Freud and the ultimate subconcious

Friday, October 31, 2014 - 12:57

 Born in Austria although arriving in Australia seven years later, all things Austrian have had a fascination for me over the years, as they do. After studying all the famous Austrian musicians, Freud was the next interest. Going through puberty the sexual context of his theory also added spice.

 Since then and having more life experience, and from my own analysis, I think from what I’ve read, Freud did not go far enough in defining the effect of the subconscious. He was right in determining the incredibly large effect it played in our lives and how it moulded individual behaviour. He was wrong not to take this fare enough to identify a subconscious fear we all have of dying and that this is so stressful that we sublimate in many cases by devoting a whole lifetime following religions purporting to give us answers for which our unconscious tells us there aren’t any. Just think about it.

We have a great planet. We have a great life; there are children, families, joys and the inevitable tears. We work all our lives earning to survive and if possible to put something away for our progeny but at the end of the day that rich man still can’t get through the eye of the needle. It’s a really horrible thought not knowing what is there when we die and can be horrible to think that this is all there is or ever will be. The fear has daunted men since humanity existed but it is too great a fear to even admit and so it has been driven into the general subconscious. 

Religions have proliferated through the ages with different people espousing answers to these subconscious fears and the leaders of the religions have been able to collect their followers since again, these people do not want to even scrape into their unconscious mind and admit their fears it being far easier to accept some doctrine or placebo which suggests it will be all right.

Of course once you gain some relief from your fear by following your religious belief you have to find any possible area of reinforcement rather than intellectually challenge the basis of the religious beliefs you are following. This becomes true even if you need to mount religious wars to stop others arguing that their God is better than your God. You also cease to question basic logic when different religious leaders report that they have had personal communication with gods and angels who have given them instructions to be passed on to others. No witnesses? You wouldn’t get a conviction in any court of law on such evidence but people accept this far rather than open up to the fears in their sub conscious.

The point in all this is that if we are ever to get this never ending religious lunacy leading to armed conflict under control, we need to recognise the route of the cause and let people see for themselves what is driving them. If you have been brought up under such a system it becomes built into your conscious and reinforces the subconscious. On the other hand, as with psychiatric treatment, a patient is walked through their lives to awaken the subconscious until they can see the influence this has had on their lives. The second a person can see the connection, the problem goes away.

 An example from a case history.

 Girl 23 tries to kill herself in a red Austin Healy Sprite.

Under Group therapy it emerges that her older sister’s husband owns a black Austin Healy. When the girl was 13, and sister not yet married, had only been dating the boyfriend but as a joke one night he jumped out and grabbed her in the dark hallway. It wasn't quite sure what he touched. During the therapy sessions she realised that event had led to a strong sexual experience although it had only lasted seconds. The sister marrying had the girl felt rejected and the red stained glass window in the church during the marriage ceremony reinforced this intense betrayal of her sexuality. Suddenly this linkage became so clear to her the problem disappeared.

The hypothesis is therefore that were people to see the reason why they embrace religion beyond any bounds of logic. It is almost part of an evolutionary function. Take that to its extreme and mankind could bring about its own extinction through fear of its own demise...