collective unconscious

n. In Jungian psychology, the totality of the inherited structure of the mind formed over the course of evolution of prehuman and human ancestors which have left traces of often-repeated experiences in the form of archetypes or structural components which can also be considered as inherited potentialities. The collective unconscious determines our capacities to perceive and has predetermined categories into which experiences are fit, behavioral patterns and tendencies to respond, and an impulse to develop all of the inherited capacities of the individual, which is the full realization of the individual. This is distinguished from the personal unconscious, which contains repressed, suppressed, weak, and forgotten memories, as well as individually created organizations of perception and understanding. Also called the transpersonal unconsciousness.