[ExI] Bringing new life to dead matter

[BillK]

On Mon, May 28, 2012 at 6:43 PM, Kelly Anderson wrote:
> I think I draw the line at the beings that have some kind of central
> nervous system and those that don't. I do not believe that amoebas
> have anything approaching consciousness. Dogs, cats, yes. Maybe even
> sea stars. And then you are at a quantitative difference, a huge one
> to be sure... but without a brain, I don't know how you could claim
> it.
>


Hey, no need to be unfair to amoebas! Some of my best friends are amoebas.

Amoebas are smarter than you expect.
They have memory, can get ready in anticipation of bad weather and
even solve mazes and produce efficient route networks.
See:  <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physarum_polycephalum>
(and I checked other references as well).

So I go for the continuum theory. From little acorns, big oak trees grow.


BillK