“Thankfully, the human mind is a squishy little thing — you can trick and mold it to your desire.” So went one of the earlier articles in June's issue of The KAIST Herald in the context of overcoming mental struggles and issues. But it is nonetheless important to highlight that the human mind is just as “worryingly defensive”  as much as it is “thankfully squishy”. One may even think of their consciousness as a separate intelligent being that can both manipulate and be manipulated, and not necessarily at the owner's discretion.

While the human mind seems to be doing exactly what it’s told, one can’t help but wonder at times how it could have thought of what it just thought of. It is in that moment that some question the power dynamic between their conscious and subconscious selves — they question the obedience and the autonomy of their own mind, and who is in control of whom.

Taking into account the fact that humans are the only intelligent species (so far), it may seem obvious why people are such perplexed and internally-conflicting creatures prone to developing mental disorders and insecurities. This is not found among other animals — unless you have seen a tiger with anger issues or a bunny with an inferiority complex. Having evolved with the primal instinct to protect itself and survive, the human brain’s core responsibility is obvious: to eliminate threats in the quickest but overall not necessarily best way possible. Some recurring or unusually impactful stressors can change our behavior entirely, forming very dense defense mechanisms that often overtake our conscious minds unnoticeably. One example of this are anger spurts, after which one recovers and regrets the things they had done while enraged, not even clearly remembering why they behaved that way in the first place. From a psychological perspective, perhaps the most evident example would be Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), often caused by childhood trauma. A child undergoing severe or fatal stress and danger may develop multiple identities to help themselves cope with the situation and preserve life-supporting functions. One identity may be the child's more or less authentic self, while the other is one that takes all the punches — in this sense, the mind tricks itself into believing it is not the child who is the victim, but some detached individual.

This demonstrates a vulnerability in our intelligence as a species — we are not exactly instinctively acting animals, nor are we completely free-willed; we can trick ourselves to believe something that is either totally untrue or slightly adjusted. People with DID generally aren't aware of their identities because as some of them describe, it is like sharing one body with multiple people — memories are different, thoughts are different, and personalities are too. For most, however, there are certain situations that trigger a switch in identity — situations that are similar to the initial traumatic events. These situations override the conscious mind of one identity by appealing to the subconscious, triggering a defense mechanism and a subsequent identity switch.

Triggers causing a blind spot in one’s consciousness don’t have to be near-death traumatic experiences nor have to take complete control of the mind as caused DID; they can often be recurring stressors whose effects are amplified by one's own insecurities. For example, when one is left emotionally hurt after a rejection from a person of interest, a subconscious fear of approaching people may arise and they thus may not be able to develop sympathy toward others, or they may disregard potential partners for insignificant reasons to avoid becoming vulnerable and hurt again. Another thing often exploited is the idea of the greater good — a way to justify actions which would be hurtful to some but beneficial to many more. It may seem to justify a father's extensive absence or neglect of parental responsibilities, while he focuses on achieving great goals at work “for the sake of his kids”. He may be too caught up with his own ambitions to notice that his kids would benefit more from his presence than his success at work. Some may decide to simply disappear from someone's life, believing they are afraid of hurting the person with an honest confrontation. In reality, however, most of these situations can be considered defense mechanisms — lies one can tell themselves and truly believe in to save themselves from a feeling of guilt, fear, judgment, or even inconvenience. 

In this sense, it's a fairly easy task for the brain to fool itself, but it is significantly harder to notice the change in one's consciousness. Realizing that your mind can hide secrets from you is an essential step to growing as a self-aware individual. Perhaps, the reason for humans being so internally conflicted and unpredictable comes from the battle between their primal instincts and free will fighting for control of the mind. Understanding this nature can not only allow one to live their life fully with fewer regrets but also avoid being easily manipulated and be more empathetic towards others.