The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician
Chapter 308 - 195 Magic: A Preview of the Sky Pavilion

Chapter 308: Chapter 195 Magic: A Preview of the Sky Pavilion

"Hypnosis... a whole city?" Fox repeated Jiang Shu’s words as he tried to envision that scene.

Although these simple five words possessed a magical power that could stir minds, as a hypnotist, and the best one in Lonely City at that, Fox was well aware that achieving such a feat was impossible.

However, when these words came from Jiang Shu’s mouth, Fox couldn’t help but contemplate their potential.

"Collective unconscious?" Fox then recalled what Jiang Shu had just mentioned.

Based on his understanding of hypnosis levels, the highest tier did not include something like the collective unconscious, but he had researched this psychological concept.

"Right, you should know what that is," Jiang Shu affirmed with a nod.

"Mm," Fox began to search his mind for information on "collective unconscious," but the more he thought, the more confused he became, to the point where he started to doubt whether what he had learned and the concept Jiang Shu was talking about were even the same.

"The structure of a person’s personality has three layers: the first layer is consciousness, also known as the ’self’; the second layer is personal unconscious, which is the ’complex’; and the deepest layer is the collective unconscious, the ’archetype’," Fox summarized briefly. He then asked Jiang Shu to ensure that their knowledge systems aligned, "Is this the collective unconscious you’re talking about?"

"Yes," Jiang Shu replied promptly, leaving Fox slightly taken aback.

"This kind of thing..." Fox murmured.

"Impossible to change, right?" Jiang Shu smiled.

Fox frowned at him, saying nothing more, just waiting for Jiang Shu’s next words.

"What do you think is the reason you can’t hypnotize an entire city?" Jiang Shu suddenly steered the conversation back to the initial topic.

"Individual variability," Fox responded without hesitation.

Everyone’s hypnosis sensitivity is different, and their personal unconscious offers them varying degrees of protection, so it’s impossible to hypnotize everyone with just video or audio.

Described with the classic island theory, if one’s personality layers were an island, then the part of the small island that rises above the surface represents the personal consciousness. What emerges with the coming and going of the tides is the personal unconscious, while the collective unconscious remains submerged, forming the base.

High-level hypnotic processes are, in fact, a communication with the subject’s personal unconscious, allowing the second layer, the "personal unconscious," to take predominance over the first layer, the "main consciousness," thus achieving some seemingly fantastical hypnotic effects.

This is also why no matter how skilled a hypnotist is, they cannot self-hypnotize; they can only self-suggest.

As the practitioner, they must maintain the leading position of the main consciousness; as the subject, they must allow the unconscious to rise above the main consciousness, which is contradictory.

Of course, there are ways to accomplish self-hypnosis, quite simply, in fact; record a hypnosis audio and then play it to oneself at the appropriate time.

Everyone has individual differences, so their personal unconscious is not the same. From this perspective, hypnotizing an entire city simultaneously is an impossible task.

"Right, individual variability," Jiang Shu nodded, his tone shifting as he summarized, "But the collective unconscious is different. It comprises traces of lifestyles and experiences from generations upon generations, including our ancestors, which are left in our minds. In other words, at this level, the entire ’human species’ possesses commonalities, a uniform hypnosis sensitivity."

"This..." Fox displayed an incredulous expression, instinctively objecting, "That’s completely different, the collective unconscious is merely innate experiences or universal psychological processes."

???

At this moment, Fox was filled with question marks internally. If it weren’t for the fact that Jiang Shu obviously wasn’t the sort to feign knowledge for vanity, Fox would have considered turning around and leaving.

It was rather like a pseudoscientist discussing with a rocket scientist the feasibility of using coal as rocket fuel; paying attention to such a person would be unbecoming of a scientist.

"I understand what you mean," Jiang Shu nodded, "You’re correct, the kind of city-wide hypnosis you’re imagining is unattainable."

The collective unconscious is like something hidden in human genes, such as an instinctual fear of venomous snakes or the belief that brightly colored wild fruits are poisonous—all remnants buried in the human experiential storehouse from ancient times.

They’re entirely different from the personal unconscious. And even if you used these as a basis for hypnosis, what would be the result?

Furthermore, certain traits that are etched into the marrow of a nation’s people, even if the children of that nation grow up on another continent, will manifest innately.

That is the collective unconscious, something deeply embedded in human genes.

But...

The people of Lonely City are different, as they have lived in Lonely City from the beginning, residing here from the start of history. Their collective unconscious is stronger than that of the human populations of Jiang Shu’s previous world, exerting greater influence in all aspects of society.

"We can continuously use psychological suggestion to create a new collective unconscious," Jiang Shu’s eyes gleamed sharply, "and then harness this group unconscious to not just override the main consciousness—no, not override, but merge with it. Everyone remains as they originally were. However, once they encounter content related to this collective unconscious, they’ll directly enter the highest state of hypnosis—hallucination."