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vincentML -> RE: The Covert Messiah (10/28/2013 7:46:25 AM)
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Don’t you find it highly significant that sentient beings appear to exhibit some kind of awareness or self consciousness or consciousness? Currently we have no way of knowing whether the same specific kind of consciousness that we possess is being experienced by other species, (or even other humans for that matter.) But the indications are that may be some commonalities. This is particularly interesting because the other species eg. plants may not have a brain. Whether plants possess brains is a matter of controversy, as indeed the whole field of plant neurobiology is, and is discussed here.
The presence of awareness in sentient beings should not be surprising given the current model of evolution. I would guess there are major differences amongst sentient species with respect to self-awareness. Humans do not begin to recognize their image in a mirror until 18 to 23 months of age. The human cortical region is much larger proportionally than that of other vertebrates. Additionally, humans have a highly developed language skill that might distinguish human consciousness.
I would not be surprised to learn that individual humans present variations in consciousness. I am assuming that the nature of individual consciousness is developmental and there are potentially huge differences in our epigenome.
Thank you for the article on plant neurobiology. It was really interesting. However, the finding that plants share a percentage of genes with animals is not very persuasive. Consider that our various tissues contain the same codon genes but are morphologically and functionally different. Brain, heart, kidneys all arise from the same embryonic stem cells. All three have identical codons.
Ninety-five percent of our DNA does not code for cell proteins. Much of the 95% code for epigenetic factors which direct the codons ~ turn them on, shut them off, splice them, jump fragments to different chromosomes, regulate their timing, etc. Epigenetic coding is influenced by factors outside the chromosomes (environmental factors [;)])
The finding of electrical potentials across plant cells is intriguing and in retrospect I should not have been surprised. I was. Not my undergraduate plant biology :) But as the article concludes, it is a long way from plant electrical potentials to a plant brain or consciousness. More metaphor than reality.
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These findings do seem to present adverse implications for the claim that consciousness is purely a function of the (human) brain, or the more interesting view that it is an ‘emerging property’ of complex brains. It does seem to imply that the key to understanding consciousness may lie, at least in part, outside the (human) brain.
My bias is that consciousness is an emergent property of the brain (human and other vertebrates) for the simple reason that when the brain is damaged consciousness is damaged. Really, I do not see the justification for either of the two implications you drew above. I would be happy to have you sort that for me.
Regards [:D]
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