232 WARFARE IN THE HUMAN BODY 



If then such compound conditioned reflexes are the 

 cortical apparatus for keeping in touch with the environ- 

 ment, with all its excitations and inhibitions, presented 

 to it at the moment, it is reflexly forced upon us to declare 

 that " consciousness " is the massed sensations of the 

 thinker, or such a complex of them as may be most strongly 

 stimulated. Since " memory " is nothing but the estab- 

 lishment of nervous tracts, and the act of memory a stimu- 

 lation passing over a particular synapse formerly opened 

 up, we can understand how " self -awareness," which is 

 really " memory," consists of a set of opened tracts which 

 stimulate other tracts, possibly motor ones, which finally 

 may pass into reflexly induced speech or writing. " Self- 

 awareness " thus sinks away from us on acting. That 

 pointed and consecutive speech, dealing with the situa- 

 tion, may occur reflexly, is obvious to those who have 

 seen operations performed under light anaesthesia in 

 which the reflexes are not abolished. The patient may 

 feel pain and abuse the surgeon in the vilest language. 

 The good public speaker is one who forgets himself, ceases 

 to be inhibited by fears as to his success, speaks over 

 short paths rather than long ones, and loses " self -aware- 

 ness " in semi-automatic or reflex emotional or logical 

 utterance. What he says is rapid adaptation to his 

 environment. 



The difficulty experienced, even by some men of 

 scientific training, in accepting such views of " conscious- 

 ness " as are suggested above, is undoubtedly a reflex 

 cerebral state, induced in early life by the stimulation 

 or inhibition of words or repeated sound signals which 

 have established regularly working reflexes. They have 

 been taught to respond to these in a certain way, i.e. 

 their education has opened up tracts of nervous discharge 



