On top of looking for the path of least cognitive dissonance, the unconscious mind tends to look for the easiest way to feel—not necessarily be—in control. For instance, procrastinating by playing video games makes you feel in control but doesn't really, but it's a much easier pathway than directly addressing the problem you're avoiding. Or repeating an argument you had in your head makes you feel in control of that conversation, even though it clearly doesn't do anything in reality.
Control is why the mind is so incredibly powerful: it can lock in on certain aspects of reality it can manipulate, so that it can benefit from it. But when the mind becomes detached from a broader context, through the softening nature of consciousness, it becomes egoic and thus is only interested in serving itself, even if it goes mad by only being concerned with itself.
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2024-08-05