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Intentions are gradual because they are emotional. While a person might do something instantaneously, it isn't obvious when their intention to do that action started. Some cognitive processes are very fast, like vision is fast however the emotional processes that accompany vision are often slow. It makes sense that vision is tied in with consciousness and emotion because vision is a large part of how humans and animals see - whether or not they are blind.

So how can someone separate out basic vision and the basic emotional processes that are tied in with vision with more complicated or slower emotions? A vision could immediately invoke a feeling - or a feeling could be more stored and come from deeper or more complicated emotions - the feelings that come from someones consciousness can come from their immediate environment or from what they are feeling and thinking.

Sometimes what people see matches what they are thinking and feeling, and sometimes it doesn't. Obviously it is going to vary on the situation i.e., what they are seeing and what they are thinking and feeling, that is going to determine what they are conscious of and what they are feeling and thinking.

Some stimuli is more stimulating and rises to consciousness easier than other stimulation. Vision in combination with what the person is thinking helps to determine what the person is paying attention to at any given moment.

There could be a question of if the person is aware of the stimulation before it happens or is thinking about something that prepares them for the stimulation what effect that might have on the stimulation. They could be paying attention to something initially and then that object could respond, or it could come into attention suddenly. If you think about the thoughts and feelings that are involved it adds more detail about what is going on - because they obviously are a factor in the feelings and thoughts before, during and after a stimulus - and if that stimulus has a 'leading-up' lesser stimulation.

Mental processes and reality

There can also be unconscious and conscious processes. The mind has feelings and thoughts that are complex, and there are different levels of conscious and unconscious attention.

How does the mind perceive reality? Is reality the environment, culture or nation that someone is in?

The country that someone is in could have a large impact on how the person perceives the world, there are different values that 'hold sway' in different places - such as different morals and beliefs and abilities.

How does that differ from a humans conception of other human beings? People can conceive of different people differently, and similarly, they can think about different nations or culture groups differently.

How does a babies conception of reality or other human beings differ from an adults conception? I don't really think it would matter to a baby or even a small child what country they were in - though maybe that is because they are just being influenced and it isn't under their control.

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Source:  OpenStax, Consciousness, emotion and cognition. OpenStax CNX. Jul 11, 2016 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11886/1.5
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