--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is what consciousness does: it sets…" description: "\"This is what consciousness does: it sets the goals, and the rest of the system learns how to meet them.\" — David Eagleman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/david-eagleman-2079_consciousness_this-is-what-consciousness-does-it-sets_1169036.png" --- # This is what consciousness does: it sets the goals, and… ![“This is what consciousness does: it sets the goals, and the rest of the system learns how to meet them.” quote by David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/david-eagleman-2079_consciousness_this-is-what-consciousness-does-it-sets_1169036.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/david-eagleman-2079_consciousness_this-is-what-consciousness-does-it-sets_1169036.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/david-eagleman-2079_consciousness_this-is-what-consciousness-does-it-sets_1169036.png) > “This is what consciousness does: it sets the goals, and the rest of the system learns how to meet them.” [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Consciousness defines objectives while the rest of the mind learns strategies to achieve them. **In simple terms:** Mind sets goals, body learns how to meet them. Key Takeaway Align your actions with clear goals. Themes consciousness goal setting learning self‑regulation Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - education - skill acquisition - team leadership Key Concepts cognitive science neuroscience motivation Questions to Reflect On - What goals drive your daily actions? - How do you adapt when goals change? A Different Perspective Goals without flexibility can become rigid. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Consciousness Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness-does-1438676/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goals/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) [Rest Learns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rest-learns-3379453/) [Sets Goals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sets-goals-1918648/) ## Related quotes > [“I recommend adopting two concurrent goals: a long-term dream and an eighteen-month plan. (...) Typically, my eighteen-month plan sets goals on two fronts. First…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/i-recommend-adopting-two-concurrent-goals-a-long-term-dream-and-an-2/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [You must avoid blindness of mind by setting goals. ... I have long contended that the person who sets goals and who strives to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-e-asay/you-must-avoid-blindness-of-mind-by-setting-goals-i-have-long/) [Carlos E. Asay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-e-asay/) > [I am not somebody who sets goals... It's not something that I have enjoyed doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-karthik/i-am-not-somebody-who-sets-goals-it-s-not-something-that-i-have/) [Dinesh Karthik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-karthik/) > [Consciousness does matter. Matter is secondary. Consciousness is primary. Brain does not do consciousness, consciousness does the brain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-goswami/consciousness-does-matter-matter-is-secondary-consciousness-is/) [Amit Goswami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-goswami/) > [“Consciousness is not about information but about its opposite: order. Consciousness is not a complex phenomenon; it is what consciousness is \_about\_ that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tor-norretranders/consciousness-is-not-about-information-but-about-its-opposite-order-2/) [Tor Norretranders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tor-norretranders/) > [“If you are in a group whose consciousness does not reflect your own, and you are unable at this time to effectively alter the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neale-donald-walsch/if-you-are-in-a-group-whose-consciousness-does-not-reflect-your-own/) [Neale Donald Walsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neale-donald-walsch/) > [Consciousness... does not appear to itself chopped up in bits. Such words as 'chain' or 'train' do not describe it fitly as it presents…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/consciousness-does-not-appear-to-itself-chopped-up-in-bits-such-words/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Self-consciousness, however, does hinder the experience of the present. It is the one instrument that unplugs all the rest. So long as I lose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/self-consciousness-however-does-hinder-the-experience-of-the-present/) [Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/) > [“Just as the sun does not leave its position in the sky to illuminate objects with its radiating light, so consciousness does not leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-a-singer/just-as-the-sun-does-not-leave-its-position-in-the-sky-to-illuminate/) [Michael A. Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-a-singer/) > [Consciousness does not just passively reflect the objective material world; it plays an active role in creating reality itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislav-grof/consciousness-does-not-just-passively-reflect-the-objective-material/) [Stanislav Grof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislav-grof/) > [“Although we experience the ego as the continuing centre of our existence it is, in fact, merely the Self’s executive. ‘For indeed our consciousness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-stevens/although-we-experience-the-ego-as-the-continuing-centre-of-our/) [Anthony Stevens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-stevens/) > [Spiritual consciousness does not make your problems go away; it does, however, help you view them from a different vantage point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iyanla-vanzant/spiritual-consciousness-does-not-make-your-problems-go-away-it-does/) [Iyanla Vanzant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iyanla-vanzant/) > [In the field of consciousness research-and also in physics and astronomy-we are breaking past the cause-and-effect, mechanistic way of interpreting things. In the biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/in-the-field-of-consciousness-research-and-also-in-physics-and/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [Thinking is only a small aspect of consciousness. Thought cannot exist without consciousness, but consciousness does not need thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-is-only-a-small-aspect-of-consciousness-thought-cannot-exist/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Consciousness does affect matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-brand/consciousness-does-affect-matter/) [Russell Brand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-brand/) ## More by David Eagleman > [We're trapped on this very thin slice of perception ... But even at that slice of reality that we call home, we're not seeing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/we-re-trapped-on-this-very-thin-slice-of-perception-but-even-at-that/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [Visual cortex is fundamentally a machine whose job is to generate a model of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/visual-cortex-is-fundamentally-a-machine-whose-job-is-to-generate-a/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [If you ever feel lazy or dull, take heart: you're the busiest, brightest thing on the planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/if-you-ever-feel-lazy-or-dull-take-heart-you-re-the-busiest-brightest/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [We are not conscious of most things until we ask ourselves questions about them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/we-are-not-conscious-of-most-things-until-we-ask-ourselves-questions/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [“with the knowledge that you cannot appreciate the destination without knowing the starting point; you cannot revel in the simplicity unless you remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/with-the-knowledge-that-you-cannot-appreciate-the-destination-without/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [“If an epileptic seizure is focused in a particular sweet spot in the temporal lobe, a person won´t have motor seizures, but instead something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/if-an-epileptic-seizure-is-focused-in-a-particular-sweet-spot-in-the/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [The deep secret of the brain is that not only the spinal cord but the entire central nervous system works this way: internally generated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/the-deep-secret-of-the-brain-is-that-not-only-the-spinal-cord-but-the/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [When people fall in love, there´s period of up to three years during which the zeal and infatuation ride at a peak. The internal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/when-people-fall-in-love-there-s-period-of-up-to-three-years-during/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [The majority of human beings live their whole lives unaware that they are only seeing a limited cone of vision at any moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/the-majority-of-human-beings-live-their-whole-lives-unaware-that-they/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [Our ignorance of the cosmos is too vast to commit to atheism, and yet we know too much to commit to a particular religion.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/our-ignorance-of-the-cosmos-is-too-vast-to-commit-to-atheism-and-yet/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [“As Gazzaniga put it, "these findings all suggest that the interpretive mechanism of the left hemisphere is always hard at work, seeking the meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/as-gazzaniga-put-it-these-findings-all-suggest-that-the-interpretive/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [I spent my adult life as a scientist, and science is, essentially, the most successful approach we have to try and understand the vast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/i-spent-my-adult-life-as-a-scientist-and-science-is-essentially-the/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [When the brain activity is kindled in the right spot, people hear voices. If a physician prescribes an anti-epileptic medication, the seizures go away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/when-the-brain-activity-is-kindled-in-the-right-spot-people-hear/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [“Platoons and plays and stores and congresses do not end - they simply move on to a different dimension.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/platoons-and-plays-and-stores-and-congresses-do-not-end-they-simply/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) > [Awareness of your surroundings occurs only when sensory inputs violate expectations. When the world is successfully predicted away, awareness is not needed because the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/awareness-of-your-surroundings-occurs-only-when-sensory-inputs/) [David Eagleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) [Explore all 183 David Eagleman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/) ## More Consciousness quotes > [“You're never alone if you're with your soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-armond-powell/you-re-never-alone-if-you-re-with-your-soul/) [Gerard Armond Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-armond-powell/) > [“I now argue that entry into Upper Palaeolithic caves was probably seen as virtually indistinguishable from entry into the mental vortex that leads to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-david-lewis-williams/i-now-argue-that-entry-into-upper-palaeolithic-caves-was-probably/) [James David Lewis-Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-david-lewis-williams/) > [How wonderful it would be to scatter words as they rise to consciousness, to let them lie where they fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-scott/how-wonderful-it-would-be-to-scatter-words-as-they-rise-to/) [Joanna Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-scott/) > [“People and situations always show us what we need to see and learn about ourselves, and when we take responsibility for our own feelings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliza-mada-dalian/people-and-situations-always-show-us-what-we-need-to-see-and-learn/) [Eliza Mada Dalian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliza-mada-dalian/) > [With the realization of God comes all power. If the little wave knew that behind it is the great ocean, it could say, "I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/with-the-realization-of-god-comes-all-power-if-the-little-wave-knew/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [“Entropy is the normal state of consciousness—a condition that is neither useful nor enjoyable. To avoid this condition, people are naturally eager to fill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/entropy-is-the-normal-state-of-consciousness-a-condition-that-is/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [The purpose is to be in gratitude forever. Live with applied consciousness, prosperity will break through the walls, flood you with it. You do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/the-purpose-is-to-be-in-gratitude-forever-live-with-applied/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [“No one has any right to tell you that the way you perceive yourself is wrong. Because by doing so, they also discourage the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/no-one-has-any-right-to-tell-you-that-the-way-you-perceive-yourself/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. A language of no boundaries is no language at all, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-language-possesses-utility-only-insofar-as-it-can-construct/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [So many people are passive participants in their very short time of having a consciousness, and those who aren't inspire me. Like Malala Yousafzai…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dylan-gelulla/so-many-people-are-passive-participants-in-their-very-short-time-of/) [Dylan Gelulla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dylan-gelulla/) > [Floating in and out of consciousness...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/floating-in-and-out-of-consciousness/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [“The vision teller tells the vision to unguarded minds' of prey. The programmed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-f-hodge/the-vision-teller-tells-the-vision-to-unguarded-minds-of-prey-the/) [T.F. Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-f-hodge/) > [Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rollo-may/human-freedom-involves-our-capacity-to-pause-between-the-stimulus-and/) [Rollo May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rollo-may/) [Browse all 6,062 Consciousness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This is what consciousness does: it sets the goals, and the rest of the system learns how to meet them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Eagleman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/this-is-what-consciousness-does-it-sets-the-goals-and-the-rest-of-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consciousness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/this-is-what-consciousness-does-it-sets-the-goals-and-the-rest-of-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/david-eagleman-2079_consciousness_this-is-what-consciousness-does-it-sets_1169036.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/david-eagleman-2079_consciousness_this-is-what-consciousness-does-it-sets_1169036.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ddc/david-eagleman-2079_consciousness_this-is-what-consciousness-does-it-sets_1169036.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This is what consciousness does: it sets the goals, and the rest of the system learns how to meet them.” — David Eagleman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Eagleman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-eagleman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This is what consciousness does: it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/this-is-what-consciousness-does-it-sets-the-goals-and-the-rest-of-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-eagleman/this-is-what-consciousness-does-it-sets-the-goals-and-the-rest-of-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```