Confessions

[Arkilogue]

I imagine it works very much the same way with less complex life forms with no "self" consciousness needed. The physiological "environmental" consciousness of the body itself squirts out reactive hormones due to external stimuli. Like if you just see a tiger stick it's head out of the bushes 20 ft and it locks eyes with you...your body is going to flood with adrenaline and cortisol.

I'd imagine what ever kind of electric feedback mechanism that serves as their rudimentary consciousness gets swept up in similar, fight or flight hormone storms just as surely as we do.

Yeah, that's the problem - it would make just as much sense for it to be a purely physiological/reflexive response so no indicator of the presence or absence of consciousness. So again, perhaps best to just assume consciousness in all animals even if it could never be disproven.

I'm saying the chems would affect their consciousness in the exact same manner as us in that the body is chemically screaming to the action issuing electric mind "OMFG! WTF is that! You need do something about it immediately!"

There's no need for a conscious conception of "self" by the simple organism, but that doesn't mean there is no experiential consciousness there. I imagine it occupies a rudimentary range between "OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT!!!" and "...nah, I'm good" *munchmunchmunch* with occasional spikes of "hey there you sexy thang!"