Consciousness
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Most academics and philosophers avoid definitions of consciousness.
I suspect the reason is that (a) they avoid contextual thinking and/or (b) they are hiding essential insight that would empower humanity.
Applying first principles thinking with etymology, the most useful description of consciousness derrives as follows:
Mid-14 Century 'cognizance' (conisance) "by which something or someone is known". From Anglo-French conysance "recognition", "knowledge of".
Then 1630s, "internal knowledge," from conscious + -ness. Meaning "state of being aware of what passes in one's own mind".
A question then is, well what possess 'mind'? Does a rock have a mind? Is it cognizant (does it recognize, have knowledge of something?)
Let's get contextual and move on: Yes, everything that is impacted by something else can be described as recognizing it (its borders, pressure, force, etc). and in that sense all things have a knowing.
Animals have a primitive or a narrow-focused mind-space for recognition and knowing. Dolphins have individual names for each other.
Humans have tapped into a bigger capacity of mind-space. Volitional consciousness is the ability to choose where to mentally focus. I-ness consciousness is the introspective sense of a self-identity as distinct from that of our surroundings.
