Maximum self-consciousness only reveals thought’s irrecoverable unconsciousness

Evidence

One of the things about James was, of course, his attempt to gain the maximum intensity of self-consciousness, to be as self-aware as possible about the finest movements of his own conscious thinking—as he said, “to be someone on whom nothing is lost.” Yet to do that is to become instantly aware of the enormous unconsciousness of thinking, of thought; one simply cannot and will never be able to fully recuperate one’s own processes of thought or creativity self-reflexively. — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 1188

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: The paradox of unrecoverable self-knowledge parallels the colonial subject’s impossibility of becoming identical with oneself, developed later in the same chapter.

Related

• Fuller consciousness in fiction is limited by the unconscious it cannot reach. (similarity 0.79)
• Unconsciousness is the precondition for consciousness to emerge. (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Unconsciously primed concepts trigger corresponding behaviors in people #complicates (0.75) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 158