When Consciousness Fades

Consciousness. What is it? I understand it as the essence of man. It is the part that forms the basis for humans to engage in their realm of thought. Humans live to function by thinking. That is what differentiates humans from animals. Animals live static lives—they do not think. They live by instinct, not by thought.

In thinking, man must achieve consciousness - his consciousness as a thinking being, as a mover of the world, as a creator of history. This last point also distinguishes humans from other creatures such as animals. We are part of the humanities that build civilization, culture, history, and more. The ability to think cannot be applied if humans reject their consciousness as humans. Some may refuse; some are forced to refuse, resulting in a situation of dehumanization - a situation that strips humans of their abilities and rights as movers of the world.

Consciousness Denial Situation

In some cases, humans lose the right to receive their consciousness. Is it a political situation? Perhaps. First, what causes humans to lose consciousness? So far, if you can understand your own existence in living life, doing activities, interacting with the environment, then you should still have consciousness - because you have contemplated and thought about your own existence. The ability to think freely is a matter of human consciousness.

But what happens when that thought process is shut down or denied - whether for internal or external reasons? We cannot freely think about existence or anything outside a boundary situation. The death of consciousness becomes the death of man in the realm of thought and marks the beginning of dehumanization. Dehumanization is the antithesis of humanization, which is the process of making humans more fully human. Losing the ability to think is, indirectly, the death of the human. According to Aristotle, humans are by nature thinking animals.

Thinking is the key. So, if that ability is taken away - forcefully or indirectly - then dehumanization has occurred. Humans experience stagnation, or worse, regression.

There are at least two situations that demonstrate the denial of consciousness. Before I continue, I would like to emphasize that the examples presented are based only on personal experience and are open to criticism. The first is the forced denial created by the oppressed. I recently read Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Freire’s analysis of the class struggle between oppressor and oppressed was eye-opening in understanding its effect on consciousness.

The oppressor retains human consciousness through the luxury and comfort of exploiting the oppressed - a consciousness that destroys consciousness. The oppressed continue to receive the dogmas that instill feelings of paternalism and inferiority in comparison to the oppressor. Dogma robs the oppressed of humanizing consciousness, producing a fear-based inability to think. This fear is created by the situation of the oppressor. The process of dogma builds an imaginary image of false hospitality that fosters a consciousness opposed to humanity. In short, the oppressor exploits the oppressed, stripping away the right to think and replacing a humanized consciousness with a false one.

This same fear of oppressor-oppressed opposition appears in the shadow of the military regime in Indonesia. After the heated controversy over the RUU-TNI (Revision of the Indonesian National Army Law) at the end of March, the imagined resurgence of a military regime has sparked fears of military oppression over civilians. The fear of stagnation in education is also evident, as the new regime has not made it a priority. Instead, emphasis has shifted to the Free and Nutritious Lunch program, which has stirred controversy regarding its distribution and downstream policies. Militarism is a crucial issue to monitor. A country undergoing militarization often regresses - especially in the sciences. Don’t believe me? Look at the Ottoman Empire. The sultanate was so focused on expansion that it militarized and suppressed science. If science is killed and freedom of speech is considered subversive, then dehumanization occurs.

The second situation lies on the internal side of the individual. Consciousness can be destroyed when people choose to reject it. I contextualize this with the low level of education in Indonesia - a problem not only caused by individual rejection but also by a surrounding society that is unprogressive or even anti-intellectual. These attitudes are common in a deeply feudal Indonesian society that devalues education while upholding solidarity. In such a society, people begin to abandon conscious thought, as their environment undermines the capacity of the mind. Often, the excuse comes with the claim that “practice matters more than theory.” In my opinion, practice cannot function without theory, and theory is useless without practice. The two are complementary.

In non-progressive societies, intellectual activities - such as reading and processing information - are often dismissed as useless. These environments value muscle over mind.

Some other reasons lie in the failure of the education system, which Freire describes as the "banking system." This is an educational system where teachers are seen as depositors and students as passive recipients. Teachers deliver material without regard to student needs, resulting in a one-sided dynamic with no dialogue. Students are expected to be ignorant, while teachers are treated as all-knowing. The result is that students lose their awareness as learners, become alienated, and their capacity to think deteriorates. Banking education does not create dialogue - it resembles a radio speaking in one direction.

Creating Consciousness

Sooner or later, the denial of consciousness is bound to occur - or may already be happening without us realizing it. We may already be victims of the annihilation of consciousness. So, how can we regain it? How do we create and build it?

Consciousness is not found - it is created. The process of seeking without creating only leads people astray. In addition to reading Freire, I also watched an anime called Orb: On the Movement of the Earth. This anime took me back to Renaissance literacy with its European Renaissance setting. Orb presents the concept of consciousness through the pursuit of truth. Each character realizes that the Church’s dominance has been distorted and that their right to think has been dimmed. Thus, heliocentrism - the anime’s central idea - must be preserved and passed down to future generations to enlighten tomorrow.

Reflecting on Orb, the effort to build consciousness had one aim: proving the truth. In today's world, this means that creating consciousness must be an active struggle. If the regime attempts to erase it, mass action is the only way to fight back. Every element of society must confront the regime’s oppression if the banking model of education is to be abolished and replaced by a problem-posing method - an educational approach that invites teachers and students to sit together and analyze social realities through dialogue.

Once all members of society accept their consciousness - both as human beings and as the oppressed—the effort to build awareness will reach a climactic stage. And once consciousness is reclaimed, humans will regain their natural ability to think and move the world. People will become more critical of their social environment from both political and economic perspectives. They will create history, culture, and civilization through thought - thought that has undergone a process of humanization and progress.

Today, we must create consciousness in a humane way—and together, as human beings, as stewards of the Earth, we will build this world.