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There are animals on Earth with a decentralised nervous systems (most famously the octopus) and there isn't any confusion about whether they're classed as one a
by laumars 9y ago
There are animals on Earth with a decentralised nervous systems (most famously the octopus) and there isn't any confusion about whether they're classed as one animal or multiple ones.
- Koshkin 9y agoOctopus does have the "central brain" though - which, I guess, may account for making it "one animal". On the other hand, an animal with a truly decentralized nervous system often can regenerate from its pieces, which makes the question of it being "one animal" in the first place a bit fuzzy.
- 21 9y agoThere was an article just yesterday on HN about such a creature, with a decentralized nervous system: > Ctenophores have no brain or central nervous system, but instead have a nerve net (rather like a cobweb) that forms a ring round the mouth and is densest near structures such as the comb rows, pharynx, tentacles (if present) and the sensory complex furthest from the mouth ... Ctenophore nerve cells and nervous system evolved separately from other animals and have a different biochemistry.
- jack9 9y agoA starfish might be a better example.
- seszett 9y agoThere are also a lot of living beings with no nervous system at all, and there's no confusion either about whether they're classed as living beings or not. I don't get why nervous systems should be brought into the discussion. Most living beings on Earth do not have any kind of nervous system, and I don't see any obvious reason for why fungi or plant-like life forms could not be as big as galaxies.