Become aware of the unconscious.

Hello.
This is Aoyagi.

I recently learned the word "scotoma."

You're probably wondering what that word means.

I found an easy-to-understand YouTube video that's just a minute long, so please check it out.





What did you think?

I completely didn't notice it. (lol)


Scotoma was originally a medical term used by ophthalmologists, meaning a visual blind spot, but in psychology, it's treated as a psychological blind spot.

It refers to a state where information is unconsciously filtered, and some information is not recognized.


It was incredibly interesting, and it made me think a lot.


Scotoma lurking in daily life

Everyone has worries and anxieties, big or small, I think.

Of course, sometimes they get resolved, but if they don't, scotoma might be at play.


For example,


・You unconsciously avoid taking action, only gathering information, even though nothing will change unless you change your behavior.

・When anxieties and worries are resolved, you don't know what to think.
When you don't know what to think, it makes you more anxious, so you unconsciously prevent them from being resolved.


And so on.





What are the points that the brain unconsciously judges?

Why do anxieties and worries not disappear, even though you feel them?

You know in your head that you "want to solve them."

But your actions are always an extension of where you currently are.

A safe, familiar, and less failure-prone place.

This is what's called the "comfort zone."


You want to solve them, but actually solving them requires considerable resolve, effort, and perseverance.

You might think, "I can't stand this anymore" or "I really want this," but your brain unconsciously judges that it's safer and easier to stay as you are than to put in the effort to actually solve the problem.


This is extremely important!


Because the brain judges "unconsciously," even if you "consciously" try to change, it often doesn't change.

This isn't because you have weak willpower, but because your brain unconsciously chooses the easier path.

In other words, the problem might not be with conscious thought, but with the unconscious.





So, what should you do?

My answer was: "Become conscious of the unconscious."

Easier said than done, this is incredibly difficult.


For example, the act of "walking."

Normally, you walk without thinking, but if you try to walk by consciously thinking about each step: "Lift your right foot off the ground, move it 30cm forward, land on your heel. Next, your left foot..."

It becomes quite difficult. And frankly, it would be scary if you were constantly thinking like that while walking. (lol)

It's incredibly difficult, but I think this is what it means to "become conscious of the unconscious."


It's tough at first, but once you get the hang of it, I think you'll gradually be able to control actions that were previously dominated by the unconscious.


Step out of your comfort zone.

Don't let your brain escape to the easier path; persistently and tenaciously face what you truly want to resolve.

If you deeply, deeply consider the reasons and can control scotoma even a little, I think you'll be able to move forward little by little in life without stagnating.


The concept of scotoma and how to resolve it were difficult, and while writing this article, there were moments when I didn't even know what I was saying myself. (lol)


Nevertheless, I hope this column article can be useful as a solution for someone.