Cambrian Explosion: best illustrated guide (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, April 20, 2016, 13:08 (2926 days ago) @ David Turell

DAVID: One cannot tell the difference in our two approaches from the history of evolution, just as one cannot tell the difference in a beautifully programmed bacteria from one that has some independent decision-making ability.
dhw: Agreed. And so when eminent scientists inform us that bacteria are cognitive, sentient, cooperative, decision-making beings, one should perhaps take their findings seriously.
DAVID:The appearance of cognitive ability, interpreted as primary initiative responses in bacteria by a few enthusiastic scientists who overstate the case for emphasis, does not negate the fact that it is their personal interpretation of a phenomenon which has two equally possible interpretations.-And if they are equally possible, they should be given equally serious consideration.-DAVID: This article shows the automaticity:-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autoinducer-QUOTE: "In the most simplified quorum sensing systems, bacteria only need two components to make use of autoinducers. They need a way to produce a signal and a way to respond to that signal. […] In many cases, autoinducers participate in forward feedback loops, whereby a small initial concentration of an autoinducer amplifies the production of that same chemical signal to much higher levels." (David's bold)
David's Comment: Note controls by a feedback loop, automatic.-As always, you focus on the chemistry of signalling. Our own senses and signals are also automatic. From the same article:-QUOTE: "Autoinducers are signaling molecules that are produced in response to changes in cell-population density. As the density of quorum sensing bacterial cells increases so does the concentration of the autoinducer. […] Autoinducers allow bacteria to communicate both within and between different species. This communication alters gene expression and allows bacteria to mount coordinated responses to their environments, in a manner that is comparable to behavior and signaling in higher organisms. Not surprisingly, it has been suggested that quorum sensing may have been an important evolutionary milestone that ultimately gave rise to multicellular life forms." (My bold)-If you wish to argue that their behaviour (e.g. decision-making) is automatic because the chemical processes involved in acquiring and communicating information are automatic, then you may as well say the same of all “higher organisms”, including humans.