Most people understand awareness as a simple function of consciousness. If we can think, sense, and perceive the world around us, then we must be aware. While that definition is technically correct, it barely scratches the surface of what awareness truly means.

I seek to uncover its secrets.

Awareness is not merely the collection of sensory information through our eyes, ears, and skin. The interpretation of information, along with the decisions stemming from it, constitutes a crucial aspect. While environmental signals are perpetually available, their recognition and subsequent action are of paramount importance. Awareness is intrinsically linked to cognition, encompassing the brain's capacity to process, interpret, and react to incoming data from both internal and external sources (Gazzaniga et al., 2019).

Dictionaries define awareness as the comprehension or understanding of an existing or occurring phenomenon. Merriam-Webster characterizes it as "the quality or state of being aware." Cambridge further elaborates, defining it as the understanding of a situation derived from information or experience. Furthermore, Britannica introduces a significant dimension: self-awareness, which is the capacity to recognize one's own character, thoughts, and emotions.

Yet awareness is not unique to humans. In fact, the animal kingdom often surpasses us in pure sensory capability.

A dog's or a bear’s nose can detect smells thousands of times more sensitive than ours. That same nose in a dog can even detect emotional, chemical, and hormonal changes in humans through our sweat and breath (Horowitz, 2017). Giving Buddy the social advantage in being man's best friend, and why dogs make for outstanding medical or emotional support companions.

Elephants are known for their intelligence and are socialites. But did you know they can even communicate through vibrations that move miles in the ground? Their specialized feet pick up that signal and help them inform other herds about predators, food, and water sources (O’Connell-Rodwell, 2007).

Rattlesnakes can detect infrared radiation through pits on their faces that help them see in complete darkness (Kardong, 2012), similar to the predator in the predator movies. Bearded dragons have a third eye on top of their head, called the parietal eye, that can detect shadows and light, helping them avoid aviary predators in Australia.

Many birds are tetrachromatic, meaning they can possess four color receptors and can see more colors than humans, including ultraviolet light (Cronin et al., 2014). Colors we can only hope to dream of witnessing. The world is more colorful and beautiful than we can even understand. Eagles are known for their “eagle eye vision,” able to see their prey from hundreds of feet in the air and even through the surface of the water. Animals are simply incredible and our betters in many ways.

Yet, we possess something our animal cousins do not. Something that has allowed us to be the dominant creature on the planet. It's not raw strength, or senses, or abilities like flight.

No… We possess an ability that we have only found in our species at the present moment. Maybe one day we will find another being who shares this ability. But for now, this is what sets us apart from all the rest.

That ability is observation. 

We uniquely possess the ability to observe at a meta level. Not just our environment, but the ability to observe and analyze our own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. We have the ability to think in the third person. We can observe ourselves as we observe the world around us. We can even observe ourselves, thinking about observing ourselves, observing the word (Flavell, 1979). …WILD.

Have you ever thought about that for yourself?

This gives us an advantage over every single other living thing on the planet. We may not be stronger, faster, or more durable, but we are smarter and more observant.

True awareness is not just sensing the world around us… It's much more. It is understanding the world, but also ourselves, and our place in it.

I have come to understand awareness as a wheel or continuum. Each part of the wheel builds off of the last and interweaves with the others.

Stay tuned for the next issue to learn more about awareness and what makes up the awareness wheel.