Circle Models
Jung (1981) says that both conscious and unconscious experiences are relative and he speaks of a “threshold of consciousness” (p. 174) which separates the two. It is the relativity of the unconscious that temps us to label one area as a subconscious and another as a superconscious. Jung (1981) refers to this relativity as a "scale of intensities of consciousness” (p. 187). But we cannot have total consciousness or total unconsciousness in that each always carries with it the germ of the other. In the same way, nature has no complex systems that are totally orderly or totally chaotic, but all dissipative structures have differing degrees of both. We can see this graphically in Figure 5, a simplified circle model of the psyche (adapted from Jacobi, 1973).
Figure 5. Simplified Circular Model of Jung's Psyche.
In this dynamic model, the ego is shown surrounded by the conscious and unconscious with a shifting line (a fractal) dividing the two areas. The arrows indicate the ability of the dividing line to move as we become aware of some unconscious contents, and forget or repress others. This model shows the psyche as a closed system with the ego looking outward toward consciousness and inward toward the unconscious. The model is especially useful to demonstrate the dynamics of the thin borderline interface that exists between consciousness and the unconscious.
