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balkibartokamis t1_j14vuhr wrote

Reply to comment by D_Winds in Could microscopic life evolve to become intelligent? by [deleted]

Can lots of micro organisms working together have some sense of self awareness?

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D_Winds t1_j14w1xp wrote

Like a hive mind? Or like the cells of our human bodies?

People's definition of sentience will vary greatly, and the level of self-awareness with it.

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JohnMayerismydad t1_j14y56f wrote

Probably how multicellular organisms arose to begin with. Not necessarily the awareness, but the bunch of single cells working together with some separation of function

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DrQuinn79 t1_j155905 wrote

Radio Lab has an interesting segment where a scientist explained how, in the primordial soup, certain large molecules had a symbiotic energy exchange with smaller outside molecules, then at some point the larger molecules started absorbing the smaller molecules into themselves (they are not sure why, possibly just an accidental mutation that turned out to be beneficial and was passed on during replication...or possibly the Hand of God, if that's your dish), which then began to replicate INSIDE the host, thereby laying the groundwork for complex cellular development.

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I'm sure I have some of the exact terminology a little wrong, but that's the basic idea anyway. If anyone could identify that edition of Radio Lab, I'm sure it's freely available, and would be a good listen.

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LordOfSpamAlot t1_j14wjg8 wrote

Like a human brain? It's a bunch of cells (micro organisms) working together that have self-awareness.

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