Now you’ve just replaced “consciousness” with “awareness”. Self-awareness? Awareness of stimuli? Awareness of demarcation of animate and inanimate objects?
I understand it sounds simple, but there are so many different systems interplaying to give rise to whatever definition of consciousness you give, it’s really hard to give exact definitions.
Also, you still talk as if this “awareness in the moment” might be a simple dichotomy. I seriously highly doubt this is the case, especially when it comes to stuff like reflexes and instincts.
When I say "consciousness", the concept that I mean isn't reducible to other concepts. It's a concept that can only be found through introspection. And it seems like many have noticed the same concept, so we can label it with a word. But we can't define it such that someone who hasn't already noticed the concept will understand it. We can only describe it in such a way that those who already noticed it can confirm we're talking about the same thing. I think the parent's comment has done this adequately, and I don't think it's a problem that the definition is incomplete.
I understand it sounds simple, but there are so many different systems interplaying to give rise to whatever definition of consciousness you give, it’s really hard to give exact definitions.
Also, you still talk as if this “awareness in the moment” might be a simple dichotomy. I seriously highly doubt this is the case, especially when it comes to stuff like reflexes and instincts.