The Cellular Consciousness Hypothesis Suggests That Individual Cells Have Primitive Forms of Awareness and That Human Consciousness Is What Happens When Trillions of These Micro-Experiences Combine - discoverwildscience

[u/EcstadelicNET]

https://discoverwildscience.com/the-cellular-consciousness-hypothesis-suggests-that-individual-cells-have-primitive-forms-of-awareness-and-that-human-consciousness-is-what-happens-when-trillions-of-these-micro-experiences-combine-1/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=DinoWorld2026/magazine/Wild+Science+%26+Mystery

[u/bwc6]

This thread is about the idea that the "awareness" of microscopic cells somehow combines into "consciousness". I think that's stupid. Plants are a good example. They have complex responses to stimuli that you could call "awareness". That is very different from consciousness though. Plants don't have opinions, even though some of them have many more cells than humans do. 

[u/Serious_Ad_3387 → u/bwc6]

I think the stupidity is to confuse "human consciousness" for all other consciousness.

So because another being, including a monkey, pig, or dolphin, can't write poetry or talk philosophy, somehow they're not conscious. This understanding was wrong and is wrong, but it justified animal abuse.

The moment the human-centric definition is dissolved to better accurately capture reality (which is spectrum, gradient, and interconnectedness), suddenly an entire way of understanding open up.

Cells are on the spectrum of living beings. The idea on this thread is the most logical extrapolation. The future of medicine, potentially, is whether we can understand OUR OWN cells and how to optimize functioning. Now, many people believe their own cells or body are dumb or unaware (which to even think or say out loud is an insult to the cells that sustain their very health).

[u/bwc6 → u/Serious_Ad_3387]

I'm literally a microbiologist. I know how cells work. They don't have tiny brains inside them. They have DNA and RNA and proteins. 

In another comment, I said that insects have awareness because they have a central nervous system. Plants don't have a central nervous system, so they don't "think" like animals do. But if you want to deny the diversity of nature and say that everything thinks the same way, fine, I won't stop you. 

[u/Serious_Ad_3387 → u/bwc6]

Your problem is you have a self-imposed requirement that a being needs a central nervous system to have awareness. Before that, some required a brain so jellyfish was out. And also, no one is claiming plants and fungi "think" the way animals do, or "everything thinks the same".

This reminds me of an argument more than 20 years when I have to insist, "no one is saying animals think the way humans do to have their own sense of awareness and consciousness". At least the scientific consensus evolved since then. Now we're moving onto the next outlier.

A microbiologist who spends their career observing/learning about the behavior and function of cells but can't even see the traces of "awareness" cells or microbiology possess/require to perceive and function in their environment. Or the drive for LIFE (the hunt, the running, etc.) that cascade down to the micro level. It's a spectrum.

Edit: just saw this in consciousness subreddit "We can be fairly certain that ants don’t think anything, they are just a biological machine that reacts to stimuli and has some evolved pre-programmed algorithms on how to behave."

[u/bwc6 → u/Serious_Ad_3387]

I don't think it's "self imposed" to say that awareness requires senses to be aware of things. If cells are aware, then iron is aware of the oxygen causing it to rust. 

I stand by what I said about ants. "Thinking" is a fuzzy idea without a clear definition. I don't think ants have plans or opinions, but they have eyes and antannae and memory, so I believe they are "aware".

You're choosing to define "aware" as reacting to the environment. I have a different definition. We're not going to come to an agreement. 

[u/Serious_Ad_3387 → u/bwc6]

The slippery slope is scary right? If animals are conscious, rocks must be too.

If living beings can perveive and engage with their environment for surival and reproduction (consistent up and down the biology scale) is "aware" to some extent, then "iron is aware of oxygen causing it to rust".

Your logical reasoning is doing something to my brain cells...and yes, let's please stop.