The human brain is a very complex and fascinating organ, while the conscious vs subconscious mind is one of the most asked questions. The conscious mind is the active part of the brain that makes decisions, while the subconscious mind stores information and shapes our thoughts, habits, and behaviors.

Here, we will explain all the differences between these minds in detail below, and how these two work together. Let's quickly start without waiting any further!

What Is the Conscious Mind?

The conscious mind is the part of our mind we are aware of. It includes everything we're thinking, feeling, and noticing. The conscious mind is the aspect of our mental processes that involves thinking, understanding, and responding to the world in real time. The conscious mind helps us:

Pay attention to what's happening around you.

Make decisions based on what we're thinking.

Solve problems by thinking things through.

Control actions we choose to do, like talking or moving.

Examples of conscious mind activity include making a grocery list, deciding what to wear and more. Understanding the difference between conscious and subconscious mind examples helps you to identify how these two parts of our mind function differently.

What Is the Subconscious Mind?

The subconscious mind is the part of your mind that works in the background, beyond your active thoughts. It keeps thoughts, memories, and feelings you may not be actively thinking about, but they still affect your behavior and decisions. 

Conscious Vs Subconscious Mind Differences

There are several differences between conscious and subconscious mind. Let's take a look at all of these in detail below.  

Collaboration Of Minds

The conscious mind is where you actively think and make decisions, while the subconscious mind keeps past programming and habits that might not change.

Independent Learning: Changing your conscious thoughts automatically doesn't change your subconscious habits. The conscious and subconscious minds learn in different ways. Even when you try to think differently, your subconscious might still hold onto old beliefs and habits.

Location and Uniqueness: The conscious mind is in the brain's prefrontal cortex. It helps with decision-making and is linked to the part of the brain responsible for complex thoughts. It represents your unique identity and primarily consists of your thoughts.

Awareness

The conscious mind is what you are aware of right now. It includes your thoughts, feelings, and perceptions. The subconscious mind controls the things which are out of sight. You are not actively thinking about it, but it affects your behavior.

Decision-Making

Conscious mind helps you to make decisions and solve problems. You actively think about things with it, while the subconscious mind affects these decisions with the information and experiences that you have learned from the past.

Short-Term Memory

Short term memory is connected with the conscious mind. It keeps information for a short time, while the subconscious mind keeps memories for a long time. It stores your history and lessons learned, something you call your personality.

Control

You have more control over your conscious mind. It means you can think about and do what you want.  In the case of the conscious vs subconscious mind, the subconscious mind is harder to control. This is because you cannot change your past experiences. It can affect your thoughts and actions without control.

Logical Thinking

Your conscious mind is what rationalizes. The conscious mind handles all the current work, while the subconscious stores emotions and memories.

How Do Your Conscious And Subconscious Mind Work Together?

Your conscious and subconscious minds work together in several ways, an important aspect of conscious vs subconscious mind psychology. Here are some examples to help you understand the connection between these two. 

Information Processing: Your conscious mind thinks actively while your subconscious mind stores and organizes information.

Behavior Control: Your conscious mind makes choices, and your subconscious mind helps you to act on those choices automatically.

Learning and Growth:  You learn new things with your conscious mind, and with practice, they become habits in your subconscious mind.

Beliefs and Emotions: Your conscious mind can change your thoughts, but your subconscious mind keeps your beliefs and feelings.

Response to Stimuli: Your subconscious mind reacts automatically after learning from past experiences, but your conscious mind can still change how you respond.

Understand Your Mind and Habits

Wondering about your own conscious mind vs subconscious mind is a great way to understand how our brains work. The attention parts of the brain are our rational thought systems, the decision-makers and problem solvers. The underlying processes work behind everything—the force that molds your habits, beliefs, and impulses—called the subconscious mind.

By understanding this process, you can control yourself, develop healthy habits and change the negative beliefs stored in the subconscious mind. Mindfulness, positive talk and repetition are helpful strategies for positively training both minds.