Every time I look at something, I don't simultaneously perceive its causal predecessor. I don't see trees in supermarket fruit aisles. I am only conscious (aware) that the apple came from a tree when I reflect on it, but then this kind of conscious knowledge isn't the same as perception: Knowing that fruit comes from trees and actually seeing a piece come from a tree are different.JamesOfSeattle wrote:The gist is that the fundamental unit of consciousness is the interpretation of a sign (sign being defined as in this thread).
Conception Vs. Perception
As with your hieroglyphics example, the understanding of signs does not come from the mere perception of then: We need to either be taught or come across the connections ourselves by some means other than the sign itself.
We first need to be conscious before we even learn the causal link between the causes behind the sign.