Is a worm conscious? How about a bumblebee? Does a computer that can play chess “feel” anything?
To Christof Koch, chief scientific officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, the answer to these questions may lie in the fabric of the universe itself. Consciousness, he believes, is an intrinsic property of matter, just like mass or energy. Organize matter in just the right way, as in the mammalian brain, and voilà, you can feel.
Image: Christof Koch - http://www.technologyreview.com
