The article challenges the traditional view of the unconscious mind as a mere shadow of the conscious mind, arguing that it is not less flexible, complex, or action-oriented. It reviews evidence from social cognition research, which defines the unconscious in terms of its unintentional nature, demonstrating the existence of independent unconscious behavioral guidance systems: perceptual, evaluative, and motivational. The authors argue that actions of an unconscious mind precede the arrival of a conscious mind, both in phylogeny and ontogeny. They critique the cognitive psychology definition of unconscious as subliminal, suggesting it is unnatural and restrictive. Instead, they propose defining the unconscious in terms of its lack of awareness of the influences or effects of stimulus processing, which aligns with evolutionary biology's view of unconscious processes as intelligent and adaptive. The article highlights the importance of unconscious goal pursuit, contextual priming, and unconscious evaluation in guiding behavior, and discusses the role of unconscious impulses in conflict resolution and future behavior planning. The authors conclude that unconscious processes are sophisticated, flexible, and adaptive, and should be viewed as primary in human judgment and behavior.The article challenges the traditional view of the unconscious mind as a mere shadow of the conscious mind, arguing that it is not less flexible, complex, or action-oriented. It reviews evidence from social cognition research, which defines the unconscious in terms of its unintentional nature, demonstrating the existence of independent unconscious behavioral guidance systems: perceptual, evaluative, and motivational. The authors argue that actions of an unconscious mind precede the arrival of a conscious mind, both in phylogeny and ontogeny. They critique the cognitive psychology definition of unconscious as subliminal, suggesting it is unnatural and restrictive. Instead, they propose defining the unconscious in terms of its lack of awareness of the influences or effects of stimulus processing, which aligns with evolutionary biology's view of unconscious processes as intelligent and adaptive. The article highlights the importance of unconscious goal pursuit, contextual priming, and unconscious evaluation in guiding behavior, and discusses the role of unconscious impulses in conflict resolution and future behavior planning. The authors conclude that unconscious processes are sophisticated, flexible, and adaptive, and should be viewed as primary in human judgment and behavior.