# The Unconscious Has the Greatest Psychic Gravity by Joel Gold > "The universe consists primarily of dark matter. We can't see it, but it has an enormous gravitational force. The conscious mind—much like the visible aspect of the universe—is only a small fraction of the mental world. The dark matter of the mind, the unconscious, has the greatest psychic gravity. Disregard the dark matter of the universe and anomalies appear. Ignore the dark matter of the mind and our irrationality is inexplicable." > **— Joel Gold**, *2012, Edge Annual Question, “What Is Your Favorite Deep, Elegant, or Beautiful Explanation?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [The Dark Matter Of The Mind](https://www.edge.org/responses/what-is-your-favorite-deep-elegant-or-beautiful-explanation) — Edge published this passage in its 2012 Annual Question collection, *What Is Your Favorite Deep, Elegant, or Beautiful Explanation?*. The full response preserves the qualifications and argument surrounding this exact extract. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2012 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2012 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first archive record for the complete yearly response cohort. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] - **Article:** [[articles/Escape Hatch in the Skull|Escape Hatch in the Skull]] - **Article:** [[articles/Science of Digital Consciousness|Science of Digital Consciousness]] - **Article:** [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Host Infrastructure Overview]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Collective Unconscious|Collective Unconscious]] - [[wiki/Emergent Self-Model Formation|Emergent Self-Model Formation]] - [[wiki/Recursive Self-Model|Recursive Self-Model]] - [[wiki/Qualia|Qualia]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "The universe consists primarily of dark matter. We can't see it, but it has an enormous gravitational force. The conscious mind—much like the visible aspect of the universe—is only a small fraction of the mental world. The dark matter of the mind, the unconscious, has the greatest psychic gravity. Disregard the dark matter of the universe and anomalies appear. Ignore the dark matter of the mind and our irrationality is inexplicable." — Joel Gold, 2012, Edge Annual Question, “What Is Your Favorite Deep, Elegant, or Beautiful Explanation?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-joel-gold-unconscious-greatest-psychic-gravity ```