Unconsciously Conscious

What determines consciousness?
Is it simply being ununconscious?
To be one is necessary,
To simply be the opposite of the other?
Being unconscious or conscious,
Are opposite ends of a spectrum,
Separated by the delights,
Of states of confusion and stupor.
Such a tautological circle,
Is surely a travesty of logic?
Perhaps we lack the words,
To be more aware of our own awareness?

I was talking with a colleague about what we knew, what we knew we knew, what we knew that we didn't know and what we thought we didn't know, but needed to. (It made sense at the time.) I got to thinking about states of consciousness and how you knew when someone was unconscious, but the definition of consciousness was much more slippery.