SUB-CONSCIOUS MIND.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 709, 7 January 1910, Page 6

SUB-CONSCIOUS MIND.

"THE ITNIIEBGEOUKD WORKSHOP:** ; At, a of .the Glasgow Health; ftdture"', Society, Professor ;Latta. delivered a lecture.on ."The Sub-Con-scious. .MindV'■".■Be{said his lecture was entitled "The Subconscious Mind," or what Oliver Wendell Holmes, called "the underground workshop of the mind." Nothing. at first sight,, he remarked/ seemed easier ,than ; to look into.one's own mind and to see., how it. worked;.. We'.were inclined to say if.'.' we did hot know our own inindi.what did we know? ' Doubtless, for, pfa'ctical. purposes,-it.-was easy to..know'.something.;ahout .ourselves, 'but' really, .'to knoW "an.d understand "our' own •mind,. was • probably, the most'difficult work.man.could,.set before'''himself.' The' higher' mathematics■ was 'simplicity itself compared, to. itl; Nowadays .there was'perhaps. ;a tendency „to .'exaggerate'' the importance , of' the underground : workshop, but few things were.more.remarkable in the thinking/of: to-day than" the/amount of- attention that was' being given' to- it. The upper-workshop of the mind—our clear 'consciousness—was .infinitely'' vast and complex,; but vtold. us that in cor.iparisoSj with,the underground workshop—the' region .belbw the threshold' of ■ consciousness—the' upper :region' 1 ;-';. was! no greater than the''fragineht' ot an- lce- : berg -which'"roseHbove -the' sea- as-'com-' pared-with, the; vast, mass of ice hidden. below;.,-';,Consoioiisn9Ss ;-was a\very/ : ami biguous term.',-No. one had-given 'a satisfactory definition;of it,, and he.doubted whether- a definition:,of.it:-was'possiblej but we 'must not assume rh'at : because we oould not defino:it .weknew^nothihgabout it, .'Or;- that'although we T co.uld : not define it we, knew quite' well, what'it was.- : " For' the '■■ purposes' of .his-.'lecture/;.Professor .Latta- went on tb<say he was 'mainly-'con-cerned-' with the' consciousness: of'.'objects' rather' than; 1 with/ the :consciousness':.; of self.' .'-There'was'no. 'absolute /separation between unconsciousness / and;: consciousness ; / there/was '[ a 1 regular,.'gradation 'between the two, and,invconsciousness.itself, there was a similar gradation...There was,a;igreat, variety of degrees in one's, cohscibnsness'^at..any. one moment-.- It was always-full of complexity,' of/main currents and: undercurrents,and the main current passed- 'frequently into' an : undercurrent, .. while some undercurrent ; took.". its place. -The various': degrees 'of cohi sciousness might;, be' 1 illustrated by the 1 : analogy of the'-phehornena'of 'sight. There was no hard and fast,line" between the centre where-ohr visioh.'.was. clearest'and the. surrounding, parts.;where, onr vision was...less' clear)- nor was'there''any hard and fast line; between' the- parts surrounding-, the centre 'and.the/region 1 which was entirely; invisible. .Bach shaded gradually off; into the other." ; Something analogous to that, was- at,times':true of the whole' of our mental:*etate:/.v'There was 1 always' a 1 'focus "of' clear '• consciousness.' Around that there was' a fringe /of hazv, imperfect' consciousness which gradually shaded, off,: becoming more 'and. more' .indefinite .into/the, sub-con--scions •. or the unconscious region .of the mind. The limits, of /that sub-conscious region were 'extremely,; indefinite - and varied.;. The. threshold,' of' consciousness was just, that vague and varying boundary line between the conscious and the sub-conscious. The normal threshold'"of consciousnessjraight be', raised or lowered. It -was:,.raised, ■ for,;instance,-in..,;sleep.. Dreaming. : :was- a- form', of. consciousness;-. Concentration of attention on some: par-, tioular. line. : -of; thought or.;study...often raised the threshold of consciousness.-Pro- 7 fessor.- Latta 1 afterwards gave interesting instances, of: the" operation of.the sub-con-scious element'iri-ordinary' and abnormal experiences/- 1 .- "/■'/;,: . : .-v-' ; '.'■■ , .;. : -'<:-\.|':.".