Consciousness
Consciousness has been a mystery for the philosophers, scientists and psychologists. They admit that they don’t even know what it is, where it comes from, who exactly is conscious and why.
There are philosophers or religious leaders who think only some people possess it, some think only humans have the privilege to have it. Others believe that some living beings are conscious, like dogs or dolphins and some theorize it must be universal and it inhibits everything in the world. But still, we cannot find the definition of consciousness, there are some ideas but nobody is sure what it is exactly. It is like all beliefs, different for every individual.
debate among philosophers, scientists, and theologians.
Physicists know about galaxies, black holes, other solar systems and planets, or the smallest particles that make up things. Biologists study the bodies of living things, from the whole to the smallest cell, Neurologists study the nervous system and the brain, now fMRI can show in real time what happens in the brain when we think. But where consciousness is located, when and how it begins, and how it ends, how it manifests and what are its characteristics, is still a mystery.
Is it present when you dream, when someone is in a coma, or being hypnotized, or when we go under for a surgery and we are in full anesthesia. What happens with our consciousness when we are anxious or clinically depressed?
We have come up with so many words that is about consciousness, and we use them different ways. What does it mean to be unconscious or preconscious? What happens when you are self-conscious?
If we cannot define consciousness, how can we say we know the different types of consciousness? Is it equivalent to awareness? So self-aware can also be self-conscious? How much does it have to do with intelligence? Where does intuition fit into consciousness?
Types of consciousness include psychological models like Freud's conscious, preconscious, and unconscious levels, and others that categorize it by state of awareness such as waking, sleeping, and dreaming. Other classifications include states of awareness like access, phenomenal, and self-consciousness, as well as models that describe consciousness on a spectrum of different levels.
Psychological and cognitive types
Conscious: Everything you are currently aware of.
Preconscious: Information that is not in your awareness but can be retrieved if needed.
Unconscious: Information that is outside of your awareness and generally inaccessible.
Access consciousness: When information is available for use in thought and action, such as reasoning or controlling behavior.
Phenomenal consciousness: The subjective, qualitative experience of "what it is like" to be in a state.
Self-consciousness: An awareness of oneself as an individual.
States of awareness
Waking: The state of being awake and responsive.
Sleep: A state of reduced awareness, which can be further divided into stages like REM and non-REM sleep.
Dreaming: The state of being aware of a dream during sleep.
Altered states: States of consciousness that differ from the normal waking state, often induced by meditation, hypnosis, or substances.
Levels of consciousness
Integrated Information Theory (IIT):
A framework that posits consciousness is a property of systems and can be measured on a scale called Phi (
Six levels:
Some models, like the one described by The Barrett Academy, outline a spectrum from survival consciousness to full-spectrum consciousness.
Spiritual and philosophical levels:
Various traditions describe different levels, such as the seven levels mentioned in Transcendental Meditation (including Transcendental Consciousness and Cosmic Consciousness), or the eight consciousnesses in Buddhism.
Other classifications
A shared set of beliefs, ideas, attitudes, and knowledge that are common to a social group or society.
The idea of creating consciousness in a non-biological system, such as a computer.
The state of being awake and responsive to stimuli, as opposed to being asleep or anaesthetized.
Consciousness in Psychology - Verywell Mind
Mar 21, 2025 — What Are the 5 Levels of Consciousness? * Conscious: Everything you are aware of. * Preconscious: Information you are...
Verywell Mind
Kinds of Consciousness Jacob Berger Forthcoming in Mind, Cognition ...
Keywords: Creature consciousness: an individual is creature conscious when the individual is awake and mentally responsive to stim...
PhilArchive
What Are the Different States of Consciousness? - Verywell Mind
May 20, 2025 — There are two main states of awareness: conscious and unconscious. Where the term unconscious represents a lack of awa...
Verywell Mind
2.2 Psychodynamic Psychology - BC Open Textbooks
Consciousness is the awareness of the self in space and time and is defined as human awareness to both internal and external stimu...
BC Open Textbooks
The Essence of Consciousness: Definition, Types, and Functions
Aug 20, 2024 — The types of consciousness 🔗 Consciousness is not a monolithic concept. It exists in various forms, each corresponding...
Psychology Town
Collective consciousness - Wikipedia
Rather than existing as separate individuals, people come together as dynamic groups to share resources and knowledge. It ( collec...
Wikipedia
eight consciousnesses | Dictionary of Buddhism
eight consciousnesses ［八識］ ( hasshiki): Eight kinds of discernment: (1) sight-consciousness, (2) hearing-consciousness, (3) smell...
Nichiren Buddhism Library
Levels of Consciousness - The Barrett Academy
* Level 1: Survival consciousness. ... * Level 2: Relationship consciousness. ... * Level 3: Self-esteem consciousness. ... * Lev...
The Barrett Academy
States Of Consciousness - Consciousness - MCAT Content
The other end of the continuum from alertness is sleep. Sleep is a state marked by relatively low levels of physical activity and ...
Jack Westin
Indicators and Criteria of Consciousness in Animals and Intelligent Machines: An Inside-Out Approach
Jul 16, 2019 — non-REM sleep (with deep sleep or slow-wave sleep representing an unaware state) and REM sleep (correlated with dream ...
National Institutes of Health (NIH) | (.gov)
Collective Consciousness | Overview, Theory & Examples - Lesson
Collective consciousness, also known as collective conscience, is a sociological concept that refers to common ideas, attitudes, b...
Study.com
What is a Neural Correlate of Consciousness?
Hobson holds that these levels can be grouped into a three-dimensional state-space, and that different regions in this space corre...
Consc.net
Seven Levels of Consciousness in Transcendental Meditation
Mar 28, 2025 — These include the three ordinary states that everyone experiences in daily life – deep sleep, dreaming, and waking – f...
Simply Psychology
Seven Levels of Consciousness in Transcendental Meditation
Mar 28, 2025 — In the waking state, the body and brain are in an active, responsive mode.
Simply Psychology
Guest Speaker @SCIoI: Christof Koch - Integrated Information Theory
Jun 25, 2024 — He ( Christof ) introduces the Integrated Information Theory (IIT). It explains in a principled manner which systems,
YouTube
Artificial Consciousness: Unveiling the Future of AI
Artificial consciousness, also known as machine consciousness or synthetic consciousness, refers to the theoretical concept of cre...
Lenovo
Non-Biological Human Consciousness
Jul 1, 2024 — Non-Biological Human Consciousness Non-Biological Human Consciousness is basically creating or replicating a human as a...
Global Science Network -
What is consciousness?
Sep 21, 2019 — Also popular is the integrated information theory . It sees consciousness as an emergent property of complex systems a...
ScienceDirect.com
Exploring Collective Consciousness within Organizations | by Duygu Ozen
Jul 14, 2023 — Exploring Collective Consciousness within Organizations What is Collective Consciousness? Collective consciousness ref...
Medium
4 theories of consciousness for the age of accelerating AI
Apr 29, 2023 — IIT uses mathematical models and principles to quantify the level of consciousness in a value called “phi” (Φ)., which...
Ross Dawson
Collective Consciousness | Topics | Sociology | tutor2u
Collective Consciousness The collective consciousness of society is the shared set of values or beliefs that people have.
Tutor2u
Neurobiology of Consciousness - Neuroscience and Ancient Perspectives
Jul 31, 2024 — The opposite state of consciousness is sleep when the awareness of the external environment is low. Sleep is character...
Springer
(PDF) Collective consciousness
Jan 16, 2020 — Abstract Collective consciousness is the set of shared beliefs, ideas, and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying...
ResearchGate
Consciousness in Psychology - Verywell Mind
Mar 21, 2025 — What Are the 5 Levels of Consciousness? * Conscious: Everything you are aware of. * Preconscious: Information you are...
Verywell Mind
Kinds of Consciousness Jacob Berger Forthcoming in Mind, Cognition ...
Keywords: Creature consciousness: an individual is creature conscious when the individual is awake and mentally responsive to stim...
PhilArchive
What Are the Different States of Consciousness? - Verywell Mind
May 20, 2025 — There are two main states of awareness: conscious and unconscious. Where the term unconscious represents a lack of awa...
Verywell Mind