Orandian View of Consciousness

It is said, at least by some, that consciousness is a collection of processes occurring all at once.  When I am conscious, processes such as seeing, feeling, thinking, hearing etc. are all occurring, and the ego is the director, trying to arrange all these processes. (Daniel Dennett)  We can call the "I" the "and", as it is trying to tie all these processes together, into a single experience, and to arrange them, so that some are more at the forefront than others.  If the "and" is part of the self, it is only a part, and the "or" plays just as great a role.  For the "or" says that I am more than the sum of all these processes.  I am apart from them, distinct from them.  They may be part of me, but they are not me.  I am more than them.  Thus, the "and" is attempting to tie these processes together and to incorporate them into consciousness, while the "I" is trying to stand above it, to retain its sense of self. For the sense of self results in large part from the actions of the "or".

(A socio-biological or evolutionary view of consciousness , or at least human consciousness,would say the "I" may be a fiction, but it is a fiction that evolved, that came into being as a result of evolution, i.e. it was more successful at surviving than consciousness (that of other animals) that doesn't involve thinking and didn't contain the sense of an "I".  In order for a being with all these processes, i.e. feeling, hearing, touching etc. to be more successful than other beings, it needed to have the sense it was in control, it was above these processes, it was directing them.  It may not really have been more than these processes, but a species with these processes would be more successful at surviving if it had the sense of control, of being above, apart from and in control of all these processes.)