The function of the unconscious

In Carl Jung's essay, "The Relations Between the Ego and the Unconscious" in the section "The Function of the Unconscious" Jung outlined many ideas he had about, well, the function of the unconscious:

• There are certainly not a few people who are afraid to admit that the unconscious could ever have "big" ideas. They will object, "But do you really believe that the unconscious is capable of offering anything like a constructive criticism of our western mentality? Of course if we take the problem intellectually and impute rational intentions to the unconscious, the thing becomes absurd. But it would never do to foist our conscious psychology upon the unconscious. Its mentality is an instinctive one; it has no differentiated functions, and it does not "think" as we understand "thinking." It simply creates an image that answers to the conscious situation. This image contains as much thought as feeling, and is anything other than a product of rationalistic reflection. Such an image would be better described as an artistic vision. We tend to forget that a problem like the one which underlies the dream last mentioned cannot, even to the conscious mind of the dreamer, be an intellectual problem, but is profoundly emotional.

Jung begins this paragraph by talking about how the unconscious isn't very intelligent - he says that "there are certainly not a few people who are afraid to admit that the unconscious could ever have "big" ideas." And he is right, the unconscious clearly doesn't think as clearly and logically as the conscious mind. For the most part, your unconscious mind does not reach decisions for you, it simply responds to the decisions your conscious mind makes. You are the one who does the complex thinking in your life, the advanced and intricate thoughts ranging from thinking about everyday things to more complex problems. When you read a book or think about anything complex, you consciously understand why it is significant. If you don't consciously understand why it is significant then your unconscious isn't going to understand either. Your unconscious may pick up on why it is significant - get a "feel" for the significance, but it is never going to actually understand how and why what you are thinking about is significant, the unconscious simply isn't capable of "big ideas".

Your unconscious mind usually isn't going to be the one reaching conclusions. When people think, they are usually aware of what they are thinking. A good question is how much of our thought is unconscious - how much thought occurs without our awareness. How much of that thought helps you reach conclusions and make decisions? What even is unconscious thought? Occasionally people might reach conclusions or make a decision without them being aware they are reaching that conclusion, the most obvious state of that is when someone is first waking up from sleep and they have a problem getting alert.

Jung describes the unconscious as "an image" that "contains as much thought as feeling" and better described as an "artistic vision" the unconscious creates this image "that answers to the conscious situation". But what is an unconscious image? Why is the word image used by Jung? I believe that it is used because the unconscious is incredibly complex and cannot be described completely with words - it is like an image. There is a picture in your mind or an understanding of the situation that you understand consciously. The image is there unconsciously, you cannot look at all the details of the image at one time, but the image is there in your mind influencing you.