Hypothesis
Version 1
This version is not peer-reviewed
Competitive Coherence Generates Qualia in Bacteria and Other Living Systems
Version 1
: Received: 14 September 2021 / Approved: 15 September 2021 / Online: 15 September 2021 (15:58:51 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Norris, V. Competitive Coherence Generates Qualia in Bacteria and Other Living Systems. Biology 2021, 10, 1034. Norris, V. Competitive Coherence Generates Qualia in Bacteria and Other Living Systems. Biology 2021, 10, 1034.
Abstract
The relevance of bacteria to subjective experiences or qualia is under-appreciated. 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 a 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.
Keywords
consciousness; qualia; network; bacteria; learning; phenotype
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Immunology and Microbiology
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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