ABSTRACT
Indigenous myths, as well as folklore and legend, often equate the shadow with the “alter ego” of an individual. For Carl Jung, the shadow represented a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. Some symbols appear as shadowy people, that is, human-shaped figures enshrouded in darkness. Angry faces, and shadowy, animistic, or threatening features are all quickly and easily recognized by the brain and labeled with high degrees of RAGE and FEAR significance. Survival tendencies therefore have required that humans have an innate capacity for violence and aggression in order to protect or garner resources; the immediate cause of this behavior is likely the RAGE circuitry shared by all vertebrates and is correlated subjectively with feelings of intense anger. The tendency for competition in humans due to the harsh necessities of natural selection has a number of neurobiological consequences.
