The Subconscious and Mind
There seems to be some confusion over my teachings on the subconscious mind. Do we have consciousness there or not? I previously stated this:
“There is no such thing as a subconscious mind. It’s an oxymoron. If you have a subconscious mind it means it’s below the threshold of your consciousness. If it’s below consciousness, then it’s not consciousness. Consciousness is only something that’s conscious. You don’t have a subconscious mind any more than your computer has a subconscious mind. You have computer programs that run various parts of yourself and this is what they call the subconscious. If you tell a psychologist that he’ll think you’re crazy but think about the oxymoron here. If something is below your consciousness how can it really be conscious?”
In making this statement I was clearing up the language by indicating that our subconscious mind deserves a more accurate name. If we have no conscious participation in what is going on within its sphere then it is not a part of our consciousness.
Here’s the dictionary definition of “consciousness.”
“An alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation.”
Since we as entities are not aware of what is happening in what is called the subconscious then it is not a part of our waking consciousness. Consciousness is aware of what is happening.
Does this mean there is no consciousness in our brain, our cells and the atoms of our body? No it doesn’t mean that but it does mean that the consciousness of the many tiny lives that live there are separate from your own waking consciousness. There is some type of consciousness everywhere, even in the computer you are using.
However, the programming that resides in a computer happens not because of the work of the tiny lives there, but because a human intelligence created it. The programming and response you get from your computer makes that aspect seem more conscious than the atoms and molecules that compose it, but it is not. A program is not consciousness, but consciousness uses programming.
There is a lot of programming in your brain and you as a conscious entity put it to use. In addition to this, other conscious lives within you also use the programming.
What is called the subconscious is basically programming that is used by consciousness in various degrees.
Reader comment: Actually a computer has an OS [Operating System] and a BIOS [Basic Input-Output System] that operates below the OS. It is a crude analogy to consciousness and sub-consciousness in humans.
If you compare a computer to a human mind then you have higher levels of programming analogous to the conscious part of the mind and lower level programs extending down to the BIOS. Where the human mind is different from a computer, and where the analogy fails, is that a computer has no free will, no power of decision.
I would say the mind is like a computer in many respects. It has higher level programming which we are sometimes conscious of and this is what we call “awareness.” However we have many programs that operate below that level which we are not directly aware of, but on which our awareness totally depends [just as higher levels of programming in a computer depend on lower levels the details of which the higher level is totally uninformed of].
JJ: The brain and the mind are two different things. The mind interacting with the brain creates conscious awareness as we know it. A computer has no mind or conscious awareness but is like a brain that can be used by one with consciousness.
He tells us that the computer is made of two basic ingredients. The first is BIOS [Basic Input-Output System] and the second the operating system. Perhaps a third with be the RAM memory which they both use.
All three of these are within the physical brain. One thing we can all agree upon is that the brain does indeed store memory which we use. They say that new memories are encoded in the hippocampus and then eventually transferred to the frontal lobes for long-term storage. Perhaps the hippocampus is like the RAM and the frontal lobes correspond to the hard drive storage.
The rest of the brain is comparable to the BIO and would include the processor and any other components. If we studied the makeup of the brain and how it works we could find correspondences to the various ingredients.
The interesting question is where is the operating system? One might think it corresponds to our consciousness, but it is not conscious, but created through a conscious being writing it and piecing it together into a functioning whole.
So where is our operating system that is created through a conscious endeavor?
The reader steered us on the right track with this statement:
“If you read Ayn Rand she talks of emotions largely being the result of conscious programming. In her model our values program our emotions. How we feel about something depends on what we think.”
And what determines the unfolding of the emotional and thinking self?
It is the unfolding of the seven centers, the chakras.
Primitive man, who accesses just a couple centers, operates on system 1. As the pedals begin to unfold he moves to system 1.1. As a new center or major energy opens he moves to system 2 and so on until he obtains an operating system that functions at relative perfection.
So where is the conscious decision maker in the analogy?
It is the end user. After all, the computers we use are merely extensions of the brain. In a way a computer is a second brain that assists the first with abilities the natural brain does not have – like a flawless memory that can be retrieved.
So where does the programmer fit in? This is comparable to the Higher Self, or the soul. This is conscious intelligence that guides us in moving toward a higher operating system that uses more advanced programming.
Analogies are rarely exact but are quite accurate in principle and contemplating them brings much light.
The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. – Eden Phillpotts
Sept 12, 2013
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