10 Fascinating Facts About the Subconscious Mind
Many
artists have attempted to explore the subconscious mind and capture
what they found in their art – Salvador Dali, Renee Magritte, Jim
Morrison and many more. The subconscious mind is indeed fascinating. You
can think of the brain as an iceberg, what we see on the surface is
just the tip. The conscious part of the brain may be the one we control
and use when we try to solve a puzzle or learn a new skill, but even in
such processes, the subconscious mind is actually doing a lot of the
heavy lifting for us. So how does this all work? These 10 facts might
give you some insight into the mysterious ways of the subconscious
brain.
2. It Is Always Active
1. Controls 95% of Our Memories
The average brain has about 10,000
synapses per cell. Each synapse passes electrical signals around your
brain, which basically tells your body when to do stuff. Moreover,
according to scientists, the human brain is able to contain an amount of
data that’s about 100 times the size of the US Library of Congress.
That is a tremendous amount of information, and most of it is hiding beneath the surface – 95% to be precise.
To demonstrate how our subconscious memory aids us constantly, think of driving. After a few weeks of driving the same route, you can already do it without thinking – you’re on autopilot. That is the subconscious at work.
To demonstrate how our subconscious memory aids us constantly, think of driving. After a few weeks of driving the same route, you can already do it without thinking – you’re on autopilot. That is the subconscious at work.
2. It Is Always Active
The
subconscious mind does not go to sleep when the conscious part does.
Not only does it maintain your bodily functions (such as breathing), it
stays alert and absorbs messages even while you’re sleeping. If you fall
asleep in front of the TV, your subconscious will hear every word that
is being said. That is the reason some people play soothing music while
they sleep, or expose themselves to empowering messages before bed.
3. It Speaks a Different Language
All the information and data that
is constantly being collected and stored in the subconscious is
communicated to us in images, feelings, sensations, and dreams. These
representations are made verbal by our conscious. The subconscious does
not speak in words.
4. It is HabitualAs per the driving example, the subconscious mind is habitual and recognizes patterns. If you repeat the same thing again and again, it will be retained intact by your subconscious mind. This is particularly interesting in the case of motivation – if you repeat positive and motivational words and messages, it might actually change your outlook in the long run.
5. It Takes Everything LiterallyWhat you see is what you get when it comes to your subconscious perception. Our subconscious mind is unable to reason – a classic example of this is that we get scared by horror movies or clearly photoshopped images. We know that there is nothing to be scared of, but our subconscious mind is the one that reacts.
6. It only knows NOWThe subconscious mind does not have a perception of time. It can only think in terms of the present. This connects to the topic of ‘training’ the subconscious which was touched on earlier. If you want to subconsciously believe you will achieve something, you need to visualize yourselves achieving it in the present time.
7. Unable to Process the Word NoBecause the subconscious mind is not verbal but only representational, it cannot process the meaning of ‘no’. That way, if you repeatedly think ‘I will NOT eat chocolate’; the subconscious mental image you get is of, well, eating chocolate. Instead, you can visualize a mental image of what you DO want – eating an apple for example.
8. Shower Thoughts The subconscious mind works best when you are not alert. This is the reason your most ingenious conclusions come to you in the shower. Or staring blankly out the window on a bus. When we are at peace, the subconscious can be productive.
9. Faster Train of ThoughtStudies dating back to the 1970s have concluded that the body starts preparing itself for action over a third of a second before we have consciously made a decision to act. In other words, oftentimes we think we've made a conscious decision, while the subconscious (or our ‘instinct’) has already decided for us.
10. The Power of VisualizingDon’t belittle the power your unconscious has over your performance! We've already mentioned the impact visualizing has over the subconscious, and it is actually backed by research. In 1972, the sports psychologist Richard Suinn conducted an experiment where visualization was part of training for Olympic athletes. When downhill skiers were asked to visualize skiing, electric signals from their brains were comparable to those found on the day they were actually skiing. A similar study conducted in France showed that long jumpers who visualized their jump attained better results 45% of the time.
In conclusion: Your subconscious not only controls you, you control it as well, and exploring it may bring a positive impact to your life.
5. It Takes Everything LiterallyWhat you see is what you get when it comes to your subconscious perception. Our subconscious mind is unable to reason – a classic example of this is that we get scared by horror movies or clearly photoshopped images. We know that there is nothing to be scared of, but our subconscious mind is the one that reacts.
6. It only knows NOWThe subconscious mind does not have a perception of time. It can only think in terms of the present. This connects to the topic of ‘training’ the subconscious which was touched on earlier. If you want to subconsciously believe you will achieve something, you need to visualize yourselves achieving it in the present time.
7. Unable to Process the Word NoBecause the subconscious mind is not verbal but only representational, it cannot process the meaning of ‘no’. That way, if you repeatedly think ‘I will NOT eat chocolate’; the subconscious mental image you get is of, well, eating chocolate. Instead, you can visualize a mental image of what you DO want – eating an apple for example.
8. Shower Thoughts The subconscious mind works best when you are not alert. This is the reason your most ingenious conclusions come to you in the shower. Or staring blankly out the window on a bus. When we are at peace, the subconscious can be productive.
9. Faster Train of ThoughtStudies dating back to the 1970s have concluded that the body starts preparing itself for action over a third of a second before we have consciously made a decision to act. In other words, oftentimes we think we've made a conscious decision, while the subconscious (or our ‘instinct’) has already decided for us.
10. The Power of VisualizingDon’t belittle the power your unconscious has over your performance! We've already mentioned the impact visualizing has over the subconscious, and it is actually backed by research. In 1972, the sports psychologist Richard Suinn conducted an experiment where visualization was part of training for Olympic athletes. When downhill skiers were asked to visualize skiing, electric signals from their brains were comparable to those found on the day they were actually skiing. A similar study conducted in France showed that long jumpers who visualized their jump attained better results 45% of the time.
In conclusion: Your subconscious not only controls you, you control it as well, and exploring it may bring a positive impact to your life.