Personal Definition Of Consciousness

Conscious For Now

Consciousness is a concept that is socially constructed to define a real, yet abstract phenomenon. The point of defining consciousness, in Combs words, is to take an metaphysical idea, something that can not be understood directly in itself, and turn it into an object for humans to understand from a concrete perspective. For the purpose of this paper, the type of consciousness that will mostly be discussed can be described as having consciousness, an adverb that is understood as an experience, not solely the state of being alive (Walden. Lecture. 8/24/16). To define consciousness in words does not do it justice, as it is comprised of the intangible and feelings. Yet, consciousness directly effects the physical world. According to *** , the meaning of consciousness arises in

Going off of Zeman’s three institutions, components of consciousness include being alive. A living biological organism. Zeman specifically states “Consciousness is bound up with our physical being”. For one to have consciousness, they must have bodily neural networks that allow for potentialities (Kak. 17. 1994). My personal definition of consciousness changes depending on context and particular periods in time because consciousness is always changing. As of now, consciousness is defined as a societal, psychological, biological, and ever-changing state of being. The one aspect of consciousness that I can continue to cling to is that consciousness is always fluctuating and shifting. In Leslie Irvine’s course, The Self in Society, she discusses how the self is fleeting. The self you are right now becomes a self of the past because by the time you think of your self, who you are, or your consciousness, that self is gone. This is very similar to the concept of the self as a reflexive process, having a “new” self every social interaction that does not carry from interaction to interaction. (Kent L. Sandstrom, Daniel D. Martin, Gary A. Fine. Symbols, Selves and