Competitive Coherence Generates Qualia in Bacteria and Other Living Systems.

The role of bacteria in understanding subjective experiences, or qualia, is often overlooked. The author proposes that living systems, including bacteria, generate sequences of active states that guide behavior through a process called competitive coherence, which involves competition between a Next process and a Now process. Bacteria are key to linking the mental and physical worlds because they evolved first, are highly complex, influence animal behavior, and dominate Earth. Competitive coherence in bacteria, brains, and other living systems is inseparable from qualia. These qualia become especially important for generating active states at the highest levels of living systems, such as ecosystems and the planet.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The relevance of bacteria to subjective experiences or qualia is underappreciated. Here, I make four proposals. Firstly, living systems traverse sequences of active states that determine their behaviour; these states result from competitive coherence, which depends on connectivity-based competition between a Next process and a Now process, whereby elements in the active state at time n+1 are chosen between the elements in the active state at time n and those elements in the developing n+1 state. Secondly, bacteria should help us link the mental to the physical world given that bacteria were here first, are highly complex, influence animal behaviour and dominate the Earth. Thirdly, the operation of competitive coherence to generate active states in bacteria, brains and other living systems is inseparable from qualia. Fourthly, these qualia become particularly important to the generation of active states in the highest levels of living systems, namely, the ecosystem and planetary levels.