What IS consciousness? Regardless of what you think about it, it is necessary to everything we experience!
John Searle, a philosopher, says that consciousness isn’t talked about much because scientists think it is subjective and not worth discussing and philosophers don’t like much because it seems to separate the mind from the body.
Searle simplifies the whole subject as being the result of neurobiological processes, much like photosynthesis or digestion, and as such it can be studied objectively.
If you are interested in consciousness, watch this TED video.
To recap some of the main points:
Consciousness is a set of neurobiological processes in the brain, and is as mysterious as the liquidity of water.
It is one single field of awareness, so you can be aware that you want to scratch your foot at the same time that you are getting up to let the dog outside, and that you want to go get a drink when you are done with that because you are feeling thirsty. All of that can be in your field of awareness simultaneously and are not made up of separate consciousnesses.
Consciousness sets up an observer-relative reality.
If you liked this video, you can find others related to consciousness here.