Consciousness, in a psychological sense, means the ability and understanding to be aware of our own mental processes. This is the most literal way that consciousness seems to be defined in science, but what value does this really hold to us? While defining consciousness is great and all, really finding what meaning that serves to us individually is where it grows in its value and purpose.

With that being said, I’ll set my own opinions aside for now, consciousness is a scientific phenomena that is speculated to only be present in the brains of humans, and while some scientific minds argue the presence of conscious thought in other beings, humans are the only observable species that back up the theories presented in regards to consciousness and its origin. While the theories defending the varying aspects of human consciousness are shrouded in scientific mystery, the basis of one of the most logically sound theories comes in the form of integration.

Integration in this context is meant to refer to the ability to measure how much a system’s interconnected parts attribute to its overall information. Basically, the potential to use all of the brains functions on a connected and assimilated manner marks human consciousness.

While I can’t say that many people I personally have had associations with have a definitive perspective on the concepts of our own consciousness, I would be willing to bet that those who do have wildly varying opinions.

Simply discussing the logistics of consciousness is very interesting, but what myself and others are likely interested in is the perspective of others on what the concept really signifies.

To me, consciousness and all of the beauty that is the human mind at it’s current capability is truly an indicator of our brains development and is a topic of interest in my philosophical endeavors. The marvel of the conscious mind is very speculated and not thoroughly scientifically definable, but I feel that only makes it more of a scientific wonder than even thought possible.

The ability to think, understand our thoughts and further analyze them are key traits of the consciousness we experience as humans. I fully take up this belief with the thought in mind that sentience, and by extension, consciousness is the current pinnacle of human evolution. I also hold the belief that living, waking consciousness is not the only state of being that is able to be experienced.

This is meant to say that with enough mental development and cognitive self-enlightenment, we have the potential to extend our states of consciousness to those of a higher understanding of the world and non-physical states of being.  I would be far too long winded in once piece to discuss my inner thoughts and feelings regarding the specifics of alternative states of mind, but I would like to go into deeper consideration of this in a later entry of this work.

I hope that through my summary of consciousness others may inquire more in regards to this particular facet of human existence, I aspire to trigger discussion and the journey for knowledge. We should ask questions, seek to better understand ourselves on deeper levels of mental processing and strive to find our own individual cures for innate human ignorance.