RE: Quantum consciousness...
August 26, 2017 at 8:29 am
(This post was last modified: August 26, 2017 at 8:36 am by Whateverist.)
I wonder if it is possible for a plant to come up with a novel solution to a new problem without a couple of generations of selection to enable the genome of the species to refine a response? It seems as though we do that. We solve problems individually and collaboratively in ways which do not depend on natural selection. In a sense, it is the species of plants which have shown great adaptability, but every individual plant is, as one of you put it, a stimulus/response implementer.
Consciousness might not require this ability to adapt on an individual basis but it does seem to be an advantage, especially for organisms which are conscious of their own mortality and prefer to postpone it. Then again, from the standpoint of tradition amongst the life forms of the planet, we might seem to be an aberration: a species in which its representatives serve their own aims rather than that of the genome. Of course genomes are probably not self aware so there is probably very little resentment or outrage about us.
Consciousness might not require this ability to adapt on an individual basis but it does seem to be an advantage, especially for organisms which are conscious of their own mortality and prefer to postpone it. Then again, from the standpoint of tradition amongst the life forms of the planet, we might seem to be an aberration: a species in which its representatives serve their own aims rather than that of the genome. Of course genomes are probably not self aware so there is probably very little resentment or outrage about us.
