What Is Consciousness?

Each human life is a wondrous symphony of sensation. As are all living things, plants and animals alike, we are sensitive to the vivid parade of sights, smells, and sounds that constitute our experience. Unlike plants and animals, however, we possess a uniquely broad self-awareness that sets us apart. We think in terms not only of immediate sensation and survival, but also in terms of abstract ideas and of ourselves as individuals. Our ability to think introspectively and reflectively is a mystery. Human consciousness defies attempts to assign it an origin or a reason because its purpose is unclear.

Though consciousness is a product of thoughts, emotions, sensation, and experience, we are dual-natured. We define our awareness in terms of how we interact with others, yet only on our own can we grasp our own consciousness. Because consciousness is the sum of our inner thoughts, feelings, and personalities, we have no way of judging the consciousness of others. We may ask, "Is another's experiences of sensations such as color, pain, pleasure, temperature, or taste the same as our own?" but we can never truly be sure.

Our most vivid experiences are those of the senses: the scene that unfolds before us, the temperature of the air, hunger, pain, the passage of time, and sounds. But as conscious beings, we possess a unique set of choices. Animals repeatedly make the same choices based on sensation, but as humans we are unpredictable. We can ignore hunger during ceremonial fasts or enjoy the pain of vigorous massage. We can disregard the passage of time through meditation or disregard the outside world entirely. It is consciousness that allows us to interpret the world and ourselves using criteria we develop through experience.

Norman Cousins said, "The human brain is a mirror to infinity." As conscious beings, we examine and interpret the whole of the universe through our own existences. But, limited as our experiences may be, it is our self-awareness that has allowed humanity to develop such noble concepts as empathy, beauty, charity, love, and art. We are not simply aware of the world and ourselves. It is our consciousness that has allowed us to look further, into the realm of creation, invention, and the spirit, and to give our lives purpose.