Mindedness - Symmetric, Anti-Symmetric, Asymmetric

"The Principle of Generalization.
The system unconscious treats an individual thing (person, object, concept) as if it were a member or element of a set or class which contains other members; it treats this class as a subclass of a mor egeneral class, and this more general class as a subclass of a still more general class and so on"
P 34 Matte-Blanco, I., (1975)"The Unconscious as Infinite Sets" Karnec

"...symmetrical relations do not seem at first sight to be as common as asymmetrical ones when perceiving the external world with its geometry and geography of things, which is replete with difference relations between places, points, lines surfaces, spaces and solid things. However, at the same time we must continuously use sameness relations when dealing with the world. Perhaps asymmetry comes to the fore because a prime use of consciousness is to *locate* the self within the world of objects. This is a central function of the focus of attention. Notice also that we are concerned with logically asymmetrical and symmetrical relations, which are defined by the identity or not of their converses; they apply to much more than spacial relations.
The word symmetry simply refers to sameness between at least two things and thus to matching and one-to-one correspondence." pp23-24 Rayner, E., (2003)"Unconscious Logic : an introduction to Matte Blanco's bi-logic and its uses" Brunner-Routledge

We see here the focus on location " ..which needs difference discrimination, and recognition which needs sensitivity to samenesses." pp 25 Rayner, E., (2003)"Unconscious Logic : an introduction to Matte Blanco's bi-logic and its uses" Brunner-Routledge

The IDM focus covers the development of consciousness as running in tandem with the development of precision in expression through the making of distinctions and the emergence of language once enough distinctions have been made - in other words the richer the distinctions the richer the level of developed consciousness. Jung summarised this in the context of observations from psychotherapy:

"We can say that individuals are equal only in so far as they are in a large measure unconscious - unconscious, that is, of their actual differences. The more unconscious a man is, the more he will conform to the general canon of psychic behaviour. But the more conscious he becomes of his individuality, the more pronounced will be his difference from other subjects and the less he will come up to common expectations. Further, his reactions are much less predictable. This is due to the fact that an individual consciousness is more highly differentiated and more extensive. But the more extensive it becomes the more differences it will perceive and the more it will emancipate itself from the collective rules, for the empirical freedom of the will grows in proportion to the extension of consciousness.
As the individual differentiation of consciousness proceeds, the objective validity of its views decreases and their subjectivity increases, at least in the eyes of the environment, if not in actual fact. For if a view is to be valid, it must have the acclaim of the greatest possible number, regardless of the arguments put forward in its favour. "True" and "valid" describe what the majority believe, for this confirms the equality of all. But differentiated consciousness no longer takes it for granted that one's own preconceptions are applicable to others, and vice versa" p83 C. Jung, The Nature of the Psyche (RKP)

The focus in differentiating is a favouring of SYNTAX and so of rigid precision, a rigid pyramid-like/tree-like hierarchy of controlled meaning with all in the 'correct' location. In other words the realm of syntax covers the concentration of all meaning into location, one's position in the hierarchy determines identity and so 'meaning'. Thus the development of consciousness runs in tandem with refinements in differentiation skills and these develop POST birth, especially over the first two years or so where we see emerge a definite sense of self - then open to refinement through learning and experiences.