1 min readDec 10, 2020
- There are plenty of “switches” in evolution: between unicellurar and multicellular life, for instance. No consciousness is possible unless an organism has a nervous system, so there goes another switch.
- There is nothing to suggest that life and consciousness are inextricably connected, except in the trivial sense that the latter requires the former. Most of life is not conscious.
- Just because we can’t pinpoint exactly when human consciousness develops it doesn’t mean it’s a miracle. Also, we *can* say approximately when important elements of consciousness arise. For instance, fetuses that are less than three months old cannot feel pain, because their pain receptors have not formed yet.
- Of course human consciousness is the result of billions of cells. So is human blood circulation (millions, in the latter case). That’s why these aren’t inexplicable miracles.
- Arrogance has nothing to do with it. We are talking science and empirical evidence. I would suggest it is arrogant to believe in something for which there is no evidence.
- Fractals are fascinating but entirely irrelevant to the discussion at hand.
- “Purpose” implies conscious planning. Regardless of how you slow down other animals’ movements there is no evidence of purpose. See difference between teleology and teleonomy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleology) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleonomy).
So no, there is no evidence at all for panpsychism. As I said, one of the leading panpsychists clearly admitted as much to me during our dialogue (the science and philosophy of panpsychism).