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Awareness
 
 
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Awareness is a term referring to the ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious
Consciousness

Consciousness is a difficult term to define, because the word is used and understood in a wide variety of ways, so that it frequently happens that what one person sees as a definition of consciousness is seen by others as about something else altogether....
 of events
Event

Event can refer to:* A phenomenon, any observable occurrence, or an extraordinary occurrenceA type of gathering:* A ceremony, for example, a marriage...
, objects
Object

Object may refer to,* Object , a thing, being or concept** Entity, something that is tangible and within the grasp of the senses* Object , a sentence element, such as a direct object or an indirect object...
 or patterns
Pattern

A pattern, from the French language patron, is a type of theme of recurring events of or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set....
, which does not necessarily imply understanding
Understanding

Understanding is a psychology process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object....
. In biological psychology
Biological psychology

In psychology, biological psychology, also known as biopsychology, psychobiology, or behavioral neuroscience is the application of the principles of biology to the study of mental processes and behavior....
, awareness comprises a human's or an animal's perception
Sense

Senses are the physiological methods of perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology , and philosophy of perception....
 and cognitive reaction to a condition or event.

eness is a relative concept
Concept

A concept is a cognition unit of meaning— an abstraction idea or a mental symbol sometimes defined as a "unit of knowledge," built from other units which act as a concept's characteristics....
. An animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
 may be partially aware, may be subconscious
Subconscious

The term subconscious is used in many different contexts and has no single or precise definition. This greatly limits its significance as a meaning-bearing concept, and in consequence the word tends to be avoided in academic and scientific settings....
ly aware, or may be acutely aware of an event. Awareness may be focused on an internal state, such as a visceral feeling, or on external events by way of sensory perception.






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Awareness is a term referring to the ability to perceive, to feel, or to be conscious
Consciousness

Consciousness is a difficult term to define, because the word is used and understood in a wide variety of ways, so that it frequently happens that what one person sees as a definition of consciousness is seen by others as about something else altogether....
 of events
Event

Event can refer to:* A phenomenon, any observable occurrence, or an extraordinary occurrenceA type of gathering:* A ceremony, for example, a marriage...
, objects
Object

Object may refer to,* Object , a thing, being or concept** Entity, something that is tangible and within the grasp of the senses* Object , a sentence element, such as a direct object or an indirect object...
 or patterns
Pattern

A pattern, from the French language patron, is a type of theme of recurring events of or objects, sometimes referred to as elements of a set....
, which does not necessarily imply understanding
Understanding

Understanding is a psychology process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object....
. In biological psychology
Biological psychology

In psychology, biological psychology, also known as biopsychology, psychobiology, or behavioral neuroscience is the application of the principles of biology to the study of mental processes and behavior....
, awareness comprises a human's or an animal's perception
Sense

Senses are the physiological methods of perception. The senses and their operation, classification, and theory are overlapping topics studied by a variety of fields, most notably neuroscience, cognitive psychology , and philosophy of perception....
 and cognitive reaction to a condition or event.

Concept

Awareness is a relative concept
Concept

A concept is a cognition unit of meaning— an abstraction idea or a mental symbol sometimes defined as a "unit of knowledge," built from other units which act as a concept's characteristics....
. An animal
Animal

Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the Kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life....
 may be partially aware, may be subconscious
Subconscious

The term subconscious is used in many different contexts and has no single or precise definition. This greatly limits its significance as a meaning-bearing concept, and in consequence the word tends to be avoided in academic and scientific settings....
ly aware, or may be acutely aware of an event. Awareness may be focused on an internal state, such as a visceral feeling, or on external events by way of sensory perception. Awareness provides the raw material from which animals develop qualia
Qualia

The plural word 'Qualia' , singular 'quale' , from the Latin for ?what sort? or ?what kind?, is a term of art used in philosophy for sensory occurrences of all kinds....
, or subjective
Subjectivity

Subjectivity refers to a subject's perspective or opinion, particularly feelings, beliefs, and desires. It is often used casually to refer to unjustified personal opinions, in contrast to knowledge and justified belief....
 idea
Idea

An idea is a form formed by consciousness through the process of Ideation . Human capability to contemplate ideas is associated with the ability of reasoning, human self-reflection, and of the ability to acquire and apply intellect, intuition, inspiration, etc.....
s about their experience
Experience

Experience as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through involvement in or exposure to that thing or event....
.

Also used to distinguish sensory perception is the word "awarement." "Awarement" is the established form of awareness. Once one has accomplished their sense of awareness they have come to terms with awarement.

Self-awareness

Popular ideas about consciousness
Consciousness

Consciousness is a difficult term to define, because the word is used and understood in a wide variety of ways, so that it frequently happens that what one person sees as a definition of consciousness is seen by others as about something else altogether....
 suggest the phenomenon describes a condition of being aware of one's awareness or, self-awareness
Self-awareness

Self-awareness is the concept that one exists as an individual, separate from other people, with private thoughts and individual rights. It may also include the understanding that other people are similarly self-aware....
. Efforts to describe consciousness in neurological
Neurology

Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the Central nervous system, Peripheral nervous system, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and...
 terms have focused on describing networks in the brain
Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some primitive animals such as cnidarian and echinoderm have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while sponges lack any nervous system at all....
 that develop awareness of the qualia
Qualia

The plural word 'Qualia' , singular 'quale' , from the Latin for ?what sort? or ?what kind?, is a term of art used in philosophy for sensory occurrences of all kinds....
 developed by other networks.

Neuroscience

Neural systems that regulate attention
Attention

Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things. Examples include listening carefully to what someone is saying while ignoring other conversations in a room or listening to a cell phone conversation while driving a car....
 serve to attenuate awareness among complex animals whose central
Central nervous system

The central nervous system is the part of the nervous system that functions to coordinate the activity of all parts of the bodies of multicellular organisms....
 and peripheral nervous system
Peripheral nervous system

The peripheral nervous system resides or extends outside the central nervous system , which consists of the brain and spinal cord. The main function of the PNS is to connect the CNS to the limbs and organs....
 provides more information than cognitive
Cognition

Cognition is the science term for "the process of thought."Its usage varies in different ways in accord with different disciplines: For example, in psychology and cognitive science it refers to an information processing view of an individual's psychological Functionalism s....
 areas of the brain can assimilate. Within an attenuated system of awareness, a mind
Mind

Mind refers to the aspects of intellect and consciousness manifested as combinations of thought, perception, memory, emotion, free will and imagination, including all of the brain's conscious and unconscious cognitive processes....
 might be aware of much more than is being contemplated in a focused extended consciousness
Extended consciousness

In biological psychology, extended consciousness is an animal autobiographical self-perception.Extended consciousness is said to arise in the brain of animals with substantial capacity for memory and reason....
.

Basic Awareness

Basic awareness of one's internal and external world depends on the brain stem
Brain stem

The brain stem is the lower part of the brain, adjoining and structurally continuous with the spinal cord. The brain stem provides the main motor and sensory innervation to the face and neck via the cranial nerves....
. Bjorn Merker , an independent neuroscientist in Segeltorp, Sweden, argues that the brain stem supports an elementary form of conscious thought in infants with hydranencephaly
Hydranencephaly

Hydranencephaly is a type of cephalic disorder. This is a rare condition in which the cerebral hemispheres are absent and replaced by sacs filled with cerebrospinal fluid....
. "Higher" forms of awareness including self-awareness
Self-awareness

Self-awareness is the concept that one exists as an individual, separate from other people, with private thoughts and individual rights. It may also include the understanding that other people are similarly self-aware....
 require cortical contributions, but "primary consciousness" or "basic awareness" as an ability to integrate sensations from the environment with one's immediate goals and feelings in order to guide behavior, springs from the brain stem which human beings share with most of the vertebrates. Psychologist Carroll Izard
Carroll Izard

Carroll Ellis Izard is an American psychologist known for his contributions to Differential Emotions Theory , and the Maximally Discriminative Affect Coding System ....
 emphasizes that this form of primary consciousness
Consciousness

Consciousness is a difficult term to define, because the word is used and understood in a wide variety of ways, so that it frequently happens that what one person sees as a definition of consciousness is seen by others as about something else altogether....
 consists of capacity to generate emotions and an awareness of one's surroundings, but not an ability to talk about what one has experienced. In the same way, people can become conscious of a feeling that they can't label or describe, a phenomenon that's especially common in pre-verbal infants.

Due to this discovery medical definitions of brain death
Brain death

Brain death isa legal definition of death that emerged in the 1960s as a response to the ability to resuscitate individuals and mechanically keep the heart and lungs working....
 as a lack of cortical activity face a serious challenge.

Basic Interests
Down the brain stem lie interconnected regions that regulate the direction of eye gaze and organize decisions about what to do next, such as reaching for a piece of food or pursuing a potential mate.

Living Systems View

Outside of neuroscience
Neuroscience

Neuroscience is a field devoted to the scientific study of the nervous system. The Society for Neuroscience was founded in 1969, but the study of the brain started a long time ago....
 biologists, Humberto Maturana
Humberto Maturana

Humberto Maturana is a Chilean biologist....
 and Francisco Varela
Francisco Varela

Francisco Javier Varela Garc?a , was a Chilean biology, philosophy and neuroscience who, together with his teacher Humberto Maturana, is best known for introducing the concept of autopoiesis to biology....
 contributed their Santiago theory of cognition
Santiago Theory of Cognition

Biologists, Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela contributed their Santiago theory of cognition in which they wrote:Living systems are cognitive systems, and living as a process is a process of cognition....
 in which they wrote:
Living systems are cognitive systems, and living as a process is a process of cognition. This statement is valid for all organisms, with or without a nervous system.
This theory contributes a perspective that cognition is a process present at organic levels that we don't usually consider to be aware. Given the possible relationship between awareness and cognition
Cognition

Cognition is the science term for "the process of thought."Its usage varies in different ways in accord with different disciplines: For example, in psychology and cognitive science it refers to an information processing view of an individual's psychological Functionalism s....
, and consciousness
Consciousness

Consciousness is a difficult term to define, because the word is used and understood in a wide variety of ways, so that it frequently happens that what one person sees as a definition of consciousness is seen by others as about something else altogether....
, this theory contributes an interesting perspective in the philosophical and scientific dialogue of awareness and living systems theory
Living systems theory

Living systems theory is a general theory about the existence of all living systems, their structure, interaction, behavior and development. This work is created by James Grier Miller, which was intended to formalize the concept of "life"....
.

Other uses

Awareness is also a concept used in CSCW. Its definition has not yet reached a consensus in the scientific community.

Awareness forms a basic concept of the theory and practice of Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy

Gestalt therapy is an existential and experiential psychotherapy that focuses on the individual's experience in the present moment, the therapist-client relationship, the environmental and social contexts in which these things take place, and the self-regulating adjustments people make as a result of the overall situation....
.

In general, "awareness" may also refer to public or common knowledge or understanding about a social, scientific, or political issue, and hence many movements try to foster "awareness" of a given subject. Examples include AIDS
AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the HIV ....
 awareness and Multicultural awareness.

Awareness may refer to Anesthesia awareness
Anesthesia awareness

Anesthesia awareness, or "unintended intra-operative awareness" occurs during General anaesthetic, on the operating table, when a patient has not had enough general anesthetic or analgesic to prevent consciousness or waking up during surgery....
.

See also

  • Yoga Nidra
    Yoga Nidra

    Yoga Nidra, may be rendered in English as "yogic sleep" or "sleep of the yogis". There are numerous traditions of Yoga Nidra sadhana that have been transmitted through parampara within the Indian religions....
  • Indefinite monism
    Indefinite monism

    Indefinite Monism is a philosophical conception of reality that asserts that only Awareness is real and that the wholeness of Reality can be conceptually thought of in terms of immanent and transcendent aspects....
  • Feldenkrais method
    Feldenkrais method

    The Feldenkrais Method is an educational system centered on movement, aiming to expand and refine the use of the self through awareness. It is intended for those who wish to improve their movement repertoire , as well as those wishing to reduce pain or limitations in movement, and many who want to improve their general well-being and personal...
  • Philosophy of mind
    Philosophy of mind

    Philosophy of mind is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental property, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain....


External links

  • Conditioning, awareness, and the hippocampus.
  • : Presentation on Human Awareness and Behaviour In A Changing World.
  • : Recent findings in the awareness of brain damaged people.