The Unconscious

Human beings believe that they live their life in a conscious manner; that they are aware of their surroundings and know what is going on around them at all times. Yet deeper analysis of the word conscious leads to a more confusing thought process than a human being may be able to grasp. The Personal and Collective Unconscious by Carl Jung believes that “the unconscious contains only those parts of the personality which could just as well be conscious and are in fact suppressed only through upbringing”(344). In a more simplistic form, he says that the human brain is actually a more unconscious thought process and that what the brain produces to be conscious can actually be described as unconscious. Francis Crick’s The General Nature of Consciousness agrees in the same way that “people are not conscious of all the processes going on in their heads”(405). Both of these scientists argue on the same side of the psychological debate that the average human belief of consciousness is not what it is thought to be.

The other perspective on the debate is that the unconscious and conscious are to totally different aspects of our mind. Human beings do in fact live most of their lives in a conscious manner are some thing a scientist named K. Koffka believes. Koffka states that “the mind and that is specifically conscious, therefore everything mental must be thought of in terms of consciousness, even if be not conscious itself”(Koffka). If taken into great detail, Koffka is a firm believer that everything we say and do in a day is in total control of the conscious part of our mind. He does, however make clear that he also believes there is unconsciousness as well. “Therefore, when one found it necessary to go beyond consciousness in the description and exploration of the mind, one imagined the non-conscious one, fundamentally alike, that is, in all its aspects or properties with the exception of being conscious”(Koffka).

Jung makes a valid point in saying that what we believe to be conscious is actually what the unconscious describes to us. When going into great detail on the subject, our brain receives a message from our senses and then relays that information back to us. We believe that we have consciously created these thought processes. The real question is, did you actually stop and become unaware of your surroundings, consciously, thu...

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...ber of doctors that believe unconscious is our conscious self far out weights that of the ones who believe in total consciousness.

In the case of consciousness versus unconsciousness, it is fair to say that we live a life of what we believe to be conscious, but in fact it is more of an unconscious effort to maintain what it is we describe to ourselves as consciousness. The truth behind all of the facts is that these two scientists have put a great deal of work into their theories and believe that the white between all the print is that we actually practice a life of unconsciousness almost all at once and that what little consciousness actually witness is all that the human race really needs to come to grip with that experience in all their normal day proceedings.

Work Cited

Jacobus, Lee A. A World Of Ideas. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. 344-354; 399-408.

Whyte, Lancelot law. The Unconscious Before Freud. 1st ed. New York: Basic Books Inc, 1960

(Whyte 17-30)

Koffka, k. "On The Structure Of The Unconscious." The Unconscious: A Symposium. Ed. . Freeport: Books for Libraries Press Inc, 1966. 43-68.

(Koffka)