Is The Subconscious Mind Emotionless?

[TheNegotiator 13]

So after reading Unconscious Vs Conscious Competence, my thoughts are drawn towards not only the way to identify and harness the intuition we have, but also to understanding the level of accuracy of intuition. If you can’t trust your knowledge and preparation as a trader then how can you trust your gut feelings?

 

However, even this isn’t what I really wanted to discuss. The question I have revolves around whether or not our subconscious minds are emotionless. The next idea is whether or not subconscious logic can be influenced by historical conscious emotion and then the next is whether this intuition can be swayed by current conscious emotion. Or is it our conscious interpretation of our subconscious intuition that brings emotion to the table?

 

A thought I had was that if there is a subconscious emotional part to our brains, just as we store up logical memory to be called upon in the form of intuition, wouldn’t it make sense that that we have emotional intuition? Just as logical intuition is formed by experience, practise and knowledge this would hold true for emotions. So either you see a setup and become focused or happy because your subconscious tells you that similar patterns in the past were profitable for you, or maybe you become negative because you know you have a poor position. Then it turns into that old emotional game we all love so much.

 

The other part to the idea is that if it holds true that emotions are just as much part of our intuition as logic, then surely we could be subconsciously hampering our own experiences with inaccurate emotional portrayals of historical events?

Edited March 30, 2012 by TheNegotiator

[TheNegotiator 13]

The answers to these questions I believe could be some of the reasons why seemingly intelligent people get stuck in a loop trying to become profitable.

 

I don’t know if this has been suggested before at all so if it has then maybe we could have a further discussion with people familiar with it. What if we planned to create and control our confidence levels by actively managing our emotional reactions to trades? I’m not suggesting suppress emotions when they are not useful, but rather attempt to generate useful emotional responses to certain trade outcomes. Like for example, cutting losses short within a trade plan and you actively feel good about that. Take an impulsive and rash trade and actively feel hesitation. I haven’t thought through all the emotional responses yet, but I think it could be a good way to harness the emotional part of intuition- that is if we believe it exists!!!

 

This is like the response you would get from your coach for example if you were an athlete in training for the London Olympics. You do something right and the outcome is good, you get praised but also brought back down to earth with the things you didn’t do perfectly. You do something well but the outcome is bad and you get praised for doing what you should. Doing things wrong and your coach should give you a bollocking but point out when you did things right in the past. Get you back on track. The trouble is that most traders don’t have the luxury of a coach at all(let alone a good one).

[roztom 10]

Interesting Question, N.

 

Since I am not an expert and my only qualification here is that I experience what you describe, I believe for the true creative, right brain side to come through it "needs" to be free from emotions which I believe are generated from other areas of the brain..

 

In the thread "Unconscious vs. Conscious Competence"

 

we explore how creative Insights or flashes of brillance can be recognized and incorporated into a trade plan while co-existing with the conscious, disciplined part of the execution of that plan.

 

I believe in trading our primary emotions are fear and greed.. and all the rest, ie. need to be right, tying self-worth to outcomes, etc. IMHO these emanate from these basic core emotional states. There are more complex states, of course, then those I'm sure They are articulated in other threads but that was not the premise of this thread.

 

I think the enemy in trading are the emotional states that distort behavior and actions... I try to check my emotions at the door and when they arise I try to stop the self-talk that is an outcome of that emotion.. whether positive or negative if it is extreme.. I do not always succeed but it is much less of a issue than early on.

 

If I acknowledge a good trade location but not throw a party in my head then I'm OK. If I have a good trade location then I try to just manage the trade in a somewhat detached manner allowing myself to enjoy at least one part of the journey safely achieved, possibly like a pilot reaching cruising altitude.

 

As far as if the subconscious, which is buried most of the time, under the conscious chatter and emotions I think, just my 2cts here, the chatter and emotional swings we encounter in trading are obstacles to insight since we are preoccupied dealing with the conscious task of managing our trade and also our self-talk, fears, etc.

 

I believe emotions put us in the moment and if anything distort what we are seeing and thinking.. Under those conditions I believe true insight and unconscious competence is supressed.

 

I'm confident those with emperical information can help us on this vs. opinions from mere mortals and I welcome their insights.. Great Question.

Edited March 30, 2012 by TheNegotiator

[TheNegotiator 13]

Thanks for your views Tom. How do you see emotions interacting or being part of the forming of subconscious intuition? Do negative emotional experiences elicit inappropriate fight or responses for example? Can our intuitive gut feelings if they are formed 'incorrectly' end up creating the mess of emotions we try to avoid?