ABSTRACT
The interplay between consciousness and the unconscious is exposed when a prejudice is charged with feeling. An archetype is implicated in such cases, and it is usually that of the Shadow. The Shadow represents all the things about ourselves that are inconsistent with our conscious perception of ourselves. Consciousness is by far the most recent to have evolved, and it evolved out of the collective unconscious. The adaptive advantage of consciousness is obvious. It permits us to fine-tune automatic response mechanisms so as to be able to address, with particularity, an infinite variety of situations. Consciousness is perforce directed; attention is focused upon something. When consciousness is too much focused in a particular direction, the unconscious disposes itself as a counterpoise, and thus, in the healthy psyche, a balance is established. Before the emergence of consciousness, the impetus of evolution lay at the genetic level.
