XPost: misc.news.internet.discuss   
   From: here@is.invalid   
      
   University of Chicago Biochemist: All Living Cells Are Cognitive   
      
   University of Chicago biochemist and evolutionary biologist James   
   Shapiro has a message that those who believe that consciousness is an   
   illusion (as, for example, philosopher Daniel Dennett claims) should   
   heed: If all living things are "cognitive" then, to what extent would   
   life itself have to be an illusion? Something's wrong there.   
      
   Let's follow the thread of what Shapiro is saying. He takes a simple   
   approach: If bacteria and archaea,thought to be the oldest, simplest   
   life forms from at least 2 billion years ago, can be shown to have   
   cognitive processes, then it stands to reason that most (if not all)   
   of the more complex life forms have them too:   
      
      
      
   All living cells sense and respond to changes in external or internal   
   conditions. Without that cognitive capacity, they could not obtain   
   nutrition essential for growth, survive inevitable ecological changes,   
   or correct accidents in the complex processes of reproduction.   
   Wherever examined, even the smallest living cells (prokaryotes)   
   display sophisticated regulatory networks establishing appropriate   
   adaptations to stress conditions that maximize the probability of   
   survival. Supposedly "simple" prokaryotic organisms also display   
   remarkable capabilities for intercellular signalling and multicellular   
   coordination. These observations indicate that all living cells are   
   cognitive.   
      
   JAMES A. SHAPIRO, ALL LIVING CELLS ARE COGNITIVE, BIOCHEMICAL AND   
   BIOPHYSICAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS, VOLUME 564, 2021, PAGES 134-149,   
   ISSN 0006-291X, HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1016/J.BBRC.2020.08.120.   
      
      
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)