Consciousness is not the same as attentiveness

It's long been established that we have what could be called "subconscious attentiveness," which can cause things such as certain types of psychological priming through images being presented to people, but too quickly for them to be consciously aware of the images.


It now appears, in the latest in attempts to unravel human consciousness, that this cuts both ways.


But, the story doesn't go as far as it could, both on speculation and on Wittgenstein-like questions on our use of language on these issues.


Perhaps "consciousness," "attentiveness" and "awareness" need more precision in usage in such aspects. Or maybe they need to be redefined to some degree. Or replaced.


Whether language will be crafted to this end remains to be seen.