Conscious And Unconscious

This post is occasioned by a discussion in "The Sensitive Man" but is of more general significance. Consciousness is a late development. Think how many unconscious processes had to happen first:

cosmic expansion

galactic and stellar condensation

fusion of heavy elements

Second Generation stars and planets

complex chemistry

natural selection operating on self-replicating molecules, 

then on multicellular organisms

increasing organismic complexity and sensitivity

eventually, rudimentary central nervous systems

At last, an organic process becomes conscious. Sensitivity becomes sensation. Other levels of consciousness grew from there. They did not pre-exist or exist independently. Consciousness is the top layer, the tip of an iceberg. Evolution might have gone all the way to organismic sensitivity and no further.

Most organic processes remain unconscious. Dalgetty cites the example of awareness of an immediate physical threat. The awareness, of course, is conscious. However, it triggers necessary and unconscious responses:

the heartbeat speeds up;

adrenalin output increases;

sight sharpens;

sensitivity to pain decreases;

the organism fights or flees.

Our conscious actions express and cooperate with preconscious life processes.