Runewolf1973
Materialism/Animism
Here ill explain it because it obvious.
The conscious mind is the ability to think. It is an instinct that lest us hunt, and avoid being hunted. An animal has to be aware of its surrounding or it will simply become food.
Anything else is pie in the sky imaginative based modern mythology based on ancient mythology.
Yes, but from a more fundamental perspective, consciousness is our ability to interact with our environment in a complex manner. It is interaction. Thinking is a form of interaction, as well as touch, taste, hearing, smelling, seeing, experiencing, etc, etc...