Addy Pross

And so our... The fact that what we see is what is really there has to be true because otherwise the cost, if we get confused about it, then we won't persist. People who lose track with reality can't survive. So I'm comfortable with that idea. In fact, it's very interesting. In our eyes, the vision, the image on our retina is an inverse image.

And so our... The fact that what we see is what is really there has to be true because otherwise the cost, if we get confused about it, then we won't persist. People who lose track with reality can't survive. So I'm comfortable with that idea. In fact, it's very interesting. In our eyes, the vision, the image on our retina is an inverse image.

But nature knows that the image is the other way, so we correct for that. In other words, nature wants us to see things as they are. And I think – and that is an interesting thought, which has a bearing on whether the whole world is an illusion. And as Descartes said, the only thing I'm sure of is that I exist. Well, maybe we can take that given the –

But nature knows that the image is the other way, so we correct for that. In other words, nature wants us to see things as they are. And I think – and that is an interesting thought, which has a bearing on whether the whole world is an illusion. And as Descartes said, the only thing I'm sure of is that I exist. Well, maybe we can take that given the –

The understanding of the interaction between self and the environment, maybe we could go a step further and be convinced that there is a universe out there after all and we're not making all of this up.

The understanding of the interaction between self and the environment, maybe we could go a step further and be convinced that there is a universe out there after all and we're not making all of this up.

I think in that sense that... that consciousness and cognition started off from the very beginning of the evolutionary process. And it's remarkable, I have to make a comment on this, because Darwin, in his... Endless wisdom already foresaw that. He said in his treatise that the process of evolution takes place along both physical and mental dimensions. He was extraordinary.

I think in that sense that... that consciousness and cognition started off from the very beginning of the evolutionary process. And it's remarkable, I have to make a comment on this, because Darwin, in his... Endless wisdom already foresaw that. He said in his treatise that the process of evolution takes place along both physical and mental dimensions. He was extraordinary.

He understood that the mental dimension couldn't just pop up in the middle willy-nilly, out of a physical situation on its own, that's not how evolution works. Evolution improves on something that had to be there. So Darwin already foresaw the mental dimension as being there from the beginning of the evolutionary process. So going back to that point, so bacteria are...

He understood that the mental dimension couldn't just pop up in the middle willy-nilly, out of a physical situation on its own, that's not how evolution works. Evolution improves on something that had to be there. So Darwin already foresaw the mental dimension as being there from the beginning of the evolutionary process. So going back to that point, so bacteria are...

cognitive and i'm wary of the term conscious but obviously on the spectrum from naught to 10 if we're a 9.5 the bacteria are 0.3 yeah but they have something there in order for them to deal with the problems that they encounter and that they have to solve

cognitive and i'm wary of the term conscious but obviously on the spectrum from naught to 10 if we're a 9.5 the bacteria are 0.3 yeah but they have something there in order for them to deal with the problems that they encounter and that they have to solve

Exactly. Exactly. In that sense, what was it called? The central dogma with which we started information flows from the genome, DNA, RNA, protein. We have to modify that. It's a more dynamic type of The cell is holistically, a wonderful term from Stuart Kaufman, the cell is holistically self-replicating. In other words, no element in it on its own is self-replicating.

Exactly. Exactly. In that sense, what was it called? The central dogma with which we started information flows from the genome, DNA, RNA, protein. We have to modify that. It's a more dynamic type of The cell is holistically, a wonderful term from Stuart Kaufman, the cell is holistically self-replicating. In other words, no element in it on its own is self-replicating.

If you take a DNA molecule and put it on the table, and even if you throw nucleotides at it, it doesn't make copies of itself. It doesn't work. We're in a cycle that closes A makes B, B makes C, D, E, F makes A. And once the cycle is closed, you have a self-replicating system. And the cell is, if you like, holistically self-replicating where everything plays a part.

If you take a DNA molecule and put it on the table, and even if you throw nucleotides at it, it doesn't make copies of itself. It doesn't work. We're in a cycle that closes A makes B, B makes C, D, E, F makes A. And once the cycle is closed, you have a self-replicating system. And the cell is, if you like, holistically self-replicating where everything plays a part.

And the genome is one part, a very important part, but it is just a part of the holistic cycle.

And the genome is one part, a very important part, but it is just a part of the holistic cycle.

Great talking to you, Sean.

Great talking to you, Sean.