Margins of Being "Human" (was Re: Peter Singer & Vegetarian Dogs)

Dace edace at flinthills.com
Tue Mar 7 22:08:05 PST 2000



>We need to reframe the concept of consciousness as not peculiarly human but
>as the focus of attention. The non-conscious is not some mysterious other
>realm of an individual psyche but is the basic fabric of engaged
>interaction by someone within a *social* network.
>
>Chris Burford
>
>
Traditionally "consciousness" is used to distinguish people from animals. If we define it as awareness of mentality, then it serves that useful function. (Animals do not pay any attention whatsoever to their minds.) But I see your point. The mind is much more than the focus of attention. We are as much our unconscious as our consciousness. The human race is like an ocean with six billion waves. Each wave thinks it's separate from every other wave. In reality, what makes us human is not the wave-in-itself but the fact that the wave expresses the ocean.

Ted



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