What is the conscious and the subconscious mind?

Understand the essential differences between the conscious and the subconscious mind.

Source: PsychMechanics

Article: http://www.psychmechanics.com/2014/08/introduction-to-conscious-and.html

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1. When you first learn to drive a car You’re 100% focused on the activity C onscious mind is fully engaged in the task Riding a bicycle Buttoning a shirt

2. When you become an expert in driving

3. You’re no longer 100% consciously involved in the task The driving activity becomes largely automatic Conscious mind delegates the driving activity to the subconscious mind While it listens to music or daydreams

4. Our automatic responses are controlled by the subconscious mind Blinking and pulling your head backward when an object is thrown at your face Pulling back your hand instantly after it touches a hot stove Feels as if some mysterious alien force inside you makes you do it

5. The subconscious mind is more powerful than the conscious mind

6. The subconscious controls your Behaviours Beliefs Habits Choices Entire life!

7. Subconscious mind is a metaphor For your older brain structures Compared to your more recently evolved brain structures (such as the prefrontal cortex) Older brain structures tend to be responsible for automatic behaviours

8. Research shows that subconscious information processing has Clearly differentiated neural pathways compared to conscious information processing Though some information processing pathways are also shared This is why we can change our behaviours to some extent and are not mere slaves to our subconscious

9. When the subconscious mind is active A network in the brain known as the Default Mode Network (DMN) is active DMN carries out our automatic subconscious activities while the conscious mind is set free to attend to other tasks We, humans, have a limited attention span

10. Conscious mind, the filterer Processes information from the environment slowly and logically I nformation that doesn’t match with pre-existing beliefs is rejected

11. “Earth is flat” is rejected by your conscious mind

12. Subconscious mind, the recorder Records everything that happens to you without critical analysis Responsible for fast, automatic responses Storehouse of all your life experiences, memories, skills, etc. C ontains behavioural programs inherited from your ancestors by natural and sexual selection

13. Human behaviour is the product of complex interactions between conscious and unconscious mental processes.