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Your subconscious is smarter than you might think

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Re: Your subconscious is smarter than you might think

#11

Post by thisnews »

MarkPNeyer wrote: post #8
tjradcliffe wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How exciting to be driven by (or driving, depending on what you believe) such a vastly complex thing. Dancing with.

i love this metaphor here. i spent a long time struggling with mental illness, and it was only when i began to understand the need to work _with_ my subconscious instead of fighting it that things went better for me.

If it is not too personal, can you elaborate on how you manged to work with your subconscious rather that fight against it? Was it through meditation and/or other simple practices?

Jordan Peterson - in his personality series - talks often about depression, and how tending to the subconscious can result in positive outcomes. Importantly - I think - he suggests that people should stop deceiving the subconscious, and instead listen to it, and work with it. Unfortunately, he fails to mention any meaningful ways to accomplish this.

Re: Your subconscious is smarter than you might think

#14

Post by forim »

thisnews wrote: post #11
MarkPNeyer wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i love this metaphor here. i spent a long time struggling with mental illness, and it was only when i began to understand the need to work _with_ my subconscious instead of fighting it that things went better for me.

If it is not too personal, can you elaborate on how you manged to work with your subconscious rather that fight against it? Was it through meditation and/or other simple practices? Jordan Peterson - in his personality series - talks often about depression, and how tending to the subconscious can result in positive outcomes. Importantly - I think - he suggests that people should stop deceiving the subconscious, and in…

Personally, I accomplished "working with it" by changing my outlook on life: instead of trying to achieve happiness (which was impossible during a prolonged depression), I tried to achieve putting my socks on. Most of my life during those periods translated into tiny goals like this.

Some days it was not possible to do anything. Eventually I learned that it can be OK to not be able to do anything too (instead of trying to focus on forcing myself to do things, which never worked anyway).

These things come down to hearing "I'm too tired to do all of that" and instead of saying "No, I can do all of this" (deception), saying "Maybe I'll try for something smaller". You repeat that process until you arrive at a point where everything doesn't seem impossible anymore. I think that is what is meant by working with your subconscious.

Re: Your subconscious is smarter than you might think

#15

Post by anon4 »

tannerc wrote: post #2

Researching creative thinking processes over the last decade, this is a no-brainer (pun not intended). There is so much complexity to the brain that it's hard to imagine a time when we, as human beings, will ever really understand how much of it works. It's no surprise there's a lot going on "behind the veil" of consciousness, and I'm glad researchers continue to show this is the case. Similar studies have shown that…

> to be driven by or driving

I prefer to think of it as simply "to be"

Re: Your subconscious is smarter than you might think

#16

Post by xyzzy123 »

forim wrote: post #14
thisnews wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it is not too personal, can you elaborate on how you manged to work with your subconscious rather that fight against it? Was it through meditation and/or other simple practices? Jordan Peterson - in his personality series - talks often about depression, and how tending to the subconscious can result in positive outcomes. Importantly - I think - he suggests that people should stop deceiving the subconscious, and in…

Personally, I accomplished "working with it" by changing my outlook on life: instead of trying to achieve happiness (which was impossible during a prolonged depression), I tried to achieve putting my socks on. Most of my life during those periods translated into tiny goals like this. Some days it was not possible to do anything. Eventually I learned that it can be OK to not be able to do anything too (instead of tryi…

I think most people don't "get over" depression, so much as learn to live with themselves and the world and their new outlook. It's how I feel about it at least, and it's not hard to recognise it in others.

The process can take many years. There's still joy in the world, but I find I have more conscious awareness of it.

I'd be really interested to see studies of people who "recovered" from depression. Maybe there are two cohorts; those who get their rose-coloured glasses back, and those who have to learn to cope with what they feel. [That sounds worse than I intend it to, but I can't think of a better way to express it].

Re: Your subconscious is smarter than you might think

#17

Post by xj9 »

jensen123 wrote: post #10

I'm skeptical. For example, in my bedroom, I have 2 cabinets. A while ago, I moved my socks and underpants from one cabinet to the other. Afterwards, I kept going to the "old" cabinet every morning for quite a few days. I'm wondering if this is an indication how how smart my own subconsciousness is...

The brain doesn't rely on computation for intelligence, rather, storing and identifying patterns. When you change something that is part of a habit, you have to wait for your brain to rewire itself with the new behavior before it becomes second nature.

Re: Your subconscious is smarter than you might think

#18

Post by electromagnetic »

tannerc wrote: post #2

Researching creative thinking processes over the last decade, this is a no-brainer (pun not intended). There is so much complexity to the brain that it's hard to imagine a time when we, as human beings, will ever really understand how much of it works. It's no surprise there's a lot going on "behind the veil" of consciousness, and I'm glad researchers continue to show this is the case. Similar studies have shown that…

I'm a writer. As much as I work on my craft, when I sit down and put my fingers on the keys I'm not doing any of it. 95% of what I write I have no conscious decision in making.

I remember completely scrapping a 1500 word piece, rewriting the whole piece and resubmitting it to my editor. He was amazed I did it so quickly, I was quite disturbed I'd written the whole thing with barely an iota of conscious thought going into it.

I don't think I'm riding shotgun for my consciousness, I think I'm a kid in the back of the wagon.

Re: Your subconscious is smarter than you might think

#19

Post by madaxe_again »

tannerc wrote: post #2

Researching creative thinking processes over the last decade, this is a no-brainer (pun not intended). There is so much complexity to the brain that it's hard to imagine a time when we, as human beings, will ever really understand how much of it works. It's no surprise there's a lot going on "behind the veil" of consciousness, and I'm glad researchers continue to show this is the case. Similar studies have shown that…

Agreed.

I often get asked by people things like "how did you think of that?" - and the honest answer is - I didn't.

I "think" by largely shutting off higher rational thought, and just let a problem freewheel through my mind. Either an answer comes pretty much instantaneously, or it doesn't at all.

I don't logically think things through - I find the answer, then it justifies itself.

This was always infuriating for my teachers, as I'd look at a problem in Maths or Physics, write down the answer, and then, if I felt like it, figure out what the "working" was.

I think we've largely forgotten how to think. Language oriented symbol linking and logic is slow - it's a whole abstraction layer that you can just sidestep, if you trust your mind.

Re: Your subconscious is smarter than you might think

#20

Post by Eye_of_Mordor »

Is there such a thing as consciousness at all? Maybe we're just more or less conscious of different interactions and these tests are really only showing what we find the most difficult?

Bruce Lee said, "You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend."

Perhaps you mind is best left empty and in this emptiness lies life's greatest achievement?

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