Meanings
alternative pseudo-conscious
- not comparableSeemingly or nearly conscious but not truly so; said of processes within the human mind, of people, of software, or of machines running software.
investigating unconscious or pseudoconscious processes in psychology
4 more examples
The great problem with differentiating pseudoconscious from conscious machines is that operational definitions of criteria for "true" consciousness are elusively difficult to achieve, as Erik Hoel, one of various experts in that field, has explored expositorily for nonexperts.
"Are you all right?" I ask my pseudoconscious neighbor. He doesn't respond, and now he's not moving at all. I check to make sure he's breathing and give his shoulder a little shove. His head snaps up as if lever-operated. "Beeeautiful, man." He smiles at me with closed eyes. "Everyshing's good."
2000 July 26, Emma Trelles, “I want a new drug. Orlando area news”, in Orlando Weekly, retrieved 21 May 2023This fentanyl/N2O combination created a pseudoconscious level of metabolism (Åkeson et al, 1992). After approximately 30 mins on this anesthetic combination, three successive intravenous injections of pentobarbital (5, 10, and 30 mg/kg) were administered at 30 min intervals.
2006, KM Tichauer, JA Hadway, TY Lee, KS St Lawrence, “Measurement of cerebral oxidative metabolism with near-infrared spectroscopy: a validation study”, in J Cereb Blood Flow Metab, volume 26, number 5, →DOI, →PMID, pages 722–730This can be an unconscious or pseudoconscious process.
2008, William A. Hewlett, “Chapter 21: Obsessive–compulsive disorder”, in Michael H. Ebert, Peter T. Loosen, Barry Nurcombe, James F. Leckman, editors, Current Diagnosis and Treatment: Psychiatry (Current series), 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, →ISBN
Origin
Cite this entry
pseudoconscious. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudoconscious
“pseudoconscious.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudoconscious. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pseudoconscious,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pseudoconscious.
Source: pseudoconscious on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.