"it is not clear how certain organisations of matter manage to be aware – of impingements of energy, and later of objects"
The oldest life forms in existence have this awareness.
Keeping in mind that definitions are arbitrary, still it must be admitted that even bacteria sense changes in temperature, light, density, and other forms of energy, and they "respond" to various environmental stimuli like we do on facebook: Like or dislike. The point is that your attempt to elevate humans into some special arena simply fails. Many creatures have far superior attributes than have we. Yes we are different. We are what we are: Still helpless in the air, in the water, and on the land--inferior to the eagle, the dolphin, the lion. Yet we have overcome our inferiority through the capacity to learn and to communicate our knowledge to our offspring. But there are some humans who cannot learn and who cannot use tools and who would die without constant care--lowly rats and vermin would overcome them with little effort.
We should be happy and proud to be who and what we are. But we should not be arrogant. ALL life is related. And once our finest tool, the brain, was no more useful than a football to a canary. But we consumed a lot of DHA and grew our brains. Will we ever survive as long as other life forms have survived? The odds are against it. Our very complexity makes us very vulnerable--much more vulnerable than the cockroaches who have simple tastes and needs... |
