What is Conscience?

[URAVIP2ME]

How is it that we can be born with something non-physical?

I find it is because we are created with the faculty of an in-born conscience from our Creator.
So, through training or education our conscience can be enlightened or not.
Bad training or bad education can make one's conscience an un-safe guide.
Good training or good education then our inner ' voice ' of conscience calls on us to help others, it is a safe guide.

 

[allfoak]

Can you give me a specific situation as an example?

I have to log out for the evening, but I'll check on you tomorrow AM

Just study your own responses and tell me if what I say is true or not.

 

[allfoak]

One's conscience is inherent in man,

Inherited from what or whom?

 

[allfoak]

our consciousness is live entity, our physical body is a device that out consciousness uses to express itself in terms of learning good and evil. love hate, empathy.

If our conscience is separate from our body then where did it come from?

 

[allfoak]

find it is because we are created with the faculty of an in-born conscience from our Creator.

For what purpose?

 

[Truthseeker]

Is it something separate from us?
Is it part of us?
Is it both?
Does it exist at all?
What are we describing when we use the term conscience?

I can't define it but conscience comes from the attributes of God placed inside us.

 

[socharlie]

imo, it is living spiritual entity, a part of God's 'organism'.

 

[allfoak]

I can't define it but conscience comes from the attributes of God placed inside us.

Like being made in God's image?

 

[osgart]

It springs from the understanding of what we want for ourselves and other people.

I agree with rpstoval on that it gives us fore thought.

It also gives us insight into what course of actions we should take if it serves us well.

At best it gives us a sense of empathy.

At worst I've seen very destructive consciences, born out of false pride.

One could speak volumes about the problems, issues, and benefits of conscience.

But without a healthy conscience, one sees apathy, and ambivalence, undue hatred, and a general deterioration in the quality of life in a society.

Just because somebody has a healthy sense of fairness, others may not, and fairness could come to mean vastly different things to where there is no common language and conflict arises.

 

[leibowde84]

Is it something separate from us?
Is it part of us?
Is it both?
Does it exist at all?
What are we describing when we use the term conscience?

Our subconsciousness shaped by our upbringing, societal evolution, our environment growing up, etc. that provides an inner feeling of whether something is immoral/unethical.

 

[leibowde84]

I'm not sure I understand what this means.
Do you mean to say that conscience is determined by culture?

I think that is 100% provable and obvious. Just look at things like levels of modesty, importance of religious beliefs, foods that shouldn't be eaten, alcohol consumption, certain drug consumption, etc. Our environments shape our consciences for sure.

 

[allfoak]

Our subconsciousness shaped by our upbringing, societal evolution, our environment growing up, etc. that provides an inner feeling of whether something is immoral/unethical.

Doesn't sound very reliable.

 

[allfoak]

I think that is 100% provable and obvious. Just look at things like levels of modesty, importance of religious beliefs, foods that shouldn't be eaten, alcohol consumption, certain drug consumption, etc. Our environments shape our consciences for sure.

Then what purpose does such a thing have?
Certainly it would be unreliable at best and dangerous at it's worst.

 

[leibowde84]

Doesn't sound very reliable.

I think it is pretty solid, indisputable facts that consciences are not reliable and are extremely subjective. I don't understand how anyone could even doubt this after looking at the evidence.

 

[leibowde84]

Then what purpose does such a thing have?
Certainly it would be unreliable at best and dangerous at it's worst.

It helps us live and thrive in the society in which we live. It is shaped by our upbringing, so, if we stay in a similar society as an adult, it will be a big help. In other words, it helps us to "fit in". That IS its purpose.

And, just like everything else in this universe, it is not nearly perfect.

 

[Nakosis]

Is it something separate from us?
Is it part of us?
Is it both?
Does it exist at all?
What are we describing when we use the term conscience?

You conscience is your subconscious mind whispering it's feeling about what's right and wrong to your conscious self.

It seems separate from you because what your subconscious mind does is not part of your conscious awareness.

Therefore it is part of you and can communicate through sight, sound, feelings. Like when you remember an event, it can play back visual images and sound for you.

It exists but you can only experience what it outputs to your conscious awareness. You'll never be aware of it in the same sense that you are consciously aware of "self". It's the part of your mind that your self awareness doesn't intrude upon.

 

[Nakosis]

I think it is pretty solid, indisputable facts that consciences are not reliable and are extremely subjective. I don't understand how anyone could even doubt this after looking at the evidence.

It's not very rational. Rational analysis seems the realm of conscious awareness. However it does provide some necessary survival impulses, like fight or flight when there is no time to rationally understand a situation.

It's pretty good at rote activities like playing a guitar or driving a car. It can act and think faster than our conscious self. Repetition is a way to program it.

Sports, it can react even before you are aware of acting.

I suppose the subconscious doesn't really judge right or wrong. It provides impulses which we consciously judge as right or wrong. That's why we feel guilty sometimes acting on those impulses.

 

[leibowde84]

It's not very rational. Rational analysis seems the realm of conscious awareness. However it does provide some necessary survival impulses, like fight or flight when there is no time to rationally understand a situation.

It's pretty good at rote activities like playing a guitar or driving a car. It can act and think faster than our conscious self. Repetition is a way to program it.

Sports, it can react even before you are aware of acting.

I suppose the subconscious doesn't really judge right or wrong. It provides impulses which we consciously judge as right or wrong. That's why we feel guilty sometimes acting on those impulses.

By, "unreliable" I was referring to the fact that consciences are subjective in nature. It's not like a voice from a 3rd, all-knowing party letting you know what's right and wrong. It's still you, it is just subconscious.

 

[Nakosis]

By, "unreliable" I was referring to the fact that consciences are subjective in nature. It's not like a voice from a 3rd, all-knowing party letting you know what's right and wrong. It's still you, it is just subconscious.

Didn't think I implied it as such but maybe I should have expressed it better.

 

[leibowde84]

Didn't think I implied it as such but maybe I should have expressed it better.

I didn't get the meaning from you or how you were using it. I was responding to how allfoak used the word "reliable".