A Look Behind the Camera Into the Productions of Our Minds

""The man (person) behind the camera" refers to an observer or witness not only to the surrounding world, but also to one's own sensations, feelings, impulses, instincts, thoughts, and experiences. Seeing more than their external and internal environments, this observer has a higher level of awareness, the cognitive awareness of awareness, or meta-awareness. Within the animal world, humans have been described as uniquely being aware of being aware."

"All organisms have a form of a camera to sense and record the world around them, which then allows them to react to that world. The camera's role is to mechanistically capture the scene as it is. The cinematographer's role is to follow, frame, and focus the camera on what is important but not to manipulate the scene itself-a detached observer attending to and capturing an experience, capturing a life."

"The environment provides the scene, the body is the aperture and lens of the camera, and the subcortical brain is the part of the camera that records and stores the input. As the camera records and stores the scene, the cinematographer, the older and lower cortical brain, follows the scene while adjusting the light, the focus, and the frame. In humans, this recorded version of the scene is delivered to the newer and higher cortical brain for cognitive review, analysis, and modification. The transfer of information at each of the levels is accompanied by a different level and form of awareness."

A person behind the camera represents an observer of both external reality and internal sensations, possessing meta-awareness. All organisms possess sensory systems that record the world and enable reactions. The body serves as the aperture and lens, while subcortical structures record and store input. An older, lower cortical cinematographer follows the recorded scene, adjusting light, focus, and frame without altering the scene itself. In humans, the recorded scene is delivered to a newer, higher cortical sapiocortex for cognitive review, analysis, and modification. Each hierarchical transfer brings distinct levels and forms of awareness, producing elaborated perceived reality.

Read at Psychology Today