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[Belindi]

The most usual usage of 'consciousness' is when the speaker differentiates it from unconsciousness of the clinical sort which is unresponsiveness to stimulation.

There actually are several sorts of consciousness which include dream-sleep consciousness, deep dreamless sleep, hallucinations, waking awareness. Each of those sorts of consciousness correlates with a precise set of neurochemicals.

[Lagayascienza]

I agree with this. We need to be careful when we talk about unresponsiveness to stimulation on the one hand, and unconsciousness of the other. Unresponsiveness to stimuli does not necessarily indicate unconsciousness. For example, a person with locked-in syndrome can be very conscious of stimuli but be unable to respond to them. They may be able to see, to hear, to understand speech and feel pain but be physically unable to respond in any way. If this is so, then it would seem to indicate that two-way communication between the brain and other parts of the body is not a prerequisite for consciousness.

Idealists, panpsychists and mystics might want to use this as a support for their views but I think it more likely that, as neuroscience progresses, consciousness will be increasingly seen to be as just what brains do rather than the brain being akin to a receiver that tunes into an Ideal realm of universal consciousness. Until then, Idealists, panpsychists and mystics can hang in there.

[Joshua10]

In the normal "waking" consciousness state there is a going within and a coming back out again which changes the consciousness state experienced. A form of conscious "toggling" . This consciousness "toggling" is related to interacting electromagnetic forces within the brain. + and - electromagnetic forces have not cancelled out in nature. They vibratory balance, so any MOVEMENT through these vibrating electromagnetic fields creates a sinusoidal consciousness wave. This is why electrical signals within the brain are sinusoidal in nature because they are also moving through vibrating electromagnetic fields. This is also why light/wave particles moving through the cosmos are sinusoidal because they are also moving through vibrating electromagnetic fields due to the formula (+/-=+/-).The cosmos is saturated with vibrating electromagnetic fields. Everything vibrates in the cosmos including the waking consciousness state experience. There is nothing mystical about real science, however, there is plenty of mystical stuff being touted by generally accepted science. A science that knows nothing at all about consciousness and is trying to explain everything with unknown unbalanced and unsymmetrical forces and is unable to relate its theories across the sciences into philosophy and psychology which is why it is failing by observation.

[Belindi]

I agree with this. We need to be careful when we talk about unresponsiveness to stimulation on the one hand, and unconsciousness of the other. Unresponsiveness to stimuli does not necessarily indicate unconsciousness. For example, a person with locked-in syndrome can be very conscious of stimuli but be unable to respond to them. They may be able to see, to hear, to understand speech and feel pain but be physically unable to respond in any way. If this is so, then it would seem to indicate that two-way communication between the brain and other parts of the body is not a prerequisite for consciousness.

Idealists, panpsychists and mystics might want to use this as a support for their views but I think it more likely that, as neuroscience progresses, consciousness will be increasingly seen to be as just what brains do rather than the brain being akin to a receiver that tunes into an Ideal realm of universal consciousness. Until then, Idealists, panpsychists and mystics can hang in there.

I think , as psychiatry progresses, both neuroscience (objective) and psychiatry (subjective) will be viewed as two
helpful perspectives on the same which for want of a better word we call the mind/brain, or the brain/mind.

BTW, Idealists don't think of the brain as a receiver. Brains are no different from other concepts i.e. created by thought.

[Pattern-chaser]

The most usual usage of 'consciousness' is when the speaker differentiates it from unconsciousness of the clinical sort which is unresponsiveness to stimulation.

There actually are several sorts of consciousness which include dream-sleep consciousness, deep dreamless sleep, hallucinations, waking awareness. Each of those sorts of consciousness correlates with a precise set of neurochemicals.

Those with a less scientific outlook often describe consciousness in much broader terms...?

[Joshua10]

The moment you try to take control of consciousness is the moment that you realise that you are totally controlled.