Priming and the Subconscious

Very good article in the NY Times recently on "the subconscious brain" how behavior can be manipulated through priming and the relationship between subconscious and conscious. I won't explain the article because it's only two pages and worthwhile to read. However, I did particularly like the paragraph which said:

"Scientists have spent years trying to pinpoint the exact neural regions that support conscious awareness, so far in vain. But there’s little doubt it involves the prefrontal cortex, the thin outer layer of brain tissue behind the forehead, and experiments like this one show that it can be one of the last neural areas to know when a decision is made. "

And people think they have free will......

Anyway, this idea that you're not able to explain your behavior and in fact may be totally unaware of how you're behaving due to priming or other factors happening subconsciously which you can't account for is kind of annoying. One generally wants to be self-aware to the extent that they can explain why they're acting the way they are, or at the very least know THAT they're acting the way they are. Apparently, due to the strong role played by subconscious brain components we are sometimes essentially strangers to ourselves, or to our actions - if that makes sense.