Princeton neuroscientist Micahel Graziano recently published a book on the subject explaining his new theory of consciousness, Consciousness and the Social Brain. Simply stated, the theory, based on more than twenty years of research, explains consciousness as an "attention schema theory." That is, if attention is a complex neurological activity of our brains to which we do not have direct access (and this is actually the way neuroscientists see attention unfolding - as a complex and on-going dynamic activity), then consciousness might be understood as sum (larger than the parts) of our attention together with our awareness of our attention. The AWARENESS of our attention is a simplified mental representation of our attention.
The easiest way to understand the relationship of awareness to attention is to consider how you understand how your friend feels by her actions, words, facial expressions, etc. According to the theory, we come to know ourselves in exactly the same way - by observing what we have felt, done and said. Awareness is the mechanism which is in conversation, so to speak, with the activity of attention. It can mirror and intensify our attention, or it can work to redirect its on-going activity.
The book was published in 2013. In the words of Graziano, it is "a shot of explaining consciousness in a scientifically plausible manner without trivializing the problem."
What do you think? Is this helpful as you grapple with the exercise this week?