Question about consciousness and identity or self:?

Question:I am wondering exactly what is meant by consciousness, is it the awareness of awareness? Like an animal seems to be consciouses, when you wave your hand in front of your dog, the dog will fallow your hand and acknowledge it, yet the dog is not self consciouses, consciouses about being aware.
My question is if the self or 'me' is simply a construction of thoughts and memory, and consciousness is the awareness of the mechanisms of the brain and its interactions with the world. So that we feel we are our thoughts when we are really nothing but the awareness of thoughts. That we are not in control as we think, but merely observers??
My second question: if one's self is product of thought and memory than that is why if we suffer an accident that will damage the brain it will affect who we are or like Alzheimer.
If we had a soul, then no matter if our brain was damaged we should still be who we always were, so in that sense we are composed of thoughts??

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I am wondering exactly what is meant by consciousness, is it the awareness of awareness? Like an animal seems to be consciouses, when you wave your hand in front of your dog, the dog will fallow your hand and acknowledge it, yet the dog is not self consciouses, consciouses about being aware.
My question is if the self or 'me' is simply a construction of thoughts and memory, and consciousness is the awareness of the mechanisms of the brain and its interactions with the world. So that we feel we are our thoughts when we are really nothing but the awareness of thoughts. That we are not in control as we think, but merely observers??
My second question: if one's self is product of thought and memory than that is why if we suffer an accident that will damage the brain it will affect who we are or like Alzheimer.
If we had a soul, then no matter if our brain was damaged we should still be who we always were, so in that sense we are composed of thoughts??

Consciousness of ones self, I believe, is not just the awareness of your existence or your enviorment, but is rather the realization of ones place in your enviorment. In other words, we as Human beings are not in the same conscious level as animals in that we have the ability to effect and change our enviorment due to the ability of reason. We have this ability and in most cases do so based on a set of values both moral, self preservation, as well as self improvement. Animals on the other hand are motivated by survival alone and except their enviorment as it is .... hence a family pet who is not being fed at home may wander off to find food will in most cases always return home excepting the fact that their enviorment means that they are not to eat at home. the Biggest drive for all human beings is the sense of Purpose in our lives .... it is that sense of purpose that is the Essenes of our conscious self and directs our life choices and paths.

I believe that consciousness is the ability to know you can think. That you can affect the world around you. "I think, therefore I am." When you have a brain injury, how does one know from the outside that the hurt person is not normal. They may just have lost the proper motor skills to interact with those on the outside. A vegetable can still think, but can't do anything with it, and possibly over time lose the practice or desire to think and then dies from their disability. Alzheimer's is the example of not being able to store short term memory into long term storage from a disconnection of nerves. This however would be harder to explain with my answer. But look at it this way, is the soul of a person really a reflection of who they were when alive? Or is it just an energy form within ourselves, controlled by the conscious and when released from our body (decrepit or not) regains its own knowledge stored in some other way? Perhaps collective knowledge is not kept in something as fragile as the human brain. After all it is just decayable tissue. Our physical self is not the same as our spiritual self, if you have inclinations toward religious beliefs. We are driven by something beneath the flesh, something much more complicated than most would like to ponder, and even less would like to think about. That connection is something we can not sever, we are connected to all life through our soul, and separated from life through our flesh. When one dies, everything we learned here is transcended into a 'data bank' of souls if you will. We learn it in our brains and we also learn it in our metaphysical brains. Consciousness is our way of interpreting what we learn and contemplate and observe within the physical world. Our souls store that information for when we pass. Our brain is not complex enough to know what is beyond what we see. We try to imagine, but fail miserably to realize its not for the physical part of us to know.

At least this is how I see it. Most will probably not agree, but that is what is so great about about consciousness, we can all have our own opinion based on what we observe, learn and contemplate. Hope your journey is full of surprises and "ahas."

While a dog is conscious of itself and its environment, it is not aware of its role in that consciousness because it is a simple animal. The situation is similar to a simple minded infant or child under the age of 3. An adult human with normal IQ -- or a relatively complex life -- is conscious and is at the same time aware of the complex role of that self in the environment.

Simple minded people may live in a constant state of reaction without conscious control -- ie. the reaction is a direct respond to the outside world without consideration of the consequences.

The identity of self would be observation of consciousness combined with a well developedd set of philosophy to the dynamic environment. In that sense, the person is the combination of his/her sensations, emotions as well as his/her reactions and actions in life.

As the identity of a person grows in the complex world, deeper and deeper levels of awareness, consideration and control may develope.

C-ness is etheric electricity. It has many qualities. It can go from place to place. It can gain understanding. It's like a library in the form of a cloud. It gives the brain its personality. It's what a robot lacks. A damaged brain can still hold it..just not as well before the damage.