Carl Jung’s Ideas Demystified

I’m going to explain Carl Jung’s ideas on the ego, consciousness, and the unconscious, and how by understanding what they are, we can use them as tools to examine ourselves and live better lives.

As Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”

So, let’s start with the ego.

Firstly, forget everything you’ve heard about what “ego” means. You might think the ego is just a negative part of the self, one that makes us overly materialistic and self-absorbed. But the ego is actually something else.

Jung consistently described the ego as the part of us that desires, reflects, and acts. But what does this actually mean?

Let’s say you’re driving. There are many things demanding your attention—from street signs to traffic lights to pedestrians. Or maybe your mind drifts back to an argument you had with your partner earlier. All these things are swirling around in your consciousness.

The ego plucks one of these things out and makes it the main focus of your awareness. So, every time you say “I think,” or “I wish,” or whenever you act on something, like picking up a cup, that is your ego making those ideas or objects the center of your awareness.

Think about the last time your mind wandered while you were driving, scrolling social media, or even sitting in a lecture. What did your awareness lock onto? That focusing, that narrowing down, is your ego at work.

So that’s essentially the function of the ego. But it has flaws, and these flaws can lead us toward lives of depression or vanity rather than lives of fulfillment. To understand how, we need to explore what consciousness and the unconscious are.

The ego doesn’t exist in isolation… it lives within a larger field: consciousness.

is the container that holds all our thoughts, ideas, and experiences.

As we grow and develop, we fill this container with more and more thoughts, images, and experiences. The ego then goes into this container and draws out one of these elements: an idea, memory, or thought to make it the focal point of our awareness.

Essentially, consciousness is just the ability to be aware. It is life itself.

Animals have this ability too. For example, we see crows using tools, octopuses solving problems, and even plants releasing chemicals in response to changes in light or temperature. All of these are forms of consciousness to a lesser degree.

We also see this in stroke patients. When a stroke damages the brain, the “container” of consciousness may lose its contents, like memories, names, or recognition of images. But the awareness itself remains intact. Consciousness remains, but the ego now has fewer thoughts, ideas, and experiences to draw from.

Now, what about the unconscious?

The unconscious is made up of things we are not directly aware of. These hidden elements influence our decision-making and what our ego chooses to focus on, often without us realizing it.

For example, imagine someone says they want to go to medical school. On the surface, they may believe it’s because they love anatomy and physiology. But beneath that, in the unconscious, they might actually be motivated by a craving for social status. That hidden desire drives their life choices without them realizing it.

But why crave status? Deeper in the unconscious, the true yearning might be for community, connection, and belonging. The person believes that status will fill that hole.

This is why Jung believed exploring the unconscious is so important, because by pulling out these hidden motivations into our conscious awareness, we can live lives aligned with our true values, rather than being victims of unconscious drives.

Just as the ego travels into the container of consciousness, it can also reach into the unconscious. Jung believed this was a key tool for self-examination. But, like a scientist refining a microscope before studying cells, he said we must refine the ego first.

We might meditate, journal, or reflect deeply to uncover hidden motivations. But biases and beliefs shape our introspection without us realizing it.

Consider how much we believe without evidence. As children, we’re told “don’t touch fire.” We accept that belief as knowledge, without testing it. In this case, belief without evidence is useful, it keeps us safe.

But what if a child grows up hearing “rich people are evil”? They may adopt this belief as truth, avoiding success, mistrusting others, or sabotaging themselves, all because of an unexamined idea.

So when the ego enters the unconscious, it filters what it finds through old beliefs. That’s why we must let go of these biases, “be reborn,” and see things as they truly are, through an evidence based lens.

Someone grows up believing “showing emotion means weakness.” When they journal, their ego filters memories with “I was just being dramatic.” But if they test the belief by opening up to a friend and receive compassion, the old bias is exposed, and the unconscious truth is seen more clearly.

Every psychology is a personal confession. Through this famous quote we can further understand our and others motivations and ideas

Take for example somone says, “humans are selfish by nature”

From this we can see their values, fears and world view

They may value independence and survival instincts

They may fear being exploited if they trust others, which reveals further that maybe in their younger years they were mistreated or let down when they decided to trust others

Their world view is that society is competitive rather than cooperative.

From a simple belief we can uncover many important truths about ourselves and others. Our beliefs are reflections of our inner world.

There are also other influences known as psychic influences, these could be a childhood memory of an abusive father, when seeing someone who embodies similar dress mannerisms as the abusive father we feel fear as the ego has prioritised anxiety from the bubble of consciousness.

This influences me to again treat them in a cold manner, thus acting irrationally.

Most unconscious influences trace back to childhood—a time we don’t fully remember.

As babies or toddlers, our ego is undeveloped—primitive—because the container of consciousness is still empty.

As children interact with the world, the ego expands, drawing from both outer experiences (objects, people, events) and inner ones (feelings, fantasies, memories). Moderate conflict with the environment helps this growth.

For example:

Jung called these challenges collisions. Collisions are essentially experiences of suffering that help expand the ego—like exercise strengthens muscles.

But too few collisions stunt growth. A child whose attempts at independence are shut down (through neglect or abuse) may grow into an anxious adult, never having developed the sense of control that comes from facing challenges.

Anxoiusness comes from the fear that we do not have control over a situation. Take social anxiety, children who were socialised, in other words experienced many collisions, learnt how to talk and present themselves. They feel in control

A person who spends their time in solitude has not experienced many collsions and therefore feels a lack of control, in other words feels anxiety.

Collisions, as discussed they are important, in moderation, like training muscles we strengthen and expand the ego. But there are extreme collisions. Similar to jumping from the roof of a building, this will break our bones rather than straighten them

These extreme collisions lead to, what Jung called fragmentation.

A child who suffers abuse may have unbearable emotions (fear, shame, helplessness) split off into the unconscious. The ego blocks them out to protect the mind.

As an adult, a similar situation, like harsh criticism from a boss, may trigger overwhelming shame and panic. The reaction is far stronger than the situation warrants. This is because the old trauma was never integrated into consciousness.

This also leads to a lifetime of disappointment, as the person tries to avoid all situations wich brings back that fragmented traumatic memory.

In essence, these individuals are disappointed because they seek absolute, unconditional safety from the external world to compensate for their inner fragility, a need that no human relationship can ever sustainably meet.

Ok, so ego draws from the container of the conscious things we know and remember, the unconsciousness,

The unconsciousness has 3 layers

Take the Hero archetype: the drive to be strong, courageous, overcome obstacles, and grow through challenges. And help others along the way.

This is a drive we all share, its what it means to be human, these archetypes are baked in to us.

You don’t “choose” these archetypes — they’re already part of you. But by becoming conscious of them, you gain more power over your life.

You can be aware of them and work with them, rather than be controlled by them.

In the case of the hero you push yourself to succeed, take on challenges, or “prove yourself,” even when it's exhausting. You may not realize you're driven by a need to feel heroic. too much hero neglects self and relationships in pursuit of material, a life of vanity

Finally, Jung described the psychoid… the mysterious border between psyche and matter.

This is an unknown border between physical reality and what goes on in our psyche

The psyche can influence the body, where stress can lead to high blood pressure or the belief that a placebo sugar pill works leads to a real physiological response.

However, the opposite is also true, where hypoglycemia causes sudden mood swings, irritability, anxiety, or even confusion, and hormonal changes during puberty or menstruation can influence our mood and thoughts.

It is this that creates the puzzle of where one leaves off and the other begins.

Essentially the question jung couldn’t answer is, Is the psyche just matter arranged in complex ways… or does it transcend matter as its own irreducible dimension of reality?