Introducing the brain: its fractal organization (Introduction)

by dhw, Tuesday, November 12, 2024, 11:20 (11 days ago) @ David Turell

For the sake of brevity, I shan't reproduce all the quotes from yesterday's post.

DAVID: when brains first appeared in the Cambrian explosion were they this organized or did the fractal pattern develop by evolution? My guess is since there are no precursors, the brains came fully prepared, that is designed for action.

dhw: Even if there were no direct precursors, the fact remains that for 3 billion years before the Cambrian, there were organisms whose cells must have performed many of the functions now performed by the brain. They could hardly have survived otherwise. The above quotes all emphasize the fact that the brain, like so many other parts of so many bodies, is a community of cell communities, and cells have their own functions as well as interacting with other cells. I like the implications of the second quote, and would suggest that the “something bigger” is that all of evolution has resulted from the intelligent teamwork of cells and cell communities. But I would also stress that we do not know the origin of cellular intelligence, and a designing God is one possible answer.

DAVID: There is no question an amoeba acts with purpose. The question is how automatic are those actions based upon built-in designed responses. A designing God and chance are the only two possible answers.

By built-in designed responses I presume you mean detailed instructions on how the amoeba should respond to all situations and conditions for the rest of time, and the appropriate set of instructions will automatically switch itself on when each particular problem arises. You cannot or will not countenance the possibility that your God might have endowed the amoeba or any other brainless organism or indeed most cell communities with the intelligence to work out their own solutions.