Self-Organizing Universe (Part 1)
Two philosophical approaches to understanding the nature of consciousness in the universe predominate: panpsychism in which consciousness is conceived as pervading the universe at all levels, and emergentism in which consciousness is understood to arise from the universe when the universe becomes sufficiently complex (and organized in such a way) to produce it. Of course, each of these categories subdivides into still more nuanced versions and perspectives. Where emergentism is concerned, particularly, there is the obvious stance that it is the nervous system, or perhaps the brain in particular, that represents the complexity and organization necessary to create consciousness; however, other perspectives suggest that it is not the brain per se, or even nervous systems in general that are required, but that life in its most basic form, i.e. the cell, is sufficient and necessary for rudimentary forms of consciousness. This emergentist perspective immediately calls to mind the terminology