The Upper Subconscious

Pop psychology has convinced people that dark and embarrassing things lie hidden in their subconscious minds, and that their worst fleeting thoughts are the real them. Carl Jung, however, a man who knew a few things about the human subconscious, disagreed, writing this in Psychology and Alchemy (emphasis his):

The assumption that the human psyche possesses layers that lie below consciousness is not likely to arouse serious opposition. But, there could just as well be layers lying above consciousness.

So, please ignore the slogans which make you mistrust yourself; your subconscious is not a demon-esque creature living inside of you. And it is very clear that our interior universe is the source of massive creativity… of deep love and appreciation; of meaning and satisfaction and awe.

And so some of our most important work is to learn how to use our minds fully… to use our consciousness effectively. Along these lines, I’ve long appreciated something that Arthur Koestler noted in his book, The Ghost in the Machine:

The evolution of the brain not only overshot the needs of prehistoric man, it is the only example of evolution providing a species with an organ which it does not know how to use.