Natures wonders: fish electrolocation (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, June 29, 2016, 13:41 (2852 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw: The elephantnose fish, just like our fellow primates, displays all the signs of intelligence, though of course on nothing like the level of our own. Both examples lead to the all-important question of the link between the neurons and the organism's identity. Is the fish/ape/human directed by the neurons, or do they each direct the neurons. You have no doubt that “you” direct your neurons,which serve "your" needs, but what are “you”? Why should we assume that the neurons direct the fish if the human directs the neurons? In other words, what is the seat of intelligence? The materialist will say the brain, but you say that is not so in the case of humans. Maybe it is not so in the case of the ape or in the case of the fish. But if it is not so, intelligence must in some way be independent of the brain. And if it is independent of the brain, there must be a different source. And that source may also be present in organisms without a brain. - DAVID: You have come back to panpsychism, and I can simply point to universal consciousness God) as the answer. From quantum studies we see intelligent consciousness is required. - In my view, intelligent consciousness (but not human self-awareness) is certainly required to explain intelligent behaviour. Panpsychism and universal consciousness (also not to be confused with human self-awareness) can be synonymous. But such consciousness (which can range from minimal to human) is not synonymous with any concept of God that I know of, since all gods are beings with human-type awareness and powers to intervene in the course of life. In my “panpsychist” hypothesis, living organisms have different levels of consciousness, though I am very wary of attributing any degree of consciousness to inorganic matter.