5.0｜Chapter 5 Where Does the Subconscious Come From?

Chapter 5 | Where Does the Subconscious Come From? — Genes, Memes, and the Childhood Structure of Destiny

If the subconscious is our "Destiny," then what exactly does it contain? And how is it formed? These two questions are among the most central in the history of psychology.

Our purpose here is singular: to understand the subconscious so that we may understand success. Therefore, this chapter will provide a functional description of the sources of the subconscious, sufficient to explain the mechanisms of success.

The Story of Kun: The Three Segments of the Soul

I have a friend in Shenzhen, an entrepreneur I'll call Kun. His personal assets exceed 10 billion RMB ($1.5B+). He is a classic example of "Perception is Reality." Yet, despite his pinnacle of success, he is not happy.

Kun is exceptionally sensitive to his inner world. He once told me during a deep conversation: "I feel like my body is divided into three segments. One segment wants to practice spirituality and become a monk; one segment wants to keep making money and climbing; and one segment is pulled by the desires and enjoyments of the flesh. These three versions of me fight every day."

His description perfectly maps to the three layers of the subconscious:

1. Genes (The body: desire, survival, reproduction)
2. Memes (Social culture: achievement, status, recognition)
3. Spirit (The deep self: transcendence, divinity)

I. Genes: The Biological Command

This is the most primitive and powerful force within the subconscious. Borrowing from Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, humans are essentially "protein vehicles" selected by genes to replicate themselves.

Genes have written our subconscious programs:

• Survival Instinct: Protect the vehicle until reproductive age.
• Reproductive Instinct: Ensure the replication of the genetic code.
• Parental Instinct: Protect the offspring to ensure the chain continues.

These are not "choices"; they are commands. They explain why we instinctively fear risk, why gender sexual strategies differ, and why we feel a natural tenderness toward children.

II. Spiritual Genes: The Archetypal Structure

Beyond biological genes, we carry "non-material genes"—innate tendencies and spiritual frameworks.

• Christianity calls this the Spiritual Gene.
• Buddhism calls it Seeds or Alaya-vijnana.
• Carl Jung called it the Archetypal Structure of the collective unconscious.

This layer is the deepest "undertone" of our lives, the true root of what many call innate "Destiny." It is the original "musical score" of our existence.

III. Memes: The Social Programming

"Memes" are the psychological patterns we absorb after birth from social culture, relationships, and family structures.

1. The Collective Consciousness

This includes the rules, aesthetics, and values of contemporary society—what it means to be Chinese, American, or Japanese. As Marx said, "Man is the sum of social relations." Without society, an individual cannot truly become "human."

2. The Individual Family Level

This includes the parents' personalities, emotional patterns, and the expectations or fears of the original family.

The Evidence from "Feral Children": The cases of "Wolf Children" (Kamala and Amala) and "Dog Girls" (Oxana Malaya) prove that while genes provide the "biological vessel," Socialization—specifically early relationships—is what fills that vessel and creates a human person. Without human memes, the biological human remains "non-human" in cognitive and emotional capacity.

IV. Spirit: The Source of Abundance

Spirit is the deepest layer of the subconscious, corresponding to:

• The Holy Spirit (Jesus)
• The Self (Jung)
• Innate Knowledge/Liangzhi (Wang Yangming)

Spirit is the reason humans can establish meaning and create civilization. Its characteristics include a sense of Abundance, a cross-cultural Moral Intuition, and the ability to connect to Higher Wisdom (Inspiration).

Summary: What is Destiny?

In the framework of psychology and spirituality, the essence of destiny can be defined as:

Destiny = The Structural Combination of Genes + Memes

The Spirit (Spirituality), though located at the deepest level of the subconscious, does not belong to the category of "Destiny." It is not a factor that determines fate; rather, it is the "Antidote" to the entire system of predestination.

From our analysis:

1. Genes determine the flesh and basic instincts.
2. Spiritual Genes determine the deepest human commonalities.
3. Memes determine personality, values, and worldviews.
4. Memes are the most critical variable. As the feral children cases show, without the input of memes, the vessel remains empty.

Therefore: The core source of Destiny is the Meme—the total sum of beliefs and structures inputted by our society and early relationships.