Awareness

In philosophy and psychology, awareness is the perception or knowledge of something. The concept is often synonymous with consciousness; however, one can be aware of something without being explicitly conscious of it (e.g., blindsight).

The states of awareness are also associated with the states of experience, so that the structure represented in awareness is mirrored in the structure of experience.

Awareness is a relative concept. It may refer to an internal state, such as a visceral feeling, or on external events by way of sensory perception. It is analogous to sensing something, a process distinguished from observing and perceiving (which involves a basic process of acquainting with the items we perceive). Awareness can be described as something that occurs when the brain is activated in certain ways, such as when the color red is seen once the retina is stimulated by light waves. This conceptualization is posited due to the difficulty in developing an analytic definition of awareness or sensory awareness.

Awareness is also associated with consciousness in the sense that it denotes a fundamental experience such as a feeling or intuition that accompanies the experience of phenomena. Specifically, this is referred to as awareness of experience.

Mocenni C. and Bizzarri F. wrote: "The awareness literature can be organized around three core concepts: cognitive awareness, which corresponds to the accurate and deep individual's understanding of one's perception and thinking.^(sic) The second perspective argues that awareness is multilevel considering both conscious and unconscious, with an end-stage of awareness... The third considers awareness concerning the recognition of the feelings of others."

Peripheral awareness refers to the human ability to process information regarding all five senses at the periphery of attention, such as acknowledging the distant sounds of people outside while sitting indoors and concentrating on a specific task, such as reading. Peripheral vision is defined as the perception of visual stimuli at or near the edge of the field of vision.

This type of awareness allows one to be prepared to respond to unexpected events. For example, when walking down a busy street while talking to a friend, peripheral awareness will allow for alertness to potential hazards such as cars or pedestrians coming into proximity that may not have been noticed otherwise.

Studies have shown having peripheral awareness enhances overall cognition. By improving peripheral awareness, overall quality of life and productivity will subsequently be improved.^{[citation needed]}