When we try to observe the nature, we only can find out different types of food-chain or eco-system. An eco-system is a mere balance of nature. Physics says that in the universe, actual quantity of mass and energy is fixed, neither it increases nor decreases. It only changes it's appearance. This change is eternal.
A typical eco-system starts with a plant. A plant survives with particular necessary materials which it sucks from the soil and sunlight. Those materials are necessary for any living body. A herbivore animal eats that plant and absorbs those necessary materials in it's body. Thus it survives. A carnivore animal gets those materials for it's survival eating that herbivore. When it dies and it's body rotten, some microorganisms eat the remain and get those materials. Those microorganisms are necessary elements of soil. Thus same quantity of those elements return to the soil for the next cycle of life.
For survival, each and every unite of the eco-system struggles every moment. But this struggle is not conscious one. It is basic instinct. You can live only if you have the ability to snatch up the necessary materials from others. It may be harsh to hear, but it is true. There are a lot of evidences into the nature.
Cuckoo does not built a nest. They lay eggs into other bird's nest. When the baby comes out from the eggshell, it pushes other eggs of the babysitter bird, out of the nest. Some birds like eagles bring food which is not enough for all of it's babies. So the elder one tries and often kills the own younger siblings to get all the foods and be healthy enough to survive when it's parents will stop feeding it after a certain time in short future. Nobody teach them to do so. They even don't know what are they doing. Some of these incidents happen when their parents are present in the nest. They don't interfere in this cruel activities. Because they do know very well that it is the first lesson of survival. Nature is not merciful to the weak.
There are another faces of this struggle. In their mating season dominant males of any species don't tolerate other males in their territory. Separate species have distinct ways to do so, but the core behaviour is same to all, no matter it is mammal or bird or reptile or insect. They fight to repulse the opponent either individually or in group(social creatures), but the intention is unique. Male cats (both domestic and wild) use to kill other male's infants to mate their mother so that they can carry forward their own gene with his own children. Thus they will be able to survive in their next generation.
Mothers try to save their own babies at any cost. Most horrible machine of death in this planet is a crocodile's jaw. Nothing can escape from it(don't count hippos and elephants, because they are giant to them). But when their babies come out of the eggshells, those evil jaws become tender. Mother picks up all her new-born babies softly by the same jaws which is the another name of death. Tigress fights to save her cubs with a stranger tiger, who is physically more powerful than her. Gentle domestic pussy attacks dogs to save her kitties. Self defence and protection of the children is an another face of survival.
These all are basic instincts. Each and every unite of the life cycle of nature born with these basic instincts and dies with them. Sigmund Freud used a term for it "libido". Libido is the powerful equipment to all the living species. Libido is the strength of nature. Human being is not out of nature. We also are possessed by that primitive instinct.
Former philosophers and psychologists used to think that consciousness is coextensive with human mind. When ever we say 'mind' we definitely mean it consciousness. According to them, human mind has two dimensions one is conscious and the other is subconscious. Consciousness is just like a flashlight. In a dark place flashlight makes a light circle, and the things in that circle appears to us. Consciousness dose same job to us. Whatever in this world we can know belongs within the light circle of consciousness. But everything is not same in dimension. Just like the centre of the light circle of the flashlight is more vivid than the girth, the subject o our present attention is more clear and vivid than others in our consciousness. For example, I am now writing this article sitting on the bed in my room, a ceiling fan is doing its job, a lamp is brightening the room, some papers are scattered around me, my family members are talking among themselves outside my room, the vehicles are making annoying noises in the road etc. whatever I can remember are in my consciousness. But they all are not as clear to my present consciousness as the subject matter of this article. Because My concentration is focused on this. So it is the centre of my consciousness. It is called 'conscious mind'. Other objects of my consciousness is less vivid than it's. It is subconscious. What is at present in my subconscious level of mind, next moment it may come into the centre of conscious mind.
Those former philosophers and psychologists used to think that, 'Unconscious mind' is a self-contradictory use of language. It is not possible in the real world. Only inanimate things are unconscious. Mind is not a inanimate one. Therefore mind cannot be unconscious.
Sigmund Freud opposed that view. He told that, we often face such incidents which we cannot explain without a hypothesis of unconscious level of mind. He compared human mind with an iceberg. Only 10% of an iceberg reveals above the sea surface and 90% of it is concealed into the sea water. Just like an iceberg, a small part of our mind reveals itself in the light circle of consciousness and a large portion of it remains into the darkness of unconscious. He cited some evidences which occur in our everyday life, e.g., dreams, day-dreaming, errors, sleep walking, hypnosis, mental diseases............ etc. He told that human mind has three levels --- conscious, preconscious and unconscious. These three levels of mind belong to the domain of Id, Ego and Super-Ego. These three dimensions control human behaviour. They build the personality of an individual.
Id is the domain of the nature's basic instincts (libido), Super-Ego is the domain of human society (morality and social value). They are bipolar. At the same time Id is pulling you to the bare nature and Super-Ego is pulling you just opposite to the social morality of common life. They both are very strong. None of them want to give up. Now Ego plays a role of mediator. Ego makes a balance between them.
Suppose that, you are walking on the footpath. A sweet smell of delicious food from a roadside house attracts your attention. Id provokes you to go and have that food to satisfy your gustatory organ. But you can't do so. Super-Ego will stop you. Because, it is not a social custom to go into a Stanger’s house and snatch their food. It is immoral. Now Ego stops their fighting. Ego satisfies Id's urge in Super-Ego's way. You then have that food into a restaurant spending your pocket money.
Human being is not just like other units of nature. Yet the Great Human Race is not anything out of the nature. What we show us, we are not that. What are we, we don't show that. We have to use different types of masks in a civilised society. So many masks that we even can't recognise what is the original face! So the tension between our basic instincts and social control is obvious.
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