Originally Posted by tecoyah

Words define....that is all they are intended to do. It would seem to me the word "consciousness" is an attempt to explain the act of examining/defining Self. As for a word acting on the Brain, this is a given as it is the brain that allows the word to exist in the first place, and it is the brain that created the word as well as the need for the word.
Consciousness in my view, is the ability of a creature to understand that it "Is", and knowing that the world will force interaction, and effect percieved reality. Consciousness is the word we use to state we are here, and that we "Know" we are here.