Do Microscopic Organisms Possess Consciousness?

-consciousness is not that complicated. We just confuse so many things with our attempts to describe or grasp a concept that is really abstract but with concrete manifestations.

Yes, there are quite different notions of consciousness. Let's explore this fascinating topic:

Being awake: This refers to being responsive to stimuli. Being aware: This includes being aware of oneself and one's surroundings. Having an experience of self and agency: This involves a lived experience and the ability to act with intention. Conscious vs unconscious processing: This distinguishes between active awareness and processing that occurs without conscious awareness.

Now, let's delve into the argument that all living entities have some degree of consciousness. The real mystery lies in the beginning - how consciousness must have evolved.

Many scientists and non-scientists agree that the theory of Evolution is a very good explanation for how more complex life forms might have evolved from one-celled organisms. However, the timetable is often questionable. Three and a half billion years seem to be too short to get from one cell to the complexity of, for example, humans in such a short amount of time.

The real myth is the composition of life. Life is basically made of six elements: Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur. These elements are the building blocks of amino acids, which make up proteins, and nucleotides, which create RNA/DNA. Understanding the interplay of these elements is crucial in understanding the evolution of life.

The process of RNA serves as both the software and hardware of life. Ribosomes, which are organelles in every cell that fulfill the task of protein assembly, are made of both proteins and RNA. This raises the question: how did RNA become both the software and hardware?

Considering four factors that are indispensable for life:

Compartmentalization: This involves forming enclosed spaces for subcellular organelles and processes, such as using membranes for protection, communication, and creating electro-chemical gradients. Utilizing information: DNA/RNA is often called a blueprint but it's less precise - more like a recipe that gives approximate instructions for rebuilding things in the living organism. Minor deviations produce necessary varieties of evolution. Self-reference and agency: Life tries to preserve itself. Mere molecules can't die, but they do not have the drive to survive like more complex organisms. The ability to learn and adapt: All living entities exist in a state far from thermodynamical equilibrium and must constantly adapt to changes inside and outside their environment.

Our form of conscious experience is an exception - even in and for us. The evolution of brains started around 550 million years ago with the advent of optical senses first, photo receptors, and then eyes. Before that, there were only neural networks. Trees and other plants communicate with each other, indicating that all living organisms possess some form of self-awareness.

Every cell must produce proteins, and to do so, it needs to:

Obtain the building blocks (chemicals) Produce energy Store instructions (DNA/RNA) Communicate

For these processes to be achieved, there must be some agency or some sort of goal orientation or intentionality. Therefore, some form of consciousness is necessary.

A human being typically contains some 30 trillion cells, including 87 billion neurons and double that amount of bacteria. So while our consciousness is on a different level than that of a jellyfish, the basic structure of our cells is very similar. A compartment comprised of many smaller compartments, all constantly busy doing their job and communicating. We are also components of a larger system, such as society, which enables more complex information processing and communication and, in turn, more complex consciousness.

Consciousness is a suite term that touches on our subjective experiences, and there are degrees of consciousness and different forms of consciousness. However, we don't know how it came into existence. We need to find a concept to explain how something emerged from nothing.

The ultimate question is not whether consciousness is present in all living forms or how to describe it, but rather how it happened. This intrigue and relevance are what make the nature of consciousness a fascinating topic in the realm of science and philosophy.