The Unconscious, The "not" Particle. Vol.1

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

In 1915, Freud set out to carry out a "great synthesis" (in his own words), namely, to formulate the metapsychology of psychoanalysis and wrote 12 works, of which only 5 have survived, the fate of the remaining 7 is plainly unknown. One of these works was "The Unconscious". In this work, Freud formulated his first topical (ancient Greek τόπος - literally "place") model of the structure of the mental apparatus - he identified three systems (it is also customary to call them instances) - consciousness, preconscious and unconscious. Moreover, it is essential to use the "unconscious", and not the "subconscious", because none of these systems has subordination to another system, they have no hierarchy, only close and continuous interaction.

The system of consciousness includes everything that we perceive at the moment, right now, and this is quite a bit. The system of the preconscious includes everything that we do not perceive and do not think at the moment, but at the same time we can easily remember. For example, if I ask you, what did you do last night? then most of you will be able to easily touch these memories of yours. In a descriptive sense, the preconscious system is considered a part of consciousness, so that in the literature you can find the following spelling - Cs (Psz) - consciousness (preconscious). In a topical sense, the preconscious is a separate system or, in other words, an instance. And finally, the unconscious is something special, incomparable with anything that we know, not like anything else. This is a system that exists according to completely different laws than those to which we are accustomed and which we understand. There is no time in the unconscious - all representations (thoughts, images, experiences) exist simultaneously and are distinguished not by the time to which they relate, but by the degree of loading. Sometimes the memories of bygone days are remembered so vividly, as if they were yesterday, and, conversely, what was very recently can be experienced as dull and indifferent. Perhaps you have heard from psychologists in response to some of your words "Oh, there is a lot of energy here!" - this is it, the very energy, the force of attraction, which is loaded with this or that representation (thoughts, images, experiences). And if in consciousness the energy is always associated with some specific representation, then in the unconscious energy is free, and it can move from one representation to another, which Freud termed "displacement", or maybe, through an extensive associative network, representations, forming a conglomerate - and this we call "condensation". And together displacement and thickening are called primary processes. The unconscious is consistent, in it opposites do not confront each other, but form compromises. The unconscious is the dwelling place of repressed representations. Those representations that do not pass censorship are supplanted, and therefore are experienced as dangerous, capable of leading to an unbearable level of mental arousal. Actually, the purpose of repression is not to destroy this or that idea, but to inhibit the development of affect. The unconscious is filled with the repressed, but not limited to it. Representation is always something that takes place (in the psyche). Therefore, the language of the unconscious is always a statement about what is in psychic reality. Only psychic reality exists in the unconscious. And if some heavily loaded representations break into consciousness, then the last thing that remains to be done with them in order to reduce their influence, to disarm them, is to add a particle of “not”. Therefore, for example, when a client says to the therapist "no, well, of course, I understand that you are not mine …", then this suggests that in the unconscious the therapist and mother are in this associative chain, the client is already associating the therapist and mom, and in an attempt to defend against the tension that this connection creates, it is important to say that it is "not" so. A bit of “not” is kind of the last thing the psyche can do to cope with the growing stress.

But, of course, here it is important not to slip into a primitive interpretation of all words with a “not” particle, as manifestations of the unconscious. The psyche is protected in this way from loaded figurative representations, but negation itself can be used in completely different contexts, and it is important to see and distinguish these contexts.

To be continued)

Author: Julia Semina