What is the Subconscious Mind?

[Paddy Landau]

Today, a question was asked about the subconscious mind, and I answered thus:

The "sub" in "subconscious" refers to "below consciousness", not meaning below as in inferior or underneath, but below as in "outside of". Or, to put it another way, "below awareness".

The subconscious seems to be a model or metaphor.

There are several models. Here are some of the more useful ones I've found:

1. There is no such thing as the subconscious. Just a continuation from fully aware to very unaware.
   
2. There are many different subpersonalities, and "subconscious" is just an easy, if inaccurate, way to refer to the collection of them all. Your conscious mind is just the current state of which subpersonalities are currently dominant.
   
3. There is a specific entity, the subconscious, which is separate from the conscious, and it can take control of any part of your body.
   
4. There are three entities: The conscious, the subconscious, and the unconscious. The unconscious refers to the primitive, functional part of the brain.
   
5. There are three entities: The conscious, the subconscious, and the "superconscious".

All of these models are useful, and I switch between them as appropriate with the specific client and the specific problem.

Do not confuse these models with reality. Why? Because, first, we have no clear definition of the words. For example, "subconscious" in all the points has very different meanings. Therefore, they cannot match reality, because we do not agree on their meanings. And, second, lacking clear definition, they are not theories that can be empirically tested. (If we nail down the definitions, then of course we can devise experiments to test them.)

I would be interested in hearing other useful models from other people.

Paddy