Consciousness - An Internal Analysis

Written by Sriram Godugula

Consciousness, a funny word at sight but contains deep meaning once you relate it with yourself further. A simple definition of this word is the sense of self-awareness of our surroundings and everything affecting oneself. Looking at it from a biological perspective, self awareness is caused by the activation of the insular, medial prefrontal, and anterior cingulate cortices. The before mentioned cortices are part of the brain and the nervous system that are involved with memory and emotional processing, primarily external and internal stimuli. These stimuli are what causes a person to be aware of the world around you and how you react to it. There are quite a few benefits from the activation of these regions of the brain and being more self-aware. To begin with, being more self-aware results in more productive social interaction and self-regulation. Self-regulation is the process of being able to manage oneself and his/her actions. Knowing oneself allows a person to not succumb to the social norms and lead a dissatisfied life. During social interactions, the ability to not be self-centered allows a person to understand issues through the lenses of others. This creates more positive feelings toward the self-aware person and leads to better social interactions and connections. These are just a few of the many benefits that result in just a change of the way you think.

Reading this, you might wonder how you could become more self-aware. After all, self-consciousness is a lifestyle, and just like any lifestyle, it will be hard at first. To be more self-aware, you can start of by making small changes in some areas of your life. For example, while talking to another person blaming an issue on you, maybe next time you can see why they are thinking the way they are instead of lashing out immediately. The more you do it, the more you will learn about your actions and the more people will look on you favorably. Maybe you might surprise yourself in how much you do not know about yourself.

References:

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000008525#:~:text=The%20insular%20cortex%20is%20a,emotional%20guidance%20of%20social%20behavior.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/insular-cortex#:~:text=The%20insular%20cortex%20has%20at,et%20al.%2C%202017).

Written by Sriram Godugula from MEDILOQUY