Intelligence possible in brainless organisms?

K

kwhilborn

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Intelligence possible in brainless organisms?

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/japan-scientists-hope-slime-holds-intelligence-key-033359816.html

Could this be true? Makes Dianetics seem more plausible.

Has anyone else seen anything similar to this topic, or do you just think it is bogus. I'd bet this thread gets moved to pseudoscience, but I'll chance it here.

I do not know what efforts were made to block the correct pathways of floating nutrients, etc. It would be interesting to see however.
 
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kwhilborn said:
Has anyone else seen anything similar to this topic, or do you just think it is bogus.
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Saw it in PhysOrg yesterday, which is why I noticed this topic in the first place. But glancing today through EurekAlert, ScienceDaily, Live Science, etc., I didn't spot it (yet).
 
kwhilborn said:
Intelligence possible in brainless organisms?
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It will depend on what you mean by "intelligence", but the behaviour of the slime moulds is probably accounted for by chemotaxis; see this video: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/01/13-04.html
Alternatively, there are various people working on cognition in plants:
http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/92/1/1.full
http://philosophy.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/root/2009/Cognitioninplants/
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...M2uOoE&sig=AHIEtbRJkQpdyQ2VubradPJ1ws7Ynmz7Ew
 
cosmictraveler said:
Certainly, look at humans! ;)
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And of course, that depends on what it means to be human.

“Only the brainstem had developed during pregnancy, the portion of the brain responsible for autonomic and regulatory functions, such as the control of respiration, the heartbeat and blood pressure. Mentally, she had more in common with a tree than a conscious creature.”

“If an organism is able to breathe, circulate blood, and exhibit basic physical functions, we assume it is alive. What if this same organism is without a critical part of its brain, and thusly is deaf, blind, and wholly unconscious– is this organism still alive? How are we able to define what makes us human, or better yet, what makes us whole? Within an animal or plant life, we might consider these characteristics to be unremarkable, but within a human it is an atrocity. There are babies whose entire conception, gestation, and lives are lived out in a black hole of unconsciousness, brought on by the congenital disorder anencephaly. This disease raises more questions than it does answers; above all, it brings heartbreak to those affected by its occurrence.”

“Doctors will tell you that an anencephalic child can neither see, nor hear, nor feel pain, that he or she is a vegetable. However, that does not match up with the experience of many families who have had an anencephalic child. The brain is affected to varying degrees, according to the child; the brain tissue can reach different stages of development. Some children are able to swallow, eat, cry, hear, feel vibrations (loud sounds), react to touch and even to light. But most of all, they respond to our love: you don’t need a complete brain to give and receive love- all you need is a heart!”


Baby K

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_K

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_perception_(physiology)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication#Plants_and_fungi
 
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