Ecological Clues to the Nature of Consciousness.
Robert E Ulanowicz
Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) May 30, 2020 DOI: 10.3390/e22060611 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Consciousness Simultaneity Autocatalysis Ecosystem dynamics Coherence domain Centripetality |
| Key points | Argues that autocatalysis and coherence domains observed in ecosystems offer analogies for understanding consciousness: autocatalysis may give rise to selfhood, id, or ego, while bi-level coordination in ecosystems parallels the mind's simultaneous access to information across channels, producing the feeling that features of one's surroundings are present all at once. Suggests research in other fields may inform empirical approaches to studying consciousness in humans and higher animals. |
Abstract
Some dynamics associated with consciousness are shared by other complex macroscopic living systems. For example, autocatalysis, an active agency in ecosystems, imparts to them a centripetality, the ability to attract resources that identifies the system as an agency apart from its surroundings. It is likely that autocatalysis in the central nervous system likewise gives rise to the phenomenon of selfhood, id or ego. Similarly, a coherence domain, as constituted in terms of complex bi-level coordination in ecosystems, stands as an analogy to the simultaneous access the mind has to assorted information available over different channels. The result is the feeling that various features of one's surroundings are present to the individual all at once. Research on these phenomena in other fields may suggest empirical approaches to the study of consciousness in humans and other higher animals.