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

is not consciously aware of how his body is reacting; his unconscious mind is controlling his reactions. The phrases “he doesn't understand” and the “sensations had not cohered,” help emphasize Brooks’ point of Rob not being aware of his body and the reactions it is having towards Julia. Specifically notice the connotation around the words “understand” and “cohered;” the way Brooks uses these words brings a connotation of confusion creating a sense that Rob is slightly confused about the sensations occurring and has absolutely no conscious control over his body’s reactions. Rob isn’t consciously thinking about how to make his body respond, his body is responding without the effort of the conscious mind. Rob maybe is consciously thinking that Julia is really pretty, but he is not consciously thinking that he is really attracted to her.

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

to.

I agree with Brooks’ argument, however without going through my own dating relationship first, I would have been really surprised.

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

walk down the hallway of my high school, it would be an automatic response to him standing next to me. I unknowingly would shift my textbooks to be in the other arm, and my hand would drop down to touch his and then hold it as we walked together. As you can see, this is all controlled by my unconscious mind. I was unaware of what I was doing and why. While I was dating, more and more things occurred similar to this. It didn’t seem strange or awkward as I would adjust to sit closer to him or hold his hand. However, before my dating experience, I thought that dating would be difficult because I would constantly be thinking about how to act and react. Just toying with the idea about how I would have to hold my books and hold someone’s hand seemed weird and uncomfortable. When I started dating, it was very surprising and a great relief to realize that there was some actions that I didn’t have to consciously think about all the time. I am glad that the unconscious mind controlled more than just my heart rate, and breathing patterns. I’m glad it included reactions my body had to being attracted to this man I was dating. Some might object, of course, on the grounds that in order to maintain relationships a lot of conscious effort needs to be put forth from both people involved. Yet I would argue that while some conscious effort does have to be put forth to maintain a relationship, the unconscious mind does a lot to impress, react, or get reactions that one is not even aware of. Overall, then, I believe that I am in agreement with Brooks’ viewpoint of how the unconscious and conscious mind interacts. I believe that my conscious mind is controlling the thoughts of my mind while my unconscious mind is controlling the reactions of my body.