By Deepika R Nair and Varsha A.S

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Often we wonder about were these thoughts are originated? Do they come from our “mind”? Is the mind a part of the brain? What is this “Mind” exactly? Well theoretically speaking it is a set of cognitive faculties of consciousness, imagination, perception, thinking, judgement, memory and language. The “Mind” is considered as a link to our unconsciousness. Many theories and approaches have been made by philosophers and psychologists on the origin of mind and where it is present.

Mind is often referred as a seat of human consciousness. Sigmund Freud, Father of Psychology suggests that, there are three levels of consciousness: ‘conscious’, ‘preconscious’ (subconscious) and ‘unconscious’. This theory, talks about the sources and consequences of emotional conflicts and how people deal with it.

Conscious includes the thoughts feelings and actions which people are aware of. It refers to one’s individual awareness of unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations etc. For example the conversation we are having with someone or a task we are doing comes under conscious awareness. Preconscious includes the mental activity of which people may become aware only if they attend it closely. It is the stuff of which dreams are made. Every experience we have ever had, every thought, every impression of loss or gain, resides in our subconscious mind .For example remembering the birthdate of our parents or recollecting a small incident comes under sub consciousness. The last level is the unconscious , it includes the mental activity that people are unaware of. According to him, the unconscious is a reservoir of animal drives. It stores all ideas and wishes that are concealed from conscious awareness,as they might lead to psychological conflicts. Most of these arise from sexual desires which cannot be expressed openly and therefore are repressed. Even though we’re not aware of their existence, they have a significant influence on our behaviour. If one is unsuccessful in resolving these conflicts they can result in abnormal behaviour.

From Freud’s theory , there are three primary elements of personality which reside in the unconscious- id, ego and super ego.

• Id works on the pleasure principle, which assumes that people seek pleasure and avoid pain. Id does not care for moral values society or other individuals.
• Ego is said to be frown out of id. It seeks to satisfy an individuals needs in accordance with reality and thus works by the principle of reality.
• Superego is like a moral branch of mental functioning. It tells the id and ego whether the gratification for a particular thing or instance is ethical or not.

For example- the id of a boy, who wants chocolate tells him to grab the chocolate and eat it. His ego tells him that if he grabs the chocolate without asking, he may be punished. So, working on the reality principle, the best way to get it is to ask permission to eat the chocolate. If a boy wants a chocolate and asks his mother for it, his superego will indicate that his behaviour is morally correct.

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Unlike the Brain, the mind does not have a physical structure nor has a location. Mind cannot exist without brain, but mind is a separate entity. At the same time, Philosopher Descartes says that mind interacts with the body at the pineal gland and regarded it as the principal seat of the soul and the place in which all our thoughts are formed.