What is consciousness? The question of all ages, it seems and not likely to get a satisfactory answer on Wikipedia, but worth a try.
It seems consciousness is a degree of awareness of it
i.e. an awareness or lack of awareness of consciousness.
The opposite being a subconsciousness or an unconsciousness or simply a
lack of consciousness, maybe.
I think I am speaking from a lack of conscious view point so please seek your own
interpretation.
So how do I get it? Maybe by asking a question is a good start.
I remember when I was 12 my teacher used to talk about “self-actualisation” and imagine
I actually remembered it but I am not much closer in my view, or at least 30 years into
another 30 year process (hopefully).
The funny thing is that people are talking about The Singularity event,
(predicted for around 2045) where the machines/computers become as smart or conscious as us but if we are charged with producing such a thing and we can’t even define such a state let alone know how to achieve it, then, at this point, I can’t see how we will reach it.
Hopefully philosophy will keep up/catch up with our technology in time to help create
and control such an event.
rethink PERFECT 
Im personally looking forward to the singularity, its pretty much inevitable based on moores law and the advancements in understanding the brain. Its obviously not going to be for everyone, and they’ll be resistance from all sides (evidence of this has happen already with the ‘no google glass movements’). But humanity has the chance to be completely one, immortal, peaceful. We have the chance to upgrade our bodies, download memories and even upload new ones. Its exciting and scary at the same time, but like all new technology it should be embraced for the benefits it can bring. I cant wait.
I had a night of sleep some 20 years ago where I dreamt that “The one” was coming in 2044. Funny I did not know of The Singularity at the time and one thing I find interesting about 2044 is that it adds up to 1.
Anyway Brad, a lot can happen in some 30 years and somehow I doubt it will look like anything that we think it will in 30 years. I admire your optimism but I don’t share it when it comes to being
“completely one, immortal, peaceful” because of technology. I do believe that our own awareness of consciousness could change things but it has to start on a one on one basis, in my view, let alone having,, by then, some 9 billion individuals all peacefully loving each other forever.
By 2044 I would be 84 and it should be an interesting time if I am still alive.
I don’t think by 2044 being completely one, immortal and peaceful, will be possible. Doubtful in the next couple of centuries. I guess we would need to progress to a higher being, human 2.0 where the common flaws that stops us from being greedy, hateful etc are eliminated for the common good. I’m a bit of a futurist lover myself, always exciting to read new technology innovations, and achievements in the news. You should read some of Ray Kurzweil’s stuff (if you haven’t already), he’s pretty much the guru when it comes to technology Singularity. He currently the Director of Engineering at Google, and was basically appointed to work on new projects involving machine learning and language processing, in other words full AI. By 2044 you might be 84, but based on some of the medical advancement predictions, 84 could likely be consider ‘mid-life’ and not near the end of life. In a 2013 interview he was quoted saying “that in 15 years, medical technology could add more than a year to one’s remaining life expectancy for each year that passes, and we could then “outrun our own deaths”. #mindblown
I’m optimistic, but at the same time doing everything I can do live as long as I can so that one day, when I’m 84 and need a new heart or liver, I can have the hospital literally print me out one using my own DNA, instead of waiting on a donors list that may not ever happen, or have my internal medical nanobots repair damaged tissue and simply reverse the aging process to the age of my desire. Its sci-fi stuff, but pretty cool to think about. Its hard not to be optimistic. 🙂
Yeah Brad, I am am aware of what Ray Kurzweil has been up to and written about the singularity and I agree it is exciting about the future. I guess I am not so concerned about living past 84,
I mean I am pretty board now having trouble finding people interested in my form of rekindling consciousness and think living for an extended period after that may be over rated.
I just pulled up this quote y mark Mark Twain:
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”