Collective intelligence as a model for the unconscious

The conception of the unconscious as an active agency influencing human behavior forms the cornerstone of all psychodynamic thought. Yet, judged as private, inaccessible, unnecessary, or nonexistent, the unconscious has been virtually ignored by modern psychology and cognitive science. Jungian ideas about the unconscious, especially those concerning the collective unconscious, have long been singled out for particular criticism by the scientific community. However, recent discoveries in the newly emerging fields of complex systems theory and artificial life appear poised to place Jung's ideas on a firm and rigorous scientific foundation. In this article I describe some of these discoveries and propose that naturally occurring collective intellegences provide empirical models upon which to establish a rigorous, scientific study of Jung's model of the unconscious.