to the deepest depth of our minds and suppressed them.
It is, in fact, a hidden world that manifests itself in our dreams, slips of the tongue, or perhaps as a strange feeling that suddenly appears. Sometimes, without awareness, these contents in the unconscious can influence our behaviors and feelings.
Metaphorically, Freud describes consciousness as an iceberg floating in the ocean. Although its boundaries are not sharply separated, the part of it which stays above the water is consciousness. The parts under the water represent the subconscious and the unconscious. Unconscious is situated in the deepest part of our mind and has a feature of not being easily accessed.
What is the Difference Between the Subconscious and the Unconscious?
The terms subconscious and unconscious are hugely confused with each other, even though there are huge differences between the two. The subconscious is filled with habits learned and knowledge that we are unaware of but can easily access. The unconscious contains repressed thoughts that are deeper and very difficult to reach. While the contents of the subconscious can be remembered with little care, the contents of the unconscious can only be disclosed through special therapeutic processes.
A Journey into the Depths of Our Mind
Our mind is much deeper and complex than we think. There is some multi-layered structure, which does not just limit itself to conscious thoughts. While the conscious mind manages the world we are aware of, our subconscious and unconscious are powerful factors that guide our lives without us even realizing it. While the subconscious will process everything we have learnt and experienced in the past in the background, the unconscious hides deeper and contains our repressed thoughts.
Only when we understand the functioning of these layers, then only can we perceive-not only our minds-but how complex and deep human behaviors are. We will thus have a better understanding of ourselves and other people.
Subliminal Motivational Suggestions
