to be.

SOME HABITS OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS

=The Association of Ideas.= It is only by something akin to poetic
license that we can speak of lower and higher strata of mind. When we
carry over the language of material things into the less easily
pictured psychic realm, it is sometimes well to remind ourselves that
figures of speech, if taken too literally, are more misleading than
illuminating. When we speak of the deep-laid instinctive lower levels
of mind and the higher acquired levels, we must not imagine that these
strata are really laid in neat, mutually exclusive layers, one on top
of the other in the chambers of the mind. Nor must we imagine the
mental elements of instinct, idea, and memory as jumbled together in
chaotic confusion, or in scattered isolated units. As a matter of
fact, the best word to picture the inside of our minds is the word
"group." We do not know just how ideas and instincts can group
themselves together, but we do know that by some arrangement of brain
paths and nerve-connections, the laws of association of ideas and of
habit take our mental experiences and organize them into more or less
permanent systems. Instinctive emotions tend to organize themselves
around ideas to form sentiments; ideas or sentiments, which through
repetition or emotion are associated together, tend to stay together
in groups or complexes which act as a whole; complexes which pertain
to the same interests tend to bind themselves into larger systems or
constellations, forming moods, or sides to one's character. It is not
highly important to differentiate in every case a sentiment from a
complex, or a complex from a constellation, especially as many writers
use "complex" as the generic term for all sorts of groups; but a
general understanding of the much-used word "complex" is necessary
for a comprehension of modern literature on psychology, psychotherapy
or general education.

"=What Is a Complex=?" Reduced to its lowest terms, a complex is a
group. It may be simply a group of associated movements, like lacing
one's shoes or knitting; it may be a group of movements and ideas,
like typewriting or piano-playing, which through repetition have
become automatic or subconscious; it may be merely a group of ideas,
such as the days of the week, the alphabet or the multiplication
table. In all these types it is repetition working through the law of
habit that ties the ideas and movements together into an organic
whole. Usuall