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36 FEELING, BEING, AND THE SENSE OF SELF, PART I

111 continuity in the sense of being, this continuity can be lost if the
2 affective experiences are sufficiently powerful, irregular, and unpre-
3 dictable. This continuity is provided, in part, through the back-
4 ground presence of the proto-self (Damasio, 1999).
5 Solms and Turnbull describe the feat of core consciousness
6 (Damasio’s concept) in coupling together the individual’s inner and
7 outer worlds:
8
9 . . . whereas the “content” of consciousness is attached to the poste-
10 rior cortical channels that monitor the outside world, the “state” of
1 consciousness is a product of the ascending activating system of the
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brainstem, which monitors the internal milieu of the body

2
[Damasio’s proto-self]. Thus, whereas the contents of consciousness
3
represent changes in cortical zones derived from one’s external
4 perceptual modalities, the state of consciousness represents changes
5 in the internal situation of one’s body. [Solms & Turnbull, 2002,
6 p. 90]
711
8 They also go on to describe the meaningful and evaluative elements
9 of core consciousness:
20
1 Far from being without quality, the background state of conscious-
2 ness is therefore replete with meaning and feeling—indeed, it is the
3 very bedrock of personal meaning and feeling. This aspect of
consciousness therefore not only “represents” your self, it also tells
4
you how you are doing . . . [Core consciousness] is not only intrin-
511
sically introspective . . . it is also intrinsically evaluative. It imparts
6 value. It tells us whether something is “good” or “bad”; and it does
7 that by making things feel good or bad (or somewhere in between).
8 That is what consciousness, feeling, is for. [Ibid., pp. 90–91, original
9 italics]
311
1 This evaluative element is the essence of the affective appraisal
2 mechanism, which is explored further in Chapter Three.
3 Also significant is the infant’s/individual’s sense of (rudimen-
4 tary) agency: this can be weakened if the infant has been over-
5 whelmed by experience in the absence of a good-enough caregiver
6 who could help adequately regulate their sense of being; that is to
7 say, the self-regulation by the other is inadequate. Under these
8 circumstances the individual can come to feel a passive victim at
911 the mercy of their environment.
Copyright 2007. Routledge.

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