What you call consciousness only occurs within a certain range of durations, say from one tenth of a second to a few seconds, and a slightly broader range accessible after special cultivation - a fact which reinforces its dependence on duration. Experience, however, goes on is a plurality of ranges outside of this spectrum, from the instantaneous to the entire life-span, and possibly still further. It is marked, in particular, by the inner relations of multiple spans, and this is why the self is an indispensable category for experience, providing a sort of (virtual or real or both) pivot between spans.