Consciousness; an article touting universal consciousness (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, June 21, 2018, 15:29 (2346 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: According to some scientists (it is not just my idea – see under “Horizontal gene transfer”), there are degrees of awareness, ranging from that of bacteria to that of humans, and they couple this with degrees of intelligence. Time and again we read about the cooperation between cells and cell communities at all levels. This is not an “idea”; it is a fact, both inside and outside our bodies. I have expanded this fact into the idea that cooperation between the intelligent cell communities of the brain may be the source of our own higher intelligence or self-awareness. But of course I do not pretend that the idea explains how cells became aware/intelligent in the first place, and your God is one of the three options I have suggested.

DAVID: Of course cells cooperate. Multicellular life could not exist without cooperation.

You accused me of expanding the meaning of the word consciousness as a ploy to support my idea that all organisms have a degree of intelligence. I was simply pointing out that my idea concerning the emergence of our own self-awareness through the cooperation of intelligent cell communities is an expansion of the observations of some scientists, and has nothing to do with definitions of consciousness.

DAVID: I think life is a miracle, which requires a supernatural source.

dhw: Another definition of miracle” is “any amazing or wonderful event” (Encarta)

I thought we weren't going to argue about definitions.