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CONSCIENTIOUS & YOU-YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR AWARENESS

What is consciousness? Some say it is awareness. It is a process or function of being. The questions arise--what is aware & what are they aware of. Awareness must have an object as well as a subject. Awareness can be just in the moment, but to our minds that would not be true awareness. To have any real meaning, awareness must involve memory.

Many entities appear to have consciousness, but what are they aware of. Just as different people are aware of different things in the same situation, various animals appear to experience different things . A dog has a heightened sense of smell, & may be more aware of the smells than the sights & sounds, for instance. Awareness depends on sense perception , as well as previous experience & interest.

Is our consciousness in the waking state, when we are relating to the physical world, the same as our conscientious in dreaming sleep, when we are relating to the productions of our subconscious minds?

Dogs appear to dream. Many make body movements as if they were chasing something. Are these dreams any different than the dog's existence in the physical world? Both states are consciousness, just of different things.

We come to the issue of what is memory, for true awareness would not take place without memory? We may be aware we are falling off a cliff & will instantly die, but what does that awareness mean, assuming, as many say, that the screen goes blank & our story ends.

It is common in court for witnesses to misremember events they clearly were a part of. It appears in many cases they are not deliberately lying, but have different perceptions of what clearly happened.

So can our awareness be real if our memory is faulty? In other words, is our consciousness real or only an illusion we are creating?

Remiforce 7 Sep 1
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Some like to say dreams are the same as consciousness. I can disprove that - try to pee in a dream.
Just saying.
If consciousness is awareness of self, then ants have it as they, like some other creatures, humans included can identify themselves in a mirror. I wouldn't think ants are highly thoughtful in general. So, I don't know how one can judge consciousness; also, is it necessary to realize it to have It?

I don't know about you, but I have often dreamed I was peeing in a dream. It means I have to wake up & go to the bathroom.

Ants, as all living creatures, have awareness & so may be said to have a form of conscientousness.Whether they are self aware is another story. It is not necessary to have higher level cognition to have awareness, which can be based on instinct & not thought. Ants instinctually recognize other ants, but can it be said they recognize themselves.

If we don't realize we have consciousness, it is unconscious, which is a contradiction in terms, It seems necessary to be conscious to be conscious.

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Is it the same as the automatic. "duck reflex" at sudden movements nearby I still have after having been severely abused by first hubby over 50 years ago? You talk like someone who has always had "sweetness & light" and good for you, but some of us might treasure a little forgetfulness....

If you still have the "duck reflex" from abuse you suffered 50 years ago, you have not forgotten. People are silly when they say "Forgive & forget". We may pretend we forgive, but we never really forget.

My life has not been "sweetness & light". I believe I have seen much more than my share of the evil of human nature. Confronting evil can make us very aware if it doesn't destroy us. One of the silliest things ever said in philosophy is Neitsczhe, "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger".

I have worked with many combat vets suffering from severe PTSD & other very serious disabilities. They weren't killed, but they weren't made stronger. Because I have confronted so much evil, I have sought the consolation of philosophy & the search for understanding

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I don't know.

Good, then you are wiser than most

@Remiforce I'm not so sure about that.

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As Dr. Wolf (world renowned neurologist from LA) explained, the mind is a great inventor. That is why a witness is unreliable on the stand.

The mind makes up those elements that it is missing in order to complete the picture. The invented pieces are consistent with the observer's own perceptions and experiences. That is why a person can be tricked into believing something that they never experienced. Its partially why gaslighting works. If repeated enough by those around you that you trust, or look up to, soon your mind will have created the scenario and all the attendant details as though it had actually occurred.

Dr Wolf in his talk in Santa Fe presented an example from his own experiences. It seems the family was gathering to celebrate a birthday. The celebrants, prior to the birthday person arriving, contrived a story about an event in his earlier years

When the celebrant arrived, in the course of the evenings festivities, all the participants began to recollect events related to pre-arranged event. By the time all the family had submitted their false, made up memories, the celebrant suddenly had an epiphany and remembered the aforementioned event. In fact he added details and specifics, even though it never really happened. In fact when he was let in on the joke, he refused to believe that it was made up and never happened. He claimed his memories of the said event were too clear, therefore it must have taken place. His mind had made up a scenario that was believable because he wanted to believe in the event.

This is a lot like what religion does. We are inundated from birth with religious symbolism, such that by the time we are capable of discerning, rational thought, the mind has already invented the details necessary to make it make sense. Even though a critical assessment would render it fallacious at worst, and specious at best. Thus we come to consciousness, it too gaslight us into complacency.

We are story making beings. If we lack details or understanding, we fabricate a story to make things fit our beliefs, which are based on our desires. We are, in effect, hypnotized by life, We can't comprehend the reality, & so make up a reality. We do not experience reality , but create it.

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I thought a person could sit and experience conscious awareness without having thoughts of any kind, including memories. Memories seem to consist of symbols or sequences of symbols. You can stop looking at those symbols—consciously turn away.

So far as what consciousness is, it’s a very profound mystery. There’s something extremely uncanny about consciousness. Most people simply take it for granted or don’t want to think about it, but behind the scenes of our sentient reality lies a phenomenon of immense significance of which we are a vital part.

What is consciousness? It is us.

Very experienced meditators can go into very deep alpha, delta, or even theta levels of mind & temporarily shut off thoughts & memory, but they experience really profound awareness of their inner being & the world around them in this awareness of their inner state, which gives them profound insight into their reality. . After they have meditated, they remember they did, even though they can't express what they experienced..

I agree. Consciousness is us. We don't have consciousness, we are consciousness.

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