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Instinct vs Consciousness - What's the difference?

instinct | consciousness |

As nouns the difference between instinct and consciousness

is that instinct is a natural or inherent impulse or behaviour while consciousness is the state of being conscious or aware; awareness.

As an adjective instinct

is imbued, charged ({{term|with}} something).

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.

    consciousness

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia consciousness)
  • The state of being conscious or aware; awareness.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The machine of a new soul , passage=Yet this is the level of organisation that does the actual thinking—and is, presumably, the seat of consciousness .}}

    Derived terms

    * cyberconsciousness * hyperconsciousness * teleconsciousness * raise someone's consciousness

    See also

    * being-for-itself