Basal Cognition
Absolutely fascinating
Just watched it. Absolutely fascinating. Collective cellular morphogenesis. What he calls problem solving machines directed by ion channels triggering bioelectrical signals with closed loop pattern homeostasis determining the end state. The system has enough plasticity to navigate transcriptorial space. However, it is not a natural continuum as he suggests as there are abrupt geological extinctions and emergence of new species when certain boundary conditions are triggered. Evolution works on the micro scale not the macro. Life finds a way is a truism but it must have a goal (end state) that he would posit is the system “interfacing” with itself. The example of the caterpillar dissolving even its brain and retaining memory as a butterfly is in my view miraculous. Wheels with wheels (the double helix) and the Spirit of life is within the wheels. We are on the verge of an episode of extinction and recreation. Will we emerge as butterflies?
Michael Levin | Evolution, Basal Cognition and Regenerative Medicine (1:07)