There has always been this debate over the subconscious mind, and whether it is master over our lives and motivations, or servant. To Self-made Man, it is servant. What is the purpose of the conscious versus the subconscious mind? The conscious mind is the integrator, the organizer of percepts, from which concepts are derived, acted on, and whose bounty is then harvested. The subconscious is the automatizerof concepts frequently acted on by one’s consciousness. It has no knowledge other than that which we give it, through repetition of our conscious effort. We pace ourselves with a certain practice until we understand it, then as it becomes automatic, it is released from conscious control and delegated to the subconscious, allowing the conscious mind to grasp new material. As our efficiency raises, our minor actions become automated, while our major goal remains conscious, and continues to expand in whatever direction our conscious mind chooses. If we make no determination of course, we float, and stillget what we’re after; it’s only that “random mess” was replaced as the goal.
The concept of willis just the honest application of the process of cognition, of open perception—of honest identification—of disciplined, rational action and of gratifying reward. Human will is nota subconscious attribute, though prior automatization can serve to undercut our will or to fortify it. The subconscious makes no choices; it has no faculty by which to make them. The subconscious needs direction from the conscious mind. All it does is operate automated processes based on our accepted premises. If we automate unsound processes, it will operate them without question, and our resulting misery will continue as long as we evade the responsibility to correct them. Perceptiveness, evasion, introspection or its avoidance, are first set in motion by being the subject of the conscious mind. Whatever we dwell on, we train the subconscious to evoke and maintain. We control the subconscious whether we accept that responsibility or not, and controlling its automatization can produce fascinating results, to be explored in future works.