Did Consciousness Evolve from Self-Paced Probing of the Environment, and Not from Reflexes?

Author: Cotterill R.M.J.

Source: Brain and Mind, Volume 1, Number 2, August 2000 , pp. 283-298(16)

Publisher: Springer

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $47.00 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

It is suggested that the anatomical structures which mediate consciousness evolved as decisive embellishments to a (non-conscious) design strategy present even in the simplest monocellular organisms. Consciousness is thus not the pinnacle of a hierarchy whose base is the primitive reflex, because reflexes require a nervous system, which the monocell does not possess. By postulating that consciousness is intimately connected to self-paced probing of the environment, also prominent in prokaryotic behavior, one can make mammalian neuroanatomy amenable to dramatically simple rationalization.

Keywords: consciousness; evolution; novel reflexes; mind; intelligence; creativity

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Department of Biophysics, Danish Technical University, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark

Publication date: 2000-08-01