What is the subconscious mind?

It is now considered proven that a subconscious exists. Even things that are not consciously perceived can measurably influence brain activity. You can think of the subconscious as something like the hard drive on a computer. Our consciousness itself is like the working memory. Another popular image to represent the conscious and subconscious mind is that of an iceberg in the ocean. The small tip on the surface is the consciousness, the massive underbelly is the subconscious.

The human brain uses approximately 86 billion neurons, which in turn connect over 100 trillion synapses. And despite this gigantic potential, no more than 10% of them are used consciously. Over 90% of behavior is said to be influenced by the subconscious. The subconscious perceives everything that we also perceive. Even if we do not always do it consciously. For example, what we see, hear, smell and taste, even if it is only for a split second.

Every second, our subconscious mind is supposed to take in between 50,000 and 80,000 pieces of information and process, store and prioritize them at the same time. Positive or negative feelings arise through associations. The subconscious has an important filtering function. If we had to consciously deal with all the thoughts and impressions, we would not be able to do anything else. That a subconscious exists becomes clear when we think of certain automatisms. Basic things like breathing and swallowing normally work unconsciously. If we consciously concentrate on such processes, they sometimes even feel unfamiliar. The heartbeat and digestion also do not require the conscious mind. Likewise, learned behavior is stored subconsciously and, when recalled, causes a certain reaction. In this way, automatisms can be implemented without actively thinking, such as when speaking, writing or later when riding a bicycle or driving a car.

If one wants to make a decision, many people will know a certain gut feeling or a kind of intuition. This can also be derived from the subconscious mind, which evaluates the collected information and communicates this evaluation back. Our subconscious mind thus collects all our wealth of experiences and learned things. During hypnosis, we can now try to communicate with the subconscious, to influence it or to gain knowledge from it.