Competitive Coherence Generates Qualia in Bacteria and Other Living Systems.
Biology October 12, 2021 DOI: 10.3390/biology10101034 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Bacteria Consciousness Learning Network Phenotype Qualia |
| Key points | Argues that competitive coherence in living systems, including bacteria, is inseparable from qualia, and that bacteria are essential for linking the mental to the physical world. |
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.