![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by mist on June 10, 2002, at 12:13:39
I recently heard someone say that they didn't believe the subconscious mind existed. I had never questioned that it did–among other reasons, because we dream. But then I thought, maybe I'm really out of it and don't know the latest thinking on this.
Do you believe the subconcious mind exists?
Posted by Phil on June 10, 2002, at 12:18:16
In reply to Do you believe the subconscious mind exists?, posted by mist on June 10, 2002, at 12:13:39
Posted by beardedlady on June 10, 2002, at 13:08:08
In reply to Do you believe the subconscious mind exists?, posted by mist on June 10, 2002, at 12:13:39
I was just basing that on something I'd learn years ago but must've blocked out!
Although I'm just kidding, the statement's sort of true. Although I am painfully self-aware, most of the choices I make come from experiences I've had. I don't have to consciously conjure them up each time I choose to do something, so those experiences have to be sitting in the subconscious, right? Maybe the subconscious needs a redefining here? For me, it's memories that we've stored and haven't recalled.
I may go near a ledge and feel a little queasy and uncomfortable, but I'm not thinking about the time when I was 12 and fell out of a tree. It's a memory that's not recalled. I respond to that ledge instantly from something in my subconscious--before I've had the desire or need to recall it.
And dreaming is an obvious example of why I couldn't think otherwise.
beardy : )>
Posted by IsoM on June 10, 2002, at 14:02:35
In reply to Do you believe the subconscious mind exists?, posted by mist on June 10, 2002, at 12:13:39
Like Beire-dei said, mostly memories (& I think) intuition. Some people are very unaware of their 'subconscious' side while others are quite tuned into it. A person can train themselves to be more aware of it by paying close attention to the little leanings that your mind takes & dig into it a bit more.
Posted by Rainbowlight on June 10, 2002, at 18:16:30
In reply to Do you believe the subconscious mind exists?, posted by mist on June 10, 2002, at 12:13:39
Very strongly actually. Our subconscious is like a record, with our thoughts being imprinted on it (for instance, if you continually tell yourself you are stupid, it will eventually get imprinted on the "record" in your brain, and subconsiously your brain will begin to believe that you ARE stupid and it will effect your self esteeem, etc. Cognitive therapy includes alot of repeating over and over in your head "better" ideas, such as "I am smart, I am attractive" and the like. Over time your brain will believe it as true. It really does work.
Posted by wendy b. on June 10, 2002, at 18:47:25
In reply to Do you believe the subconscious mind exists?, posted by mist on June 10, 2002, at 12:13:39
... and Freud (I know everyone here hates him, I don't) coined it for modern psychoanalysis. Other schools of thought have altered it to subconscious, and a lot of modern therapies refer to it as that.
For example, if you want to know more about Freud's take on the concept:"Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious" - self-explanatory. A must-read...
"The Psychopathology of Everyday Life" - subtitle "Forgetting, Slips of the Tongue, Bungled Actions, Superstitions and Errors," wherein he explains the idea of 'parapraxis' (pl. parapraxes), i.e. the famous 'slips' of the tongue, but others as well, such as slips of the pen and misreadings, chance occurrences, etc. He explains in his cute little 19th-century way how all of these reveal the presence and the nature of the unconscious.
In "The Interpretation of Dreams" he explains repression and internal (unconscious) censorship of wishes, and their fulfillment in dream-life; the kinds of dreams we all have, but wish we hadn't (death of a loved one, embarassment at being naked, dreams of flying, dreams of failing exams, etc.). Again, the scholarly, 19th-century delivery (but also the laconic sense of humor) make for very interesting reading, and a lot of the dreams he interprets are his own.
So I do certainly believe the unconscious exists, and just suggest to anyone so inclined to have a look at the guy who started the discussion...
Thoughtfully yours,
Wendy
Posted by mist on June 11, 2002, at 21:42:08
In reply to Do you believe the subconscious mind exists?, posted by mist on June 10, 2002, at 12:13:39
Interesting answers, all. I also believe that the subconscious/unconscious exists, and influences greatly what we do, think, and feel. I'm glad my thinking on this isn't as behind the times as I feared!
Posted by paxvox on June 12, 2002, at 20:41:10
In reply to Re: Do you believe the subconscious mind exists?, posted by mist on June 11, 2002, at 21:42:08
Fiddle sticks! Poe had it right 150 years ago.
"All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream." Of course, a little opium will do that to a fella.PAX
Posted by omega man on June 16, 2002, at 0:53:16
In reply to Do you believe the subconscious mind exists?, posted by mist on June 10, 2002, at 12:13:39
more psychotwaddle from the past..
Its time for Neurobabble...have'nt we all figured out that layers of consciousnous go from rear to front being subdivived by three brain sections (plus the middle split )with eeg ampiltude increasing in comlexity and frequency the more up front we get..
meaning that time (as a split brain experiences it) creates the folds in the cortex as subsets of usefully selected realities compressed as (genetic memory ?) ...the subconcscious being the subset written and accessed by dreams, smells etc ...but you get the idea ..its not actually there if without the expansion/compression of the senses and body experience in the two opposing frontal lobes...
Posted by omega man on June 16, 2002, at 20:49:30
In reply to Re: subconsciously folded experience ?, posted by omega man on June 16, 2002, at 0:53:16
I suppose what I was trying to say is that without the oscillation between mid and front region the experience of a "difference" in perceptions would not exist..
Also laterally its not just a geometric principle i'm proposing...the degree to which you experience ...experience ?? as a distributed state which nags under the surface is also a whole volume process written through a simplified term I called neurotransamics..but which experts currently refer to as "genetic memory"
..this is just a present conveniance which accords to contemporary references..but does nothing to help describe the process of conscious subsets as a spatial concept to the non scientific brain who proposed this question in the first place.
I'm having an absolutely great time writing all this stuff..any chance of a seperate spot DR Bob ?
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Social | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.