12 Dec 19
@secondson saidConsciousness includes the capacity to speculate about abstract things, but the capacity to imagine "the infinite and eternal" is only one of countless such things so, as an idea, it takes up more words than it's worth in such a concise definition.
Except you have the conscious capacity to imagine the infinite and eternal.
12 Dec 19
@fmf saidWe are conscious of time and eternity.
I think my consciousness will cease when my "physical frame" ceases to exist. In the meantime, I think my consciousness is the ability to perceive my existence within an environment and to be aware of my capacity to affect or be affected by that environment.
12 Dec 19
@secondson saidConscience is just one aspect consciousness and it does not necessarily have anything whatsoever to do with "the capacity to be aware of eternity".
And the conscience has the capacity to be aware of eternity.
12 Dec 19
@secondson saidThat's just one limited aspect of the capacity that is consciousness. Honing in on it does not make for a good definition.
We are conscious of time and eternity.
12 Dec 19
@secondson saidIf you believe humans have to have a vocabulary [or language] in order to have consciousness, then perhaps you should come out and state it.
Perhaps children haven't yet developed the vocabulary.
12 Dec 19
@secondson saidIt's a capacity for self-awareness and abstraction that our brain's functions equip us with. Can we agree to at least that?
Have we defined consciousness yet?
12 Dec 19
@fmf saidWhat gives us the capacity to be consciously aware of the infinite and eternal?
That's just one limited aspect of the capacity that is consciousness. Honing in on it does not make for a good definition.
If consciousness ceases to exist at the death of the body, then being conscious of eternity is a trick of the mind. It's only the imagination.
12 Dec 19
@secondson saidI think its "substance" is the ability to access memories and recognize oneself as the witness and perpetrator of the events that those memories record ~ and then the ability to make decisions and act based on that narrative.
We has an idea of its function, but no idea about its substance.
12 Dec 19
@secondson saidI'd say the answer is, the functioning of our brains. It also gives us the capacity to be consciously aware of countless other notions aside from "the infinite and eternal".
What gives us the capacity to be consciously aware of the infinite and eternal?
12 Dec 19
@secondson saidA pretty basic perspective that consciousness gives most people is the idea that things go on without us after we cease to exist. I don't think being conscious of things going on without us after we die, perhaps even for eternity, is "a trick of the mind".
If consciousness ceases to exist at the death of the body, then being conscious of eternity is a trick of the mind. It's only the imagination.