Panpsychism Makes a Comeback (General)

by David Turell , Wednesday, January 21, 2015, 23:54 (3592 days ago) @ George Jelliss


> George: You could say there is a degree of awareness from zero in 
> inanimate matter to greater degrees in higher life-forms, 
> because of increasing complexity, and human consciousness 
> probably has a different feel to it because of increased 
> self-reference.-How many other animals than humans have self-reference? dhw's problem with his theory of panpsychism stems from certain researchers inflating the meaning of the word 'sentient' to include molecular responses to molecular stimuli. See my entry re' quorum sensing of earlier today. That is the lowest degree of awareness there is, and as life complexified, that awareness became more astute with each level of higher complexity. It is the jump to acute self-awareness and abstract thought that I consider a major jump beyond the requirements of the mutation and natural selection portion of Darwin theory. I view it as a break in the progression.