Along my journey into circular systems and regenerative processes, I have encountered two words in different spheres; consciousness and awareness. They feel interchangeable until I apply the context or the nuance of the situation they present themselves in. As part of my quest towards literacy and taxonomy around this circular world of better thinking, I might share my nuanced understanding of the relationship between these two words.

Probably best to start with how similar they are….

Both words refer to aspects of our human ability to perceive and respond to the environment, which makes them related to cognition.

con·scious·ness /ˈkänSHəsnəs/

the state of being awake and aware of one's surroundings. "she failed to regain consciousness and died two days later"

or this one:

the awareness or perception of something by a person. "her acute consciousness of Mike's presence"

Both of these definitions are very human-centric and related to presence.

a·ware·ness /əˈwernəs/

knowledge or perception of a situation or fact. "we need to raise public awareness of the issue"

or this one:

concern about and well-informed interest in a particular situation or development. "a growing environmental awareness"

Both of these definitions are social-centric and related to science.

This starts to point me in the right direction. Consciousness is a human-centered and cognitive approach to the definition while awareness is a more social and science-based approach. I even see the word ‘fact’ in one of those definitions which surprises me.

Both words are subjective experiences - how an individual experiences the world from their perspective. They imply a level of thought but don’t necessarily define the quality or quantity of that thought. They also both include perception which relies on our ability to recognize and recall information, whether internal thoughts and emotions or external sights and sounds.

“Perception is reality.” - Lee Atwater

What I’ve gathered from this is that consciousness is more internal, active, or even persistent thought whereby awareness allows for a level of reflection and processed cognition based on our experiences, beliefs, and understanding of our total environment. It feels like we can’t turn off consciousness, but we can control the volume. Conversely, we can allow ourselves a break from awareness or even offer acceptance when there is a lack of awareness due to the varied nature of social experience or understanding.

Let’s explore the differences.

Consciousness: This is a broader term that encompasses the totality of experiences = thoughts, feelings, memories, perceptions, and a sense of self. It’s the state of being awake and having a sense of existence. It involves a deeper level of cognition, including self-awareness and the ability to reflect on one’s own mental state. It begs the question of how different our abilities to do this are from individual to individual.

Awareness: More specific, it refers to the recognition or realization of a particular piece of information or sensation at a given moment. One can be aware of something like a sound or mention without being fully conscious of the broader implications or context of that awareness.

So to me, it feels like the word that helps us understand or differentiate between the two definitions is depth.

Consciousness involves higher-order thinking and self-reflection. Awareness feels more momentary and immediate.

We can’t really delineate the two without considering the state of mind. I know I’m less aware when I’m tired….or more spatially aware when I’m in a crowded city. I’m more present in my thoughts here, in the woods, than I am when I’m at my house in the city. My consciousness and awareness fluctuate in situ.

Consciousness can be present in different states - wakefulness, dreaming, or especially prevalent in altered states. It’s all-encompassing in terms of mental activity, including deep philosophical thought or even unconscious processes that still influence perception. The research on altered-state consciousness is vast and fascinating.

Awareness is part of consciousness but it can also occur in limited forms - as evidenced by animals and machines that lack human consciousness. All the talk of AI reaching cognition and its behavior being indiscernible from a human (see Turing Test) is evidence of awareness in machines. If a tree falls in a cow pasture, the cows become fully aware and run away to avoid the danger. Fight or flight is omnipresent in natural systems. As AI progresses, and we learn more about animal behavior, it’s possible these examples of awareness could progress into consciousness, but that’s WAAAY above my understanding.

As an empath, I find the most interesting aspect of these two words rests in self-reference. Consciousness implies that a person is conscious of themselves as experiencing a certain state, which includes awareness but goes on beyond it. My experience tells me that not every human who is aware is also conscious - or at very least - we have differing levels of ‘ability.’ Awareness doesn’t necessarily require self-reference. I can be aware of a sound or an object without reflecting on my role in awareness of that sound or object.

Woah, that got deep.

So I guess my conclusion is that consciousness is a broader, more encompassing state that includes awareness but also involves self-reflection, memory, and thought. Awareness is more specific and refers to the perception of immediate elements in one’s environment.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of (men) and things cannot be acquired by vegetating one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” Mark Twain

Bless His Heart - he just hasn’t been around very much and he can’t seem to get out of his own way. - Literally, heard at any cookout in the South…but only if you’re aware :)

So many song pairings for this one. GenX has been noodling on this a bit…like forever.

Grunge - Alice in Chains Rotten Apple.

Hippie - Grateful Dead - Ripple

Indie - Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - What I Am

Hip Hop - Geto Boys - Mind Playing Tricks On ME {EXPLICIT}

80s - Billy Joel - We Didn’t Start The Fire

2017 - Katy Perry - Chained To The Rhythm

Photo by Mario Dobelmann on Unsplash

Nirvana come as you are