about the mind

Any human, at some stage, becomes overwhelmed, and the mind becomes disconnected from or escapes from the "self." However, certain individuals have a propensity to retreat more often and over longer periods of time, which may contribute to a pattern of behavior. According to Stout, the habit of withdrawing from one's "self" starts as a life-saving tactic against childhood traumas. Later on, the unconscious ritual evolves into a way of life marked by lengthy stretches of disengagement from the outside environment and emotional isolation. In more extreme situations, the routine causes a participant to black out for hours and grow various identities or routines in order to cope with life problems and work properly. Against such a background, where individuals get lost in the world of thoughts and end up suffering from mental conditions, Stout gives a deserved emphasis on the complexity of the mind (420).

In his theory, The Myth of the Ant Queen, Johnson, refers to how all people naturally seek a pattern to explain the occurrence of phenomena. The author dwells on how certain social arrangements and patterns are developed out of total disorganization, even when an authority figure does not exist. The different “self-organizing” patterns are developed unconsciously in a similar way like how some people use the escape from reality strategy in coping with various traumas. Stout identifies the strategy of escaping from reality as dissociation. Therefore, the power and the capability of the unconscious mind as explained by Stout can be used to explain the self-organization patterns as highlighted by Johnson throughout his essay.

Dissociation

Dissociation occurs when one’s mind travels away from the “self”, and the individual is not in a position to understand what is “happening in the conscious or physical world (419).” Dissociation is more of a self-organizing strategy by the individuals who have suffered past traumas to escape in a world that suits their desires. Dissociation can be categorized into two: childhood and adult dissociation. Children are likely to develop dissociation when they are undergoing some trauma or abuse. For the children, the dissociation episodes normally last for very short periods. For the adults dissociation occurs mainly due to painful experiences or stress and the episodes can last for long. Therefore, it is possible for humans to be psychologically absent during their physical and direct experience like watching movies and reading among others for a few moments, hours or even much longer (424).

The psychological absence resulting from daydreaming is called a distraction while that involving a movie is seen as an escape. However, self-absence resulting from psychological, physical or traumas qualifies as dissociation. A dissociative disorder reaching the point of a fugue is the most extreme example of the human mind dividing consciousness into parts. In fugue which is derived from the Italian word fuga meaning flight, an individual’s mind formats in a manner that allows certain intellectual functions to continue while it has taken a flight (432). For instance, some people arrive home in the evening driving but do not recall any driving activities on the road. Notably, Stout argues that mental health demands an appropriate balance of both engagement and dissociation (420).

Further, Stout affirms that the brain lays down traumatic memories differently from the way normal and regular ones are recorded (Stout 422). The regular memories are recorded with ample cortical and hippocampal input as understandable wholes, and their meanings can be altered by language or future events (422). On the other hand, the traumatic memories are recorded as messy fragments concealed from change by future experiences. Long after the initial trauma, the brain consists of only anonymous and isolated bits of sensation, images, and emotions that reoccur like a broken alarm. At times, dissociation may occur due to nervousness, confusion, and frustration despite an individual recognizing their absence or not. Most people fail to notice the dissociation experiences as they go about their daily lives. However, with time the protective mental reactions develop tremendous habit strength or self-organizing patterns.

Using Stout’s Dissociation and Consciousness Concepts to Extend Johnson’s Theories

The different theories developed by Johnson emphasize on how all people naturally try to find a pattern that can expound on the occurrence of events. The author’s first example of self-organizing occurrences is the harvester ant’s colony. Notably, the self-organizing occurrences arise in a state of dissociation, where no single individual designs the final pattern. Using the ant’s colony, Johnson describes how the ants appear to have well-planned colony layout that includes a designated dump site and cemetery (194).

Further, at the bottom of the colony, one has to search for a hidden passageway that leads almost two feet down to find a small antechamber where the queen is highly protected by a sizeable number of ants. Ironically, the term queen in the human society is associated with leadership, authority, and the highest office in the land, but for the ants, “the queen has no authority (194).” Gordon points out that despite the heavy security provided to the ants’ queen, she does not demand the service (195).In fact, the many tunnels and chambers in the colony would make it physically impossible for the queen to supervise over the ants due to her physical size.

Again, the same theme of “self-organization” explains how the authorities in the city of Manchester were unable to control its fast growth rate (196). Without the control of the authorities, the city witnessed a natural division between the rich and the poor. Also, the lack of authority triggered the development of a self-organization where unconsciously and unknowingly, people established patterns just like in the case of the ants. Finally, in an effort to give an example of self-organization in the modern times, Johnson uses the coding language in computers. The author argues that the primitive computers were in a position to develop patterns and learn when a program was run for many times (202). Thus, the computers self-organize their coding links to allow them function better. From the various examples given by Johnson, the self-organization process takes place unconsciously and without prior planning. Thus, the examples can be used to emphasize more on the power of the unconscious mind. Using Stout's explanation of dissociation, one understands better why the ants feed and protect their queen as their source of life. Also, the dissociation factor helps one comprehend why the residents of Manchester city did not appear bothered by the evident separation of the poor and rich residents. The development of the city was purely without conscious or any explicit intentions.

Value of the Unconscious mind to the Conscious “Self”

Stout argues that the hidden or buried past memories can play a disruptive role in distorting the present experiences. When an individual fails to remember what happened in the past, their future also becomes scary. The past memories for the people suffering from the dissociative disorder are vital in trying to fix or rectify their current mental challenges. Stout gives an example of one of her patients, Julia, who had missing childhood memories which ended up distorting and significantly disrupting her present experiences (423). Julia’s psyche was mangled by a profound trauma in the past and after several suicide attempts, she decided to seek help. The suicide example shows the gravity of missing one’s past memories.

Due to the prevalence of extreme dissociation cases, psychologists have developed the hypnotization strategy which allows them to explore the unconscious mind with the aim of improving the conscious mind (425). In short, the psychologists assist patients regain the lost memories and deal better with the current experiences. The hypnotization experts induce the patients to remember their past through various techniques like relaxation, distraction, or monotony to create a temporary experience known as a trance or hypnotic state. Stout indicates how Julia accepted to be hypnotized, and the process greatly helped in casting some light on what happened to her at a young age. Being in the hypnotic state allowed Julia to acknowledge her faint suspicions and remember her dreams vividly. Additionally, the hypnotization process allowed Julia to regain the courage of facing her past and traveled back to LA, to talk with her old neighbors and relatives (425). Stout sees the development as a major step towards the healing process. In the regular hypnotization process, Julia and Stout discovered that as a child she lived with parents who mistreated and regularly abused her for no good reason. The harsh childhood forced Julia even to stop telling herself about the suffering, and she would go “somewhere else not to be there (426).” Therefore, understanding one’s unconscious mind prevents one from having disrupted and distorted conscious occurrences.



Works Cited

Stout, Martha “When I Woke Up Tuesday Morning, it was Friday” New Humanities Reader, p. 419-439.

Johnson, Steven, “The Myth of the Ant Queen” New Humanities Reader, p.192-207.

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