R
A personal
glossary of consciousness
Since we have no consensus theories of Ultimate Nature
or of consciousness,
mindpsyche must be described in its own experiential
and functional terms,
not physical ones, and we must keep a sharp distinction
between
subjective and objective levels of description . *
[ Subjective ] , [ Objective ] , [ Speculative ] , [ Exit ]
[ Definitions are grouped arbitrarily
according to function and association of ideas. ]
Subjective consciousness (with
reference to my own person)
consciousness (root meaning, Aknowing with@) B
awareness in response to some level of connectedness to external environment ;
the state of eusthesia. My state
of consciousness lies at any moment in a multidimensional continuum,
spanning varying degrees of alertness, attentiveness, scope
of content and coloration (of feeling and emotion) all preserving some
sense of identity and continuity of the present moment with memory:
(1) dream state B a sense of awareness of imagery from the internal
environment, during REM sleep. (There remains a limited level of sensitivity to
physical environment, such as to a sound which awakens, and a sense of
connectedness to one=s waking identity.)
(2) diffuse state – objective wakefulness with much reduced alertness,
attention, and scope (but this is a normal state of eusthesis, without
confusion);
(3) deflected state - attention to an object of thought (such as dream
images or anticipated tasks), with reduced alertness to physical
environment. A vision is
an unusual occurrence, during otherwise objectively-normal wakefulness, of a
numinous dream image which holds the attention of consciousness ; it may be
thought of as an intense, highly "colored" occurrence of deflected
consciousness. [To be distinguished
from vision as ordinary physical sight.]
(4) focused state B high alertness and attention to a physical object.
unconsciousness
B absence of awareness during normal deep sleep, or
after injury, with amnesia. During clearing of injury effects, as on awakening
from deep sleep, there may be a
transitional state of confusion, with fragmentary memory awareness.)
Unconscious
(the) B noun, all of
that of which I am not aware, whose presence is inferred but not directly
apprehended ; however, something of its character is indirectly knowable
through dream, slips of the tongue or pen, etc., or by observations reported by
another person, or inferred by reason
personal unconscious B (Jung) normally unremembered or never recognized content
originating in personal experience
accessible unconscious – that part of the personal unconscious which is
readily retrievable, as memory or associations of ideas, into consciousness
collective unconscious B (Jung) normally unrecognized content originating from the
instinctual level, but indirectly recognizable in Aarchetypal@
patterns of imagery and symbolic association, shared by humankind
{ netherconscious } B the realm of that which is never-conscious (to me) ;
it would include metabolic levels of action of the body. [A coinage inspired by the discovery of the
word Anethermore@
in: James Joyce, Finnegan=s Wake, Bk I, ch 3. Nether poetically refers to an inferior or lower
state, especially oblivion. ]
coloration B the quality of meaning, feeling, or emotion associated with eusthesia, that is, with my experience of the moment, ranging
from ennui to highly numinous (as on a scale of color saturation). Variation in this quality helps to
distinguish certain special experiences,
which all seem to reflect some higher degree of "tuning" of
consciousness and the Unconscious to each other:
(1) bliss -- (as in Joseph
Campbell=s advice to Afollow
your bliss@); a greater degree of coloration than average,
associated with a thought or image, external or internal;
(2) ecstasy B a greater
degree of coloration than Abliss@, whether spontaneous or induced (such as ritually or pharmacologically). The Greek
term connotes a level out of the normal level;
(3) trance -- descriptions seem
to indicate a progression of states through a continuum beginning with ecstasy
and culminating in a seemingly unconscious state, or perhaps, a state of
attenuated Adiffuse@
consciousness. One description of
trance in Haitian vaudou (Maya Deren) refers to a Awhite darkness@ without
consciousness of content;
(4) enlightenment (nirvana) B an
instance of feeling connectedness to all-that-Is, described as a state of emptiness,
i.e. empty of any sense of essence of any individual thing. Nirvana
translates as Aextinction@ (of all
sense of separate existants). Such a state is generally associated with
prolonged mind-training (mindfulness meditation) and is highly numinous. The
training emphasizes simultaneous alertness of mind and inattentiveness to
spontaneous thought and outer stimuli [that is, inattentiveness to the nuothread
(see below)].
complex B noun, cluster of meanings and associations related to a
particular archetypal symbol (Jung) ; or, such a
cluster which is Aactivated@ or Aenergized@ to a
point of causing distress (Freud)
{ eusthesia } B {coined
term } noun, normal wakeful sense of connectedness to physical environment
aesthesis B sensing of
the physical environment (through ordinary somatic afferents)
reason B conscious
processing of information according with some system of logic.
intuition B direct, immediate insight ; apprehension without
using a reasoning process
{ protuition } the unconscious process by which an intuition is formed, before
its apprehension into ego-consciousness
insight B understanding at a non-superficial level, as a result
of the processing of information,
whether by intuition or reason
ego B my own sense of person and identity, represented by
my name ; my AI@ ; the content available to my ordinary consciousness
(including accessible memory). This normal consciousness is to be distinguished
from the Aactivated@
ego-complex of an Ainflated ego@ ; it
stands in sharpest contrast to my never-conscious content.
person B the wholeness of myself, encompassing mind and body
[to be distinguished from my persona ]
persona B (Jung) the Amask@ by which I present myself (consciously and
unconsciously) to others.
mind B all of my abstract information-handling functions
including processed content ; see nuocontinuum, i.e. the whole of mind, conscious
and unconscious, in all its aspects. [Note a distinction between subjective and
objective ideas of mind.]
psyche B mind, considered especially in respect to making
conscious that which is normally unconscious.
mindfulness B (1) the state of nonreactive awareness of the content
of consciousness B (2) the practice of cultivating that state with the
intention of resting the mind, for reducing stress, and/or moving toward a state of awareness empty of
content (see enlightenment, above).
experience B the (abstract, nonlocal) imprint on the nuocontinuum
occasioned by each and all of the activities and events of my life
idea B a subjective unit of thought or image, whose
processing with other such units may give rise to new associations and
understandings of experience
spirit B the subjective Aenergy@ perceived in images presented to consciousness (see coloration,
above)
spirituality
- that personal function which relates my life's meaning to transpersonal
reality. [Spirituality is subjective, and is not necessarily defined by
association with a certain tradition or by organizational affiliation.]
soul B the mind, with special reference to awareness that
mind has unconscious and transpersonal aspects
[Note
that Asoul@ is defined subjectively, never objectively.]
association B the process of attaching relationships of meaning
among ideas
abstract B adj. having reality beyond the physical. [Whatever has effect(s) must be taken as real.
Note a broad overlap in the concepts of Aabstract@ and Amental@.]
meaning B perceived significance or interpretation of a
thought-image, in relation to other content of consciousness
daemon
{or daimonikon ? } B (Gk: daimon) the thought-image (ikon) by which I represent
to myself the central function of my whole self, in its integration of
consciousness and unconsciousness.
self B the Jungian term for daemon, or by
extension, my whole person
myself B my whole person
Objective (clinical) consciousness B (with reference to my observations of another person)
anaesthesia B clinical
state of induced absence of sensation
(general, regional, local)
hypesthesia B reduced physical sensitivity
coma ( and vegetative states ) B as diagnosed clinically, with no knowledge of a
patient=s subjective state, if any
sleep -- the state of apparent somnolence, from which one
is arousable by ordinary stimuli. Its dreaming state objectively correlates
with rapid eye movement and distinctive EEG pattern.)
mind B abstract information-processing functions, including
cognitive and emotional states, inferred from observations of behavior. [cf. subjective
mind, above.]
religion B the set of beliefs and practices shared by a community
as it seeks to reach levels of subjective experience beyond ordinary
ego-consciousness. [Though such experience is individual, religion itself is
collective, thus objective, for it refers to a social object which may be
studied.]
Speculative
aspects of consciousness B (the
conscious domain of theory derived by
reason, but not subject to direct experimental verification)
{ nuocontinuum } B (Gk: nous,
mind) B (1) the
abstract complex whole-mind, encompassing all types of experience, local and nonlocal, such as
ordinary Amind@ (the realm of cognition and of emotion), and psyche,
soul, and spirit ; it encompasses all information content, including knowledge,
imagery, language-development, and all meaningful content, whether or not
having religious or Aspiritual@
associations. B (2) the
extension of this concept to the whole-cosmos, to encompass all information
aspects of cosmos, including the mathematical relationships in-form-ing
physical states, at all levels of description.
reality B Ultimate
Nature ; that which irreducibly IS ; the fundamental level of description for all contexts
and categories of Being.
Being B Ultimate
Nature, construed as abstract and equivalent to Ultimate Energy, beyond which
no physical thing exists.
existence B the state of having physical identity, i.e.
identifiable as such in space and time
locality B the property
of being identifiable in spacetime.
[All such objects of thought refer to something physical.]
nonlocality B the property
of lacking identity in spacetime. [Such
objects of thought, if having observable effects, refer to something real but
not physical. Thought itself, though it occurs through the agency of the
physical brain, is nonlocal.]
{ nuon } B the (abstract, conceptual) unit of
information associated (correlated, entangled) with an object of thought,
including those objects which are a cluster or set of objects. [In the theory
of nuocontinuum, sense (2), nuon is also an information unit of physical
objects.]
{ nuoflux } B the moment to moment Aflow@ or dynamics of the nuocontinuum. [Being abstract, the
nuocontinuum is nonlocal, yet Aflow@ or Achange@ is a spacetime phenomenon. At this point, theories of
consciousness become poetic, if they are to span both realms.]
{ nuothread } – the abstract “string” or
“chain” of nuons associated with ideas, personal and collective experiences,
emotions, etc., and with properties of physical objects, which tend to move
together in (and as) the nuoflux.
eidolon B (Gk) the Form (Plato) - the nuothread of the set of all similar thought-objects.
[The Form or eidolon of rabbit is Ideal-Rabbit.]
mind-body problem B
the difficulty of explaining the relationship between the abstract reality of
mind and the functional physical reality of the brain (and body and cosmos).
[ TOP ] , [ Subjective ] , [ Objective ] , [ Speculative ]
[ Cosmos and Consciousness ] , [ SCRIPTORIUM ]
The
definitions relate only to consciousness studies.
{ Italics in braces } indicate coined terms.
Donivan Bessinger
February 2008,
with appreciation to Bruce Nagle
for helpful comment..
Update
21 Feb 08