Editing Subconscious (section)

=="New Age" and other modalities targeting the subconscious==
{{more citations needed section|date=April 2013}}

The idea of the subconscious as a powerful or potent agency has allowed the term to become prominent in [[New Age]] and [[self-help]] literature, in which investigating or controlling its supposed knowledge or power is seen as advantageous. In the New Age community, techniques such as [[autosuggestion]] and [[affirmations (New Age)|affirmations]] are believed to harness the power of the subconscious to influence a person's life and real-world outcomes, even curing sickness. ''[[Skeptical Inquirer]]'' magazine criticized the lack of [[falsifiability]] and [[testability]] of these claims.<ref name="csicop.org">[http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/secrets.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726183419/http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/secrets.html|date=July 26, 2009}}</ref> Physicist Ali Alousi, for instance, criticized it as unmeasurable and questioned the likelihood that thoughts can affect anything outside the head.<ref name=gazette>Whittaker, S. [http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=78fc94dd-c0b2-4ade-891d-98770bfae388&k=70777 Secret attraction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090328/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=78fc94dd-c0b2-4ade-891d-98770bfae388&k=70777 |date=2016-03-04 }}, ''The Montreal Gazette'', May 12, 2007.</ref> In addition, critics have asserted that the evidence provided is usually [[anecdotal]] and that, because of the [[publication bias|self-selecting nature of the positive reports]], as well as the [[Subjectivity|subjective]] nature of any results, these reports are susceptible to [[confirmation bias]] and [[selection bias]].<ref name="Kaptchuck">{{cite journal |author=Kaptchuk, T., & Eisenberg, D. |year=1998 |title=The Persuasive Appeal of Alternative Medicine |journal=Annals of Internal Medicine |volume=129 |issue=12 |pmid=9867762 |pages=1061–5 |doi=10.7326/0003-4819-129-12-199812150-00011|citeseerx=10.1.1.694.4798 |s2cid=24942410 }}</ref>

Psychologists and psychiatrists use the term "unconscious" in traditional practices, where metaphysical and New Age literature often use the term "subconscious".<ref>In his ("''[[New Thought]]''") work ''Power of Your Subconscious Mind'' (1963), [[Joseph Murphy (author)|Joseph Murphy]] likens the workings of the subconscious mind to a syllogism. Murphy states (p. 43), "whatever major premise your conscious mind assumes to be true determines the conclusion your subconscious mind comes to in regard to any particular question or problem in your mind." This means that if your major premise is true, then the conclusion that follows your premise must be true also. He shares the following formula.<br />"Every virtue is laudable;<br />Kindess is a virtue;<br />Therefore, kindness is laudable."<br />Murphy argues that because your subconscious mind operates like a syllogism one can reap great benefits by utilizing a powerful and positive major premise. He also warns that the opposite could hold true: if one uses a negative, self-defeating major premise, one could reap horrible consequences.</ref> It should not, however, be inferred that the concept of the unconscious and the New Age concept of the subconscious are precisely equivalent, even though they both warrant consideration of mental processes of the brain. Psychologists and psychiatrists take a much more limited view of the capabilities of the unconscious than are represented by New Age depiction of the subconscious. There are a number of methods in use in the contemporary New Age and paranormal communities that affect the latter: [[Affirmations (New Age)|affirmations]], [[autosuggestion]], [[binaural beats]], [[hypnosis]], and [[subliminal message]]s.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}