What Are Our Conscious And Unconscious Minds?

There are many theories as to what the conscious and unconscious minds are. The truth is that you cannot prove the existence of the unconscious mind, and philosophers have been debating what it is to be conscious for hundreds of years! However, the evidence for the conscious and unconscious partnership is extremely compelling and answers many questions as to why we are the way we are.

Here are my thoughts on what we are really talking about when we say conscious or unconscious minds...

I will start with a commonly used example.

When you start to learn to drive a car it is difficult to remember everything you need to do. You have to consciously think about what to do next, whether it's changing gear or signaling. After a while these actions become automatic. You no longer have to think about how to do it - you seem to know instinctively when to change gear. So much so that you can carry on a conversation or think about something entirely different, safe in the knowledge that you will do what is required at the right time. It is this automation of our actions that we say come from the unconscious mind.

Another example of the unconscious at work is the bodily functions that happen without our conscious direction - digestion, breathing, heart pumping, blood filtering etc. Some form of intelligence within us knows exactly what to do and does not drop a beat.

Let's break it down a little further...

We receive information about the world through our senses - sight, smell, sound, taste, feel. We consciously use this information to decide on the 'truth'. That is our own, subjective truth, which is our perception of the situation.

For example, if you see a dog you might see the brown floppy ears, wagging tail and sloppy dog-grin, remember your Uncle's friendly terrier and think 'what a lovely, friendly dog'. However someone else might see the drool, the dirty paws, smell the dog breath and remember the horrible dog that used to live next door and think, 'urgh, get that dog away from me'. Two people can have two completely different perceptions of exactly the same situation (or dog in this case).

In this way we all build up our own picture or map of the world that is completely unique, and also completely true in a subjective sense.

That makes 6-7 billion unique maps of the world going on at any one time....wow!

Everyone's own map of the world is stored unconsciously, and used as a reference guide. Our conscious actions in the world are based upon this unique map.

So where are the conscious and unconscious minds in us physically?

Again, we cannot say with any definitive certainty. However one theory that I like is that the organ of our conscious mind is the brain and central nervous system and the organ of our unconscious mind is the solar plexus.

When we have decided on the 'truth' consciously, this message is then conveyed to our unconscious mind to become a memory and either a new belief or a reinforcer of a current belief. Our beliefs and memories dictate our motivations and moral/ethical codes.

The solar plexus is the largest area of the autonomic nerve system in the abdominal cavity. Information travels from the brain and central nervous system, down the vagus nerve to the solar plexus. Then via the autonomic nervous system, the message is conveyed to the rest of the body.

It is in this way that we can see how we really are products of what we think...

So, using this perspective, the conscious mind is like the gatekeeper. The conscious mind makes decisions. It is the conscious mind that decides what it is we are experiencing. It is the conscious mind that gives the yay or nay to information, filters it, adapts it and then sends it on down to be stored. The conscious mind makes subjective judgements on its reality.

When this information is passed down to the unconscious mind, it is no longer open to discussion. The unconscious mind does not question, it accepts. When information enters the unconscious mind, it becomes who we are. Or we become it, which ever way you want to look at it. It becomes embedded deep within or through out us, and is true without us having to think about it.

Now, just to bring things full circle...

Although the conscious mind is the gatekeeper, and functions effectively in that way. Every decision made by the conscious mind will be based on the beliefs, memories, motivations and moral codes that are stored in the unconscious mind.

So here we can see how both minds thus make a circuit, as opposed to a one way street. A circuit of energetic knowledge that governs who we are and how we react to situations. It is a circuit that is specifically designed for our well-being, protection and growth. We are all a benevolent circuit of thought energy.

Wow again!

So what can go wrong with this system?

Well, to put it simply this circuit of energy is just as effective at pumping round negative information as it is at pumping round positive information.

That piece of information is so important I'm going to repeat it...

this circuit of energy is just as effective at pumping round negative information as it is at pumping round positive information.

This means that if you tell yourself everyday you are useless, or not worth anything this will continuously be fed down to your unconscious mind. In any given situation, your unconscious mind will feed this back up because it is the blueprint you have provided it with, it is your map, your reference guide. If you tell yourself you are useless enough times, it will be stored unconsciously and this piece of information will feed right back up to you when you come to make a conscious decision.

'Should I ask out that beautiful girl?'....Hmmm, well, I wouldn't, don't you know you are useless and not worth anything...?

Erg.

Ok, so what about when the system is working? If you tell yourself you are a whole, strong, harmonious, loving, happy, confident, kind, friendly, courageous, intelligent, successful individual....this will be your unconscious blueprint, and will be fed back up to your conscious mind to make decisions based on the fact that you are this brilliant individual, leading you to act like a brilliant individual....and lo and behold....then that is what you will become.

What an encouraging thought!

'Should I ask out that beautiful girl?'....Oh yes, most definitely, how exciting - where will this lead....!!

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