VI. Life’s Cerebral Cognizance Becomes More Complex, Smarter, Informed, Proactive, Self-Aware

A. Natural Econsciousness and Ecognition

Marijuan, Pedro, et al. On Eukaryotic Intelligence: Signaling System’s Guidance in the Evolution of Multicellular Organization. Biosystems. Online July, 2013. Zaragosa, Spain, systems biologists continue with colleagues to seek a better understanding of these cellular domains and emergent transitions via their constant informational and semiotic communication processes. As a result, a relative, waxing presence of cognitive qualities can be posited even at these rudimentary stages. With all this going on, it is still curious that “machinery” terms are often used, which for this reason is said to be ‘blind’ to what it is doing. So there remains a urgent natural philosophy to notice and clarify, see for example Daniel Nicholson’s “Organisms ≠ Machines” (2013) above.

In all biological systems, from prokaryotes to eukaryotes – and rather astoundingly even within neuronal synapses themselves – signaling is tightly coupled with gene transcription and protein synthesis. Theoretically, is there any fundamental link between signaling systems and the basic eukaryotic organization/evolution towards increased complexity? An immediate rationale is that the transcriptional machinery, being ‘blind,’ needs massive signaling guidance in order to deploy the adequate genetic circuits, so to fabricate and put into cellular milieu the adequate RNA and protein agents. Thus, signaling means the topological governance of the transcriptional regulatory network, the decision of what parts should activated or should be inhibited, particularly throughout the very fast changes in second messenger concentrations. (15)

From an informational point of view, the cell’s self-constructing machinery may be seen as a realization of von Neumann’s theory of self-constructing machines, which mandates separation between the inner description of the system and its production structure. (16) Biological evolution means two basic characteristics: self-production and communication with the environment. Both aspects are irremediably linked within the basic cell-engine of eukaryotic complexity, and the knowledge on both has increased dramatically during last decades. It is in this sense that an informational updating of venerable “cellular theory” seem possible and necessary. (16) A new informational approach to the self-production and communications processes of living cells, to the informational organization of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic “intelligences,” looks feasible. Many different strands have to be put together, from open systems, to self-organization, to informational architectures of molecular encoding self-production, problem-solving engines, signaling guidance, but it looks a plausible task not far from several of yesteryear: artificial life, natural computing, synthetic life, or bioinformation. (16)

Musser, George. Putting Ourselves Back in the Equation: Why Physicists are Studying Human Consciousness and AI to Unravel the Mysteries of the Universe.. London: Macmillan, 2023. We first note this November volume by the Scientific American contributor which seems in this year on the verge of a grand synthesis. See also An AI Mystery in the SA and The Biologist Blowing Our Mind in Nautilus (June 18, 2023) about Michael Levin's work (search) on life’s constant poise between defect or cooperate.

For centuries, physicists believed that our notices were faithful representations of what is out there. But when they began to study the subatomic realm, along with cosmology, our view of the universe is became distorted by observation bias. And so today theorists must first explain consciousness.

Neuroscientists have built up an understanding of the structure of the brain. Could this help physicists understand the levels of self-organization they observe in other systems? Exploring these questions and more, George Musser tackles these deep interconnections between quantum mechanics, cosmology, and human consciousness. By way of portraits of frontier thinkers, the work shows how theories of everything depend on theories of mind—and how they might be one and the same.

Padilla, Nelly and Hugo Lagercrantz. Making of the Mind. Acta Paediatrica. 109/6, 2020. Karolinska Institute, Woman’s and Children’s Health, Stockholm pediatric scholars provide a succinct review of 21st century studies by Lagercrantz (search) and many colleagues all about the dawning occasion of fetal, infant and child sensory awareness. By so doing, a wider perception of a natural source which imbues and informs a deep evolutionary emergence can be appreciated. As a result, a deep parallel between each human individual and life’s phylogenetic course becomes evident. If we may then situate within this website expanse, a relative ecosmic embryogenesis might also be implied as life arises, develops, and quickens to visionary persons and planets. Thus we choose a quote from the Abstract as appropriate our home page. See also Infant Brain Development: Formation of the Mind and the Emergence of Consciousness. (Springer, 2016) by Lagercrantz.

The essence of the mind is consciousness. It emerged early during evolution and ontogeny appears to follow the same process as phylogeny. Consciousness comes from multiple sources, including visual, auditory, sensorimotor and proprioceptive senses. These gradually combine during development to build a unified consciousness, due to the constant interactions between the brain, body, and environment. In the human the emergence of consciousness depends on the activation of the cortex by thalamocortical connections around 24 weeks after conception. Then, the human foetus can react to touch, smell and sound but is mainly asleep. In contrast, the newborn infant can be aware of its own self and others, express emotions and share feelings. The development of consciousness is a progressive, stepwise, structural and functional evolution of multiple intricate components. (Abstract excerpt)

Poznanski, Roman, et al, eds. Biophysics of Consciousness. Singapore: World Scientific, 2016. With co-editors Jack Tuszynski and Todd Feinberg (search each), the collection presses the frontiers of (re)rooting our human informed awareness into a conducive physical cosmos as it becomes increasingly life-minded. An opening chapter is Neurobiological Naturalism by Feinberg and Jon Mallett, followed by contributions from Michael Arbib, Poznanski, Huping Hu, Stuart Hameroff, and others. A main theme is to address David Chalmers’ (search) “hard problem” of consciousness which seems inexplicable in an insensate material cosmos, re second quote. An answer requires an encompassing universe suffused with original, intrinsic consciousness, which is lately gaining scientific credence. Chapters such as The Quantum Underground: Where Life and Consciousness Originate, and The Holoinformational Foundations of Consciousness attempt to scope out an intelligent spacescape.

The problem of how the brain produces consciousness, subjectivity and "something it is like to be" remains one of the greatest challenges to a complete science of the natural world. While various scientists and philosophers approach the problem from their own unique perspectives and in the terms of their own respective fields, Biophysics of Consciousness: A Foundational Approach attempts a consilience across disparate disciplines to explain how it is possible that an objective brain produces subjective experience. This volume unites the crème de la crème of physicists, neuroscientists, and psychiatrists in the attempt to understand consciousness through a foundational approach encompassing ontological, evolutionary, neurobiological, and Freudian interpretations with the focus on conscious phenomena occurring in the brain. By integrating the perspectives of these diverse disciplines with the latest research and theories on the biophysics of the brain, the book tries to explain how consciousness can be an adaptive and causal element in the natural world.

The hard problem of consciousness is the problem of explaining how and why we have qualia or phenomenal experiences—how sensations acquire characteristics, such as colors and tastes. David Chalmers, who introduced the term "hard problem" of consciousness, contrasts this with the "easy problems" of explaining the ability to discriminate, integrate information, report mental states, focus attention, etc. Easy problems are easy because all that is required for their solution is to specify a mechanism that can perform the function. That is, their proposed solutions, regardless of how complex or poorly understood they may be, can be entirely consistent with the modern materialistic conception of natural phenomena. Chalmers claims that the problem of experience is distinct from this set, and he argues that the problem of experience will "persist even when the performance of all the relevant functions is explained". (Wikipedia)

Prentner, Robert. Consciousness: A Molecular Perspective. Philosophies. 2/4, 2017. In this MDPI online journal, the ETH Zurich scholar has dual 2013 doctorates in the “physical chemistry of quantum dynamics in molecular systems,” and in philosophy on “scientific approaches to consciousness.” The essay is a later 2010s update on the ancient, persistent sense that natural materiality must be suffused with mindful qualities, which then are a source for emergent personal awareness. Contemporary neuroscience, information processing, panpsychic themes, along with fertile matter are availed. See also his Chemistry, Context and Objects of Thought in Foundations of Chemistry (19/1, 2017).

This perspective examines the role of chemistry and molecular biology for a science of consciousness. Opposed to the consensus view, we argue that the molecular organization of biological systems is key to arrive at a thorough understanding of the dynamics correlated to the phenomenology of consciousness in complex organisms. This is indicated by the fact that the molecular sciences either provide one or more mechanisms directly related to phenomenology or otherwise describe the dynamics of the underlying substrate. In addition, we discuss substrate-independence in information-processing theories of consciousness and the issue of combination in panpsychist theories of consciousness, both from the angle of the molecular sciences. In any case, molecular details matter. (Abstract)

Reber, Arthur, et al. The CBC theory and its entailments: Why current models of the origin of consciousness fail.. EMBO Reports. 25/1, 2023. AR, University of British Columbia, William B. Miller, physician philosopher, Predrag Slijepcevic, University of Brunel, London and František Baluška, University of Bonn post their latest version of the CBC (Cellular Basis of Consciousness) which contends that sentient awareness is necessarily so pervasive and essential that its presence is evident at this basic metabolic level. See also All biology is cognitive information processing by WBM, et al in Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology. (182, September 2023), The Sentient Cell: The Cellular Foundations of Consciousness by Arthur Reber, et al ( Oxford Press, 2023) and Biology in the 21st century: Natural selection is cognitive selection by William B. Miller, et al in Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology. Volume 190, August 2024.

Accumulating scientific discoveries support the need for a revised Central Dogma to revise evolutionary biology's fixation on a Neodarwinian canon. Our reformulated version is that all biology is cognitive information processing based on the recognition that life is the self-referential state instantiated within the cellular form. Self-referential cells act to sustain themselves and to do so must be in harmony with their environment. Consequently, effective cellular problem-solving is information processing and management. As the internal measurement by cells of information is self-referential by definition, self-reference is biological self-organization, underpinning 21st century Cognition-Based Biology. (Excerpt)

Rosenblum, Bruce and Fred Kuttner. Quantum Enigma: Physics Encounters Consciousness. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. However might we comprehend the persistent, nagging indication that quantum realms in some way require human observation to bring them into existence.

Sameul, Sigal. What if absolutely everything is conscious?.. vox.com/future-perfect/353430/what-if-absolutely-everything-is-conscious.. Scientists spent ages mocking panpsychism. Now, some are warming to the idea that plants, cells, and even atoms are conscious. We record this essay because it is a well-researched, wide ranging, sensitive survey of this historic, once and future revision. Along the way the views of Galen Strawson, Audrey Dussutour, Michael Levin and others are considered. An ecosmic consciousness now seems to be dawning, this time with scientific and philosophical groundings as a prime revolutionary basis.

Sigal Samuel is a senior reporter for Vox’s Future Perfect. She writes primarily about the future of consciousness, tracking advances in artificial intelligence and neuroscience along with ethical implications. Before joining Vox, Sigal was the religion editor at the Atlantic.

Sathouris, Elisabet. The Conscious Universe. Clifford Matthews et al, eds. When Worlds Converge. Peterborough, NH: Open Court Publishers, 2002. The holistic biologist and author offers prescient intimations of a self-developing genesis.

I said earlier that western science is changing very rapidly now, toward an understanding of nature as alive, self-organizing, intelligent, conscious or sentient and participatory at all levels from subatomic particles and molecules to entire living planets, galaxies and the whole Cosmos, from local human consciousness to Cosmic Consciousness….In this new framework or cosmovision, biological evolution is holistic, intelligent and purposeful. (69)

Schwartz, Jeffery and Sharon Begley. The Mind and the Brain. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. A professor of psychiatry and a science writer, in collaboration with physicist Henry Stapp, find a remarkable synthesis between new understandings of proactive human mental capabilities and the frontiers of quantum mechanics. The book is a conversational entry to this novel perception of human agency.

The implications of directed neuroplasticity combined with quantum physics cast new light on the question of humankind’s place, and role, in nature. At its core, the new physics combined with the emerging neuroscience suggests that the natural world evolves through an interplay between two causal processes. The first includes the physical processes….The second includes the contents of our consciousness, including volition. The importance of this second process cannot be overstated, for it allows human thoughts to make a difference in the evolution of physical events. (19-20)

Scott, Alwyn. Reductionism Revisited. Journal of Consciousness Studies. 11/2, 2004. The editor of the new Encyclopedia of Nonlinear Science (New York: Routledge, 2004) contrasts the alternative approaches of downward reduction or ascendant emergence, which can define Copernican options of insensate mechanism or viable, developing organism. A quite different view of an oriented evolution vs. blind selection results if the constant impetus of complex, self-organizing systems is included. A Cartesian dualism is thus set aside which allows consciousness to arise from a quantum source.

….few biologists now doubt that the phenomena of life….will eventually be understood as a complex process comprising many closed causal loops and networks of positive feedback that thread through several levels of nonlinear dynamics. (66)

Scott, Alwyn. Stairway to the Mind. New York: Copernicus Books, 1995. In a universe infused by nonlinear dynamics, consciousness is seen to arise with and emerge from its resultant self-organizing hierarchy. (See also Scott’s paper in Hameroff, Stuart, et al, eds. Toward a Science of Consciousness cited in Conscious Knowledge.)

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