The Unconscious Mind In David Brooks The Social Animal

In the Introduction to “The Social Animal”, David Brooks offers a synthesis of new research which challenges our understanding of, as he says “how the conscious and unconscious minds interact.” Specifically, Brooks argues that the processes. As the author, he puts it, “Rob actually shiver[s] as he escort[s] Julia back unconscious and conscious mind interact through how the control is divided up. The unconscious mind controls body movement while the conscious mind controls thinking to her car. His heart [is] palpitating and his breathing [is] fast. […] Vague sensations [sweep] over him, which he [doesn’t] understand […] because their sensations had not cohered into any conscious message” (Brooks 15-17). We can see from this example that Rob

As the conscious and unconscious mind interact and control specific reactions that Rob is experiencing, This doesn’t mean the Rob is completely unaware that he is walking to the car or talking to Julia or that he is shivering. He is fully aware of those aspects but only has limited control over them consciously. He can’t stop shivering by thinking to himself “stop shivering” because this is being controlled by the unconscious mind. Although some people believe the feeling of affection is completely controlled by the conscious mind, Brooks argues that while some actions such as walking and talking are being controlled by the conscious mind, but at the same time some other actions, associated with being attracted to someone such as shivering, are being controlled by the unconscious mind. In sum, then, his view is that the conscious and unconscious mind interact by controlling different reactions. The unconscious mind is controlling the physical body reactions to being attracted while the conscious mind is controlling the thoughts going through one’s mind about the person one is attracted

In my own view, the conscious mind controls thought processes while the unconscious mind controls the body functions of breathing, heart pumping, and digesting food, so to extend this thought to romantic situations would also be fitting and be a logic assumption. For instance, before I started dating, I looked at my parents, and I was confused at how they could always think and act according to the desires of one another. I was confused how my mom could be grading papers but acknowledge whenever my dad would walk into the room. I thought she must be making mistakes in her grading or going really slowly, but in fact she was not. Before my own dating experience, if I had read this book, I would have been really surprised at learning how my mom was able to do all of that. Learning about how her mind would be able to interact to make my mom look she was really good at multi-tasking. I now realize that her conscious mind was focused on the grading of papers, but her unconscious mind was focused on something completely different, my dad. Just like my mom, after I started dating, I realized that I too was able to “multi-task.” I was able to be focused on my homework and still be able to waive or wink when I saw him approaching me in the library. In addition, I never thought about if I wanted to hold hands with my boyfriend, it just happened. As we would