I ended the previous essay (Part 2) about the amplifying unconscious by noting the basic thesis: one of the functions of this type of psychic dynamic is that it amplifies the intensity and speed of the experiences associated with perception, meaning, importance, and the sense of will. However, just because it\u2019s powerful that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s necessarily either wise or good. (We have a tendency\u2014based on childish thinking\u2014of idealizing as good that which is powerful, but it doesn\u2019t logically follow!) <\/p>\n
I was reminded of the scene in Walt Disney movie, Fantasia (1940, 2000) in which Mickey Mouse played the \u201cSorcerer\u2019s Apprentice.\u201d In it the loyal enchanted broom helps Mickey out but then really overdoes it. The amplifying unconscious can do this, take what it takes as the intentions of the master and carry them on often with far more intensity and cleverness than might have been overly intended. It\u2019s sort of a variation of the saying, be careful of what you desire because you might get it! The point here is that the amplifying unconscious is inconceivably clever, but yet not wise. It can serve the vector of the aggregate desires of the ordinary conscious mind, for good, for evil, or for just being muddy-minded. <\/p>\n
If on the whole individuals manage to latch on to positive values associated with ideals and disciplines and align their minds in that direction, they tend to get back in amplified ways what they put out. If they generate expansive, loving thoughts and feelings, people tend to reap a good deal of joy, insight, good fortune, and other reinforcements. They also tend to be more productive for the good in many different ways. This is the message of innumerable books about positive thinking and self-help. <\/p>\n
If, on the other hand, people tend to become embroiled with the sense of hurt, resentment, victimization, lust, greed, and other negative emotions, it seems that their life becomes filled with occasions that reinforce these attitudes. They also tend to make life awful for others. <\/p>\n
To use a somewhat mythical metaphor, it\u2019s as if folks unconsciously access either angels or demons to work on their behalf. While I\u2019m reluctant to be literal, neither do I too quickly or lightly dismiss as mere superstition these \u201cmagical\u201d ideas that have been contemplated for many centuries by otherwise thoughtful people. It is important, though, to re-frame those seemingly outside forces as not truly beyond our influence, but rather the expression of undisciplined and often immature habits of our own minds. For example, I doubt that there are external demons per se, but rather suspect an amplifying dynamic that exaggerates and elaborates our own more negative unconscious complexes. <\/p>\n
The Muddy Middle Is Also Amplified<\/strong> <\/p>\n Perhaps the above-noted contrast is obscured by a third dynamic, the power of the amplifying unconscious to intensify the ordinary unconscious that I noted in the previous blog. The processes of avoidance exhibited by most people\u2014neither particularly positive nor negative. As I noted, most people want three things: (1) to fulfill childish and unrealistic goals; (2) to attain higher status, the privileges of respect and adulthood, that would be incompatible with the previous goal; and (3) the mental maneuvers\u2014often involving the many defense mechanisms described in dynamic psychology, plus interpersonal manipulations, plus a host of general socio-cultural norms and activities, all of which combine to disguise the first two items while also offering symbolic compromises. All this gets intensified by the amplifying unconsciousness. <\/p>\n In other words, people unconsciously want what they want and don\u2019t want to take responsibility for recognizing that what they want is childish and unrealistic. The amplifying unconscious responds with the Sorcerer\u2019s apprentice power, as if to say, \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll help you achieve that.\u201d As a result, people fill their lives not only with a wealth of subtle neurotic dynamics, but also avoidances, patterns of denial, and a wealth of socio-cultural supports that collude in generating the illusion that what is thought makes perfect sense and that what is known is sufficient. (This accounts for the power of denial in the addictions, for example.) <\/p>\n The presence of this middle level\u2014not obviously aimed at clarity and positivity, nor consisting of a predominance of negativity, but rather just muddy-mindedness\u2014obscures the ability to perceive the shifts towards clarity and positivity or the lapses and drifts into low-grade negativity, and also thereby obscures our understanding of those who reap the benefits or misfortunes of more sustained good or evil. <\/p>\n Further Qualities of the Amplifying Unconscious <\/p>\n Numinosity<\/em><\/strong>: This is the experience or illusion that what is imagined, felt, believed, is compellingly important. It also carries a sense that these thoughts are \u201cmore real than ordinary reality.\u201d <\/p>\n