Conscious Mind versus Unconscious Mind

The conscious and unconscious minds are largely distinct from one another in their human functions. The conscious mind relates to the awareness of external or internal stimulus while the unconscious mind is inaccessible for reflection to the human being. Both are present for various known/unknown reasons and can have a tremendous impact on an individual.

The conscious mind may be full of remarkable abilities, such as the capability to naturally remember various vivid and detailed stimuli. The book, The Ravenous Brain: How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning, reveals a man by the name of Solomon Sherashevski, who was blessed and damned with a “near perfect memory”. With his gift, Solomon was able to recite stanzas of Dante’s Divine Comedy in an unfamiliar language (Italian) ten years later with exact stresses and pronunciation as he had originally been exposed to. Many wish to have the capability that Solomon possessed; however, individuals do not recognize the consequences of such a memory. Solomon could not erase a single thought, even the terrors from infancy. Solomon’s reality soon became a daydream due to his clear and lively imagination. Unfortunately, disturbing images could not fade and he lingered in past/memories rather than what was present/real.

            In addition, the article, Unconscious Mind Can Detect a Liar – Even When the Conscious Mind Fails, reports that the conscious mind is not particularly good at detecting liars. Humans are relatively poor at reading various cues associated with honesty and dishonestly. A study done at UC Berkeley shows that participants were only capable of detecting liars 43% of the time. On the other hand, while using an Implicit Association Test, which detects responses of the unconscious mind relating to instinct, researchers found that students were able to better unite words related to deception with the lying subject. Therefore, the unconscious mind may have played an evolutionarily crucial role in the detection of lies although we are unaware. Fitness of a particular species can be increased if the animal is efficient in the recognition of untruthful communication. The book by Daniel Bor also expands on the striking capability of the unconscious mind to be activated by external stimuli. It has been shown that a patient under anesthesia exposed to a word such as “ashtray” will be more likely to say “ashtray” in recovery. However, if a patient was introduced to the word “cigarette” during anesthesia, they would not be more likely to say “ashtray” or “ashcan”. This simply means that there is no deeper form of mental processing, the pathway is stimulated by a certain word and therefore is likely to be fired again.

            Both the conscious and unconscious minds serve individuals in various aspects such as memory, unconscious triggering of stimuli, and lie detection. 

Bor, Daniel. The Ravenous Brain: How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning. New York: Basic, 2012. Print.

"Unconscious Mind Can Detect a Liar -- Even When the Conscious Mind Fails." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 24 Mar. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2014. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140324104520.htm>