Sigmund Freud proposed that our psyche was a tiered structure. Today’s scientists know the unconscious is not a second-tier or mind within us playing by its own rules. Through brain imaging, it has been shown that unconscious psychological processes make use of the very same brain regions and systems that the conscious mind does. We have one mind that operates in two different modes – the conscious mode and the unconscious mode.
Here’s a foolproof way to recognize your conscious mind mode and your unconscious mind mode. Thank you to John Bargh, Ph.D., and his interesting book Before You Know It for the idea.
Remember the Road Runner cartoons? How Wile E. Coyote ordered explosives from Acme Corporation to capture or destroy the Road Runner? How the devices always backfired?
Which character, Wil
e E. Coyote or Road Runner, do you think represents your conscious mind? Your unconscious mind?
Here’s Bargh’s answer to this question that makes sense to me. See what you think.
Wile E. Coyote exemplifies our conscious mind: scheming and that is not-as-smart-as-we-think.
Road Runner epitomizes our unconscious mind: speedy and smarter-than-we-think.
Can you identify which mode you are in – Wile E. Coyote or The Road Runner? Please let me know in the comments section.
IMAGE: Found in my files and to me represents the unconscious and the conscious.
