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Define Consiousness

Conciousness: Being able to perceive. When you're dreaming, you're concious. Hell, even while sleeping, your mind is still working. Basically, as long as you can perceive in any way, and have a way to interpret that information, you have conciousness. If we have a machine that can see, and has methods to describe what it sees, and react accordingly, then....in a sense, it is concious.


That's how I see it, anyway. A test of conciousness is impossible, as I see it. I mean, there's no way you can experience what something/someone else is experiencing, not exactly anyway, and to know exactly what they're thinking, and why....trying to make a test for something like that is a waste of time.
 
I'll take a stab.
Consiousness: Awareness of stimulus. 1st draft
2nd draft: The ability to perceive stimulus.
3rd draft: A state characterized by the ability to perceive and react to stimulus.
 
Definition of consciousness: Knowledge of one's own existence, condition, sensations, mental operations, acts, etc.

In reference to the baseball bat test: An alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation.

Watch out for anyone who tries to tack on any meaningless or magical attributes to consciousness (such as "consciousness is the soul"), that's a sure sign the person you are talking to doesnt have a clue what consciousness is.
 
I thin k if you're going to start a thread, you should check a dictionary for the spelling of "consciousness".

Secondly, this appears to be the umpteenth time that a thread which belongs in R&P gets started in the Science forum. Nothing ever gets decided and "Interesting" gets to bore on for ten pages.
 
fishbob said:
Yeah, but at least you are conscious of it.
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:D


When you are awake you are conscious. When you are asleep you are unconscious. Why? Well, please tell me. I'm too tired to think today.
 
Its that stuff you get when you wake up in morning
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Actually, humans are still concious while sleeping. If we weren't, loud noises couldn't wake us up. We're just running on a lower level, so to speak.
 
Eos of the Eons said:
When you are awake you are conscious. When you are asleep you are unconscious. Why? Well, please tell me. I'm too tired to think today.
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I think (because I dont know for certain) while you are sleeping, you are not aware of your own actions. If you use the definition I provided, you could assume with certainty you are "unconscious" during the first 4 of the 5 stages of sleep.

During REM sleep (about 20% of all your sleeping occurs in REM sleep), you are unaware of your actions while you are sleeping. What do you mean Yahweh? First, I have to say memory is not a necessary function of sleep, thats why we remember very few of our dreams (we usually remember a dream when we wake up in the middle of one). Second, you are not aware (referring to conscious control) of your actions in sleep any more than you are aware of your own breathing when you are awake (unless you are fortunate enough to have a Lucid dream).

Conclusion, during the 5 stages of sleep, you are unconscious.

Dreaming is comparable to watching TV, you cannot control what the characters do on TV, you just sit and watch.

(For some reason I feel like I'm speaking out of my area of expertise and I couldnt find much information outside of "quantum consciousness" on the internet... If someone see's that I've made a mistake, feel free to correct me...)
 
Yahweh said:
*snip*
Dreaming is comparable to watching TV, you cannot control what the characters do on TV, you just sit and watch.
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Which is why "lucid dreaming" is of such interest to those studying consciousness. What about those times when you are aware that it is a dream, and those rarer times when you can control the dream?
 
You're always conscious. Until you're dead (and even then, some people think you can be conscious).

Mercutio said: Which is why "lucid dreaming" is of such interest to those studying consciousness. What about those times when you are aware that it is a dream, and those rarer times when you can control the dream?
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Have there been any long term studies on lucid dreams? Well, I guess a better starting point would be has anyone claimed to readily be able to undergo a lucid dream state? My knowledge of dreams stops at Freud's Interpretation of Dreams, and that isn't exhaustive.

Has anyone hear had a lucid dream? (Woops, guess I shouldn't hijack this thread)
 
Mercutio said:
Which is why "lucid dreaming" is of such interest to those studying consciousness. What about those times when you are aware that it is a dream, and those rarer times when you can control the dream?
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Well, then in that case you would be conscious during your REM cycle. I would assume you only dream lucidly when you are about to wake up (you only remember the dreams you have when you've woken up anyway).

I dont know any method that could trigger a lucid dream (God knows I'd like to), its one of those weird quirks of the human mind I guess.
 
Rayn said:
You're always conscious. Until you're dead (and even then, some people think you can be conscious).
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What about that 6 1/2 hours every night that you are within non-REM sleep?

Consciousness does not simply mean "brain working".
 
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