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| The Subconscious Mind at Level II |
The Subconscious Mind at Level II
Subconscious activity at Level II is associated with functions typical of the midbrain, Freud’s ego, and the limbic system in MacLean’s triune brain model. These functions supply emotions and memories to help keep us functioning in a dynamic environment. Rapid emotional response Input from the senses passes through the thalamus in the mid-brain complex, and then follows a variety of routes. One route for any potentially dangerous or emotional information leads directly to the amygdala for an immediate response such as a smile, a jump back, or a lunge forward. The three basic survival strategies of fight, flight, or appeasement are fundamental components of your brain’s survival system in the amygdala.
Instincts
Studies of baby animal responses show that they have a built-in tendency to shrink from just a few specific stimuli. Most instinctual fears appear to be activated only when exposure to a potential danger includes some kind of negative feedback. For example a baby monkey does not have an initial fear of snakes. However, if on first seeing a snake a baby monkey also sees a fear response in another monkey, then the instinctual fear of snakes is permanently activated from that moment on.
The young human mind is also sensitized to react to the fear of others for a range of potential dangers. We seem to have proto fears of reptiles, spiders, large swooping birds, and heights. Unfortunately there is no indication of instinctual fear for the greater dangers of disease, automobiles, and human violence.
Models of reality
The subconscious mind at Level II sorts through sensory input and past experience to help you construct a model of reality. Here are a few examples:
1. Since those are trees, this is dirt, and there are birds and bugs flitting around – this is probably a forest.
2. Here is a walkway crowded with people, there are stores on both sides, there is a distant roof overhead, and signs are pointing to a food alley – this must be a shopping mall.
3. The hero flies through the air, survives vicious attacks unscathed, always defeats the forces of evil – this must be a fantasy.
Subconscious activity at Level II is associated with functions typical of the midbrain, Freud’s ego, and the limbic system in MacLean’s triune brain model. These functions supply emotions and memories to help keep us functioning in a dynamic environment. Rapid emotional response Input from the senses passes through the thalamus in the mid-brain complex, and then follows a variety of routes. One route for any potentially dangerous or emotional information leads directly to the amygdala for an immediate response such as a smile, a jump back, or a lunge forward. The three basic survival strategies of fight, flight, or appeasement are fundamental components of your brain’s survival system in the amygdala.
Instincts
Studies of baby animal responses show that they have a built-in tendency to shrink from just a few specific stimuli. Most instinctual fears appear to be activated only when exposure to a potential danger includes some kind of negative feedback. For example a baby monkey does not have an initial fear of snakes. However, if on first seeing a snake a baby monkey also sees a fear response in another monkey, then the instinctual fear of snakes is permanently activated from that moment on.
The young human mind is also sensitized to react to the fear of others for a range of potential dangers. We seem to have proto fears of reptiles, spiders, large swooping birds, and heights. Unfortunately there is no indication of instinctual fear for the greater dangers of disease, automobiles, and human violence.
Models of reality
The subconscious mind at Level II sorts through sensory input and past experience to help you construct a model of reality. Here are a few examples:
1. Since those are trees, this is dirt, and there are birds and bugs flitting around – this is probably a forest.
2. Here is a walkway crowded with people, there are stores on both sides, there is a distant roof overhead, and signs are pointing to a food alley – this must be a shopping mall.
3. The hero flies through the air, survives vicious attacks unscathed, always defeats the forces of evil – this must be a fantasy.
