How can a group of cells become self-conscious?

Question

I am wondering how two cells divide themsleves and finally evolve into a self-conscious organism? I am talking about a human being, of course.

entoaggie : Thanks for your complex answer but I think it's rather a resume of the evolution theory.
My question is more about how does a group of cells gives birth to what we call "a soul" ? maybe it's more metaphysical than biological.

from my pea of brain : I agree, but I wonder if we receive our soul since we are just a single cell ?

Answer 1

Good question.Genetically, the single cell is the same organism as the adult human it matures into, so it must not be genetics. it must not be the natural process of birth, because even unnaturally premature babies have a some level of conscience/soul. I see no reason to say that there is any specific point biologically to claim that an organism has gained a soul. My personal beliefs, which I hold because I believe that they are universally true, are that the God of Abraham and Isaac created us and endows us all with souls from the time of conception. The point that we become aware of these souls comes at some point in time when we are capable of recognizing them, but we have them throughout our maturing process.

Answer 2

You're asking a very complex question, one that would take a lot longer than a few sentences to answer. However, I'll try to simplify the answer....

First off, the question of cell division is seperate from the question of evolution. A cell, when it reaches a certain size, will undergo a series of steps (prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase, and cytokinesis--you can read about these in detail in any biology textbook) to divide in half. Cells slowly evolved to do this over time, because DNA that directed cells to divide became more prevalent than that which did not.

Now, as for how did single cells evolve into multicellular organisms, and eventually into humans?

An *extremely* simplified explanation of evolution is: the DNA in one organism is slightly different than that in another, leading to slightly different traits. If a certain environmental stimulus is present, then one trait may end up being advantageous to the other. This trait, through the DNA, will then be passed onto more offspring, which will pass it to their offspring, etc. Over time, the previous trait becomes very rare, or is eliminated entirely. This is how organisms adapt new ways to deal with the changing environment (such as slow climate change), exploit new ecological niches (such as emerging from the sea onto land), etc. This is a very slow process, that occurs over millions of years through countless generations.

So, one-celled organisms started to divide, and their DNA was spread more widely. After a while, in certain environments, those cells that started to "work" together tended to do better than than those that went at it alone. Thus the beginning of multi-cellular creatures. After eons more, the backbone was developed amongst certain organisms, eventually leading to the class Chordata. Some of these began to exploit the land as amphibians, and later integrated into the land fully as reptiles. Around here is where the development of mammals begins. Small at first, they slowly became larger. A certain set of mammals branched off, due to the environment they were exposed to, and became the early primate ancestors.

As primates developed, a certain set began to exploit the advantages of walking upright, of developing more intelligence, and of living in a societal group. These eventually evolved into the humans we know today.

Keep in mind that this scenario was extremely simplified, to keep the post at a reasonable length. ;)

As for the evolution of conciousness, that is an ongoing area of study. There are several theories as to why it developed, at what point it may have developed, and what other species besides humans may possess it. The research is definitely ongoing--it is certainly a fascinating area of study!

Answer 3

There is no scientific evidence regarding the moment a soul enters a human body, nor is there evidence that development of a soul is part of gestation. It is a philosophical/metaphysical question. Some say the soul enters the body just before birth and others say the soul enters at birth or shortly after. There is anecdotal information from small children who say them remember entering their body and being born, but no proof - or if there is proof no one is making it public knowledge!

Answer 4

when they evolve the chemical processes enough to make them self concious and interacting. to explain i have heard of a study done by a professor at princeton university. she said in a small environment when bacteria sense crowding around them release an acidic excretion so other bacteria don't step in their area. so we have evolved from this sense of own space in to dependency...maybe communicating with eachother for attachment to acheive better surface area (for waste management food and so on) in to a pack for food foraging in to a completely dependent multicellular organism. If you think about it, the multicellular being is truly mind boggling. a brain is composed of nothing but millions and billions of nuerons functioning as a singular group. their is not much known about that jump in the evolutionary process but i hope i provided a tiny bit of insight in to the issue.

Answer 5

The cells are not capable of thought. The growth is programmed in their DNA, and they have no choice in the matter.

The next logical question is; Who programmed the DNA?
It obviously wasn't chance.

Answer 6

It's a question for the ages.

Answer 7

It is the miracle of life.

Answer 8

They can't - it is impossible.