4 ms·
I thought that mussels and bivalves are like plants, there's no central nervous system and nothing else allowing them to be capable of consciousness.
by knuthsat 6y ago
I thought that mussels and bivalves are like plants, there's no central nervous system and nothing else allowing them to be capable of consciousness.
- dfischer 6y agoHow can we define what "capable of consciousness" is? As we become a species closer to exploring the vast cosmos, we have to be humble in our assumptions of what consciousness or life is. It's quite a Copernicus error to think that humanity is the center of relative consciousness to compare against. What consciousness is may be entirely incommensurable - which would be a serious error in our discovery of what else exists in the universe. There's a lot of wisdom in Star Trek: TNG, and it feels more prudent than ever to contemplate these lessons as we near the point of becoming space faring species.
- knuthsat 6y agoI'm definitely humble when it comes to assuming consciousness and would rather consider it a spectrum than a binary thing.
- gus_massa 6y agoThey have a central nervous system, with three ganglia: http://www.manandmollusc.net/advanced_introduction/bivalve_ns.html http://www.manandmollusc.net/advanced_introduction/bivalve_n... If you look carefully, it is very similar to the neural system in any bilateral https://www.britannica.com/science/nervous-system/Diffuse-nervous-systems https://www.britannica.com/science/nervous-system/Diffuse-ne... . It is twisted following the deformation of the body inside the shell. Compare it with https://entomology.unl.edu/charts/nervous.shtml https://entomology.unl.edu/charts/nervous.shtml In our central nervous system one of the ganglia grow tooooooo much. Moreover, the olfactory part of it grow tooooooooooooooooooooooooo much.