12 May, 2007

The Subconscious

Spoiler : I do not try to explore the mystic and hermetic lands of the subconscious and propound the ways to tap its omnipotent powers for your spiritual upliftment. NO. I am not into that crap. This blog is merely a collection of my some of my observations and conclusions drawn from them.

For skeptics, lets first try to establish that there is something called "the subconscious".

Have you experienced something called "the lightning solution" (It is unlikely that you know this term, coz i just coined it!!:) ) ? Lemme explain.
There's a knotty and complicated problem badgering you since days. You aren't able to figure out the solution no matter how hard you try. Finally, somehow, while you are doing something else or just goofing off, your mind interrupts you to announce the solution to the problem !! You haven't been thinking on it for days, then how did you "stumble" upon the solution?
Well, some might say that the quantum waves of the solution somehow penetrated your mind blah blah blah ... others might say ... ghosts of the primordial period whispered the solution into your ears:P.
I beg to differ

Here's where the subconscious comes into the picture. According to me, the conscious is the part of the mind you can discern through your senses. But, the mind is far more complex than this. the subconscious mind is where the problem are actually pondered upon. It would be unwise to assume that we have only one subconscious, there may be many (like Threads in a processor:P).
Anyways, the important thing is - how does it work?
What I think is, the conscious part of the mind provides the subconscious some inputs to work on. (Thus, it logically follows that if you don't mull sufficiently on a problem, the subconscious has a lesser chance of coming up with a solution) Then, it is the job of the subconscious to work out a solution and interrupt the conscious whenever necessary.

So, enough of this boring blabbering ... now we have a theory as to how the subconscious works, so how can we put it to test?
Try this out -
1) Suppose you encountered a problem just as you are about to sleep. Don't defer it to the next day. Think on it a bit and then doze off. This (hopefully) will kick off the subconscious and will probably simplify your problem solving task the next day.

2) Give the subconscious enough time. Studying everything at the last moment is not going to help you. The job of subconscious is not only to find solutions to problems, but also to reflect on whatever you have learned in the course of the day (the process of reflecting may take months:D). So, it is recommended (by me:P) that start studying asap and go slow, don't overstuff yourself. It will help you to grasp the concepts well and retain them longer. Remember, the earlier you start studying, the more time your mind has to consider the aspects of the issue in question.

So, it is not that we have NO control over what our subconscious does. We do have some. We just have to figure out how to exploit it.
The power of subconscious is soo vast, its not worth neglecting it.

1 comment:

Its Me said...

Interesting ..