Collective unconscious
This idea was put forward by Carl Jung, and ties in with his ideas on Shadow Work. It is possibly his most controversial idea and it is often misunderstood as being too fanciful and mystical for scientific research.
I'm going to try and remove these misconceptions with a little help from Jung himself.
Personal verses Collective
Personal unconscious
Is made up of personal experiences, things that were once conscious before they were forgotten or repressed.
Collective unconscious
Has never been conscious or personally acquired by the individual. It is a hereditary thing made up of archetypes.
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It may seem mystical that we can inherit unconscious ideas, but Jung argues that psychology is driven by biological factors as well as personal experiences.
A good example of this is the nature/nurture debate. Most psychologists will agree that both nature and nurture effect our psychology. We are driven by innate urges and effected by biological factors such as higher levels of testosterone predisposing a person to violence or less serotonin production effecting our happiness. Addiction can be biological and many psychologists believe that fears of spiders or snakes is biologically predisposed.
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Jung himself defines his archetypes as unconscious images and representations of instincts themselves. When we consider this, the idea of the collective unconscious begins to seem much more possible.
Comments (7)
Love this. This has been an enormous area of interest of mine.
I'm reading a book on Tarot and Shadow Work at the moment :sunglasses:
I am fascinated by the idea of collective unconscious, though, not as familiar with Jung’s work. Would you say in his definition that it is solely inherited? I ask bc I’ve been curious about visuals in art-making that repeat throughout history with the makers having no connection to each other. There may be a different term for that.
Ah interesting! Looking at similar motifs and themes in mythologies accross different cultures is actually what led Jung to come up with the collective unconscious and archetypes.
Yes, his definition is that they are innate. Many people misunderstood and though he meant we all as a species share an unconscious. But he describes them as innate as sexual urges. The artical I've linked in the post is actually his reply to all the confusion.
Reply to: Sophieg113
I see. Thanks for clarifying!