I’m not sure where I stand on the subconcious. I had a conversation this morning in which I stated a belief I’ve held for a while now and then couldn’t explain why I’ve held onto this belief except for the feelings I had, which presumably came from my subconcious. Having said that I don’t really knpow much about the subconcious, it’s one of those useful little concepts which have seeped into public usage without anyone really paying attention to what the concept actually is.
Subconcious seems to be used to eaplain all the inexplicable urges that you feel throughout the day…ie. my cruel desire to taunt my sister with vampires…which seems to have transmuted into the desire to pretend to be a zombie in front of Giggles. I am a cruel and hurtful woman at times. But these wierd urges of mine I can say oh its something in my subconcious without actually thinking too much about it. Yet I still don’t really understand what the subconcious is or how it works. Yet as soon as I state something that just has feelings to back it up it becomes the subconcious, some sort of urge, some sort of secret and archane knowledge…how I misuse useful psychological knowledge that millions of theses and dissertations and all sorts have been written on and gods know how many people have researched.
My abuse of thoughts, other peoples thoughts is probably fairly horrible with all sorts of other things that I haven’t actually noticed. Do other people do this too I wonder, I assume they do, not everybody out there except for me can really know exactly what they’re talking about can they?
One way of looking at the subconscious is that it’s all the thoughts and feelings that you can’t bring yourself to actively think, either because it’d hurt you, or it’d damage your impressions of someone else, or you simply don’t want to believe it’s true.
The whole-mind splits itself into two bits, one which sits on the surface and has all the bits that you want to think (even if these are negative thoughts – e.g. a person with low self esteem). This is the conscious mind, which forms a crust over the subconscious.
This is where Freudian slips and so on come from – you’re walking on the conscious mind, stop paying attention for a moment and your foot goes straight through the crust and into your mouth.
I suppose those little things people do that they really wish they wouldn’t are invasions from the subconscious. The subconscious is what you’d be without all that irritating conscience and social programming.