Symbolism in Psychology
I've been thinking of ways in which we can share with you some of the ideas we've been ironing out on symbolic thinking and programming the unconscious ever since I shared the link on the 13th of December. I unwittingly assumed the responsibility of coming up with ways in which we can put our discussions into palatable form, but there's no real recipe to this and I feel like our small group has ground the topic into dust trying to assemble some kind of structure (which we couldn't do), so I'm just going to let it unfold naturally...
The unconscious mind has been compared to a behavioral 'guidance system' of consciousness (Bargh and Morsella, 2008) but we don't seem to know the depth or efficacy to which the subconscious can be factored in. One of the more impressive processes of the unconscious mind is a kind of 'goal pursuit system' that, once primed, can orientate behavior to seek out actions and lead us the fulfillment of any particular endeavor. This system is open-ended on two axis'.
1. There is no limit to setting a goal, we usually just move from one (whether we complete it or it loses relevancy) to the next.
2. We can be primed by others towards conforming behavior and speech without realizing it (major religions and political parties here).
Our brains also tend to store vast amounts of information in our unconscious, to include implicit memory, which let's us tie our shoes without thinking out each step. Implicit memory has a funny way of eluding the effects of alcohol and can even raise a flag when something doesn't "feel" right. This latter point is the one that linked up subconscious with the amount of data we are storing and encouraged Derivative Psychology to push the envelope a little further.
And this is where it gets good...
Intuition is acknowledged but not fully understood. It seems to be an amalgamate of raw data from our sub-c being bundled and tossed up for our consideration. Here's our theory; we believe that if we could 'program' a pathway between our unconscious and conscious minds, beyond good feelings and energy waves, our brain could extrapolate information and deliver it to us in a way that we've only imagined in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novels (that's Sherlock Holmes people).
I feel like I vast amounts of useless knowledge at my disposal but my organizational capabilities have gone through the roof. I just need to feed my brain better material. Symbolic thinking is linking something perceptually common but perpetually random (think nature) with wilful introspection.
By training ourselves to observe and reflect when our unconscious is triggered, we give our brain a huge shortcut to operate by and consciously reach down into the dark and grasp the hand of the part of our brain that is far more in tune than the highly volatile ego that we have come to depend on. Pick a random system, I've used clouds, birds in flight, a falling coin, sunlight cut into shafts of light by trees overhead, etc.
I just try to convince the unconscious to use those systems to communicate, or ping me, when it can link an event to an emotion I should be acknowledging.
1. What are you feeling when you observe that indicator?
2. Should you be cautious, take a risk, be more appreciative, more assertive?
3. Yes or no?
Consciously ask for an answer, you'll be sending a request for your subconscious to pick out an appropriate pattern for you to apply and interpret. Have faith in your mind, it's the most compelling structure in existence. The unconscious is too often neglected and we wait until issues bubble to the surface to take action. We sit in fear, confusion and depression until something or someone comes along to give us directions, but the keys are in our hand.
Right now is a great time to stop, look around and take into account everything you are feeling. Assess yourself. What do you feel? What randomness can you train your unconscious to see and use as a signal when it needs to? It filters through 11 million bits of information but we don't consciously require more than 126 bits. Surely it can give us a little more if we allocate some of our attention to the "to be interpreted metaphorically" box.
So, there it is, symbolic thought in a nutshell. Enjoy this, all of this, trust yourself, you're fully capable of overcoming any challenge and putting yourself on a path that blows the doors off what you thought you were capable of and if we brew up any new ideas, you'll be the first to know.
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Author's note: Sometimes, I feel like I'm not seeing what I need to be but if I stop and really think about my situation, I find a calm below so maybe I just need to be a little more appreciative. I've become more creative, more confident and more content. Be open to new metaphors. switch it up every now and then. Use two, I've never tried it but who knows... I've felt like changing my symbols before and have done so, usually after a change has taken place externally (moving, new job). I named our little collective Derivative Psychology to reflect just that kind of change. That what we plug into the calculation (present) changes the solution (perception) and can be used to overcome challenges and adjust our trajectory (future). Enjoy the journey.
References:
Reddy Nagireddy, 2011. Evolutionary Epistemology of Donald T. Campbell. From: http://www.academia.edu/2072925/Evolutionary_Epistemology_of_Donald_T_Campbell_full_thesis_
Russell Dewey, 2013. Implicit vs. Explicit memory. From: http://www.intropsych.com/ch06_memory/implicit_vs_explicit_memory.html John
A. Bargh and Ezequiel Morsella, 2008. The Unconscious Mind. From: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440575/
