Consciousness

1. Remediation is the reshaping of a medium. Two important media theorists, Bolter and Grusin encounter a paradox. A very important aspect of remediation is hypermediacy. “Hypermediacy is the opposite of transparent immediacy in that hypermediacy’s goal is not transparency, but rather to be very apparent so that the user may interact with the interface.” The attempt of reaching remediation that starts from mediation. Both theorists encountered the “double logic of remediation”. What the double…

Does the soul continue to exist beyond the bodies physical death? By this, I mean to ask if it is possible during one’s lifetime to separate the mind from the body? By this separation the soul is allowed to move to another segment or dimension after death. This idea has been talked about for decades between religious leaders, philosophers, and human beings all around. By thinking about this alone the mind is already in beginning works of separation. This lesion taught by death is how exactly the…

Human beings, as individuals, place a substantial amount of importance on and extensively value the consideration that we are unique. This is foundational aspect of human nature, interaction, and being. But what does this uniqueness mean, and what does it mean to us? The concept of the self or having a personal identity leads to questions of what one is really addressing when making statements about the self; such as, how is the concept of the self created or formed? Does the self persist…

Although one’s personality is often confused for their individuality, a fundamental distinction can be easily made: a personality does not think. It is the individual that thinks, choosing the qualities, traits and characteristics that make up their personality. Personality is a characteristic pattern of thoughts — a mental construct. Whatever an individual thinks about, and especially what he thinks about himself, provides the mental building blocks with which his personality is constructed. If…

In seventh grade, I found myself thrust into the world of elite, predominantly white private schools. As a person of color coming into this environment, it seemed as if issues regarding racial diversity, religious diversity, socioeconomic status, and even colorism would be inevitable aspects of my experience. Initially, I did not acknowledge the presence of these issues in my new surroundings as they were topics that I had never encountered before and consequently did not fully understand.…

William James (1890), on attention, “It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought”1. It is the kingfisher picking out the single chosen fish in an ever-flowing stream. Attention is the selective tool we use in order to filter out unnecessary stimulus. Sohlberg and Mateer (1987) describe five levels of attention. In order, these are: Focused attention, is our response to a specific single…

Plato’s Allegory of the cave was a teaching tool to explain the levels of awareness one person could experience throughout life. It can still be used with modern society today to map out the stages of life a person can go through. The levels that are exampled throughout the allegory can show people a better way of understanding why they cannot connect to others in a way they think they should be able to. Plato used the example of the cave to show the different levels in life every individual…

One of Freud’s strongest arguments for psychoanalysis is in his interpretation of the mind and its functions. The primary goal of psychoanalysis is to make the unconscious conscious. In relation to the literary theory, psychoanalysis is engaged to liberate the innate drives and desires to form a better understanding of literary works. Therefore, whether or not Freud’s theories are absolute or undeniably true, they provide a basis for connecting to the innermost part of an individual or the…

A man who is self aware, who is conscious will have great strides and will be able to progress. Benjamin Franklin was a man who is honest with himself and tries to improve each day. Not to waste time but to make every second count. As he develops these methods for himself and shares it with the world, he is subtly encouraging us to do the same. Being a man that is conscious, aware of themselves and their choices. To be perfect. There are instance when we would fail and continue to make the same…

The neurological model is the predominant view of mental functioning in modern times. Whatever the causes for this attitude, valuable approaches towards the mind have been abandoned. Despite differing in distinct ways, these philosophical psychologies agree that the neurological approach is too reductive. Several important aspects of the mind are left out in the neurological approach. This paper will analyze the psychological views of Freud, Jung and Laing. Their views on the nature of the mind,…