“They are often described by what they don’t have. People don’t understand how they manage to do anything with so little,” says marine biologist Sally Leys, professor of biological sciences at the University of Alberta and expert on sponges.
These water-bearing animals that have been around for 5-8 million years are basically giant tubes that filter water.
They have no muscles, no organs, no nervous system, no brain, so you would assume they have no thoughts, no feelings, and no self-awareness.
However, they can do something amazing…
From cloud to sponge
(The following lab experiment is brutal but not fatal, as it allows scientists to study various aspects of animal biology and provides insight into how early organisms formed.)
“If you take a sponge and pass it through a very small mesh size -20 microns more or less-, there are cells which, moving and colliding, make connections and little by little s ‘organize to train the whole body once more,’ says the expert.
Sponges can actually do just that: reassemble from some sort of living slime on the seabed.
The cells are grouped into larger and larger clusters until they form the complete sponge.
The classic experiment -says Leys- is done with a blue sponge and a red sponge which, following passing through the mesh, turn into a purple cloud of cells which, under the right conditions and with enough time (one week at 10 days), they sort out and reform into a blue sponge and… (you guessed it) a red one.
“So they have the ability to determine self from non-self.”
The million dollar question
It bears repeating: they can determine self from non-self.
They have some form of self-awareness encoded directly into their individual cells.
However, genetically, the sponge which reintegrates is the same as the one which has dissociated.
But, the million dollar question is if the sponge that was regenerated is the same sponge or if a new animal was gestated during those 10 days, a clone created from one that ceased to exist.
It depends on the amount of your memories and your personality and other things that we believe make up the self, from the original sponge to the reconstructed one.
But wait, we just established that sponges don’t have brains… so they don’t have to have personalities or memories, right?
That’s another amazing thing regarding sponges: that’s kind of what they do.
“Good question! The populations we work with have learned attributes. By undergoing regeneration processes, for example, they have adapted to fresh water.”
“The question is how many times can you take a sponge, break it into cells, let them come together, and still not stop being what they were.”
And that brings us to the beginning: to our self-awareness.
And the paradox of teleportation.
Star Trek ?
Yes, we’re talking regarding traveling at the speed of light through galaxies at the touch of a button.
Ever since science fiction began toying with the possibility of teleportation in the late 19th century, the idea has puzzled philosophers like Charlie Huenemann of Utah State University, USA .
“I’m stranded on Mars. My return ship’s fuel tanks have ruptured and no rescue team can come and save me.”
“But luckily my ship has a teleporter. The machine scans my body and produces an incredibly detailed blueprint, a clear picture of every cell and neuron, and that blueprint is then beamed back to Earth, where a new me is being built.”
Sounds good: salvation at your fingertips…more precisely the finger pressing the button. What is the problem ?
George Takei, who played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the starship “Enterprise”, in the Star Trek series, in a reconstruction of teleporters.
“I can rationally understand why this should work, because I’m just a particular configuration of cells, and it’s not like one carbon molecule is more me than another carbon molecule. As long as everything is organized in the same way it shouldn’t matter.” , concedes the philosopher.
But it is not that simple.
Remember this is a paradox, so it raises a question: does the machine transport you across the Universe or does it kill you and create a new version of you on Earth, with all your memories and personality intact, who does she think you are? ?
“In my opinion, I would die in the teleporter on Mars and someone very similar to me would appear on Earth.”
“It would have all the cellular structure, all the neural connections and so on to think it’s me, and it’s not clear that the copy of me that’s on Earth is fake.”
“Anything that makes me think it’s me would be present in this copy on Earth.”
But if your memories, your molecular and neural structure are yours, and everything is a carbon copy, why wouldn’t it be you?
“That’s what I find very interesting regarding this thought experiment.”
“What this teaches us is that in a deep sense, there is no self as an indivisible unit that may or may not make that jump from Mars to Earth.”
In other words, this self-awareness – this “I know it’s me” – is actually an illusion.
“Indeed, many philosophers have referred to the self as the ‘user illusion’.
“But if we try to go further and ask ourselves, ‘Is there an enduring self that stays the same over time?’ That’s when a thought experiment like the teleporter teaches us: no, there isn’t.”
So even though you feel like you’re the same person as yesterday, things are different: the weather, the food, the people you interact with, the way you do it, your mood…
Maybe you are an iteration of yourself from yesterday, not exactly the same person.
Moreover, what makes you who you are is not only who you are – the arrangement of your atoms, genetics or what is encoded in your cells – but also where you are.
“Much of who we are is built from our relationship with others: the society you are in, the job you have, etc.,” Huenemann concludes.
Before leaving, another thought experiment, without having to leave the planet.
When you go to bed tonight, you’ll lie down, come home, and then pass out. And when you’re unconscious, your awareness of yourself will somehow dissolve.
While you sleep, your body and brain transform. Many of your cells will change, and you might wake up with new neural pathways.
Is the “you” who wakes up in the morning the same “you” who fell asleep the night before?
Maybe yes or maybe no: it is possible for the illusion of self to reform every morning.
