Essays: The Human Mind
Our human mind remains an enigma even till this day.
Philosophers, neuroscientists, religious leaders and many others who are interested in the workings of the human minds have tried their best to understand how we think but it seems that there's no drastic breakthrough throughout the years. There is some minor advancement though, such as the acknowledgement of emotional intelligence and in recent years, social intelligence. There's been individuals advocating the effectiveness of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) but this field of study has received mixed reviews from the academic circles and the public.
The fact remains that we humans despite years of study have remained ignorant of much of our minds, particularly in the areas of happiness.
The closest link that we have drawn is the relationship between our human mind and our subconscious, with some individuals acknowledging and recognising the significance as well as impact of our subconscious in our lives. Hence, the "laws of attraction" (which is a technique where we attract what we desire through our thoughts either consciously or subconsciously) is born. Some individuals use different words: the power of thought/intent.
And this is the area where this writer intends to focus this article on.
In light of the wide scope of this topic, this article chooses to focus on the human subconscious. It describes the existence of the human subconscious through the provision of some real life examples that we are able to relate to and seeks to elaborate on the effects of it. It will conclude with the evidence reinforcing the limitations of the effects of the human subconscious.
There are many individuals who deny and refuse to acknowledge the existence of the subconscious but many common incidents in life serve to reinforce the existence of the human subconscious. For instance, observe the experienced drivers, musicians and dancers. At first glance, it seems that they are going through the motions with technical precision when they are driving, playing musical instruments and dancing respectively. However, upon closer inspection, it does not seem to be the case. The drivers, musician and dancers seem to be guided by a force, which can be considered as the subconscious. It almost seems that they know what to do even before they think about it. Think about the times where drivers are able to swerve out of harm's way with ease, how musicians are able to join an ensemble of musicians in playing a tune without rehearsing and how dancers of different genres are able to dance with one another without any sign of confusion in their dance moves.
Another instance of our human subconscious at work is something that all of us are able to try. Just before we sleep, think of positive thoughts before drifting to sleep. If you find visualisation challenging, you can say positive affirmations to yourself before hitting the sack. You will realise that you will feel great when you wake up. The opposite happens when we wake up after having nightmares, where we feel a strong sense of unease and fright. There exists a possibility that nightmares are the products of our unpleasant experiences (which includes squabbles, conflicts and negative emotions) experienced during our waking hours in the day. Sometimes even if we consciously control our emotions after a conflict, our anger and frustrations never really leave us. They usually surface when we sleep (when our conscious minds lose its grip over us), and where our subconscious mind remain dominant. From this example, it can be concluded that our subconscious is the frank indicator of our true emotions. While our conscious mind may strive to shroud our unpleasant experiences we have experienced from ourselves, our subconscious will have no qualms about letting them out.
Therein lies the limitations of our subconscious.
We are able to acknowledge its existence. We are able to observe how it works. But we never seem to be able to totally control it or use it to our advantage. Popular literature have mentioned instances where scientists and thinkers have discovered answers to their questions in their sleep. However, it is unsure how many individuals are able to substantiate this claim. Personally, this writer has experienced sparks of insights after jogging sessions but no further progress can be observed beyond that.
Thus I believe in the existence of the human subconscious and more importantly, I believe that our human subconscious has a life of its own that we as mere mortals cannot possibly comprehend in this lifetime.