The model of Conscious Experience is a basic way to represent how our mind works, in order to be able to better understand it and more easily talk about it.
Conscious Experience takes two forms of interacting with ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
... which are crucial to differentiate - AttentionAttention
Whenever Attention is focused on some object, that object dominates our ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
....
Attention singles out a small part of the field of ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
..., and deeply analyzes and interprets ... and Peripheral AwarenessPeripheral Awareness
Peripheral Awareness makes sure that while our AttentionAttention
Whenever Attention is focused on some object, that object dominates our ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
....
Attention singles out a small part of the field of ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
..., and deeply analyzes and interprets ... is focused on a single thing, we are still generally aware of the things in the background.
Peripheral awareness is more holistic, open....
Spontaneous Movements of Attention
During our conscious experience, we are constantly experiencing spontaneous movements of AttentionAttention
Whenever Attention is focused on some object, that object dominates our ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
....
Attention singles out a small part of the field of ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
..., and deeply analyzes and interprets .... These come in three different forms: scanning, getting captured and alternating.
Scanning happens as our minds move from object to object, searching for something of interest.
Getting captured happens when an object manages to capture our AttentionAttention
Whenever Attention is focused on some object, that object dominates our ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
....
Attention singles out a small part of the field of ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
..., and deeply analyzes and interprets .... For example, a loud siren can take your attention away from the book you are reading.
Alternating is the subtlest form of spontaneous movements of attention, and is most often perceived as multitasking - we feel like we are paying attention to two different things at the same time, however this is an illusion. What happens instead is that our AttentionAttention
Whenever Attention is focused on some object, that object dominates our ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
....
Attention singles out a small part of the field of ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
..., and deeply analyzes and interprets ... is quickly alternating between multiple objects of attention, successively spending short, equal-ish periods of time on each of them. For example:
- if you are doodling in class, your attention is alternating between drawing and listening to the professor
- if you are focused on an object, and other objects start popping up in Peripheral AwarenessPeripheral Awareness
Peripheral Awareness makes sure that while our AttentionAttention
Whenever Attention is focused on some object, that object dominates our ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
....
Attention singles out a small part of the field of ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
..., and deeply analyzes and interprets ... is focused on a single thing, we are still generally aware of the things in the background.
Peripheral awareness is more holistic, open..., they are intermitently becoming the object of AttentionAttention
Whenever Attention is focused on some object, that object dominates our ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
....
Attention singles out a small part of the field of ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
..., and deeply analyzes and interprets ....
Intentionally Directed Attention
In addition to spontaneous movements, we can also intentionally direct our attention towards something.
While directing attention is a conscious action, sustaining it is an unconscious process which weighs what we are focusing on against other objects of attention. We can't control the process, but we can influence it through holding conscious intention to come back to the object when we notice that we got distracted.
This is similar to learning some other unconscious-driven process, e.g. throwing darts:
- many things that are out of your direct control (like hand-eye coordination) must work together in order for you to hit the target
- you just hold intention to hit the target, and with repeated practice, you are influencing the subconscious processes to allow you to consistently hit the target
All information held in ConsciousnessConsciousness
Our consciousness consists of whatever we are experiencing in the moment. It's built from the things we percieve with our senses, as well as mental objects like thoughts, feelings and memories.
... is communicated to the unconscious - with this in mind, holding a conscious intention generates new input that your subconscious processes need to take into account.
Holding a conscious intention to focus on the feeling of our breath, and returning to your breath whenever you realize that the focus was lost, communicates to the unconscious that keeping the focus on the breath is important.
This pattern is in the heart of MeditationMeditation
"The beauty and significance of life well lived consists not in the works we leave behind, or in what history has to say about us. It comes from the quality of concious experience that infuses our ... practice - we set clear intention and repeat basic tasks in order to reprogram our unconscious processes.
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