The Unconscious Self

[shunyadragon]

Dennett's compatabilism which limits free will to his description of 'wiggle room' has a basis in the behavioral science and the physiology of the brain in what is called the Unconscious Self. The subject o this thread is to dialogue concerning the evidence for this Unconscious Self that dominates our will and limits the degree of free will that Dennett proposes in his theory of compatabalism.

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/unconscious

Understanding the Unconscious

The unconscious is where most of the work of the mind gets done; it's the repository of automatic skills, the source of intuition and dreams, and an engine of information processing. Fleeting perceptions may register in the unconscious mind long before are aware of them.

The unconscious mind is not some black hole of unacceptable impulses waiting to trip you up, but it can be the source of hidden beliefs, fears, and attitudes that interfere with everyday life. Most forms of psychotherapy aim to bring into conscious awareness many of these hidden hindrances, so that we can examine them and choose how to deal with them.

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It has been demonstrated that physical wounds, tumors, disease, and other physical changes in the brain can radically influence and actually change behavior, personality, and our decision making process.

I also propose that our unconscious self changes with normal maturing and aging. We have different Unconscious Selves as children, changes through puberty, adulthood and as we age in our elder years.

There are indeed differing views that consider the degree of control or influence of the Unconscious Self. Some propose more of a partnership with the Conscious Self ( David B. Feldman Ph.D), and others propose that the Unconscious Self dominates (Dennett, David Eagleman PhD).

[shunyadragon]

I am looking for input from the philosophical and scientific perspective concerning the nature of the Unconscious Self and human cognition and will.

I will give more references in the future, but at present I would like to comment on the differences between Eagleman and Dennett.

Eagleman is primarily a scientist, and depends heavily on scientific evidence for determinism. He does not address the 'potential o free will in most of his writings.

Dennett on the other hand is primarily a philosopher who refers to science extensively, particularly evolution and behavioral science to justify his view of compatabilism. He addresses the 'potential of free will' more than Eagleman.

The following cite discusses some of the differences between Eagleman and Dennett.

https://partiallyexaminedlife.com/20...-neuroscience/

It is interesting that philosophers lean more toward variations of free will, and scientists lean toward determinism. This parallels the comments on their websites and websites that cite their work. Comments criticized scientists for not considering philosophy, and some criticized some philosophers for not taking into consideration the science.

[37818]

There is a National Geographic article where they measured response times between the conscious and unconscious mind.
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic....our-decisions/

[shunyadragon]

There is a National Geographic article where they measured response times between the conscious and unconscious mind.
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic....our-decisions/

Thank you for the reference. It is worth a read. It describes some of the evidence of the influence the Unconscious Self has over the decision making process of the Conscious Self.

[shunyadragon]

Libet has similar view as Dennett based on the scientific research"



I propose that most humans in history live largely passive deterministic lives, but there is the 'potential free will' as described by Libet, and to a lesser extent by Dennett.

[shunyadragon]

I stated the following in a previous post. The question is can our unconscious mind be altered to treat phobias and other mental problems that we do not have 'free will' to change?

"It has been demonstrated that physical wounds, tumors, disease, and other physical changes in the brain can radically influence and actually change behavior, personality, and our decision making process.

I also propose that our unconscious self changes with normal maturing and aging. We have different Unconscious Selves as children, changes through puberty, adulthood and as we age in our elder years."

In the past treatment of phobias was exposure an hypnosis, which have been notorious as failures. Recently successful research has treated phobias like arachnophobia with propranolol.



The consequences of drug treatments that can alter our unconscious mind, which we do not have 'free will' to change has immense future consequences. We cannot willfully change the unconscious mind, but it has been demonstrated in this tratment that memories of the unconscious mind can be blocked or altered by drug treatment.