The Subliminal Mind and the Superconscious
Exploring higher and wider realms of the human mind.
Updated September 14, 2025 | Reviewed by Tyler Woods
It’s doubtful that modern psychology would exist—at least in its present form—without William James. James is often referred to as the “founding father” of American psychology. As well as offering the first-ever psychology courses in the U.S.—at Harvard University - he wrote the first detailed textbook of psychology, The Principles of Psychology , published in two volumes in 1890.
James had a very wide-ranging concept of psychology. Unlike many modern psychologists, he felt the field should encompass paranormal phenomena and mystical experiences. As well as writing one of the great studies of mystical experiences, The Varieties of Religious Experience , he self-experimented with psychoactive substances such as nitrous oxide and ether. (From this perspective, a mystical experience is an experience of heightened awareness, in which the world becomes more vivid and beautiful, and there is a sense of oneness and bliss, as well as a sense of meaning and revelation.)
As a result of his experiments, James famously wrote that human beings’ normal state of consciousness is “but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the flimsiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different.” In other words, it would be a mistake to assume that the world that our normal consciousness reveals is reality itself. As James put it, we should not “close our account” with reality. On the contrary, it appears likely that our normal consciousness offers us a filtered and limited vision of reality and that many altered states reveal a wider and more intense reality.
Another early psychologist, Frederic Myers, had a similar perspective. Myers, who was born in the UK just one year after James, in 1843, viewed the conscious mind as just a small segment of our overall mind. This included not only what Freud called the unconscious , but also wider and higher levels of consciousness. According to Myers, unusual phenomena such as mystical experiences, psychic experiences (such as telepathy and precognition), and creative inspiration all stem from these wider ranges of consciousness.
One of Myers’ special interests was ideas and insights that suddenly emerge in our minds, for no apparent reason. He suggested that they come as a sudden ‘uprush’ from a ‘subliminal’ mind beyond our normal conscious mind. According to Myers, geniuses are people who have a thin boundary between the subliminal and the conscious mind, so that they receive inspiration easily and frequently.
A simple way of conceiving of these higher and wider levels of our minds is to use the term "superconscious." The superconscious is the inverse of the unconscious. Whereas the unconscious is what Freud called the ‘basement’ of the human mind—where we bury our fears and anxieties, and where our most destructive impulses originate—the superconscious is the site of our highest, most spiritual and creative impulses. When we connect to the superconscious, we gain a wider and deeper vision of reality. We perceive phenomena that are beyond our normal awareness. We gain abilities that are normally beyond us.
Largely due to Freud’s work, the idea of the unconscious has long been a part of public discourse. In contrast, the idea of the superconscious has gained barely any traction. This is probably a reflection of the negative view of human nature—and of human life—that has held sway over the past century or so.
Psychology is partly responsible for this negative view. As Abraham Maslow complained, psychology has "sold human nature short" by focusing on the negative and ignoring the positive—or you could say, by focusing on the unconscious and conscious minds, and ignoring the superconscious. One way in which we have done this is by trying to explain away superconscious experiences. For example, some psychologists have attempted to reduce mystical experiences to brain-generated hallucinations, while others are convinced that psi phenomena like telepathy and precognition cannot exist, despite strong evidence.
My hope is that, over the coming decades, the superconscious will become a more popular area of research and discussion amongst psychologists. In this way, psychology would turn full circle and return to its roots, by reconnecting with the wide-ranging perspective of figures such as William James and Frederic Myers.
One psychologist who did adopt the concept of the superconscious was the great Italian transpersonal psychologist Roberto Assagioli. In a similar way to James and Myers, Assagioli saw the ego or conscious "I" as a tiny island within the psyche as a whole. Creative inspiration and transpersonal experiences occur when superconscious phenomena flow into the conscious mind.
In 1974, shortly before his death at the age of 86, Assagioli gave an interview to Psychology Today magazine, conducted by Sam Keen. As Assagioli put it, summarizing the essential difference between his and Freud's approach, "A building with only a basement is very limited. We want to open up the terrace where you can sun-bathe or look at the stars."
Myers, F. 'Human Personality.' https://www.gutenberg.org/files/38492/38492-h/38492-h.htm
Interview with Roberto Assagioli, by Sam Keen: https://kennethsorensen.dk/en/the-golden-mean-of-roberto-assagioli/
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Steve Taylor, Ph.D., is senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University. He is the author of several best-selling books, including The Leap and Spiritual Science.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.