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Conscious vs Instinct - What's the difference?

conscious | instinct |

As adjectives the difference between conscious and instinct

is that conscious is alert, awake while instinct is (archaic) imbued, charged ((with) something).

As a noun instinct is

a natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.

conscious

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Alert, awake.
  • Aware.
  • * , chapter=5
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.}}
  • *
    • Once again the animals were conscious of a vague uneasiness.
  • Aware of one's own existence; aware of one's own awareness.
  • * 1999 , Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now , Hodder and Stoughton, pages 61–62:
    • The best indicator of your level of consciousness is how you deal with life's challenges when they come.  Through those challenges, an already unconscious person tends to become more deeply unconscious, and a conscious' person more intensely ' conscious .

    Antonyms

    * asleep * unaware * unconscious

    Derived terms

    * consciously * consciousness * subconscious * unconscious * preconscious * price-conscious * self-conscious

    Related terms

    * conscience

    instinct

    English

    (wikipedia instinct)

    Noun

  • A natural or inherent impulse or behaviour.
    • Many animals fear fire by instinct .
  • * Shakespeare
    • By a divine instinct , men's minds mistrust / Ensuing dangers.
  • * {{quote-book
    • , year=1921 , title= , author=Bertrand Russell , passage=In spite of these qualifications, the broad distinction between instinct and habit is undeniable. To take extreme cases, every animal at birth can take food by instinct, before it has had opportunity to learn; on the other hand, no one can ride a bicycle by instinct, though, after learning, the necessary movements become just as automatic as if they were instinctive.}}
  • An intuitive reaction not based on rational conscious thought.
    • an instinct''' for order; to be modest by '''instinct
    Debbie's instinct was to distrust John.

    Derived terms

    * instinctively * instinctive

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (archaic) Imbued, charged ((with) something).
  • * Milton
    • The chariot of paternal deity / Itself instinct with spirit, but convoyed / By four cherubic shapes.
  • * Brougham
    • a noble performance, instinct with sound principle
  • * 1928 , (HP Lovecraft), ‘The Call of Cthulhu’:
    • This thing, which seemed instinct with a fearsome and unnatural malignancy, was of a somewhat bloated corpulence, and squatted evilly on a rectangular block or pedestal covered with undecipherable characters.

    External links

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