Single celled organisms like the Amoeba are aware of some environmental conditions (eg light, heat, chemicals) and react by moving towards or away from them. Some flowers track the sun during the day and fold their petals at night – so there is stimulus and response. But in these cases there are no sense organs or brains. So there is sensitivity but should we think of this as conscious activity?
When ordinary people talk of consciousness they are usually referring to self-consciousness which involves being aware of your own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc. Note that there is a non-egoic frame of mind which might be labelled as self-less-consciousness eg when musicians are in the groove, athletes are in the zone, poets hear their muse, and artisans flow.
Most of the activities of the mindbrain are not apparent to self-consciousness or self-less-consciousness and they are labelled as the unconscious. The unconscious has many modules and is in a constant state of flux so as to monitor changes in the internal and external environments and to organise reactions and responses to those changes.
There is also the concept of the sub-conscious. This can be thought of as a buffer zone between the conscious and the unconscious. It can be visualised as a channel through which the mind feeds the brain which in turn feeds the mind.
It is interesting to note that Buddhism recognises four type of consciousness – Mind, sense, store and self (manas) The following notes are based on http://archive.thebuddhadharma.com/issues/2006/summer/consciousness.html
Mind consciousness is our “working” consciousness that makes judgments and plans; it is the part of our consciousness that worries and analyzes … The brain is only 2 percent of the body’s weight, but it consumes 20 percent of the body’s energy. So using mind consciousness is very expensive. Thinking, worrying and planning take a lot of energy.
We can reduce the amount of energy needed by linking mind consciousness to mindfulness. Mindfulness keeps us in the present moment and allows our mind consciousness to relax and cut back on the energy used in worrying about the past or predicting the future.
The second type is sense consciousness, the consciousness that comes from our five senses. We sometimes call these senses “gates,” or “doors,” because all objects of perception enter consciousness through our sensory contact with them.
The third type is store consciousness which is the deepest and has three meanings. The first meaning is of a place, a “store,” where all kinds of seeds and information are kept. The second meaning is that store consciousness doesn’t just take in information, it holds it and preserves it. The third meaning covers the sense of processing and transforming.
Store consciousness can process information without much effort. So if you want to save your energy, don’t think too much, don’t plan too much, and don’t worry too much. Allow your store consciousness to do most of the processing.
Store consciousness can operate independent of mind consciousness. Store consciousness dictates many of the things we do, because it continuously receives, embraces, maintains, processes, and makes decisions without the participation of mind consciousness. So, as practitioners, we can’t rely on our mind consciousness alone; we have to rely on our store consciousness as well. Decisions are being made down there.
In store consciousness there are elements of ignorance—delusion, anger, fear—and these elements form a force of energy that clings, that wants to possess. This is the fourth type of consciousness, called manas, which can be translated as “cogitation.”
At the root of cogitation is the belief in a separate self. This consciousness, the feeling and instinct called “I am,” is deeply seated in store consciousness and holds the idea that there is a self that is separate from non-self elements.
Whether we’re driving, manipulating a machine, or performing other tasks, many of us allow our sense consciousness to collaborate with store consciousness. This means that many things can happen without the intervention of mind consciousness.
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First there was sensitivity and then consciousness and now consciousness of consciousness and of unconsciousness.
SO consciousness is an awkward concept – but well worth unpicking.
>>>>> More … ‘Consciousness is an enigmatic beast.’ Scientific American Editors (2013). The Secrets of Consciousness (Kindle Edition.)
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