Abstract

Consciousness studies is not just an academic field, it is an industry as well with active research programs in medicine, business, and the military. As advancements in technology offer more access to the brain, attempts to instrumentalize the resulting knowledge will shift the very definitions of consciousness. Consciousness of this process is a necessary first condition toward keeping consciousness studies from becoming merely a form of social and individual control. Understanding consciousness studies and such important guiding metaphors as information, and dynamics such as power, is an essential part of this process.