Importance of the Unconscious

The extent of the revelation of the unconscious is no less than that of the discovery of America.

By Roberto Assagioli, 1928 unedited notes, from lectures on the unconscious – Lesson I. From the Assagioli Archive in Florence. Translated by Gordon Symons, original title: Importanza Dell’inconscio.

The theme of our course is the study of latent energies in us and their practical applications in education and medicine. (By saying education I also mean self-education, which should last a lifetime. Educare = educere = bring out).

It is time that knowledge of the treasures that lie ignored in us, and of the ways of using them for our own and others’ physical and moral good, is spread as much as possible. This is made possible thanks to the discovery made, or renewed, by modern psychology: that of the unconscious, that is, of the large amount of psychic facts and activities that take place in us outside of our consciousness, or without our direct awareness.

The importance of this discovery is generally not understood. Some comparisons will make it more vivid and evident.

The extent of the revelation of the unconscious is no less than that of the discovery of America. Indeed, the vastness of the inner world represented by the unconscious far exceeds – in proportion – that of the American continent. In fact, the extension of the unconscious psychic area is much greater than the conscious one. It is difficult to establish exact proportions: I will only say that, according to some scholars, the nine-tenths of our psyche are unconscious.

From another point of view, it can be said that the conscious part of our personality constitutes only a horizontal section, and that beneath it there are numerous other psychic “layers” which descend to the abysses and dark areas of instincts and organic life, and that above it there are other increasingly clear and luminous psychic levels, up to the highest and most dazzling peaks of the spiritual life.

Therefore psychologies and philosophies which take into account only the conscious level – as there still are – can rightly be called superficial, in the literal sense of the term; they are in fact “two-dimensional”, while there is also the “third dimension” of the human soul that extends in depth and height, and which we must travel in our explorations and ascensions if we want to know in an integral and total way what he is a human being in his living and multifaceted reality.

But there is more: in the sense that the discovery of the unconscious has not only constituted an extension of our knowledge, but a real revolution of theirs, a revolution that is still developing and that we do not yet know what consequences. will bring.

In fact, the shift of the center of interest and reference from our small ordinary personality to our larger being and its true spiritual center is such that it can be compared to that of the Copernican discovery, according to which the Earth is no longer the center of universe, but it is only one of the many planets that revolve around the Sun, which, in turn, is only one among the innumerable stars of the immense universe.

Finally, from the practical side, the discovery of the inexhaustible unconscious and superconscious energies that we can use is comparable in importance to that of electricity, which has always existed, but which we ignored. From this discovery comes a new way of conceiving and understanding ourselves, others and life; a new way of conducting oneself, of dominating oneself, of resting and working; a new way of educating and behaving with others in family, emotional relationships, etc .; a new way of treating and treating oneself from physical, nervous and psychic ailments.

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Evidence of the Existence of the Unconscious and Its Main Manifestations

I.  Abnormal

We will examine these first, as they are the most obvious and – it can be said – impressive. In fact, the disease is often like a magnifying glass that magnifies and exaggerates the phenomena, and therefore also allows us to observe them better.

a. Hypnosis

In hypnosis the normal consciousness of the subject is abolished; in fact after the session he does not remember anything. Yet during hypnosis he behaves intelligently: he understands and executes even complicated orders, so he activates a part of his psyche that is different from that of his ordinary personality. Indeed, it is curious that the psychic activities of the hypnotized person sometimes prove to be superior to those that occur in the waking state:

– more extended memory. The hypnotized person remembers things that he has completely forgotten when awake.

– ability to play parts. Just tell a hypnotized person, who has no acting practice, that he is Napoleon, or an old lady, or a drunkard, etc., that he will experience that part with often surprising realism and vivacity.

– greater receptivity of the organism to psychic influences. Production of blisters and bleeding; acceleration or delay of heartbeats; rise in temperature.

B. Post-Hypnotic Suggestions

An order given during hypnosis upon awakening is completely forgotten, and nevertheless this is carried out by the awake subject precisely and at the time indicated. This is a very demonstrative fact, since it proves that intelligent psychic activities take place in the awake subject without his knowing anything about it; in other words, there is a real and active unconscious in him.

C. Dissociation of Personality, Partial or Total

Cases of alternating personalities are surprising facts, but they are certainly observed and that throw a lot of light on the constitution of our psyche. (See Psyche, I, 1912, pp. 186-198 and 204-205).

D. Mental Illness

In certain mental illnesses, the boundaries between normal consciousness and the unconscious are broken or even abolished. The unconscious invades the field of consciousness and manifests itself without any restraint (mania, and certain cases of early dementia or paranoid schizophrenia). In such cases, you have the opportunity to study the unconscious directly and immediately.

E. DELIRUS

Case of a woman who recited passages from the Bible in Hebrew, heard twenty years earlier.

II. Normal

a. Organic Psychism

Anyone who considers living organisms with an attitude free from materialistic or mechanistic preconceptions, cannot fail to be struck by the marvelous intelligence that presides over their vital activity. The so-called “elementary” functions of life, such as the assimilation of food, growth, locomotion and reproduction, all reveal a series of so ingenious adaptations, of such fine coordination, and such a wise purpose, as to exclude any interpretation purely mechanical or physicochemical. In truth, none of the most complicated machines invented by man has the ability to grow, to repair itself and to multiply, as do the humblest single-celled organisms; and whoever wants to know the most surprising manifestations of the psyche inherent in organic life, has only to read Fabre’s beautiful books or the mighty work at the sources of Life by Dr. William Mackenzie, where the problem of relationships, indeed of inseparable unity of life and psyche, is treated broadly and persuasively.

Now this psychism, which tirelessly and intelligently directs the vital functions of our body, takes place outside our consciousness: for us it is therefore unconscious.

B. Dreams

They are the best known and most evident manifestations of our unconscious. In fact, they are not produced by our ordinary personality, taking place during its sleep, but are evidently the result of an intelligent psychic activity. The study of dreams is of great scientific and practical interest, so we will devote a lesson or two to them.

C. Intelligent Acts Performed Without Conscious Attention

This group includes all the acts performed at first with conscious will and attention, but which then, following learning or habit, have become, as they say, “automatic”. For example, the performance of musical pieces, after a long study. But it should be noted that in this case we are not dealing with a mechanical automatism, but (according to the expression of Janet) psychological. This is confirmed by other acts of this type: for example those that are performed without being aware of it in walking, crossing the streets avoiding vehicles and heading towards a given goal, while the attention is taken by our thoughts or by a conversation with a fellow traveler. In this there is not a rigidly preordained automatism, but an intelligent adaptation of the acts to an end. It is a real “delegation” of some activities, which the conscious personality does to the unconscious, such as a manager to a secretary or a landlady to a maid. This analogy can be used later. In both cases, once the delegation has taken place, any interference of conscience disturbs rather than favors execution.

In Jastrow an example from ordinary life is cited. He writes: “I know how to quickly tie a certain kind of tie knot – which I only use occasionally – only when I don’t pay attention to it and let my hands do as they are used to, but if I start to think which item goes up and which down and I observe my movements in the mirror it is likely that I will cheat and fail! ”.

The same author quotes a funny English verse inspired by this psychological law:

The centiped etc. etc.

(The centipede lived happily until one day the toad asked him to make fun of him: please, which foot do you put on first and which one after? This confused the centipede’s mind so much that he stood still in the ditch wondering how to walk) .

The unconscious is just like a servant who does his chores well if he is left alone, while if his mistress intervenes continuously with orders, solicitations, instructions and scolding, he gets disoriented and does nothing more.

The same happens in the family education field between adults and children.

d. Unconscious Elaboration of The Experiences Made, of what has been perceived and learned. It takes some time.

Typical example: player who after having performed a difficult exercise several times in an unsatisfactory way abandons the company, and when after a few days he tries the exercise again, he immediately succeeds well. So some, after reading a piece of prose or poetry two or three times in the evening, know it by heart the next morning.

This fact of unconscious learning has also been observed by the people, so much so that in Germany it gave rise to the proverb: “You learn to skate in summer and swim in winter”.

The law that regulates these facts can be called: “The law of unconscious processing or delayed effect”.

It must be borne in mind to avoid attribution errors that are often committed, for example in seeking the cause of a physical or mental disorder. That is, we tend to blame the last fact, while it must be attributed to previous facts and circumstances.

The same is true for the effects of physical and mental treatments. It is said, for example, of the sea that the greatest benefit is felt in the following winter. On some, certain psychotherapeutic applications (suggestions, relaxation exercises, etc.) produce their effect with a latency rate of 24 hours. Patience and confident waiting are needed.

Practical Applications. Respect this rhythm of the unconscious.

Method of an English piano teacher; she causes her pupils to stop studying three weeks before the exams, and to resume them a week before. They are much more successful than others. Do it equally in all cases of exams, competitions and performances. Having faith in the unconscious, in the influx of energies in times of need and danger, in the clarity and readiness that come spontaneously. This gives calm, security, strength, and therefore success.

Important psychotherapeutic application: intervening before the action of a psychic trauma (impression, fright) has had the opportunity to become fixed, to deepen, to elaborate, (even to “mount”) and therefore to produce disturbances.

I cite the case of Captain Kidston, who miraculously escaped an aviation disaster and immediately wanted to board another aircraft, and descending from it he then said: “I have evaluated the strength of my nerves. If I hadn’t immediately fought the sense of horror and instinctive aversion that arose in me towards aircraft, I would no longer have been able to board airplanes ”.

A sick woman of mine often has – against her will – fits of anger, anger, each of which makes her sick for 2-3 days. I advised her – while waiting for the psychotherapy treatment we are doing to give her full control over herself and transform the unconscious energies that produce outbursts of anger, to call me immediately after she is angry. If it can thus speak to me about the thing and have from me appropriate words of appeasement and indications on what to do immediately, the unconscious is rendered harmless and it avoids even physical ailments that otherwise would come to it.

Acts Done for Reasons or Influences of which we are not aware.

Revelations of psychoanalysis and of a sincere and attentive introspection. We are all hypnotized. Many of our actions are determined by suggestions or self-suggestions that we are not aware of, and which are very similar to post-hypnotic suggestions. This recognition spurs us to free ourselves, to learn to probe our unconscious, to no longer be victims or instruments of impulses that are not ours.